1L mixers, student orgs., etc. Forum

[dj_roomba]

Is it advisable to join student organizations during 1L fall semester?
What about special talks and events? ie: If Microsoft's in-house counsel is going to give a talk (and I'm interested in tech/business law).

There's a couple I'm interest in but I'm not sure if I should wait until Spring or 2L to join or just join now.

[bk1]

Join a group if it interests you. Go to an event if interests you. If a group or event doesn't interest you, don't go. It's that simple.

[Scotusnerd]

Join a group if it interests you. Go to an event if interests you. If a group or event doesn't interest you, don't go. It's that simple.

This. Also, go to two or three general law school events to make some friends and meet people. The SBA mixers get a good range, and you don't have to join.

[hephaestus]

Student groups don't mean anything. Do them if you are interested, not for a resume bump or anything.

[Ohiobumpkin]

Two words: Free food. nuff said.

[dkb17xzx]

Join a group if it interests you. Go to an event if interests you. If a group or event doesn't interest you, don't go. It's that simple.

[OneMoreLawHopeful]

I hate to be "that guy" but...

I think everyone should absolutely join a group for networking purposes, provided that it's something which legitimately interests you and you have the spare time to put in effort (i.e. it's not useful for networking if the impression you leave is "that guy who says he'll do things and then doesn't show,").

Joining a student org my 1L year helped me to meet upperclassmen (who happily shared outlines), alumni (who worked at firms I had an interest in working at), and local practitioners in the field the org worked in (who helped by both explaining how the field worked AND later during OCI when I could legitimately say I had met so-and-so).

Now that I'm a 3L, I find myself paying it forward. This OCI cycle, I was able to connect 2Ls I had met in the org last year with 3Ls in my class who had just summered at firms the 2Ls had interviews with, and even alumni who worked at those firms. Even if the benefits are minimal, anything that might help with the SA search is probably worth it.

But, like others have said, you can't force this. If join an org you don't care about, it will show, and people won't want to help you.

[gaud]

Two words: Free food. nuff said.

[Scotusnerd]

I hate to be "that guy" but...

I think everyone should absolutely join a group for networking purposes, provided that it's something which legitimately interests you and you have the spare time to put in effort (i.e. it's not useful for networking if the impression you leave is "that guy who says he'll do things and then doesn't show,").

Joining a student org my 1L year helped me to meet upperclassmen (who happily shared outlines), alumni (who worked at firms I had an interest in working at), and local practitioners in the field the org worked in (who helped by both explaining how the field worked AND later during OCI when I could legitimately say I had met so-and-so).

Now that I'm a 3L, I find myself paying it forward. This OCI cycle, I was able to connect 2Ls I had met in the org last year with 3Ls in my class who had just summered at firms the 2Ls had interviews with, and even alumni who worked at those firms. Even if the benefits are minimal, anything that might help with the SA search is probably worth it.

But, like others have said, you can't force this. If join an org you don't care about, it will show, and people won't want to help you.

I've heard similar things from classmates. The same also applies to journals, moot court, mock trial etc. I 100% agree that you can't force it. Don't go because it's an organization. Go to the ones you're interested it, and hang out with the people who are interesting.

[sinfiery]

Two words: Free food. nuff said.

[dj_roomba]

I hate to be "that guy" but...

I think everyone should absolutely join a group for networking purposes, provided that it's something which legitimately interests you and you have the spare time to put in effort (i.e. it's not useful for networking if the impression you leave is "that guy who says he'll do things and then doesn't show,").

Joining a student org my 1L year helped me to meet upperclassmen (who happily shared outlines), alumni (who worked at firms I had an interest in working at), and local practitioners in the field the org worked in (who helped by both explaining how the field worked AND later during OCI when I could legitimately say I had met so-and-so).

Now that I'm a 3L, I find myself paying it forward. This OCI cycle, I was able to connect 2Ls I had met in the org last year with 3Ls in my class who had just summered at firms the 2Ls had interviews with, and even alumni who worked at those firms. Even if the benefits are minimal, anything that might help with the SA search is probably worth it.

But, like others have said, you can't force this. If join an org you don't care about, it will show, and people won't want to help you.

Thanks. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I hear mixed things about how useless student orgs are but I also hear they can be helpful.
I was wondering if the benefit > giving up study time

[Dogg]

Two words: Free food. nuff said.

I think everyone should absolutely join a group for networking purposes, provided that it's something which legitimately interests you and you have the spare time to put in effort

If you're interested in a certain area of law, joining a group for networking is great to meet others.
Besides the free food, this is a big benefit if you're looking to go into that area after school since you'll already have your foot in the door if your school is in the same region as you want to practice.

[Scotusnerd]

If you're interested in a certain area of law, joining a group for networking is great to meet others.
Besides the free food, this is a big benefit if you're looking to go into that area after school since you'll already have your foot in the door if your school is in the same region as you want to practice.

"Foot in the door" is a relative term. You have to network and get along with the people. Just joining a group and getting free pizza isn't going to cut it. You're going to have to go above that to get your foot in the door.

That, and hope that your school can get decent people in.