William & Mary Forum

[dark]

d o you think they will let me sit in on a class?

Absolutely, just be sure to ask.

[laureng05]

Thanks for the info! After a quick look at both Oxford New Town and Sterling Manor, it looks like Sterling Manor is actually a little bit more expensive than New Town. Would you guys have a preference between the two? Obviously I'm going to check them both out, but I'm just curious what actual law students think about the two.

[texas08]

looking forward to visiting - i am bummed that i can't attend the actual admitted student's day, but want to go another time.d o you think they will let me sit in on a class?

i would also like to know how you guys enjoy living in williamsburg? do you ever get bored being in a pretty small town, or does law school keep you busy enough so you don't notice?

There are students prospective students here every week. We had around 10 in my property class last week.

This was the only school I applied to not in a city. Sometimes I'm a little disappointed, but at the same time, I think it would be easy to get distracted doing stuff in a city. I think law school can keep you as busy as you choose. Obviously everyone has to read the cases, but many people go beyond that with supplements, case briefing, etc. Then there are student organizations and things like that you can choose to be involved in or not.

Thanks for the info! After a quick look at both Oxford New Town and Sterling Manor, it looks like Sterling Manor is actually a little bit more expensive than New Town. Would you guys have a preference between the two? Obviously I'm going to check them both out, but I'm just curious what actual law students think about the two.

I personally prefer New Town because I like the townhome style better than a regular apartment. Also, I find the entry system at Sterling Manor very annoying (the residents have swipe cards, and that means they have to walk down to let every single guest in).

[Green Crayons]

Thanks for all of the insight, folks.

Then there are student organizations and things like that you can choose to be involved in or not.

(I reskimmed the thread but I don't think I'm repeating a question already asked/answered.)

Browsing through some of the student organization websites I couldn't help but notice a slight repetition of names (at least in some of the organizations that sparked my interest). Do you feel as if, overall, the student community is active in the various organizations made available or is it just a concentrated subsection of the overall student body while everyone else does non-law school related activites to pass the time?

Is it similar to undergrad where you basically have a whole bunch of organizations trying to sell themselves to everyone within the first few weeks of classes or do you have to do the legwork yourself?

[Displeased]

There are students prospective students here every week. We had around 10 in my property class last week.

Don't you feel bad for the prospective students that sat in on Property yesterday? I'd be surprised if they even want to go to law school anymore, after that riveting discussion of fee simple and condition subsequent. Of course, learning all that stuff is necessary, yadda yadda. However, it did not make for a good demonstration of what law school is really like. Hopefully they didn't fall asleep.

Browsing through some of the student organization websites I couldn't help but notice a slight repetition of names (at least in some of the organizations that sparked my interest). Do you feel as if, overall, the student community is active in the various organizations made available or is it just a concentrated subsection of the overall student body while everyone else does non-law school related activities to pass the time?

Is it similar to undergrad where you basically have a whole bunch of organizations trying to sell themselves to everyone within the first few weeks of classes or do you have to do the legwork yourself?

The organizations definitely try to sell themselves. Every day for the first three weeks of fall semester, there will be all kinds of organizational meetings to drum up interest, and damn near everybody attends.

I would say that most of the student community is active in the organizations, at least compared to other law schools. Most people are involved in at least one group, I expect. The "concentrated subsection" of William and Mary tends to be the people who aren't involved in anything.

Having said that, there are a lot of organizations that don't really do anything, or have only one big event during the semester. I happened to get involved in an extracurricular project that requires me to spend at least two hours a week on it, often more, but I gather I'm a huge exception. Even the board members of some organizations don't really do anything at all. In that sense, its like undergrad. Some organizations really just exist so everybody can put a line on their resume. Others are tons of fun, and do incredibly interesting things. The trick is figuring out which organizations are duds, and which actually do things.

[cpboy77]

My status checker for William & Mary says:

Decision Status: Decision Pending
Decision Status Date: 1/29/2010


Does anyone know if that means a decision is in the mail or if it just means that they are reviewing the file? Thanks.

[texas08]

The nice thing about the first couple weeks of law school is you can get free lunch (generally pizza) pretty much every day from all the different organizations holding interest meetings. Once you are in, you can choose to be pretty involved as a board member, committee chair, etc or you can just hang out in the general membership population. I'm a general member of Women and the Law and I think all I've done is go to one lunch time meeting and one discussion panel. On the other hand, I'm a director of another organization's annual symposium and that takes up a LOT of time.

My status checker for William & Mary says:

Decision Status: Decision Pending
Decision Status Date: 1/29/2010


Does anyone know if that means a decision is in the mail or if it just means that they are reviewing the file? Thanks.

