BC Law 3L Taking Questions Forum

[BCLaw]

Hi All,

I'm a rising 3L at Boston College Law School (BC Law). I'd be happy to answer any questions rising 1Ls (0Ls) have regarding the law school experience, 1L, 1L Summer Jobs, 2L/OCI, etc. BC Law specific questions are obviously welcome too.

Best of luck to all rising 1Ls entering in the fall, enjoy this summer!

- BCL

[underwood15]

Hi! Thank you! I will be attending BC Law next year and have a few questions for you:

-how is it living in newton? do you feel that it is removed from the city at all?
-where do a lot of your peers get jobs during their 1L year? when should i start applying for those jobs? do you find that the boston market has a lot of opportunities for BC Law students?
-i have heard that the community is super collegial and helpful. how has your experience been?

Thanks!

[BCLaw]

Hi! Thank you! I will be attending BC Law next year and have a few questions for you:

-how is it living in newton? do you feel that it is removed from the city at all?
-where do a lot of your peers get jobs during their 1L year? when should i start applying for those jobs? do you find that the boston market has a lot of opportunities for BC Law students?
-i have heard that the community is super collegial and helpful. how has your experience been?

Thanks!

Hi underwood15! I'd be glad to answer those questions for you...

First off, congratulations and welcome to BC Law! It's truly an amazing school and one that I have been proud to call home for the last two years.

1. Living Situation - I actually don't live in Newton, and TBH, most BC Law students don't either, unless they have a car. I, and the majority of my friends live in Cleveland Circle, a tiny neighborhood in Brighton that borders Alston and Brookline. It's super easy to get to the law school from Cleveland Circle because it encompasses three main stops on BC's Law Express Shuttle which was implemented to help law students without cars who do not live within walking distance of the school's Newton Campus.

The express shuttle departs at 7:10, 7:50, 8:45, and 9:30 Mon-Fri during regular semester hours. Additionally, Comm. Ave Express shuttles leave every 10-15 minutes from the same stops however, this would require the double-hop from CC->Main->Newton. As a 1L you will most likely take the morning shuttles as your first class will begin around 9:00 AM.

I love living in Cleveland Circle because it has just about everything I need in walking distance and food shopping as close as a 10 minute walk to Shaw's or 5-stop T-Ride to Coolidge Corner's Trader Joe's (which I prefer). It's located on three separate green line T-train lines and all though there is often much gripe about the Green line, it should never take you longer than 35 minutes to get from Cleveland Circle into the heart of Boston Proper (Park Street Station). On the weekends, most students who go out in the Back Bay, Financial, Kenmore/Fenway, Faneuil area usually grab an UBER and split the fare easily through their phones. Long-and-short it's super convenient to get to school and super easy to get into the city for some fun. I love where I live.

2. 1L Summer Jobs - The strong majority of 1Ls take jobs working for non-profits or other public interest organizations. That being said, the majority of the minority take jobs as Judicial Interns for state or federal judges. This is the most coveted of 1L internships. A small minority take paying firm jobs that seek 1Ls, and others return to small/medium sized firms where they worked prior to law school or where they have a family/alumni connection.

The aim for 1L summer is simply to get as much practical experience as you possibly can. For that reason, many 1Ls take jobs at the Harvard Legal Assistance Bureau, the BC LAB (same), or various other non-profits who allow law students to do legal work (mostly transactional) with attorney supervision.

Public interest jobs are usually applied for in late December through a symposium that BC orchestrates and participates in with other New England law schools. It's very easy and is done via a bidding process. Judicial internships are applied for manually and individually with applications being accepted as early as December 1st (my year however I sent apps out on X-Mas Eve and accepted a job two days after second semester started). Firm jobs for 1Ls are usually done on a post-by-post basis. You can ask 2Ls and 3Ls who did such jobs when that firm app went out and they'll direct you on how to apply.

The Boston market is dominated by BC/BU law students. Harvard students generally leave the New England area however, to the extent that they stay, they obviously have their pick of the jobs they wish to take. NE/Suffolk students occasionally squeeze in but they by no means disrupt the market.

3. BC Law Culture - In my opinion, and I'm obviously biased, the culture here is bar none. Everyone is incredibly amicable, collegiate, and genuinely excited to be a part of the BC Law community. They're often quite involved in school-wide competitions, organizations, and outreach efforts. They are smart, driven, social, and energetic. We like to enjoy ourselves but we also like to see ourselves and our classmates succeed.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to shoot them my way!

- BCL

[psyduckiscool]

Hey, thanks for taking questions!

I have a few questions regarding the BigLaw hiring process at BC.
1) Roughly how many firms come to OCI?
2) What percentage of the class would have a solid shot at BigLaw if they WANTED to go into that type of employment? I
3) Is there a strong showing of firms from NY/DC as well?

