Top Law Schools

Hey fellow TLSers. I am a 1L at the University of North Carolina LS. TLS was a really helpful resource for me during the application process and when picking a law school, so I thought I'd pitch in and take any questions you all have about UNC. Fire away!

Wonderful, just the topic I needed.

First, how much ability is there to specialize in a given sub-field. I'm most interested in international, national security, and constitutional law. I imagine that in year 1 there isn't that much flexibility?

Are most courses offered every year? Genocide, Human Rights, and International Criminal Law - Law 600 looks amazing. Do they really fly you to the Hauge? I work a second job for a non-profit that operates in the DRC so the focus on Rwanda would be very interesting.

Any idea about international focused internships in the actual Triangle area? Do most people leave for DC, NYC, etc for the summer?

LSA2014 wrote:Wonderful, just the topic I needed.

First, how much ability is there to specialize in a given sub-field. I'm most interested in international, national security, and constitutional law. I imagine that in year 1 there isn't that much flexibility?

Are most courses offered every year? Genocide, Human Rights, and International Criminal Law - Law 600 looks amazing. Do they really fly you to the Hauge? I work a second job for a non-profit that operates in the DRC so the focus on Rwanda would be very interesting.

Any idea about international focused internships in the actual Triangle area? Do most people leave for DC, NYC, etc for the summer?

In your first year there is no flexibility to choose your courses. You'll get that at any law school. Your first semester you'll take Torts, Contracts, Civil Procedure, and the first part of the legal skill class, and second semester you'll take Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Property, and the second part of your legal skills class. After your first year, however, it's really up to you which courses you take. You can get very specific or stay as general as you want. You do have to take Professional Responsibility and two "writing experiences" but other than that it's up to you. Just looking at the course offering for this semester, they offered about 60 different classes. From speaking with upperclassmen, it does seem that most classes are offered routinely. However if you want to take a really obscure course like "Asian Law Perspectives" (a course they offered this semester), you might only get one chance or no chances at all.

As far as the Law 600 class, I actually don't know anyone taking that class. I'll ask around and see if I can anyone that has taken it or is going to. I would imagine that they do not fly you to the Hauge though...you probably have to get yourself there.

As far as summer prospects, most 1Ls do not go to DC or NYC. However, I do know plenty of 2Ls and 3Ls that were SAs in both of those cities. In the Triangle itself, I don't think that there a whole lot of internationally focused internships outside of SA positions at large firms. I do know several of my friends are interested in international law and are going to work this summer for some of the large firms in the Triangle area such as Ogletree Deakins, Williams Mullens, nexsen pruet, etc. I'll see if they can provide me some insight on their search for an international law summer position.

LSA2014 wrote:First, how much ability is there to specialize in a given sub-field. I'm most interested in international, national security, and constitutional law. I imagine that in year 1 there isn't that much flexibility?

Are most courses offered every year? Genocide, Human Rights, and International Criminal Law - Law 600 looks amazing. Do they really fly you to the Hauge? I work a second job for a non-profit that operates in the DRC so the focus on Rwanda would be very interesting.

Any idea about international focused internships in the actual Triangle area? Do most people leave for DC, NYC, etc for the summer?

2L here at UNC. Consider looking at not only UNC's course schedules but also Duke's. Our Inter-institutional program allows you to take law courses at Duke as well at no extra charge. So, for example...I'm taking Employment Benefits and Executive Compensation here at UNC (basically ERISA LAW). No other school in the triangle offers this course, so we have people from Duke and NCCU law school taking the course as well.

Just remember this is NC. This is not NYC or DC. If you want "internationally focused internships" well.... that is going to come heavily from you scouting them out and having the grades/skills for them.

I think the most international-esque internship you are going to get working in the Triangle is working for an international drug/tech/research company in the Triangle.

Can you discuss housing options/prices? Do most students have cars? Thanks!

sunnyd101 wrote:Can you discuss housing options/prices? Do most students have cars? Thanks!

The rent was extremely cheap in the city that I lived in before I moved to Chapel Hill, so I was a little bit shocked when I had to pay ~$700 for a one bedroom apartment. There's a pretty good wide range of housing options. A lot of people live in Glen Lennox because with a roommate it's fairly inexpensive and it's very close to the law school. Alta Springs is another really popular place for 1Ls. I think it's about $500 per for a 3 bedroom. You can print in their business center for free, which is really nice. A good place to check for rentals beyond the major apartment complexes is chapelhillrent.com. When picking a place to live, I think the most important thing is making sure that it's convenient to get to the law school. There's a good bus system in Chapel Hill, and you can check the routes and schedules at --LinkRemoved--. Oh, and you want to try and get a place that is mostly grad students. You can usually tell from their website whether they cater to grad students more than undergrads, but if you have any particular place in mind you can ask and I'll let you know.

