Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[Blythe17]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

[robotrick]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

It'll take a few extra minutes out of your day to do it. There are two computers in the WCC that often have a short line of people in the morning doing similar things.

[foxes]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

It'll take a few extra minutes out of your day to do it. There are two computers in the WCC that often have a short line of people in the morning doing similar things.

aw man, might just buy a printer then

[TripTrip]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

It'll take a few extra minutes out of your day to do it. There are two computers in the WCC that often have a short line of people in the morning doing similar things.

aw man, might just buy a printer then

Langdell is much easier than WCC, since there are a lot more workstations. It's just a matter of going to Langdell if you live in Gropius.

[malleus discentium]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

One of my greatest regrets of 1L is not buying my own good-quality printer. I would have been immeasurably less stressed if I had been able to print my own memo, brief, write on competition and resumes for EIP. The HLS printers are staggeringly unreliable. Others disagree but I recommend it.

[Blythe17]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

One of my greatest regrets of 1L is not buying my own good-quality printer. I would have been immeasurably less stressed if I had been able to print my own memo, brief, write on competition and resumes for EIP. The HLS printers are staggeringly unreliable. Others disagree but I recommend it.

Alright, I'd much rather be on the safe side of avoiding regrets like this so I think I'll go ahead and buy by own, then. Thanks for the insight (and TripTrip, too)!

[Con Consigliere]

Anyone have insights about Glenn Cohen, Rakoff, or Donahue (section 7) that they'd like to share? Please and thanks!

N.B. Rakoff is teaching LegReg this year, all the prior comments mentioning him in this thread are about his Contracts class.

[foxes]

asking again, anyone taken mann for property? the dope reviews are vaguely terrifying

[Indifference]

Anyone have insights about Glenn Cohen, Rakoff, or Donahue (section 7) that they'd like to share? Please and thanks!

N.B. Rakoff is teaching LegReg this year, all the prior comments mentioning him in this thread are about his Contracts class.

There was a mixup in Rakoff's original letter to the section, but yes he's teaching LegReg. But I would be interested to hear what anyone has to say about the profs above too. What I've read seems to point to Donahue being odd/confusing to say the least.

[politics89]

asking again, anyone taken mann for property? the dope reviews are vaguely terrifying

Mann is the best. No need to worry.

[radio1nowhere]

asking again, anyone taken mann for property? the dope reviews are vaguely terrifying

Mann is the best. No need to worry.

Would you go so far as to say that he's the Mann?

[codyoneill]

Any word on printer access on campus? I'm thinking of taking digital notes outside of class and so printing them out for profs with no laptop policies. Would it be a major inconvenience (e.g. running up to X floor of the library, log into a desktop, print, and running to another building for class every day) or no (e.g. wirelessly accessible printers in class buildings)? Trying to decide whether to just buy my own printer.

One of my greatest regrets of 1L is not buying my own good-quality printer. I would have been immeasurably less stressed if I had been able to print my own memo, brief, write on competition and resumes for EIP. The HLS printers are staggeringly unreliable. Others disagree but I recommend it.

Could not second this more.

Considering how much you are paying in tuition, just buy a $80-$100 laser printer.

It is so convenient. You can print out your notes for class. You can print out and proofread your memo and briefs for LRW. Perhaps most importantly, you do not need to worry about late night or early morning trips to Kinko's during the HLR writing competition. I am so thankful I had a laser printer during 1L.

[robotrick]

asking again, anyone taken mann for property? the dope reviews are vaguely terrifying

He shouldn't be scary to anyone. His questions are predictable after a week and your worth as a person isn't tied up in your cold call performance.

My take on him/property - It's a boring class with thankfully light reading assignments. He doesn't really take in-class questions because it would mess up his tough guy act. And though this isn't something under his control, he has a distracting vocal tick. IME he's a polarizing prof where some people love him/his class and others hate it (you can guess which camp I'm in).

[Mr. Elshal]

asking again, anyone taken mann for property? the dope reviews are vaguely terrifying

He shouldn't be scary to anyone. His questions are predictable after a week and your worth as a person isn't tied up in your cold call performance.

My take on him/property - It's a boring class with thankfully light reading assignments. He doesn't really take in-class questions because it would mess up his tough guy act. And though this isn't something under his control, he has a distracting vocal tick. IME he's a polarizing prof where some people love him/his class and others hate it (you can guess which camp I'm in).

I loved property with Mann. Light reading assignments, he gives interesting historical context for just about every concept (he's a historian at heart), and the vocal tick is distracting but kind of helps break the tough guy facade. All in all, one of the brighter spots in my 1L fall semester.

[Legal Eagle87]

???

[Mr. Elshal]

Rising 3Ls & alums: In your and your friends' experience, do 2Ls & 3Ls who don't have feeder aspirations dial it down after they have their SA offers in hand? (And even for those who do, I know rising 2Ls who already have DC Cir, 9th Cir, etc clerkships lined up for 2019--on a side note, I had no interest in this, but what kind of foresight & "5 year roadmap" do those people have so as to be already set for 2019?).

