UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[cornerstone]

Yeah! It varies by year but last year the law school rented out JPJ Arena (which is NBA-sized) and did a big trivia night with an open bar on the basketball court, with the law school cover band providing music from that angsty phase of your life. In addition to the Admissions event there's always unofficial house parties that current students throw for admits, and most admits and current students will go to the Corner for Bar Review on Thursday night.

Also there's just one ASW at UVA--March 16-17 this year!

https://content.law.virginia.edu/admiss ... e#schedule

Looks like there's trivia at Kardinal Hall this year. The school will probably provide drinks but don't quote me on it.

I'd say go to that if you want to meet with other admits that might be in your class. If you want to get a feel for what it's like being a student find yourself some current students, pre-game with them, and then go to the bars. You could also do a combo of the two and just head to the bars after.

[RParadela]

Has anyone ITT studied abroad? I'd love to go to the Madrid program but I'm worried it might interfere with OCIs and other important job-finding stuff

[S.Picquery]

Might seem like an odd question, but do UVA law students get the day off for Labor Day?

[UVA2B]

Might seem like an odd question, but do UVA law students get the day off for Labor Day?

The law school follows the University holiday schedule, so yes we get Labor Day off.

http://www.hr.virginia.edu/calendars/un ... -schedule/

[SeewhathappensLarry]

Might seem like an odd question, but do UVA law students get the day off for Labor Day?

The law school follows the University holiday schedule, so yes we get Labor Day off.

http://www.hr.virginia.edu/calendars/un ... -schedule/

Are you a 0L? We don't follow the University calendar. And no, we do not get Labor Day off

[cornerstone]

Problem solved. Google search is a thing. http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/academ ... lendar.htm

[S.Picquery]

Problem solved. Google search is a thing. http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/academ ... lendar.htm

I saw the University schedule and the UVA Law academic calendar. Because they were at odds, I thought I'd ask

[UVA2B]

Might seem like an odd question, but do UVA law students get the day off for Labor Day?

The law school follows the University holiday schedule, so yes we get Labor Day off.

http://www.hr.virginia.edu/calendars/un ... -schedule/

Are you a 0L? We don't follow the University calendar. And no, we do not get Labor Day off

Haha, I guess I can't even remember last semester. No, I'm a 1L that just had brain slippage this morning. My apologies.

[Future Ex-Engineer]

Finally got admitted.

Looking into where I (hopefully, if scholarships work out) want to live next year - what are the current student opinions on this? I'm the kind of person who would rather walk everywhere around the grounds rather than drive.

[5ky]

Finally got admitted.

Looking into where I (hopefully, if scholarships work out) want to live next year - what are the current student opinions on this? I'm the kind of person who would rather walk everywhere around the grounds rather than drive.

The last couple of pages cover this pretty well

[RParadela]

Got a question for you guys regarding job prospects.. What type of grades do you need to have in order to be competitive for the top end BigLaw jobs at UVA? (Let's say V10 although I know that's an arbitrary number)

[rhododactylos]

Got a question for you guys regarding job prospects.. What type of grades do you need to have in order to be competitive for the top end BigLaw jobs at UVA? (Let's say V10 although I know that's an arbitrary number)

Depends on a lot of things like work experience, field of interest, city, URM status, and how you come across in an interview but 3.5 is a good general estimate as a baseline. 3.6 will definitely get you offers as long as you can hold a conversation.

[logicgames]

Does anyone know what the curve is like for small classes? I am in an 18 person lecture (ie not a paper class). Thanks!

[20170322]

Can someone speak to the difficulty of getting a 2L SA in Atlanta?


Also, what do most people do their 1L summer?

[albanach]

Does anyone know what the curve is like for small classes? I am in an 18 person lecture (ie not a paper class). Thanks!

I think a class of eighteen should be curved as a normal class. So based on the class gpa and the professor's grading tendencies. I believe the class has to be a good bit smaller (maybe under eight?) before no curve is required.

[albanach]

Can someone speak to the difficulty of getting a 2L SA in Atlanta?

No idea, sorry.

Also, what do most people do their 1L summer?

Some get 1L SA positions. Many will stay locally because they have rent to pay, working either as RAs for professors or in public interest positions, sometimes aided by a PILA grant. Others will go home and take similar positions in their local market. Still others will try and get work in the market they hope to end up in.

