UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[Geneva]

As important as questions about costume parties and drinking are (yes, Feb club and Dandelion are both defined by drinking and costumes), it would be nice to get an answer to my financial aid question...does anyone know if Virginia match need-based aid offers from Harvard, Stanford, and Yale?

Did it occur to you that (a) maybe no one answered because no one knows, and (b) that the financial aid office at UVA Law will definitely know, and that there is no reason not to ask them?

Based on the formula that is used to approximate need-based aid, I should be getting decent aid from the other school, but I don't want to approach UVA finance without the specific figure. It should have occurred to me that nobody knows. Instead, I figured that by bumping the thread I would either get a respose from a new pair of eyes or a snide remark, which would clarify either way.
Anyway, thanks for answering my question.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

As important as questions about costume parties and drinking are (yes, Feb club and Dandelion are both defined by drinking and costumes), it would be nice to get an answer to my financial aid question...does anyone know if Virginia match need-based aid offers from Harvard, Stanford, and Yale?

Did it occur to you that (a) maybe no one answered because no one knows, and (b) that the financial aid office at UVA Law will definitely know, and that there is no reason not to ask them?

Based on the formula that is used to approximate need-based aid, I should be getting decent aid from the other school, but I don't want to approach UVA finance without the specific figure. It should have occurred to me that nobody knows. Instead, I figured that by bumping the thread I would either get a respose from a new pair of eyes or a snide remark, which would clarify either way.
Anyway, thanks for answering my question.

UVA doesn't consider need in scholarship awards. Merit only. Thus, I don't expect them to offer you a similar need-based award, but I can see them upping your merit-based to pull you away from HYS

[gladiator]

Are they actually that good at softball?

Also, I didn't realize people took the big tournament so seriously. I imagined it was more of a drink-and-socialize kind of event.

Florida Coastal is our #1 softball rival, they had won 1 of the championships each of the past 5 years (See: Past Winners http://www.ngsl.com/invitational/past_winners.html ). It is a drink and socialize event for most of the teams that show up but UVA and a few other schools take it pretty seriously because they have a legit chance to win. Also UVA has the "Orange" teams which don't take it that seriously generally.

How do you go about getting onto one of the competitive teams for the big tourney? Is it just a group of friends or what?

You have to be selected by the powers that be in NGSL for 1 of the 6 teams. So either you have to be very good at softball to be selected for Gold or Blue or you have to be very good at drinking to be selected for Orange. You generally have to be very good at softball or drinking to get into NGSL in the first place which is also based on selection by current members.

During the UVA season (everything but the Tournament in April), anyone can make a team with anyone on it for intraschool games. However, during the playoffs you can only play for 1 team you're unaffiliated with and unlimited teams you're affiliated with (journal, organization, section, etc). You also have to pick only 1 team if you have multiple teams that make the semifinals.

[seahawk32]

Skimmed a few pages and couldn't find an answer to this question -- Where do students who plan to drive park, and how much is a parking pass?

[desertlaw]

Skimmed a few pages and couldn't find an answer to this question -- Where do students who plan to drive park, and how much is a parking pass?

Probably because it's not a huge deal. There's a parking lot outside the library and down near "The Park" where law students park. Some sort of lottery system is done for getting the closest parking lot. Cost is like $150-250? I can't remember. It's a pain but not much of a big deal. I've heard you can park on Arlington for free if you get there early enough.

[albanach]

Probably because it's not a huge deal. There's a parking lot outside the library and down near "The Park" where law students park. Some sort of lottery system is done for getting the closest parking lot. Cost is like $150-250? I can't remember. It's a pain but not much of a big deal. I've heard you can park on Arlington for free if you get there early enough.

Arlington's pretty busy, but it's certainly possible to park there for free if you can be in by 8am each day. Uphill is limited to 2 hour parking, but downhill is not. After 8am you risk being stuck on Milmont, but that's still closer to the school than Ivy.

I think the D3 lot is abour $350/year - that's the lottery lot. Google it though, the parking prices should be on the Parking and Transportation website.

[A Swift]

Fellow Nerds,

I'm curious what a normal distribution curve looks like for our school. If 25% of the class is at or above a 3.48, is that enough information to create a normal distribution so we can see what GPAs are within one standard deviation of a 3.3?

I may be saying this completely wrong, so feel free to correct me.

