Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[fred013]

is your LRW brief your grade? do orals count? draft?

[jingosaur]

is your LRW brief your grade? do orals count? draft?

My understanding is that it's just the brief. I know for a fact that the orals don't count.

[pupshaw]

is your LRW brief your grade? do orals count? draft?

My understanding is that it's just the brief. I know for a fact that the orals don't count.

We were told that if your orals fall short of a good faith effort then it could affect your grade.

[Orion311]

How likely is someone to get their first/second choice of residence? Which units are the most desired (and therefore least likely for someone to get)? The small north hall rooms seem really nice, but it concerns me that there are only 19 units total. Oh, and for the rest of you 0ls reading this, i actually read that the small north hall rooms are really shitty and have fungus and no ventilation and poor insulation (sound and thermal).

[heythatslife]

How likely is someone to get their first/second choice of residence? Which units are the most desired (and therefore least likely for someone to get)? The small north hall rooms seem really nice, but it concerns me that there are only 19 units total. Oh, and for the rest of you 0ls reading this, i actually read that the small north hall rooms are really shitty and have fungus and no ventilation and poor insulation (sound and thermal).

You'll be designated a window to select your dorm. If you get one of the earlier windows, then you pick whatever you want. If you get one of the later ones or miss the application deadline, then your options are going to be much more limited. North fills up pretty quickly, but pretty much everyone who wants a Gropius Type 1 (the smallest and the cheapest) or Hastings gets one, even if you have to be on the waiting list. FWIW, I was #60 on the Gropius waiting list because I missed application deadline in the first place but got a room eventually anyway.

[jimmymac]

Question about JD/MBA:

How realistic is it be accepted for the JD/MBA program as a 1L. Specifically, I am a K-JD, though do have a degree in business and several relevant/prestigious business internships. Is it possible for me to apply as a 1L and be accepted? Do you know anyone who has gone this route?

Thanks!

[despina]

Small N, but I know three JDs who were accepted to HBS as 1Ls. None were K-JD and all had 3+ years of work experience after college.

[Mr. Elshal]

Question about JD/MBA:

How realistic is it be accepted for the JD/MBA program as a 1L. Specifically, I am a K-JD, though do have a degree in business and several relevant/prestigious business internships. Is it possible for me to apply as a 1L and be accepted? Do you know anyone who has gone this route?

Thanks!

The K-JD will really hurt your chances.

[KaNa1986]

Question about JD/MBA:

How realistic is it be accepted for the JD/MBA program as a 1L. Specifically, I am a K-JD, though do have a degree in business and several relevant/prestigious business internships. Is it possible for me to apply as a 1L and be accepted? Do you know anyone who has gone this route?

Thanks!

The K-JD will really hurt your chances.

Getting into HBS MBA program is not hard, but you really need to have at least one year of work experience.

[lawschoolboundfuture]

Just out of curiosity when do courses for next year get posted on the website and when do we sign up? I remember it being early on in the semester last year.

[tomwatts]

Just out of curiosity when do courses for next year get posted on the website and when do we sign up? I remember it being early on in the semester last year.

Last year, the course catalog became available on March 24 (or at least that's when the Registrar emailed about it) and the first of many rounds of course selection began on April 2.

[to116]

I'm a 0L but im wondering about clinics. If you do a clinic during the semester are you supposed to take other classes (not related to the clinic) at the same time? What happens if you do an external clinic in a different city? And if you don't take other classes but the clinic is only 4 or 5 credits, how do you fulfill your other credit requirements?

[Mr. Elshal]

I'm a 0L but im wondering about clinics. If you do a clinic during the semester are you supposed to take other classes (not related to the clinic) at the same time? What happens if you do an external clinic in a different city? And if you don't take other classes but the clinic is only 4 or 5 credits, how do you fulfill your other credit requirements?

You take classes in addition to the clinic.

[tomwatts]

Typically, you go into the clinic 1-2 days a week and take classes on the other days. You might also do a 5-hour shift in the afternoon after morning classes, or something like that.

There are some exceptions, notably clinics during January Term (where you might actually be somewhere else and not taking classes for three weeks, e.g., the Supreme Court Clinic) and the Semester in Washington program (where you move to DC for a semester and work full-time while taking a night class twice a week). There's also the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, which seems to consume your entire life. But those are not the norm.

[AccountExpired]

Not sure if it is proper to post the question here, but I will nonetheless try: I am an international applicant with a Superior rating and a 99.9 percentile LSAT. HLS is the only school I would like to settle for this cycle. Luckily got a JS1 invite this week but now I am worried to screw up the interview since I am a non-native speaker with far-from-perfect English. I wonder what behaviors/answers during the interview will likely lead to a rejection. Any other JS1-related advice (especially for internationals) is appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance for any response!