Also, how good is BC's network in the area for DA, state attorney or federal prosecutor positions?

[frank617]

Thanks a lot for helping out.


Could you talk about the housing fair? (How it works, your experience with it, or friends' experiences). Do you actually walk around and check places out?

I have roommates lined up, but I am not sure if waiting until the housing fair to actually find an apartment (cleveland circle) is a good idea. I am from New Hampshire, and could start looking earlier. The only problem is that they are not local and are planning on coming in for the fair anyway, so if it's not too risky I'd rather wait until we are all together before picking a place.

[tryagainkaz]

Hi! I'm not sure if you're still taking questions or not, but I actually have a few!

1. I was able to find a place on the edge of Newton about a 30min walk/11min bus ride (not BC shuttle, city bus)/5min drive from the law school. I'm trying to determine if I get a car for while I'm out there or if I can rely on public transportation for everything, particularly the bus for getting to and from school.
2. Any recommendations for laptops (mac vs. pc)? Mine's about 6 years old and struggling, so I'll be getting a new one, but I'm wondering if you noticed any trends or headaches for either system.

Thanks for answering questions!

[dproduct]

Rising 2L here, would be more than happy to answer any questions as well.

[skri65]

2L at BC Law here. i wasn't always the biggest fan of this site, but now that the summer job search is finally over (in no small part due to suggestions by posters here), I feel a duty to pay it forward. I'll take any questions as well..

[BlueLotus]

How many class of 2014 kiddos are still stuck in the Vale?

[lujanj7]

Hi there. I am looking to get into BC-- just went "under review" 6 days ago and hoping to hear back soon. I am looking to practice as a lawyer for the better part of my career, but my ultimate goal is to be a judge. I was wondering what you feel the best course of study would be in order to prepare myself for that goal. Furthermore, do I NEED to practice public law as a prosecutor or something of that nature in order to become a judge? If this isn't your area of expertise or you don't have an opinion on this matter, could you please just tell me a bit about your experience at BC? What is the faculty like? The atmosphere, course work, exams, etc.

Much appreciated!

[mwallace930]

I'm an older prospective law student (29) in a long-term relationship. I'm curious to know if life at BC Law is substantially different for that demographic. Do they tend to live in different areas? Specific ones? Is there a substantial community at BC for us old folks? My girlfriend and I are not from the area, so we're looking forward to building a community in Boston, but I doubt we'll be hanging out with 22-yr-old 1Ls who are looking to get hammered and hook up in their spare time.

Also, I'm into long-distance road cycling. Do you have any idea how the area is for getting out on your bike and doing 30-50 miles of riding? Is it easy to get out of town and find some good roads? I've heard of Masshole drivers, and don't want bottles thrown at me or people blowing their horn right next to me. Specific question, I know...

[legaleagle16]

Hey guys, current 2L here. In response to lujanj7, it depends what kind of judge do you want to be. Do you want to be a federal judge or state judge? Do you want to be on the court of appeals, or do you want to be on a trial court? These are important questions to ask. Although this isn't my area of expertise, I can tell you first off that you need to be politically connected. If you want to stay in Massachusetts, network with the state parties and get your name out in local political circles. The same goes if you want to be federal, but it needs to be on a bigger scale. The next thing I would recommend is becoming the best litigator you possibly can. Ace Civil Procedure and Legal Writing (plus all your other classes to get on Law Review). Then focus on litigation classes in your 2L and 3L year. Then, apply to clerk. If you eventually want to be a judge, it will pay off to have worked for one. Want to make your life easier? Do exceptionally well and get an Article III clerkship, and then get extremely lucky and become a SCOTUS clerk. Once you've accomplished that, either become a government litigator or a BigLaw litigator while strengthening your political ties. Then, one day, maybe they will come calling to put you on the bench.

In response to mwallace930, there are a number of older law students here, including a fair number of people who are married. In terms of where people live, it depends where you're from. Some people have been living in Boston and already have houses. If they don't they tend to live in the general Cleveland Circle area (where most of us live), or somewhere else in the Allston/Brighton/Brookline area. I think on the whole the lifestyle is very similar - go to class, go to the library, go home. The only thing that may be different is how many Bar Reviews you go to, and whether or not you bring your significant other to them. In terms of road cycling, I have no idea.

Just in general, I love BC and think it's a great law school. We're very strong in BigLaw and public service, especially in Boston but beyond that as well (I'm doing BigLaw in NYC). It's a very relaxed student body, everybody helps each other, and we form a really great community.

Go ahead with any more questions!

[BlueLotus]

What happens to folks with the misfortune of ending up in the bottom half of the class?