Thanks,

A Swift

[thesealocust]

Fellow Nerds,

I'm curious what a normal distribution curve looks like for our school. If 25% of the class is at or above a 3.48, is that enough information to create a normal distribution so we can see what GPAs are within one standard deviation of a 3.3?

I may be saying this completely wrong, so feel free to correct me.

Thanks,

A Swift

Yes, the curve is very normal. Every year enough data comes out to confirm that while not a perfect bell curve, grade distributions are close enough for government work.

Using that you can ballpark that after 1L year a 3.65 is roughly top 10%, a 3.48 is roughly top 25%, 3.3 is median, etc. The finer detail you try to go the less accurate it will be, but that's definitely roughly correct.

[A Swift]

Perfect. So what I want to know is: what proportion of the class is between a 3.4 and a 3.2, and what proportion is between a 3.35 and a 3.25.

And if possible, can you show me how to calculate it?

[5ky]

Perfect. So what I want to know is: what proportion of the class is between a 3.4 and a 3.2, and what proportion is between a 3.35 and a 3.25.

And if possible, can you show me how to calculate it?

3.4 -- about top 35%
3.2 -- about top 64%

So there's about 29% of people between those two numbers.


3.35 -- about top 43%
3.25 -- about top 57%

So there's about 14% of people between those two numbers.


I'm pretty sure my math should be vaguely correct, but somebody should pipe up if it's not. As thesealocust said, the finer you try to get, the more it's going to be off. Standard deviation is about .27.

[RVP11]

The average grade given in each class is more like ~3.34, not 3.30. No one knows what the actual median is.

[dailygrind]

Perfect. So what I want to know is: what proportion of the class is between a 3.4 and a 3.2, and what proportion is between a 3.35 and a 3.25.

And if possible, can you show me how to calculate it?

Use this, subtract the higher GPA from the lower, and the number left is the proportion in between the two GPAs. Echo what TSL about the curves not being perfect, but good enough for estimates. Not sure that the online calculator still works (I'll look at it more after finals are over), but I guarantee the manual workaround is good.

[jawsthegreat]

Apparently the curve regresses towards 3.3 after 1L. I know of two people with 3.60x GPAs who have gotten Order of the Coif. 3.60x certainly wouldn't put you in the top 10% after 1L.

[dailygrind]

Apparently the curve regresses towards 3.3 after 1L. I know of two people with 3.60x GPAs who have gotten Order of the Coif. 3.60x certainly wouldn't put you in the top 10% after 1L.

Lol. Not terribly surprising given how much it feels like the effort level has dropped.

[desertlaw]

Apparently the curve regresses towards 3.3 after 1L. I know of two people with 3.60x GPAs who have gotten Order of the Coif. 3.60x certainly wouldn't put you in the top 10% after 1L.

Lol. Not terribly surprising given how much it feels like the effort level has dropped.

Let's continue to drive those numbers down.

[dailygrind]

Class of 2013 Upperclassmen Gunning Armistice: charter member.

[thesealocust]

I am comfortable shooting for ~45% class attendance. I'm amazed by the number of 3Ls I know who picked big lecture courses w/o seating charts and then literally never showed up after the first day (on the assumption that's safer than spotty attendance where coming and going might be noticed).

[Br3v]

I have read a couple different places (Internet so who knows the validity) that outside of YHS UVA has a slightly better edge for paths into academia. Do you guys think there is truth to that. If so, care to give any explanations? Is it because UVA sends more clerks? Do you know any graduating classmates pursuing academia?

[pjo]

I have read a couple different places (Internet so who knows the validity) that outside of YHS UVA has a slightly better edge for paths into academia. Do you guys think there is truth to that. If so, care to give any explanations? Is it because UVA sends more clerks? Do you know any graduating classmates pursuing academia?

Where did you hear that? The common perception is that UVA doesn't do as well as the rest of the T10 for placing into academia. Our strength is judical clerkships (I think we're like 3rd or 4th).

Plus I think that academia is YHS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>rest of T10. The distinction is VERY significant after YHS regardless of what school comes next, as those schools place significantly better than everyone else in academia.

[lameslice57]

.

[StanleyF]

I have read a couple different places (Internet so who knows the validity) that outside of YHS UVA has a slightly better edge for paths into academia. Do you guys think there is truth to that. If so, care to give any explanations? Is it because UVA sends more clerks? Do you know any graduating classmates pursuing academia?