I would say that most students have cars, but assuming you live on a bus line they're really unnecessary. I have a car, but rarely drive it and could certainly get by without it. There isn't much parking at the law school, and I don't know any 1Ls that got parking passes unless they got the pass because of a hardship. There is a by the hour lot nearby, but at $1.50/hour it can get expensive. So even if you had a car, you probably wouldn't drive it to class much.

I'm really interested in PI and have seen a lot about the pro-bono program on the website. Do you feel like there are a lot of opportunities and that people really take advantage of them? Also, how do you think it'd be attending as an OOS student? I have a lot of southern ties but only weak NC ones. Lastly, what's your opinion on the facilities?

Thanks so much!

Thanks for the answers.

Can you take language courses through UNC during your enrollment?

I'm an incoming grad student at Duke and plan on taking Russian on top of my coursework next year. I would hope to be able to take advanced Russian on top of my 1L work as well at UNC.

I'm going to apply to both UNC and Duke since I can do the MPP/JD at both but my guess is I'll end up at UNC given the higher chances of aid and lower costs overall (I'm in-state).

evilduckie22 wrote:I'm really interested in PI and have seen a lot about the pro-bono program on the website. Do you feel like there are a lot of opportunities and that people really take advantage of them? Also, how do you think it'd be attending as an OOS student? I have a lot of southern ties but only weak NC ones. Lastly, what's your opinion on the facilities?

Thanks so much!

The thing that has really stood out to me about UNC versus other law schools is the amount of pro bono opportunities. When I went through OCI this spring several of the interviewers commented on how prevalent pro bono was here at UNC compared to other schools. I would say that the vast majority of students do some kind of pro bono work every semester. There are pro bono spring break trips, pro bono winter break trips, and pro bono opportunities throughout the semester. If you want to do pro bono at UNC, you can do pro bono.

I'm not OOS, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but it doesn't seem that OOS will affect your employment opportunities or the like. I think most of my OOS friends got summer positions this year either here in NC or back in their home state. And there are a good amount of job opportunities throughout the south. I think several firms with their principal offices in Birmingham and Atlanta participated in spring OCI, and many participated in resume drops. There will be a lot more OOS firms at fall OCI. And while most students are from instate, you certainly won't be the only OOS student. There are students from California, NY, Ohio, and all over.

I applied to 20+ schools and toured at probably half of those (top 3 bad idea, don't apply to so many). UNC probably has the oldest building out of everywhere that I toured. However, it really isn't that bad, and it certainly isn't a hindrance in the classroom. All the classrooms have outlets for your computers, all the lectures are recorded, and the library is large enough to fit everyone. It's not a sparkly, pretty building, but it gets the job done. If your somebody who needs a quiet personal space like I am, the library has lots of individual cubicles and several "no talking" floors. The only really unfortunate thing is that some parts of the library are right next to the football practice fields, and during practice they play music on loudspeakers. So you get to hear your share of mooted Waka Flocka and 2 Chainz while studying Torts. But it isn't that loud, and you can always find areas on the other side of the library where you can't hear a thing.

LSA2014 wrote:Thanks for the answers.

Can you take language courses through UNC during your enrollment?

I'm an incoming grad student at Duke and plan on taking Russian on top of my coursework next year. I would hope to be able to take advanced Russian on top of my 1L work as well at UNC.

I'm going to apply to both UNC and Duke since I can do the MPP/JD at both but my guess is I'll end up at UNC given the higher chances of aid and lower costs overall (I'm in-state).

They offered a course at the law this semester that was something like "Spanish for American Lawyers", but that is the only language course that they offered that I'm aware of. So language classes through the law school, especially for a language like Russian, would be rare or probably non-existent. I'm not sure if you can take them through the university. I've never heard of anyone doing that, and it's never been advertised. I doubt that you would be able to, but you can always contact admissions and they can let you know for sure. Sorry that I'm not more help there.

Duke was in my choices as well, and the money factor is what decided it for me too. I don't regret it at all. Duke is obviously a great school, but in NC and throughout the Southeast UNC does well for itself. I've met UNC Law grads who are practicing all over the place, and the alumni network is very strong.

UNCLaw1L wrote:

sunnyd101 wrote:Can you discuss housing options/prices? Do most students have cars? Thanks!

The rent was extremely cheap in the city that I lived in before I moved to Chapel Hill, so I was a little bit shocked when I had to pay ~$700 for a one bedroom apartment. There's a pretty good wide range of housing options. A lot of people live in Glen Lennox because with a roommate it's fairly inexpensive and it's very close to the law school. Alta Springs is another really popular place for 1Ls. I think it's about $500 per for a 3 bedroom. You can print in their business center for free, which is really nice. A good place to check for rentals beyond the major apartment complexes is chapelhillrent.com. When picking a place to live, I think the most important thing is making sure that it's convenient to get to the law school. There's a good bus system in Chapel Hill, and you can check the routes and schedules at --LinkRemoved--. Oh, and you want to try and get a place that is mostly grad students. You can usually tell from their website whether they cater to grad students more than undergrads, but if you have any particular place in mind you can ask and I'll let you know.