[JG820]

How true is the notion that UVA doesn't negotiate scholarships?

[pianolvr91]

How true is the notion that UVA doesn't negotiate scholarships?

From my experience, no. I merely mentioned that Penn had given me the same scholarship and that same day they increased my scholarship offer by $10,000/year. I think this only works if it's a peer school, though--a classmate told them that she was between UVA and Columbia and they refused to negotiate. I also had visited the law school twice, so it was clear to admissions that UVA was a serious contender for me.

[SeewhathappensLarry]

How true is the notion that UVA doesn't negotiate scholarships?

From my experience, no. I merely mentioned that Penn had given me the same scholarship and that same day they increased my scholarship offer by $10,000/year. I think this only works if it's a peer school, though--a classmate told them that she was between UVA and Columbia and they refused to negotiate. I also had visited the law school twice, so it was clear to admissions that UVA was a serious contender for me.

I don't know there is a hard and fast rule over peer schools. Vanderbilt is not really a peer school, yet they increased my scholarship after I told them Vandy was giving me a near full ride. It's possible they were just low-balling me in the first place though

[thewhalefish]

Did any of you apply to both Richmond and UVA? If so, why did you choose UVA over Richmond specifically? As a follow-up, how much better, if at all, is UVA than Richmond for wanting to work in DC PI? Thanks for your time!!

[UVA2B]

Did any of you apply to both Richmond and UVA? If so, why did you choose UVA over Richmond specifically? As a follow-up, how much better, if at all, is UVA than Richmond for wanting to work in DC PI? Thanks for your time!!

To start, UVA and Richmond are in no way peers, so probably not too many people here applied to both.

That being said, what kind of PI are you thinking?

[anon sequitur]

I applied to Richmond but only because I was living in the area at the time and got a fee waiver. I was offered a named scholarship which they said was their best one, thought it wasn't even a full-ride, would have cost me $5,000 a year in tuition plus living expenses. If they offered a full-ride plus stipend, I'd seriously consider it depending on your career aspirations. For DC public interest? No, definitely not.

I know quite a lot of UR grads from working in Richmond for a summer for awhile post-grad. It seems like a nice place to go to school, and if you want to live in Richmond, they've got a really, really good network. Their top students have really good opportunities locally. But for people not in the top of the class, I think it can be very tough. And that's just in Richmond. I don't think UR is really known at all in DC, or at least not any more than other schools similarly ranked.

[thewhalefish]

Did any of you apply to both Richmond and UVA? If so, why did you choose UVA over Richmond specifically? As a follow-up, how much better, if at all, is UVA than Richmond for wanting to work in DC PI? Thanks for your time!!

To start, UVA and Richmond are in no way peers, so probably not too many people here applied to both.

That being said, what kind of PI are you thinking?

Yeah, I figured as much but they're in the same state so that's why I asked. My areas of interest are civil rights, human rights, and constitutional law. I would like work in DC in Fed work or an organization like ACLU. Sorry if that's too broad, I've been too focused on LSAT to do much research.

[thewhalefish]

I applied to Richmond but only because I was living in the area at the time and got a fee waiver. I was offered a named scholarship which they said was their best one, thought it wasn't even a full-ride, would have cost me $5,000 a year in tuition plus living expenses. If they offered a full-ride plus stipend, I'd seriously consider it depending on your career aspirations. For DC public interest? No, definitely not.

I know quite a lot of UR grads from working in Richmond for a summer for awhile post-grad. It seems like a nice place to go to school, and if you want to live in Richmond, they've got a really, really good network. Their top students have really good opportunities locally. But for people not in the top of the class, I think it can be very tough. And that's just in Richmond. I don't think UR is really known at all in DC, or at least not any more than other schools similarly ranked.

Great info, thanks for sharing. I asked because I have a friend that goes there and I am pretty sure he wants to eventually enter fed gov't. But really, I had no idea UR was so little/non-presitgious/whatever; I made the poor assumption of equating Virginia location to DC opportunities.

[5ky]

you should just focus on doing as well as you can on the LSAT and keeping your grades up.

law schools aren't really better at one particular thing vs another school.