There are a few sites that have ranked law schools by how they place in teaching jobs. I've seen a newer list than this one, but this is the best I could find with a quick search http://www.concurringopinions.com/archi ... iring.html

Short answer is that if you want to teach, Yale is by far the best place.

If you want to teach, a court of appeals clerkship is (almost) a prerequisite, while a Supreme Court clerkship is (almost) a guarantee— but the odds of clerking for the SC are probably roughly the same as winning the lottery, founding your own law school and hiring yourself.

That said, UVa has really been doing well placing clerks in court of appeals the last few years, which will probably mean an uptick in academic placement. We've also done pretty well at the Supreme Court (I think three in the past two years, but I might be wrong about that).

To get one of these clerkships, you need very good grades. And to teach, you need very good grades. It doesn't matter what law school you go to—if you don't have very good grades, teaching is out.

[joeshmo39]

You will need to be top 5 in the class to have a shot at clerking for SCOTUS. You will also need to clerk for the "right" kind of appeals court judge, the type who feeds to SCOTUS usually. For any old appeals court judge it will depend on circuits. Top 10% is a decent spot to think of for appeals court judges. If you want D.C. Circuit, you may need to better than top 10%. If you want to clerk for an appeals court justice who sits in the middle of nowhere maybe you only need a 3.60 or so. You probably have a shot at district courts if you're in the top 25%, though it can vary widely. By a shot, I mean you may have a fairly small shot with a 3.45. If you want more competitive district judges like EDVA or SDNY you're going to need credentials a lot closer to those I outlined for appeals court judges.

I'm not going to clerk myself, I haven't looked into it, and I'm probably the worst person on the board who could have tried to tackle that question. Corrections welcome.

[StanleyF]

Top 10% is a decent spot to think of for appeals court judges. If you want D.C. Circuit, you may need to better than top 10%. If you want to clerk for an appeals court justice who sits in the middle of nowhere maybe you only need a 3.60 or so.

Location of the appeals court doesn't really matter—the competition for all these clerkships is incredibly high, regardless of location.

[Br3v]

Thanks for the actually helpful responses everyone.

But to answer pjos question, I read this specifically on a blog from a current T6 professor, I'm sure some of you have read it before. He outlines what it -roughly- takes for academia. There is also an interview on TLS I believe (I'm on my phone so can't really pull it up that easy) but the interview states that academia is of course completly dominated by HY as well as S, but points out t14 is not a significant grouping for academia as there are various bumps throughout the top t14 for acedemia with UVA getting a slight bump before going down to the rest of the t14, and I believe then even another bump down to GULC.

From what I am hearing from you guys here however is that if that bump exists, it is not very prominent or that noticeable?
Is it correct to say that if one were to attend UVA with aspirations of academia (I know one shouldn't soley purse academia as it is hard to break into) that the best shot is clerkship?

Also one more 0L question if possible, I see on the various job placement stats (I know about the validity of the stats from school to school) but it shows like 1% or 2% of students going straight into academia, or at least that is how it appears. How does one even go straight into academia even say from Yale? I would imagine you would need time to publish or pursue a clerkship first instead of one semester sitting in the audience and the next standing and lecturing in front of it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who provides info.

[mr_unemployed]

Thanks for the actually helpful responses everyone.

But to answer pjos question, I read this specifically on a blog from a current T6 professor, I'm sure some of you have read it before. He outlines what it -roughly- takes for academia. There is also an interview on TLS I believe (I'm on my phone so can't really pull it up that easy) but the interview states that academia is of course completly dominated by HY as well as S, but points out t14 is not a significant grouping for academia as there are various bumps throughout the top t14 for acedemia with UVA getting a slight bump before going down to the rest of the t14, and I believe then even another bump down to GULC.

From what I am hearing from you guys here however is that if that bump exists, it is not very prominent or that noticeable?
Is it correct to say that if one were to attend UVA with aspirations of academia (I know one shouldn't soley purse academia as it is hard to break into) that the best shot is clerkship?

Also one more 0L question if possible, I see on the various job placement stats (I know about the validity of the stats from school to school) but it shows like 1% or 2% of students going straight into academia, or at least that is how it appears. How does one even go straight into academia even say from Yale? I would imagine you would need time to publish or pursue a clerkship first instead of one semester sitting in the audience and the next standing and lecturing in front of it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who provides info.

this might be of interest http://leiterrankings.com/new/2011_LawTeachers.shtml