I would say that most students have cars, but assuming you live on a bus line they're really unnecessary. I have a car, but rarely drive it and could certainly get by without it. There isn't much parking at the law school, and I don't know any 1Ls that got parking passes unless they got the pass because of a hardship. There is a by the hour lot nearby, but at $1.50/hour it can get expensive. So even if you had a car, you probably wouldn't drive it to class much.

If I were to live more off campus, how hard would it be to get a law school parking permit, or maybe a general parking permit for UNC in one of the decks?

apples89 wrote:
If I were to live more off campus, how hard would it be to get a law school parking permit, or maybe a general parking permit for UNC in one of the decks?

I think it would be difficult to get a parking permit. You can always apply for one, and you might get lucky. But your chances are slim. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but I do know that a couple 2 and 3Ls sold their parking permits to people in my class, although at a nice markup. Keep in mind that there are park and ride lots for the transit system. You can find that info on the transit link that I posted earlier.

My wife used to work at med school at UNC and used the Park and Rides. Think hour plus commutes from where we lived in Durham all of 15 minutes drive to the actual campus. I wouldn't advise it.

Housing near campus does jump in price, but you can still find moderately priced places. Also I think the bus service in the immediate vicinity of the campus isn't bad.

LSA2014 wrote:My wife used to work at med school at UNC and used the Park and Rides. Think hour plus commutes from where we lived in Durham all of 15 minutes drive to the actual campus. I wouldn't advise it.

Housing near campus does jump in price, but you can still find moderately priced places. Also I think the bus service in the immediate vicinity of the campus isn't bad.

damn...i was actually thinking about living in durham...maybe my second year then, what are the chances of getting a parking permit?

apples89 wrote:

LSA2014 wrote:My wife used to work at med school at UNC and used the Park and Rides. Think hour plus commutes from where we lived in Durham all of 15 minutes drive to the actual campus. I wouldn't advise it.

Housing near campus does jump in price, but you can still find moderately priced places. Also I think the bus service in the immediate vicinity of the campus isn't bad.

damn...i was actually thinking about living in durham...maybe my second year then, what are the chances of getting a parking permit?

No idea for law, I know all the MD students can get them. It might not be so bad if you're not going in rush hour. I-40 gets clogged eastbound to Raleigh literally every single day.

Do you know of anyone who has successfully applied for instate status after their first year?

sunnyd101 wrote:Do you know of anyone who has successfully applied for instate status after their first year?

thats a good question, im in the same boat. i'd really like in-state tuition next year, but i heard NC is tough on kids who come in for school

apples89 wrote:

sunnyd101 wrote:Do you know of anyone who has successfully applied for instate status after their first year?

thats a good question, im in the same boat. i'd really like in-state tuition next year, but i heard NC is tough on kids who come in for school

bumping this!

For in state residency, it requires: getting nc driver's license, registering to vote, getting car registered and title done in NC plus right when you get to NC before starting 1L year, plus:

1) 12 months of continuous, uninterrupted residency in NC and
2) intent to stay in NC (subjective factors like opening bank account in nc, volunteering, long term plans)

bear patrol wrote:UNC 2L here - happy to answer any questions

For in state residency, it requires: getting nc driver's license, registering to vote, getting car registered and title done in NC plus right when you get to NC before starting 1L year, plus:

1) 12 months of continuous, uninterrupted residency in NC and
2) intent to stay in NC (subjective factors like opening bank account in nc, volunteering, long term plans)

personal experience: denied (not a surprise) since left NC for 1L summer. Applied anyway since little cost. feel free to ask anything else

Thanks! I'll be trying to do most of these things and hope its enough. How did you have to prove that it was 12 consecutive months?

Also, still looking into housing options and commute options and would like your opinion on these.

thanks!

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Can you comment on how classes are like? How job prospects and 1L summer prospects are?

I'm slightly interested in IP law and was wondering what should I pay attention to, other than grades ofc.

Also, anything I should check out in the surrounding campus/area- where do law students hang out outside of the law building?

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bear patrol wrote: job prospects: we do have a 1L OCI with some big regional firms taking 1Ls but those spots are rare and require top of the class grades.\

Ouch.

According to LST about 20% end up in larger firms, hopefully that's a good sign. Are 2L OCI more conducive to finding a job then? How are you doing in the job hunt, if you don't mind answering.

How did exams go your 1L year, how did you prepare for them and is there any benefit from reading supplements or getting an outline from upperclassmen?

edit: how were class sizes/section sizes?

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