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Any 1L's out there?

I saw one yesterday

I am currently a 1L at Depaul.

Mamabird wrote:I am currently a 1L at Depaul.

1. Where are the best places to live? South Loop? Wrigleyville?
2. Do you recommend having a car?
3. How competitive are the other students?
4. How much time do you spend studying at the Library or elsewhere in the Law building, or do you stay away as much as possible?

Thanks!

danget bobby wrote:

Mamabird wrote:I am currently a 1L at Depaul.

1. Where are the best places to live? South Loop? Wrigleyville?
2. Do you recommend having a car?
3. How competitive are the other students?
4. How much time do you spend studying at the Library or elsewhere in the Law building, or do you stay away as much as possible?

Thanks!

1. I would say that the closer you live to school, the more convenient. I live in the suburbs, in order to save money, but my commute can get exhausting. I have friends who live all over- and in particular, a lot of friends who live in Bucktown, and Wrigleyville. You get a CTA card that cover's your entire semester of the L and or the bus-so that isn't an expense you have to add into your choice.

2. I have a car-but I had it before school, and again, I live in the burbs. I would say no. The trains, buses, and cabs will take you anywhere you need to go and parking is a hassle and an expense.

3. I'd say they are competitive-but not in an unfriendly way. For the most part, at least in my section, everybody is really friendly and willing to help out with notes if you miss class, etc. By finals time-people want to do well-and work hard and its gets intense, but it isn't vicious. Its hard to quantify as I only know one law school experience.

4. Since I live in the burbs- it really varies. During finals, I have been known to pull 16 or 17 hour days- between the trains, studying at the library, studying on the train ride home.. but many people never go to the library and they do quite well. Many people who did really well first semester study from home. This semester I've tried to do more from home. It just depends on where you can be productive. Don't focus on who is in the library the most- I know people who go to the library and literally surf the internet for six hours. So just focus on what works for you.

hey Mamabird, do you know anything about how many students retain their scholarships year after year? I'm very tempted by DePaul over Loyola because of the generous scholarship I have been offered. I have heard, however, that DePaul makes it very difficult to keep them after the first year. Have you heard or experienced anything like that?

aknecht wrote:hey Mamabird, do you know anything about how many students retain their scholarships year after year? I'm very tempted by DePaul over Loyola because of the generous scholarship I have been offered. I have heard, however, that DePaul makes it very difficult to keep them after the first year. Have you heard or experienced anything like that?

After this semester I think 30-40% were inside the gpa needed to retain their scholly. However, they are guaranteed for a year, so nobody has "lost" it yet. There are many rumors that DePaul stacks their sections to make it difficult for many people to retain. As for DePaul over Loyola, that is a factor you should take into account.

Mamabird wrote:

aknecht wrote:hey Mamabird, do you know anything about how many students retain their scholarships year after year? I'm very tempted by DePaul over Loyola because of the generous scholarship I have been offered. I have heard, however, that DePaul makes it very difficult to keep them after the first year. Have you heard or experienced anything like that?

After this semester I think 30-40% were inside the gpa needed to retain their scholly. However, they are guaranteed for a year, so nobody has "lost" it yet. There are many rumors that DePaul stacks their sections to make it difficult for many people to retain. As for DePaul over Loyola, that is a factor you should take into account.

if you lose it after the first year, can it be earned back? DePaul is being cagey when I call them with scholly questions.

aknecht wrote:

Mamabird wrote:

aknecht wrote:hey Mamabird, do you know anything about how many students retain their scholarships year after year? I'm very tempted by DePaul over Loyola because of the generous scholarship I have been offered. I have heard, however, that DePaul makes it very difficult to keep them after the first year. Have you heard or experienced anything like that?

After this semester I think 30-40% were inside the gpa needed to retain their scholly. However, they are guaranteed for a year, so nobody has "lost" it yet. There are many rumors that DePaul stacks their sections to make it difficult for many people to retain. As for DePaul over Loyola, that is a factor you should take into account.

if you lose it after the first year, can it be earned back? DePaul is being cagey when I call them with scholly questions.

I'd have to take a long hard look at the handbook to be 100%, but I'm 99% sure you cannot. Once it is gone-it is gone. This is because they'd have to re-up a lot of people later on who did a lot better the second year, when the curve is a lot less strict. I highly doubt they'd do this. They calculate out how many scholly's they'll retain, etc.

Mamabird wrote:

aknecht wrote:

Mamabird wrote:

aknecht wrote:hey Mamabird, do you know anything about how many students retain their scholarships year after year? I'm very tempted by DePaul over Loyola because of the generous scholarship I have been offered. I have heard, however, that DePaul makes it very difficult to keep them after the first year. Have you heard or experienced anything like that?

After this semester I think 30-40% were inside the gpa needed to retain their scholly. However, they are guaranteed for a year, so nobody has "lost" it yet. There are many rumors that DePaul stacks their sections to make it difficult for many people to retain. As for DePaul over Loyola, that is a factor you should take into account.

if you lose it after the first year, can it be earned back? DePaul is being cagey when I call them with scholly questions.

I'd have to take a long hard look at the handbook to be 100%, but I'm 99% sure you cannot. Once it is gone-it is gone. This is because they'd have to re-up a lot of people later on who did a lot better the second year, when the curve is a lot less strict. I highly doubt they'd do this. They calculate out how many scholly's they'll retain, etc.

thanks for the response. I actually emailed DePaul officially about this and this was the response:

Our scholarships require that students maintain a specific cumulative GPA at the end of the academic year to renew their award. The specific requirement is stated in your acceptance letter. Students who do not meet the minimum GPA requirement at the end of the academic year will permanently lose the award. Students who lose their award cannot renew the award at a later time by raising their grades back up to the required minimum GPA. The student may, however, become eligible for other internal and external scholarship awards.

The minimum GPA requirement for merit scholarships is a high standard and we expect that students receiving merit scholarships will need to work very hard to renew their awards. Each year, many students do not meet this standard and fail to renew the scholarship in their second year of law school. To give you a better sense of your likelihood of renewing a merit scholarship, it may be helpful to know that for fall 2010 a GPA of 3.20 represents approximately the top 35% of class at the end of the first year. A GPA of 3.70 represents approximately the top 10% of the class. You can find additional information regarding class rank at DePaul at --LinkRemoved--. Some students inquire about the grading curve. The grading curve for most first-year classes is indicated below. The first-year curve only requires that 15-20% of students in each class receive grades of 2.0 or lower.

The first year curve is as follows:
A (4.0) 10%-15%
B+ (3.5) 20%-25%
B (3.0) 25%-30%
C+ (2.5) 20%-25%
C (2.0) or below 15%-20%

So that means, for me, that I need to be in the top ~25% to retain (3.2 is my stip). Don't get me wrong, I intend to be in that range but that stipulation still seems steep to me considering that once its gone, its gone.

How terrible are job prospects?

(If it affects much, I'd love to be a prosecutor.)