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I'm looking to live west or north of campus in the Oak Park area, if anyone is looking for a roomie (ideally, I'd like two roommates). I have too many pets for on-campus (a cat and dog), but want to avoid midtown and the Pocket because I hate the idea of driving to school. The housing director suggested not living south or east of campus, and after walking through it, I agree. She also said that security patrols a couple of blocks around the school, so if you're within those first few blocks it's safer. But security is definitely relative. After living beside the ghettos of Charleston, SC, the Oak Park area felt like home, lol...

And the invites/info for the rafting trip were mailed out yesterday. I don't know if that means there's orientation stuff in there too. But here's the info:

Includes Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Price: 200 (Regularly 310)
Departs: 8/11
Returns: 8/12 before orientation
Contact: Miranda Carroll who you can e-mail at BeyondMcGeorge@gmail.com

skylar wrote:I'm looking to live west or north of campus in the Oak Park area, if anyone is looking for a roomie (ideally, I'd like two roommates). I have too many pets for on-campus (a cat and dog), but want to avoid midtown and the Pocket because I hate the idea of driving to school. The housing director suggested not living south or east of campus, and after walking through it, I agree. She also said that security patrols a couple of blocks around the school, so if you're within those first few blocks it's safer. But security is definitely relative. After living beside the ghettos of Charleston, SC, the Oak Park area felt like home, lol...

And the invites/info for the rafting trip were mailed out yesterday. I don't know if that means there's orientation stuff in there too. But here's the info:

Includes Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Price: 200 (Regularly 310)
Departs: 8/11
Returns: 8/12 before orientation
Contact: Miranda Carroll who you can e-mail at BeyondMcGeorge@gmail.com

Cost of living in Sac is low enough that you probably want to rethink living in Oak Park before you get anything stolen. It's really not a nice area, and a friend of mine was shot to death there a couple years ago. Obviously, that's very unlikely to happen, but I share for what it's worth.

tequilasunriseplz wrote:SoftBoiledLife Aw, where are you from? Are you returning to Sac to be a 1L in fall?

Just a heads up to people coming to McGeorge who aren't familiar with the Sac area...bring your allergy pills! Claritin, Allegra, Zyrtec, whatever you need. If you stay in the city long enough (like 3 or 4 years), you will eventually experience seasonal allergies. The city is down in a valley so the pollen, grass, etc gets trapped.

I'm from Sac initially, but am currently living in New Mexico for 2 years teaching for Teach For America. I will be returning (more than likely) to CA in Fall 09 for 1L somewhere.

SoftBoiledLife wrote:and a friend of mine was shot to death there a couple years ago.

Ahhhhhh! Ok, this scares me just a little. Things to buy= pepper spray (where do you even get that?!)

Matokah - input from you would be great on this. Does the area around campus seem safe to you?

And thanks Skylar for the info on the rafting trip. Sounds like great fun!

Stuffedburrito: Hi! Well, if you were anything like me in undergrad, you got good grades without a whole lot of effort (or perhaps an hour or two of studying a night). The hardest transition for me was the massive load of studying that was required of me when my undergraduate majors required very little.

The readings can be confusing, and you might originally go into lectures expecting some concrete answer or rule that explains the case(s) you just read. Sadly, that's not usually what will happen during the lecture. A lot of times the lectures, while bringing forth a lot of stimulating and interesting discussion, only served to confuse me more about what we were actually supposed to get out of the case. Some people swear by this and others say to steer clear, but for me the most helpful thing to do was either 1) talk to my roommate (who happened to be in a different section than me but often had a different take on that particular subject that helped clarify things for me) or 2) read a horn book/study aid that actually usually gave more of a clear picture of the law as it was set forth.

I think the greatest service you can do for yourself is force yourself to learn the rules of law as you go through the cases and not at the end of the semester when you're stressing about midterms or finals. I say this sincerely, because I did the latter mostly and it was horrible trying to figure things out at the very end. Law school really is all about time management, and if you can settle yourself into a routine early on and stick with it, I think you'll find it a lot less stressful for you in the long run.

I hope that made some form of sense.

tequilasunriseplz: Honestly, I'm a 24 year old female who's not had one single problem with the area around campus. And this is coming from someone who spent her evenings in the library until 11:30p.m. most nights and chose to walk back to her car alone without the aid of a security escort.

