Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[delusional]

Two questions for planning summer flights:

1. How important is it to be back for EIP Orientation on Friday, August 5th? Is it fine to come back the Saturday or Sunday before interviews start on the Monday?

2. Does the HLR competition have to be handed in physically, and does it go right until 23:59 on the Saturday? Does this mean you shouldn't plan to leave until Sunday the 22nd? (I don't want to write remotely)

Thanks!

EIP Orientation is not particularly important and I believe they stream it online anyway.

[tomwatts]

Two questions for planning summer flights:

1. How important is it to be back for EIP Orientation on Friday, August 5th? Is it fine to come back the Saturday or Sunday before interviews start on the Monday?

2. Does the HLR competition have to be handed in physically, and does it go right until 23:59 on the Saturday? Does this mean you shouldn't plan to leave until Sunday the 22nd? (I don't want to write remotely)

Thanks!

1. Not at all. A lot of people miss it.

2. it can be mailed, but if you write it on site, you should hand it in physically, because it will take all your time until the deadline (which was in the late afternoon if I remember correctly — 5 pm, maybe?).

Has anyone ever had a problem getting a dorm extension for the write on? Want to buy my flight home.

It's automatic. I knew people who said they were doing the write on, decided against it later, and just hung out in the dorms for the extra week because they felt like it.

Related to the above: Is it normal to only get 3 classes (for the year) after preferencing is done for multi-sections? My schedule is woefully empty (nothing in the fall as of right now, one winter class, and two spring classes (one of which I don't really want).

That's less than I would expect, but it depends on your waitlists and what you were hoping for in terms of electives. You don't need that many multisections if you're planning to stock up on electives, and you don't need to get into many multisections if you're on waitlists that will move a lot (which most do) or high on waitlists that will move a little.

[foxes]

Thanks for the answer!

Regarding how many classes ppl have at this point... I've got one clinic and two multi sections and basically all the 1ls I've spoken to have the same. Do most ppl end up in more multi sections than that or do ppl generally stick to two per the year?

[LaziestPeople]

Is there any reason to spend serious time on the 1L Ames moot court?

[TripTrip]

Thanks for the answer!

Regarding how many classes ppl have at this point... I've got one clinic and two multi sections and basically all the 1ls I've spoken to have the same. Do most ppl end up in more multi sections than that or do ppl generally stick to two per the year?

You'll get into two or three more multisections and then end up taking just one anyway because you realize they're more work than other courses. Then at the last minute you'll drop the clinic because seven friends tell you it's way more work than you think. #palmreader

But actually there's no conventional wisdom on course selection 2L and 3L because it doesn't matter what you take. If you want DSs, take multisectionals. If you want Hs, take seminars. (This distinction is important depending on which level of honors you're gunning for.) If you want the easy life, take professors with open exams and established outlines who allow laptops. If you want to learn something, take a clinic. There's no wrong answer here. Firms sure don't care.

[merrick_garland]

Thanks for the answer!

Regarding how many classes ppl have at this point... I've got one clinic and two multi sections and basically all the 1ls I've spoken to have the same. Do most ppl end up in more multi sections than that or do ppl generally stick to two per the year?

You'll get into two or three more multisections and then end up taking just one anyway because you realize they're more work than other courses. Then at the last minute you'll drop the clinic because seven friends tell you it's way more work than you think. #palmreader

But actually there's no conventional wisdom on course selection 2L and 3L because it doesn't matter what you take. If you want DSs, take multisectionals. If you want Hs, take seminars. (This distinction is important depending on which level of honors you're gunning for.) If you want the easy life, take professors with open exams and established outlines who allow laptops. If you want to learn something, take a clinic. There's no wrong answer here. Firms sure don't care.

This should be read allowed to every 0L at ASW

[lawlorbust]

Two questions for planning summer flights:

1. How important is it to be back for EIP Orientation on Friday, August 5th? Is it fine to come back the Saturday or Sunday before interviews start on the Monday?

2. Does the HLR competition have to be handed in physically, and does it go right until 23:59 on the Saturday? Does this mean you shouldn't plan to leave until Sunday the 22nd? (I don't want to write remotely)

Thanks!

1. Not at all. A lot of people miss it.

2. it can be mailed, but if you write it on site, you should hand it in physically, because it will take all your time until the deadline (which was in the late afternoon if I remember correctly — 5 pm, maybe?).

IIRC, last year's HLR hand-in time was 12pm. You can also send it in via mail as long as you get it timestamped by the deadline (12pm in your timezone).