We didn't have status checkers last year so I have no idea. Maybe someone in the Acceptance/Denial/Waitlist thread can help you out. Good Luck!

[sladegalute]

I have been admitted to W&M and am seriously considering attending because of the great tuition and quality. I was wondering if anyone had experience with the Summer Public Service fellowship program? It seems to be a nice paid alternative for the 1L summer in a legal job market that will not likely hire many 1Ls for summer jobs. What is the likely-hood of a 1L getting into the program, and how hard is the application process in general?

[texas08]

I have been admitted to W&M and am seriously considering attending because of the great tuition and quality. I was wondering if anyone had experience with the Summer Public Service fellowship program? It seems to be a nice paid alternative for the 1L summer in a legal job market that will not likely hire many 1Ls for summer jobs. What is the likely-hood of a 1L getting into the program, and how hard is the application process in general?

A lot of this money (though not all of it) is allocated through the Public Service Fund, which is one of our student organizations. Otherwise, it is funded through the school and various funds (http://law.wm.edu/careerservices/curren ... /index.php). To receive the money from PSF, you have to volunteer for the organization to help raise money during the semester. For example, selling tickets to Halloween Party, dealing cards at Casino Night....etc. Anyone who applies for PSF funding and doesn't get it is usually recommended to receive funding from the school (you can also receive a combination of funds from different sources). Last year a little over 100 people got funding from some source; I've heard that around 30 people who applied didn't get anything. The PSF application mainly deals with how many hours you've volunteered, your interest in Public Service, and what you will be doing at your job. Not everything that is unpaid qualifies. For example, anything that could be considered political (ex. working for the DNC), working for a judge, or an unpaid job at a firm.

Sorry this answer is so long, but hopefully it was helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions.

[tyjole]

Do any of you William and Mary Students know anyone looking at jobs in the Mountain West? I'm really interested in going to W&M but want to work in Utah. Are there others at the school you know of in the same boat?

[dark]

I think I know a sizable amount of people from BYU. I haven't talked to a lot of people about where they are looking for employment, so I don't know if they are looking to go back to Utah though.

[MPeterson]

Hey guys,

Thanks for answering questions. W&M is one of my top choices, and I'm really curious about finding out more.

Can you tell me more about the Institute of Bill of Rights Law? What kind of things does it offer? Is it something that is worth choosing W&M for?

Along the same lines, can you comment some on the Constitutional Law culture in general there?


Thanks again. Let me know if this stuff has already been answered. I'm going through the rest of the thread and haven't seen anything about it. I also did a search and didn't find anything, either.

[rachkicks406]

Do 1Ls typically live in the graduate housing or off-campus, and what would be preferable?

[dark]

Sorry MPeterson, I don't really know the direct answers to your questions about the Bill of Rights Journal and constitutional law culture.
I know that the BORJ is a large and competitive (to get on) journal, and that we have a resident "rockstar" con law professor (Van Alstyne) who I've never had as a professor. We also have some constitution focused student organizations, such as the American Constitution Society. Among other things, they have a blog where members write articles: http://acs.blogs.wm.edu/ You can find out more information about them at this site too.

Do 1Ls typically live in the graduate housing or off-campus, and what would be preferable?

A lot of 1Ls live in the gradplex, but overall, out of a class of 200 students, I think most people (150 / 200?) live off campus. There is a sizeable amount in the gradplex though, so you won't be lonely if that's where you decide to be.

Whether its preferable or not is going to come down to personal preference. Some people are sick of on campus housing and can't wait to get their first apartment. Other people (like myself) appreciate the gradplex because it is so darn close to the school (I can wake up 30 minutes before my classes start, and have time to eat breakfast and get ready).

I never lived in a dorm while I was in undergrad. I was in various apartments for my entire duration. The gradplex is not like a dormitory where you have people that live in rooms off of a main hall, or you share a bathroom with an entire floor. Rather, it is set up like 2, 3, and 4 person apartments. Each unit has its own kitchen, living room, and 1 or 2 bathrooms, and every person has their own personal (small) room.

A sizeable amount of people move out of the gradplex after their first year, either they found roommates who are willing, or they want a little bit more space or nicer furnishings, or they don't want to live so physically close to the school, etc. I'm not intending to move myself though.

[smartblonde87]

tag

[NatSec]

seriously people. read this thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =7&t=92657. Decision Pending is W&M unofficial hold. Everyone, save a statistically insignificant few, that has this status has not received a decision. No matter how long they've been waiting (some since Oct). Everyone that is at DP will be notified in March. This has come from numerous calls, emails, and even visits to the Admissions people.

