UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[thepunisher24]

Geez, now I feel old.

Based on this board it seems like there will be a decent amount of us old timers in the c/o 2013.

What do you consider "old timer" age?

[thepunisher24]

We are the same age now.

Are you really the same age as him? God, I feel so old now. (I'm possibly the oldest person in this thread, and at least the oldest regular poster.)

How old is that?

[vanwinkle]

We are the same age now.

Are you really the same age as him? God, I feel so old now. (I'm possibly the oldest person in this thread, and at least the oldest regular poster.)

How old is that?

I think this guy sums it up well enough:

Everyone I meet seems to be 21-22.

[thepunisher24]

We are the same age now.

Are you really the same age as him? God, I feel so old now. (I'm possibly the oldest person in this thread, and at least the oldest regular poster.)

How old is that?

I think this guy sums it up well enough:

Everyone I meet seems to be 21-22.

Ha gotcha. I seem to be in this "old" age group then also.

[Chromakey]

Haha! I love the fact that the 23 and 24 year-olds consider themselves old. I'll turn 29 my first semester next year and I'm sure (at least I hope) that there will be a few people older than me

[dgouzoul]

Haha! I love the fact that the 23 and 24 year-olds consider themselves old. I'll turn 29 my first semester next year and I'm sure (at least I hope) that there will be a few people older than me

do professors count

[TigerBeer]

Anyone have a class with a midterm during 1L, or were they all classes with only one exam.

[Kohinoor]

Anyone have a class with a midterm during 1L, or were they all classes with only one exam.

Most sections have at least one class with a midterm. Whether it's graded varies.

[No1ustad]

Where are the best ways to find a roommate? CL, FB page, other sources, Open house, etc...?

I'm still looking for one atm, so it'd be helpful..

[vanwinkle]

Anyone have a class with a midterm during 1L, or were they all classes with only one exam.

You'll have one class which is called a "small section" class (it's just a 30-student class, only kids in your section will be in there) and that class will give you a midterm. Whether or not it affects your final grade is entirely up to the professor. I've heard of some professors making it a hard value, like it's worth 25% of your grade; others made it not actually worth anything at all. My small section professor did something interesting; he said that if you got a B+ or less it wouldn't affect your final grade at all but those who got higher than a B+ would get a small bump on the final if they needed it to make the next letter grade.

Regardless of how your professor weights your grade, it's something that's good to take seriously since it'll give you real exposure to a law school exam for the first time, and well before actual finals, helping you prepare.

[RVP11]

Anyone have a class with a midterm during 1L, or were they all classes with only one exam.

You'll have one class which is called a "small section" class (it's just a 30-student class, only kids in your section will be in there) and that class will give you a midterm. Whether or not it affects your final grade is entirely up to the professor. I've heard of some professors making it a hard value, like it's worth 25% of your grade; others made it not actually worth anything at all. My small section professor did something interesting; he said that if you got a B+ or less it wouldn't affect your final grade at all but those who got higher than a B+ would get a small bump on the final if they needed it to make the next letter grade.

So he was lying that it wouldn't affect your final grade at all, then?

[TigerBeer]

Thanks for the info. Ungraded or not, I'm just glad I'll have some sort of feedback before finals.

[vanwinkle]

So he was lying that it wouldn't affect your final grade at all, then?

Haha. I doubt that it actually affected anything. The people who did well enough on the midterm probably weren't borderline and in need of help on the final.

[musclemilk2]

Hey everyone, new to the thread and I looked around a little and saw that Ivy Gardens or anything on Arlington Blvd. is where most 1Ls live. Whats the best way to go about finding a roommate if I am somewhat particular in the type of person I want to live with?

[dgouzoul]

Hey everyone, new to the thread and I looked around a little and saw that Ivy Gardens or anything on Arlington Blvd. is where most 1Ls live. Whats the best way to go about finding a roommate if I am somewhat particular in the type of person I want to live with?

ASW would be super.

craigslist is a close second.

[FeuerFrei]

.

[vanwinkle]

I am interested in doing one of the "pro bono program-administered projects." Would I be able to start doing something like this my first semester? Do 1Ls generally get selected for things like this?

Yes, there are pro bono opportunites for 1Ls, both during the school year and during winter break/spring break. Generally the stuff 1Ls can do is quite limited due to the fact that they don't have much of a legal education yet, but you can still get trained to do some tasks, and as long as you do them under the supervision of an attorney, you can get pro bono hours for them.

I'm a 1L, and I may end up having all 75 hours necessary for the Pro Bono Challenge by the end of this year. That's largely thanks to the spring break pro bono project I'm going on, where I'm anticipating racking up 40 pro bono hours.

[FeuerFrei]

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[YCrevolution]

..

[vamedic03]

I am interested in doing one of the "pro bono program-administered projects." Would I be able to start doing something like this my first semester? Do 1Ls generally get selected for things like this?

Yes, there are pro bono opportunites for 1Ls, both during the school year and during winter break/spring break. Generally the stuff 1Ls can do is quite limited due to the fact that they don't have much of a legal education yet, but you can still get trained to do some tasks, and as long as you do them under the supervision of an attorney, you can get pro bono hours for them.

I'm a 1L, and I may end up having all 75 hours necessary for the Pro Bono Challenge by the end of this year. That's largely thanks to the spring break pro bono project I'm going on, where I'm anticipating racking up 40 pro bono hours.

Hell, I'm a 1L and I'm pretty much done for the Pro Bono challenge . . . I did 72.5 hours during a 2 week winter pro bono project. I treated it like a full time job and easily racked up the hours - plus I had a great time and learned a lot.

Also, its a total of 75 hours -> it doesn't matter how you do it.

Also, for 1L's -> make sure you do pro bono either fall semester or during winter pro bono project so you can be competitive for PILA grants

Finally - I wouldn't recommend doing any pro bono in your first few weeks of 1L and would be very light during the Fall semester - you need your free time to study and hang out with people.

[slider]

I checked the UVa site for the "JD Curriculum" and it lists the required courses for 1L. But doesn't list any required courses for 2L/3L. Is it all electives for your last 2 years?

[Cavalier]

I checked the UVa site for the "JD Curriculum" and it lists the required courses for 1L. But doesn't list any required courses for 2L/3L. Is it all electives for your last 2 years?

Basically. You need to take a professional responsibility course and a professional skills course, and do a substantial research paper (usually in a seminar class).

--LinkRemoved--

[joemoviebuff]

Do you guys know of anyone who lives in the Graduate Centre? They're emailing me lease information today and I would like to know of any pros or cons. Thanks.

[Cavalier]

Do you guys know of anyone who lives in the Graduate Centre? They're emailing me lease information today and I would like to know of any pros or cons. Thanks.

I live there, and just renewed for next year.

Pros:
Close to the law school, and directly across from Barracks (perfect location for me since I don't have a car)
My own room and bathroom, with a separate entrance
Good maintenance; any time a problem is reported, the landlord is quick to fix it
I get along well with my thee suite-mates

Cons:
A bit more expensive than some other places, especially the Jeffersonian
Only one refrigerator and freezer for 4 people - my suite-mates and I may end up splitting the cost of a minifridge for more space

Honestly I wouldn't live here if I didn't get along with my suite-mates, who are also 1Ls. I would hate to share the common area with three other people who I hardly knew. If you can find other law students (either here or on the UVA admitted students board) to share a suite with, I would highly recommend it, but if you are just by yourself I would look at other places.

[Apple Tree]

Anybody in the law and business program? Care to offer some opinion?