[Indifference]

On a scale of 1-10, how many shits did current 2/3Ls give about Oral Arguments?
I'm currently at a 2, and can't seem to get myself to care about being prepared, cause it isn't graded.

[tomwatts]

On a scale of 1-10, how many shits did current 2/3Ls give about Oral Arguments?
I'm currently at a 2, and can't seem to get myself to care about being prepared, cause it isn't graded.

I guess you probably should care approximately as much as you cared about Problem Solving Workshop.

[QuentonCassidy]

First of all, thanks to everyone answering questions; it has been very helpful.

Second, background:
I'm a 0L who will be attending this fall. My fiancee has a job in Boston which starts in May, so I will be in Boston for the whole summer (living about 1.5 miles away from HLS). I know that the conventional wisdom is to just relax and take it easy for 0L summer, but honestly I am going to be in a random city with no friends and nothing to do and I'm going to be bored out of my mind sitting in an apartment all day (I'm not much of a nightlife/city guy either, and by not much I mean not at all). In looking into possible things to do over the summer, someone told me that professors sometimes take 0L RAs over the summer, and that sounded really awesome to me. I was told to email OCS about it, which I did, and they let me know that, while they had no specific information about doing this, a JD advisor and 3L peer advisor recommended checking out faculty bios and emailing professors for whom I would be interested in doing research.

Third, my questions:
1. Does anyone have any experience doing this (RA 0L summer) or know anyone who has or has tried? Pretty much any anecdotal (or otherwise) info would be appreciated.

2. Does anyone know of any professors who might be especially receptive to taking on a 0L RA; I'm not really looking to get laughed out of the room by asking a Dershowitz or Feldman (not saying they would, just that I imagine the more prominent profs don't have the time to deal with pesky 0Ls).

3. If I don't hear anything about specific professors who people think would take on a 0L, I have currently narrowed down the list to ~20 in an area of my interest (aka the only area that I could make any sort of argument about being qualified for). I'm torn between going ahead and emailing a bunch of them, based on the perceived probability that any one of them would actually take me as being infinitesimal, or emailing one at a time and waiting to hear back before going on to the next, because on what I imagine is an insanely small chance that more than one takes me, I don't know if it would be a total faux pas to decline. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

4. I imagine one reason a professor might not take me is that, as a completely oblivious 0L, I won't even be worth the 11 something hourly dollars that RAs are normally paid. I am totally fine with doing this on a volunteer basis; I honestly just like law/economics research and would enjoy getting some exposure to that rather than sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Should I mention that I would be up for doing this on a volunteer basis in my first contact email? Is that even allowed?

Any answers to my questions would be very much appreciated, as would any general advice/info that you may have that I didn't think to ask. If instead you want to tell me why I'm making a mistake or that it is stupid to do this or it's stupid to even ask about, I guess that's fine too.

[foxes]

On a scale of 1-10, how many shits did current 2/3Ls give about Oral Arguments?
I'm currently at a 2, and can't seem to get myself to care about being prepared, cause it isn't graded.

i did mine last night. i prepped for 30 mins and did fine.

[despina]

On a scale of 1-10, how many shits did current 2/3Ls give about Oral Arguments?
I'm currently at a 2, and can't seem to get myself to care about being prepared, cause it isn't graded.

I guess you probably should care approximately as much as you cared about Problem Solving Workshop.

I think it's worth spending at least some time on so that you can get meaningful feedback.

If you don't prepare at all, the feedback you get will be "wow, you clearly weren't prepared." No consequences, but also useless waste of time, and you've already spent a lot of time and effort on the brief.

If you take an hour or two to prepare, then you might actually get useful feedback about the style and content, and you will have some of your own "feedback" about whether you enjoy this aspect of litigation at all.

[TripTrip]

First of all, thanks to everyone answering questions; it has been very helpful.

Second, background:
I'm a 0L who will be attending this fall. My fiancee has a job in Boston which starts in May, so I will be in Boston for the whole summer (living about 1.5 miles away from HLS). I know that the conventional wisdom is to just relax and take it easy for 0L summer, but honestly I am going to be in a random city with no friends and nothing to do and I'm going to be bored out of my mind sitting in an apartment all day (I'm not much of a nightlife/city guy either, and by not much I mean not at all). In looking into possible things to do over the summer, someone told me that professors sometimes take 0L RAs over the summer, and that sounded really awesome to me. I was told to email OCS about it, which I did, and they let me know that, while they had no specific information about doing this, a JD advisor and 3L peer advisor recommended checking out faculty bios and emailing professors for whom I would be interested in doing research.