[texas08]

Decision Pending is W&M unofficial hold. Everyone, save a statistically insignificant few, that has this status has not received a decision. No matter how long they've been waiting (some since Oct). Everyone that is at DP will be notified in March. This has come from numerous calls, emails, and even visits to the Admissions people.

Since W&M has an official "no rolling admissions" policy, this is probably true. They do admit people far in advance of their posted formal notification date (obviously). We didn't have status checkers last year, but the deal seemed to be that if you didn't get in within a couple weeks of applying, you were getting held until the March decision date at least.

Personally, I think saying that they don't do rolling admissions, when it's pretty clear they do, is crap. And I even got in early, so this isn't coming from someone bitter about being held forever.

[smartblonde87]

Decision Pending is W&M unofficial hold. Everyone, save a statistically insignificant few, that has this status has not received a decision. No matter how long they've been waiting (some since Oct). Everyone that is at DP will be notified in March. This has come from numerous calls, emails, and even visits to the Admissions people.

Since W&M has an official "no rolling admissions" policy, this is probably true. They do admit people far in advance of their posted formal notification date (obviously). We didn't have status checkers last year, but the deal seemed to be that if you didn't get in within a couple weeks of applying, you were getting held until the March decision date at least.

Personally, I think saying that they don't do rolling admissions, when it's pretty clear they do, is crap. And I even got in early, so this isn't coming from someone bitter about being held forever.

+1

p.s.> thanks everyone

[dark]

Anyone planning on coming to admitted students day?

[NatSec]

is anyone else concerned that they won't know if they're accepted by the time the accepted student's day rolls around? or be admitted with not enough time to plan the visit? it seems to me that schools like W&M and UNC where most people won't be accepted until march are hurting their incoming classes with when they have their ASDs.

[CG614]

Anyone planning on coming to admitted students day?

Question about ASD. Obviously, I want to visit the school prior to making my decision, but would it be better to do on another day? I want to get a real feel of the school and not feel like I am being trying to be "sold" something, for lack of a better word. Thoughts?

[dark]

Anyone planning on coming to admitted students day?

Question about ASD. Obviously, I want to visit the school prior to making my decision, but would it be better to do on another day? I want to get a real feel of the school and not feel like I am being trying to be "sold" something, for lack of a better word. Thoughts?

I don't know about better per se. I think whenever you come to the school there is going to be a bit of selling going on. If you get a guide to show you the school building and take you to a class or so, there will certainly be some selling. I think this would be characteristic of anywhere you go for a visit, at least that was my experience.

If you are concerned about it, maybe you could do both. Show up on Thursday or Friday morning and sit in on classes and talk to random students you see in the lobby. Then go to the ASD events on Friday night and Saturday.

I thought ASD was really good for answering my questions and concerns about the school just because I had the opportunity to talk to various faculty and administration officials and also get a good idea of what the students at the school - and the people in the incoming class might be like. I don't know if I would have gotten the chance to talk to as many people and get as many perspectives if I had done a visit outside of ASD.

[set88]

Anyone planning on coming to admitted students day?

I am! I believe it's March 26-27...

What do you think would be the most helpful thing I could do to get a feel for the city? I'm sure I'll be spending plenty of time exploring the law school and stuff, but I'm also concerned about making sure I can actually live there. Any places I should try to visit, that students commonly hang out?

[texas08]

What do you think would be the most helpful thing I could do to get a feel for the city? I'm sure I'll be spending plenty of time exploring the law school and stuff, but I'm also concerned about making sure I can actually live there. Any places I should try to visit, that students commonly hang out?

Drive around if you're going to have your car here. If you're talking about hanging out as in bars, check out Greene Leafe (old and new), Pauls and the bar in the Hospitality House (more commonly known as Ho House). I'm sure a lot of the current students will be taking prospectives out on Friday night so you should just ask around and see what's going on. There are also two movie theatres and plenty of places to eat.

[Dostoevsky]

Firstly, thank you for being so helpful with your answers to questions.
I've been admitted to W&M and USC and am having a tough time figuring out what to do.
I'm still in undergrad and was planning on coming to ASW at W&M but without any kind of travel stipend it is going to cost about $800 to visit from California for 5-6 days (was thinking about looking at houses too).
I guess I'm really looking to minimize stress in law school and related vocational pursuits and it seems like the honor code at W&M would really help with that, although the alumni network at USC might, too.

I know this is a W&M thread but I would appreciate any insight that you might be able to give.