NYU 2L Taking Questions Forum

[Renzo]

do you guys ever have any compatibility issues using a mac for exams and such?

Used to with the old exam software, but they switched this year and now it works fine.

[Renne Walker]

I have a friend (I know her through family) who has a two bed room apartment in Manhattan (2.3 miles from NYU). She is a successful novelist who spends most of her time at her Connecticut home (two hour train ride to NY) or in Florida, plus she travels overseas a good bit. Typically, she is in NY about two days a week. Rent is nominal. . . almost like I am housesitting for her. My question is, if I decided to go to NY in June or July, what access (if any) would I have to the law school―perhaps the law library? If there is no access to NYU (without being a nuisance), I will likely stay put until August. What would you suggest?

[Renzo]

I have a friend (I know her through family) who has a two bed room apartment in Manhattan (2.3 miles from NYU). She is a successful novelist who spends most of her time at her Connecticut home (two hour train ride to NY) or in Florida, plus she travels overseas a good bit. Typically, she is in NY about two days a week. Rent is nominal. . . almost like I am housesitting for her. My question is, if I decided to go to NY in June or July, what access (if any) would I have to the law school―perhaps the law library? If there is no access to NYU (without being a nuisance), I will likely stay put until August. What would you suggest?

I suggest you take up knitting or ukulele-playing or some other hobby, rather than trying to figure out if you can get into the law library over your 0L summer.

[Lisi]

Hi,
I was wondering what you think of the Career Services at NYU. How helpful were they? I wonder about this because there seem to be mixed reviews about how helpful LS Career Service offices are in general, so I'd like to know where NYU stacks up. Can one be perfectly fine just taking their advice and basing all job and internship searches through them? Or is it more like looking for a real job (where who you know is crucial, and you have to search out the opportunities on our own)? If possible, can you speak to job searches outside of Big Law (which seems to be very standardized and reasonably easy to follow). Thanks!

[spondee]

My experiences with OCS have all been good - both for the PI/government careers office and the private careers office. They have a lot of great information available and generally offer good advice. They do well setting up OCI, too, so that NYU students can easily get 25-30 screening interviews. And I think they work hard to help students that are on the cusp/struggling to receive an offer. Of course they don't get everyone a job, but they do seem to try.

Can't really compare it to other schools, but I don't feel like I hear classmates complaining about OCS very much -- certainly not as much as people on here complain about other schools'.

But this is the wrong attitude:

Can one be perfectly fine just taking their advice and basing all job and internship searches through them?

Treat it like a regular job hunt -- your job hunt. Take charge and do what you need to do. For most students, OCI and everything set up by OCS will be enough, but it may not work out, or it may not get you to the job that's the best fit, etc. Look to OCS as a source of information and advice, not as a decision maker or head hunter or matchmaker, etc.

[Renzo]

I'd agree with all of the above. OCS is very helpful, and I have not heard any of the complaints that I've heard about other schools. That being said, they're not going to go out, find you a job, and drop it in your lap for you. They're a very valuable resource to assist you in your job hunt.

[zanda]

I would say pretty much the same for PILC (for those looking for PI jobs rather than firm jobs). They've been very helpful. My one criticism is that they seem to underrate the affect of the recession on the ease in getting a PI position for 2L summer and (anecdotally) for post-grad.

[Lisi]

Thanks for the responses! Good to hear that they are so helpful. I guess I was setting up a bit of a false dichotomy in suggesting that one could entirely rely on career services for job search and placement. Of course I don't plan to do that; I was just trying to get a sense of where NYU's OCS fell on the spectrum.

[Siamsa414]

Hi there! I just got in off the waitlist and have never been to NYC, let alone NYU. I have to decide fast and am hoping any NYC residents can help me out.