To be honest, the area can seem a little shady around the campus but certainly not on it. I saw notices posted for suspicious activity that had been reported just last semester. The campus police are very good, to my knowledge, of updating people on suspicious behavior to watch out for, though, and a security escort IS available if you're uncomfortable walking back to your car alone after dark. Personally, though, I haven't felt the need for it.

McGeorge also does a lot of community outreach in Oak Park (I helped paint Sacramento High School's gym last Fall, for one), and I think most residents respect that. That's just the feeling I get, though, and others' experiences may be different. I hope that helps, though.

tequilasunriseplz: At first I was pretty scared about campus safety, too. I saw something kinda crazy on my first visit to the campus. Anyway after speaking with several administrators and students I felt a bit better. I felt a LOT better after I found this link:
http://www.mcgeorge.edu/x616.xml

Skylar: I've been telling everyone to look in Curtis Park. It is directly across the freeway from campus, within walking distance and is MUCH safer than Oak Park. There are mostly houses and cottages over there. That's where my fiancé and I are planning on living. You might be able to get together with a couple other students and get a house, too. I also heard there's a bulletin board at school for people looking for roomies for off-campus housing, but I have not figured out if they have it posted online anywhere. Anyway email Nancy Whalen at housing services (nwhalen@pacific.edu) and she can probably help you. I've been meaning to contact her myself. I hear she's really nice and very helpful.

Oh, just some clarification about the raft trip.

Beyond McGeorge = serious whitewater rafting (or it seemed like it was serious to me anyway) where you're going to go over 10 foot water falls and have to hike around taller falls. There'll be a stop for lunch but WEAR SUNSCREEN. I missed a spot on my leg and I *still* have the tan from last year. That just might be because I'm whiter than a ghost, though, so . . .yeah.

September raft race = Costumes, alcohol, and lazily floating down the river for 4-5 hours on a Saturday with 2Ls and 3Ls. The professors are at the end of the race waiting and making food for people. I much preferred this excursion, maybe just because the other trip terrified me (I'm a bit of a wimp).

Both were fun, though, but I totally got the two confused last year and just wanted other people to know. . .there are two! The second one, I believe, only costs $25 or so and you get a nifty t-shirt, so it's all good.

Also, what antsinmypants said: Email Nancy Whalen if you're looking for a roommate. People like me fill out a little survey about what we're looking for in a roomie and submit it to her via email. She can likely send prospective surveys to you quite quickly. That's how I found my roommate last year.

Ah, yeah, Curtis Park is what I meant. I thought it was considered part of Oak Park. Thanks for the clarification! Wherever I end up, I'm more than a little glad to have a soon-to-be big dog. Of course, the puppy stage is pretty nice in between cleaning up pee spots.

I already emailed Nancy, but haven't heard back yet. You can fill out a form for a room online, but you have to email her if you don't already have a place. More "hurry up and wait." What kills me is that Sacto is so far away that I can't come back again before I move. The Craigslist people aren't too fond of hearing that. And another $550 on a plane ticket from TN just isn't in my budget, especially since I haven't heard back from my potential summer jobs.

skylar wrote:What kills me is that Sacto is so far away that I can't come back again before I move. The Craigslist people aren't too fond of hearing that. And another $550 on a plane ticket from TN just isn't in my budget, especially since I haven't heard back from my potential summer jobs.

Maybe you can find a sublet for a month or two? It would suck to have to move again after classes start though.

Who is planning on going on the rafting trip?

antsinmypants wrote:Who is planning on going on the rafting trip?

I will definitely be going rafting. I'm very excited for August to come!!

antsinmypants wrote:Who is planning on going on the rafting trip?

I'm down for some rafting. I've never been before!

I'll be there.

kimbowmanjr wrote:I'll be there.

Me too. Does anyone know...is it byob (or is there no b allowed)?

Someone in Financial Aid told me most of the students don't even make it to the end of the trip they're so wasted. So I'm guessing it's BYOB.

I, however, plan to stick it through. Because in Charleston, everyone's really prissy, so this is something I've wanted to do for a LONG time! And I'm gonna do it, damnit!

Guys, are you talking about the Beyond McGeorge raft trip? If so, check my post above on this page. You won't be drinking until AFTER the trip is over since this is whitewater rafting.

The trip where people get wasted is the McGeorge Raft Trip in mid-to-late September. BIG difference. Just wanted to warn you, because it caught me off-guard, too.

Matokah wrote:Guys, are you talking about the Beyond McGeorge raft trip? If so, check my post above on this page. You won't be drinking until AFTER the trip is over since this is whitewater rafting.