Or do the people who racked up multiple Hs as 1Ls remain just as intense as upperclassmen for no particular reason?

I took it much easier once I got my SA offer, but still ended up with significantly higher grades--go figure.

[TripTrip]

Rising 3Ls & alums: In your and your friends' experience, do 2Ls & 3Ls who don't have feeder aspirations dial it down after they have their SA offers in hand?

2L and 3L:


But higher grades because there's a 1L curve that we never talk about on here. Everyone's grades go up 2L and 3L.

[foxes]

asking again, anyone taken mann for property? the dope reviews are vaguely terrifying

He shouldn't be scary to anyone. His questions are predictable after a week and your worth as a person isn't tied up in your cold call performance.

My take on him/property - It's a boring class with thankfully light reading assignments. He doesn't really take in-class questions because it would mess up his tough guy act. And though this isn't something under his control, he has a distracting vocal tick. IME he's a polarizing prof where some people love him/his class and others hate it (you can guess which camp I'm in).

I loved property with Mann. Light reading assignments, he gives interesting historical context for just about every concept (he's a historian at heart), and the vocal tick is distracting but kind of helps break the tough guy facade. All in all, one of the brighter spots in my 1L fall semester.

Thanks guys really helpful. On that note, anyone specifically taken contracts with bar-gill?

[Legal Eagle87]

???

[TripTrip]

Rising 3Ls & alums: In your and your friends' experience, do 2Ls & 3Ls who don't have feeder aspirations dial it down after they have their SA offers in hand?

2L and 3L:
But higher grades because there's a 1L curve that we never talk about on here. Everyone's grades go up 2L and 3L.

Well does everyone's grades go up by the same amount as 2Ls & 3Ls? I don't mean absolute size of improvement, since obviously those whose grades are already high can only go up so much more.

I mean does almost everyone have Hs & DSes as 2Ls & 3Ls, even in the "doctrinal" classes in addition to seminars? Such that Latin Honors are already determined by the end of 1L?

No. The average goes up, but that doesn't mean everyone is getting Hs and DSs.

The students who were latin level will probably continue to work to maintain their grades and just get more DSs during 2L and 3L.

[pupshaw]

There is probably no way to figure this out, but it would be interesting to know where the top 10% and top 40% cutoffs are after 1L. We know, for example, that magna is somewhere around 3.95, but since the consensus is that most people's grades go up during 2L and 3L, it seems like top 10% after 1L could be something like 3.75-3.8.

[Legal Eagle87]

???

[codyoneill]

No. The average goes up, but that doesn't mean everyone is getting Hs and DSs.

The students who were latin level will probably continue to work to maintain their grades and just get more DSs during 2L and 3L.

If latin level includes "cum laude," damn near half the class is latin level or on the bubble. If most of that half continues to work to maintain, then doesn't that mean latin honors are all but decided after 1 year?

Or is there some shuffling in & out: some latin level people are content with their Cleary SAs and dance around like Winnie the Pooh, while others do a Secretariat-esque "second wind" push?

Asking as someone who's probably on the bubble and wondering whether there'll be any free fallers from the top or overtakers from the bottom. It may be that the answer to this won't matter one way or another, but it can affect whether a given student goes as hard as they did in 1L, less so, or even more so.

I don't have time to find it now, but Posner co-authored an article criticizing the clerkship hiring process in which he used some empirical data (back from when Harvard kept class rank) showing that the top 50 students at the end of 1L were in large part not the same individuals who were in the top 50 upon graduation.

You have to imagine that there is plenty of change over 2L and 3L. 1L is only one third of input for Latin Honors. There are various reasons why or why not people would try as hard and there are plenty of ways in which 2L and 3L courses are graded differently. And we all remember from 1L that effort was necessary but not sufficient for good grades. So I would imagine there is plenty of space for change.

[Legal Eagle87]

???

[TripTrip]

the consensus is that most people's grades go up during 2L and 3L, it seems like top 10% after 1L could be something like 3.75-3.8.

To put a little more weight behind this, I've actually talked to professors directly about grading 1L versus 2L and 3L. (In the context of both odd discussions with tenured professors and emailing visiting professors to ask them the questions that are on the Dope survey.)

For 2L and 3L courses, one professor scoffed at the idea of ever assigning an LP. For 1L courses, one visiting professor implied that they had been directed from on high to hold to a rubric, which made it sound stronger than that they were merely "encouraged" to assign LPs.

This actually might be a really sneaky tactic by the school: if grades are still relevant during your 3L year and it inflates after 1L, then on average your 3L transcript is going to look better to whatever place you're applying to than the transcripts of the 1Ls or 2Ls they hired previously.

I don't know if that's true, but it would be bloody brilliant if it were. It would be a good way of reducing the number of students who fall through the cracks and would help up the employment numbers.