[Mr. Elshal]

Not sure if it is proper to post the question here, but I will nonetheless try: I am an international applicant with a Superior rating and a 99.9 percentile LSAT. HLS is the only school I would like to settle for this cycle. Luckily got a JS1 invite this week but now I am worried to screw up the interview since I am a non-native speaker with far-from-perfect English. I wonder what behaviors/answers during the interview will likely lead to a rejection. Any other JS1-related advice (especially for internationals) is appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance for any response!

I can't seem to find it now but there was a really great thread where people posted tons of interview advice for each school. There was a lot about HLS (some admittedly very neurotic). Like I said, I can't seem to find it but if it helps you search, I know I posted in it a bunch and the thread was created sometime near the end of 2012.

Otherwise, just remember that you are far from the first person in this situation and the admissions office will likely be very knowledgeable about cultural differences and the difficulty of interviewing in English (as a second or third language). Behaviors to watch out for (and this is not an exhaustive list):
- Don't cut them off when they are speaking
- Don't say anything sexist, racist, etc. (I don't know where you're from but I do have friends from countries where nobody bats an eye at sexist/racist comments and they get confused that Americans take it so seriously)
- Don't use any profanity
- Don't gesticulate wildly while speaking but also don't sit completely still the whole time

Good luck!

[tomwatts]

Stay calm as best you can and don't be afraid to think for a moment before giving an answer. Plenty of LLMs in my classes struggled to greater and lesser degrees with English, so this is not a bar to admission.

Also, seriously, congratulations on the high LSAT score given your English Language Learner status. That's not easy even for a native speaker of English, and I imagine it's even harder for someone in your position.

[Nathanael]

Can anyone talk about how difficult it is to get a spot in Harvard Defenders as a 1L and what sort of criteria they judge applicants on or what the application process is like?

Thanks!

[codyoneill]

Can anyone talk about how difficult it is to get a spot in Harvard Defenders as a 1L and what sort of criteria they judge applicants on or what the application process is like?

Thanks!

Not sure what the numbers are for acceptance/rejection, but it is selective. Getting in mostly depends on your interview, which will likely feature hypotheticals.

The key is to show a commitment to the work and a commitment to your clients.

It helps if you're interested in this work for a career, but it is by no means necessary.

I think the process is just an application and an interview.

[TripTrip]

Also: it's probably easier to get in Defenders as a 1L than as a 2L.

[Fred Norris]

Stayed in Watertown for ASW. Really liked the area. Especially liked being able to drive my car around places - love strip malls etc. I am a major "suburbs" person.

How much cheaper is a 1 BR in Watertown vs. cambridge?

[codyoneill]

Stayed in Watertown for ASW. Really liked the area. Especially liked being able to drive my car around places - love strip malls etc. I am a major "suburbs" person.

How much cheaper is a 1 BR in Watertown vs. cambridge?

Much much cheaper.

But you will be one of very few HLS students there. I personally don't know an HLS student who lives in Watertown. Almost everyone lives in Cambridge/Somerville, with a handful of people across the river in Brighton/Allston.

[Pneumonia]

Yeah there aren't many students who live in the Watertown area, but there are a few. I know a handful in the 1L class who do. It is significantly cheaper (you can achieve Gropius-level rents if you get a house with a roommate) and is also a very different vibe of Cambridge/Somerville and certainly a different culture entirely from Allston/Brighton. Also, I PM'd you.

[LawBron James]

Stayed in Watertown for ASW. Really liked the area. Especially liked being able to drive my car around places - love strip malls etc. I am a major "suburbs" person.

How much cheaper is a 1 BR in Watertown vs. cambridge?

Much much cheaper.

But you will be one of very few HLS students there. I personally don't know an HLS student who lives in Watertown. Almost everyone lives in Cambridge/Somerville, with a handful of people across the river in Brighton/Allston.

Is the commute from the Brighton area rough as a 1L? Seems like things are a little more affordable over there.

[codyoneill]

Stayed in Watertown for ASW. Really liked the area. Especially liked being able to drive my car around places - love strip malls etc. I am a major "suburbs" person.

How much cheaper is a 1 BR in Watertown vs. cambridge?

Much much cheaper.

But you will be one of very few HLS students there. I personally don't know an HLS student who lives in Watertown. Almost everyone lives in Cambridge/Somerville, with a handful of people across the river in Brighton/Allston.

Is the commute from the Brighton area rough as a 1L? Seems like things are a little more affordable over there.

It all depends on your definition of rough.

As someone with work experience before 1L, I thought that a 10-15 minute walk to school from Cambridge was ideal.

I arrived and many of my classmates—subsequently my friends—found the walk from campus to my place (in the winter, in the cold) unbearable and unenviable.

As a 1L, the vast majority of my classmates live within one block from the law school. If I lived in Brighton, I wouldn't be able to socialize nearly as much, because most plans are impromptu and the bus takes time.

That being said, the commute from Brighton is better than many non-law-school commutes. The 86 bus is pretty reliable.

It all depends on your expectations. But you will be in the minority of students living far from campus, for whatever that is worth.