• How does a person find an apartment? I have pets, so on-campus housing is not an option. I will not be able to visit and apartment hunt. How can I find a place long-distance?
• I have a partner, two cats and a smallish dog. Can I find (and afford) an apartment for all of us? It'd be nice to live near the school but I'm open to living farther afield. I like the sound of Brooklyn.
• How's the job market? My partner's a recent grad whose experience is largely admin/clerical. Could she find a job?
• What's with the infamous NYC rudeness?
• I am not very cool. I don't smoke, don't go clubbing, don't wear a lot of black, and would rather stay home and roast a chicken than go out on the town. I am kind of shlubby and domestic; I actually like the suburbs. How much would I hate NYC?
• How do people make friends in NYC? I'm sure I'd meet lots of people at school, but my partner will be working and I don't want her to be lonesome.

Thanks for any answers!

[thecilent]

Hi there! I just got in off the waitlist and have never been to NYC, let alone NYU. I have to decide fast and am hoping any NYC residents can help me out.

• How does a person find an apartment? I have pets, so on-campus housing is not an option. I will not be able to visit and apartment hunt. How can I find a place long-distance?
• I have a partner, two cats and a smallish dog. Can I find (and afford) an apartment for all of us? It'd be nice to live near the school but I'm open to living farther afield. I like the sound of Brooklyn.
• How's the job market? My partner's a recent grad whose experience is largely admin/clerical. Could she find a job?
• What's with the infamous NYC rudeness?
• I am not very cool. I don't smoke, don't go clubbing, don't wear a lot of black, and would rather stay home and roast a chicken than go out on the town. I am kind of shlubby and domestic; I actually like the suburbs. How much would I hate NYC?
• How do people make friends in NYC? I'm sure I'd meet lots of people at school, but my partner will be working and I don't want her to be lonesome.

Thanks for any answers!

Are you serious

[Siamsa414]

Are you serious

Sorry, I got carried away. I just don't know anything about living in New York.

[bdubs]

How does a person find an apartment? I have pets, so on-campus housing is not an option. I will not be able to visit and apartment hunt. How can I find a place long-distance?
I have a partner, two cats and a smallish dog. Can I find (and afford) an apartment for all of us? It'd be nice to live near the school but I'm open to living farther afield. I like the sound of Brooklyn.

I was admitted and have a medium/large dog, so I started the pet friendly apartment search. I can tell you it is difficult but feasible, especially if you are open to living in Brooklyn. Not sure about how signing a lease sight unseen goes over in NYC.

The budget might stretch to cover a 1 br in a less desirable part of Brooklyn, but you should really think about the work possibilities for your partner before determining your budget. I doubt you would want to live in the areas where you can afford a 1 BR if you are not familiar with NYC or even city living.

[Lisi]

Hi there! I just got in off the waitlist and have never been to NYC, let alone NYU. I have to decide fast and am hoping any NYC residents can help me out.

• How does a person find an apartment? I have pets, so on-campus housing is not an option. I will not be able to visit and apartment hunt. How can I find a place long-distance?
• I have a partner, two cats and a smallish dog. Can I find (and afford) an apartment for all of us? It'd be nice to live near the school but I'm open to living farther afield. I like the sound of Brooklyn.
• How's the job market? My partner's a recent grad whose experience is largely admin/clerical. Could she find a job?
• What's with the infamous NYC rudeness?
• I am not very cool. I don't smoke, don't go clubbing, don't wear a lot of black, and would rather stay home and roast a chicken than go out on the town. I am kind of shlubby and domestic; I actually like the suburbs. How much would I hate NYC?
• How do people make friends in NYC? I'm sure I'd meet lots of people at school, but my partner will be working and I don't want her to be lonesome.

Thanks for any answers!