Third, my questions:
1. Does anyone have any experience doing this (RA 0L summer) or know anyone who has or has tried? Pretty much any anecdotal (or otherwise) info would be appreciated.

2. Does anyone know of any professors who might be especially receptive to taking on a 0L RA; I'm not really looking to get laughed out of the room by asking a Dershowitz or Feldman (not saying they would, just that I imagine the more prominent profs don't have the time to deal with pesky 0Ls).

3. If I don't hear anything about specific professors who people think would take on a 0L, I have currently narrowed down the list to ~20 in an area of my interest (aka the only area that I could make any sort of argument about being qualified for). I'm torn between going ahead and emailing a bunch of them, based on the perceived probability that any one of them would actually take me as being infinitesimal, or emailing one at a time and waiting to hear back before going on to the next, because on what I imagine is an insanely small chance that more than one takes me, I don't know if it would be a total faux pas to decline. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

4. I imagine one reason a professor might not take me is that, as a completely oblivious 0L, I won't even be worth the 11 something hourly dollars that RAs are normally paid. I am totally fine with doing this on a volunteer basis; I honestly just like law/economics research and would enjoy getting some exposure to that rather than sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Should I mention that I would be up for doing this on a volunteer basis in my first contact email? Is that even allowed?

Any answers to my questions would be very much appreciated, as would any general advice/info that you may have that I didn't think to ask. If instead you want to tell me why I'm making a mistake or that it is stupid to do this or it's stupid to even ask about, I guess that's fine too.

Email them one at a time so you don't have to go back and reneg. (It's not like you're short on time here.)

PM me your list of professors. I can tell you in advance how some of them will likely respond. If you know any programming languages I can set you up with a Berkman professor.

[ValeVale]

Check the admin updates site to see what Professors are looking for RAs: http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/dos/administrative-updates/

Some will explicitly say they want 0Ls. Also, if you can still do it, try to look back to last april/may to see what professors were looking for summer RAs, and you can reach out to those Professors.

I RA'd for a professor last summer, basically was a data collector. Pretty mind-numbing, but made a few thousands bucks which was nice and could make my own schedule and such. Feel free to PM.

[QuentonCassidy]

PM'd you both. Thanks very much.

[Nonconsecutive]

On a scale of 1-10, how many shits did current 2/3Ls give about Oral Arguments?
I'm currently at a 2, and can't seem to get myself to care about being prepared, cause it isn't graded.

I did about an hour of prep in total, felt like that was enough to get substantive feedback while also not really caring. I had a partner who wanted to extensively prep, but lol no.

[Pneumonia]

The standard is: don't be embarrassingly underprepared, i.e., don't be so underprepared that people tell stories about you. If you suck, then who cares? But if you suck AND you forgot your client's name, then that's bad-news territory. Avoid that. But no, you don't need to be super prepped. Just don't shame your partner.

[leslieknope]

Any supplements recommended for Public International Law in general/Blum in particular?

[despina]

Any supplements recommended for Public International Law in general/Blum in particular?

I wouldn't use a supplement for Blum -- there are plenty of detailed outlines out there.

[foxes]

Has anyone taken Naz Modirzadeh for International Humanitarian Law/Laws of War? Interested in the topic but there isn't a lot of info about the prof besides 2 short Dope ratings.

eta: also i hear so many conflicting opinions about the corp profs. does anyone have a fav? I believe the options are coates, ramseyer, kraakman, clark, subramanian and spamann. i dont have any background in this sort of course so i'd prefer someone clear and easy to understand. tyia

[Pneumonia]

I have a professor who has agreed to write me a letter (for clerkships). After agreeing to write it he/she asked me to email him/her "anything I thought might be useful for writing the letter." What does that mean? I'm assuming resume/transcript, but what else?

[TripTrip]

I have a professor who has agreed to write me a letter (for clerkships). After agreeing to write it he/she asked me to email him/her "anything I thought might be useful for writing the letter." What does that mean? I'm assuming resume/transcript, but what else?

A list of the times you spoke insightfully in class. Things that you're involved with on campus, but not in a resume format. i.e., write out a couple of paragraphs about some things you've done at the law school and why they're important to you. Arm them with an elevator pitch about why you're a great pick.

[tomwatts]

I have a professor who has agreed to write me a letter (for clerkships). After agreeing to write it he/she asked me to email him/her "anything I thought might be useful for writing the letter." What does that mean? I'm assuming resume/transcript, but what else?

I'd probably send the Recommendation Form (linked here).

[TripTrip]

^ or that. Same answers, more consistent formatting.

[Pneumonia]

Thanks guys.