The trip where people get wasted is the McGeorge Raft Trip in mid-to-late September. BIG difference. Just wanted to warn you, because it caught me off-guard, too.

Just make sure it's not Labor Day Weekend, because I'm pretty sure they banned booze on the Sacramento River during that time.

SoftBoiledLife wrote:Just make sure it's not Labor Day Weekend, because I'm pretty sure they banned booze on the Sacramento River during that time.

For REAL!?! It is that much of an issue they passed legislation banning it from certain areas at certain times? I am going to *love* this town!

Haha, I don't know if the Labor Day ban is true (but it sounds like something the City of Sacramento would do), but not to worry. Last year's raft race took place at the end of September, I believe, and did not conflict with Labor Day weekend in the slightest.

Honestly, both raft races are fun, but they're vastly different from one another. The rapids Beyond McGeorge one takes place an hour or so from the city (you get to drive up these scary, narrow roads for quite some time), whereas the other raft race is closer by in a less rapids-filled part of the American River. I enjoyed the second one more probably because I knew more people by that time and also because it was a lot tamer. People would jump out and swim by the side of the boat for fun, and there was food (and obviously drinks) on the raft for most of the day. I'll definitely be going on the raft race again this year!

antsinmypants wrote:

SoftBoiledLife wrote:Just make sure it's not Labor Day Weekend, because I'm pretty sure they banned booze on the Sacramento River during that time.

For REAL!?! It is that much of an issue they passed legislation banning it from certain areas at certain times? I am going to *love* this town!

Traditionally Chico State and Sac State students spend each Labor Day Weekend getting on Zodiac rafts on the Sacramento River and then drinking until they can't feel feelings, which results in one of the following:

1. Rowdy behavior
2. Someone passing out and drowning
3. Lewd displays
4. Some combination of 1-3.


Needless to say, it's a great time. But word to the wise from one who's been there: Take great care when you're sitting on a raft in the sun drinking booze in 110-degree temperature. It is very easy to not realize that you probably have heatstroke. Bring plenty of water and a big hat, and remember: If you need to take a dip in the river to cool off, do it, but do it before that 6th beer gets popped.

We've gotta breathe some life back into this thread, people!!

Just went out last night with a two of my buddies who have just finished their 1l year (one at Brooklyn LS and the other at NYU LS). Their description of the workload was pretty sobering, my friend at brooklyn said his typical day would consist of him waking up at 5 am , and then working until near midnight every day (he's a bit nuts and is trying gunning for the top 3 in his class , none the less, even if you take this into account we're gonna be working hard). My friend at NYU had an ardous (9-10 hours a day of work) schedule although less ardous than my buddy at brooklyn. It will be interesting to see how McGeorge's work load varies (particularly when going for a high GPA).

travvo wrote:Just went out last night with a two of my buddies who have just finished their 1l year (one at Brooklyn LS and the other at NYU LS). Their description of the workload was pretty sobering, my friend at brooklyn said his typical day would consist of him waking up at 5 am , and then working until near midnight every day (he's a bit nuts and is trying gunning for the top 3 in his class , none the less, even if you take this into account we're gonna be working hard). My friend at NYU had an ardous (9-10 hours a day of work) schedule although less ardous than my buddy at brooklyn. It will be interesting to see how McGeorge's work load varies (particularly when going for a high GPA).

I hear the general rule of thumb is to multiply the number of semester credit hours by 3 or 4, and the result is around the number hours you should be targeting for study a week. So if Fall 1L is 15 credits, then we should be spending between 45 to 60 hrs a week studying, which averages out to be 7.5 hrs a day.

We all know this is a load of crap though.

I hear what's more important is your time management and how effective your study strategy is. After a certain point your brain just won't learn, comprehend or retain the material. No matter how many hours you try and pound stuff into you’re head it just won't work after a certain point. You'll serve yourself better by wrapping it up when you're toast, getting a good night sleep and start over again fresh in the morning. Studies have shown that the work you do fresh and well rested is much more likely to be comprehended and retained than when you're crudded out. Just be sure not to crap out after only studying for 3 or 4 hours. This actually does make sense to me.

Skylar, why create a second McGeorge 2011 facebook group when there was already one created before that
See
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13195656831

Awww... our first class rivalry! And how cool is it that it's over Facebook, too!

Hopefully this will bring some more excitement to this thread.