-- I live in Washington Heights, which on the A-train (which runs express) is convenient to NYU. Brooklyn is another option. I lived in Park Slope for a while and thought it was nice too. I've written more about my place and area on the 2014 NYU class thread. You will not get a place right near the school, but there are definitely places around NY that are convenient and affordable. I found my apt on Craigslist, but I was already in the city. I also have a dog. Since you may be at your place for 3 years, paying a broker's fee (especially if you can negotiate it down) might be an idea. Brokers can make the process a lot more efficient.
--I don't know much about the job market. I think it's probably no worse than anywhere else.
--People are rude in NY (something that is hyped but probably based in something real) because it's a big city, where everyone is busy, trying to get somewhere, over-extended, and doesn't know (nor will probably ever see again) the person/people that they are rude to.
--NYC attracts all types - not just the types you've described in your post. Lots of people live in NYC for 5-10 years before moving to another city or to the suburbs, so I don't think everyone is anti-suburb here. A lot of people come to NYC due to particular opportunities, not b/c they are dying to live in NYC. You will definitely find people to hang out with. I have a feeling most of your friends will be LS friends, but I've met new friends in the city that weren't part of my grad program (the reason I came here in the first place).

[Renne Walker]

Would be happy to answer questions.

What can you tell me about OCI interviews? Do they know our class ranking. . .do we even know our class ranking? Do they know our grades? What is the procedure to secure an interview? How do we provide them with YX&Z info on our accomplishments? Whatever experience you can share would be very helpful. Thanks

[Renzo]

Would be happy to answer questions.

What can you tell me about OCI interviews? Do they know our class ranking. . .do we even know our class ranking? Do they know our grades? What is the procedure to secure an interview? How do we provide them with YX&Z info on our accomplishments? Whatever experience you can share would be very helpful. Thanks

A year from now (which is when you should be worrying about this), they'll herd you all into the auditorium and provide you lots of specific information about the OCI procedure, who's coming, who wants what kind of grades, etc.

But, the short answer is that there is no grade-screening by firms: you rank who you want to interview with, they run a matching algorithm, you get back a schedule of interviews. You'll provide a resume beforehand; and while they won't get your grades ahead of time, 100% will ask for them in the interview. NYU doesn't rank officially, but everyone (including the firms) can approximate your rank based on past data.

[Renne Walker]

A year from now (which is when you should be worrying about this),.

Now I do not have to worry at all, thanks to you! Info appreciated. . .

[Renzo]

A year from now (which is when you should be worrying about this),.

Now I do not have to worry at all, thanks to you! Info appreciated. . .

Oh, you'll still probably worry; or at least I did.

[TheKingintheNorth]

Thanks for all the responses. Super amped about NYU law now.


There was a post a few pages back about the difficulty of 1L professors.

The student handbook says 1L classes have a strict curve enforced by the administration, so I don't see how grades can be an indicator of difficulty. For Arther Miller's class, as an example, is it that he demands more work, is a bad lecturer, or just deals in harder-to-understand concepts?


Do loans adjust to your want/need? I'm going in with a 15k+15k+7.5k (or 15K if your summer job is PI) scholarship, but plan to live in a 1650-1800 + utilities studio in manhatten (or loft in Brooklyn). Thus I'm afraid I'll run out of money if I only get what NYU predicts I'll pay on living expenses (which I hear is low-balled anyway).

I guess those questions weren't too NYU-specific, so uh how liberal/conservative is the student body relative to let's say other law schools and NYU undergraduates. I'm talking more socially than politically, things like weed, casual sex and style of dress?

[glitched]

what gpa do you need to grade onto law review?

[hopefullaw27]

some other post said 3.86, but it changes year to year

[glitched]

Is that top 10%?

[cigrainger]

Anybody know anything about the family housing at 130 MacDougal Street? How difficult are they to get? It would just be my wife and I.

[zanda]

Is that top 10%?

Much higher than that... probably top 3%? EDIT- found the info on the website

"Selection Methods
The Law Review extends invitations to 47 students from the first-year class under the following four methods:

Between 15 and 17 students will be selected on the basis of their writing competition scores, without regard to their grades or personal statements.
Between 15 and 17 students will be selected on the basis of their grades, without regard to their writing competition scores or personal statements, excluding those selected by writing.
Up to 5 students will be selected on the basis of a combination of their grades and writing competition scores, excluding those selected by the methods above.
Exactly 12 students will be selected on the basis of their personal statements, provided that either their grades or writing competition scores place them in the top half of all remaining applicants."