Harvard Law School Class of 2018 Forum

[Mack.Hambleton]

got my signed book in the mail finally, pretty neat!

hardcover unlike the book UVA sent me heh

[Indifference]

got my signed book in the mail finally, pretty neat!

hardcover unlike the book UVA sent me heh

Which one did you get?

[ChemEng1642]

got my signed book in the mail finally, pretty neat!

hardcover unlike the book UVA sent me heh

lol mine was not hardcover

[Mack.Hambleton]

I got "Interop" something about internet stuff by palfrey and gasser. whatd u guys get

[ChemEng1642]

I got "Interop" something about internet stuff by palfrey and gasser. whatd u guys get

"The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It" - also about internet stuff

[Indifference]

Penguin and leviathan here. About cooperative societies or some such thing. Haven't gotten through it (kept passing out).

[TripTrip]

I got "Interop" something about internet stuff by palfrey and gasser. whatd u guys get

"The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It" - also about internet stuff

Zittrain is a badass. Check out The Colbert Report episode about that book.

[ChemEng1642]

I got "Interop" something about internet stuff by palfrey and gasser. whatd u guys get

"The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It" - also about internet stuff

Zittrain is a badass. Check out The Colbert Report episode about that book.

Oo will do!

[rseaney]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

[malleus discentium]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

Are 1L SAs based on grades or is it before grades come out?

[Mack.Hambleton]

also, thought this was funny:

https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/ocs/jd-stu ... ion-guide/

[DK21]

Wow people got different books?!

Mine was "Because It's Wrong" about torture and warrantless wiretapping. I thought it aligned with my interests, but figured that was just by chance!

[Pneumonia]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

Sears prize is out? aren't you c/o 2017?

[malleus discentium]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

Sears prize is out? aren't you c/o 2017?

Yes to both.

[Mack.Hambleton]

that feel when my ID picture is rejected

[PotenC]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

Are 1L SAs based on grades or is it before grades come out?

It varies. You're typically advised to mass-mail firms starting 12/1, which is when 1Ls are allowed to get in touch with firms, but I think that advice might be misleading depending on the market. You would probably update the firms you've applied to with grades in January anyway, so sending those emails out later shouldn't be a big issue. I also know a few people who secured 1L SAs well before grades were out.

I actually think you have a good shot of getting a 1L SA if you 1) are diverse and 2) target NYC. With good enough grades/WE the first requirement can be fudged a bit. I'm the in-house person malleus mentioned, and I targeted a comparatively tiny market with <50 1L positions in the entire region, and had a more difficult time.

For the person above wondering about 1L firm jobs in consideration of debt, I'll say the calculus might be different if you're getting grant money. Any earnings over the summer over the ~$10k ($7.5k CoL allowance+$2.5k for taxes) mark really becomes nominal, as Harvard takes 90% of whatever that turns out to be. There's also at least one biglaw firm that pays 1L summers substantially below market. You may very well come out the same financially so long as you find any job that pays >$10k for the summer, although the presumption of a 2L summer offer that comes with a 1L SA should also be factored into account.

[rseaney]

that feel when my ID picture is rejected

I like to think that the ID picture you unsuccessfully sent in to them is your lil JR Smith avatar

[yomisterd]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

Sears prize is out? aren't you c/o 2017?

Yes to both.

there are two sears prizes btw

[rseaney]

Does anyone happen to have an idea of what percentage of people who are looking for a 1L summer firm job (paying market rate) are able to get one? Out of HLS?

Tryna do some debt guesstimations haha

If you're able to access this page then the raw info is there.
There are more 1L SAs than I thought there were going to be. It's certainly not a given, though. All the people I know in my section who have them had very impressive backgrounds, including the Sears Prize winner, or had ties to TX (it's comparatively easy to get an SA in TX if you have ties). I know at least one person who tried very hard to get one and, although he ultimately got a good in-house position, he wasn't able to snag an SA.
All this is to say that, in no uncertain terms, you should not plan to have one, even though it's a possibility.

Are 1L SAs based on grades or is it before grades come out?

It varies. You're typically advised to mass-mail firms starting 12/1, which is when 1Ls are allowed to get in touch with firms, but I think that advice might be misleading depending on the market. You would probably update the firms you've applied to with grades in January anyway, so sending those emails out later shouldn't be a big issue. I also know a few people who secured 1L SAs well before grades were out.

I actually think you have a good shot of getting a 1L SA if you 1) are diverse and 2) target NYC. With good enough grades/WE the first requirement can be fudged a bit. I'm the in-house person malleus mentioned, and I targeted a comparatively tiny market with <50 1L positions in the entire region, and had a more difficult time.

For the person above wondering about 1L firm jobs in consideration of debt, I'll say the calculus might be different if you're getting grant money. Any earnings over the summer over the ~$10k ($7.5k CoL allowance+$2.5k for taxes) mark really becomes nominal, as Harvard takes 90% of whatever that turns out to be. There's also at least one biglaw firm that pays 1L summers substantially below market. You may very well come out the same financially so long as you find any job that pays >$10k for the summer, although the presumption of a 2L summer offer that comes with a 1L SA should also be factored into account.

Whoa that's news to me. Are you saying that if you're receiving grants from HLS then you keep only 10% of your summer money (after the $10k for taxes and COL)?

[PotenC]

That's correct.

https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/sfs/studen ... er-income/

Scroll down to the income formula section; there's also a calculator for you to play around with.

So let's say you get a 1L firm job in NYC, and you work for ten weeks and make the standard $30k. Let's also assume you have no dependents and aren't paying off a car. Plug that into the calculator and your total allowances come out to $14k, but that's with taxes factored in. In reality, your take home is the CoL allowance ($7400) plus whatever's left over after your student contributions (~$14.5k), which is ~$1600 in this example. So a total of $9000 for the summer.

But say you work in-house in NYC instead, and get paid like $20k for the summer. You get to take home CoL and whatever's left over, which comes out to $8282 in this case.

So at the end of the day two separate positions with a $10k income differential really hashes out to be a <$800 difference if you're getting assistance from HLS.

[Elyane]

So for loans, do we have to do anything other than the Master Promissory note for the Stafford and the Promissory note and the application for the GradPLUS loan?

If that is all you have to do, when will the loans disperse?

[Mack.Hambleton]

that feel when my ID picture is rejected

I like to think that the ID picture you unsuccessfully sent in to them is your lil JR Smith avatar

apparently you have to submit a photo of YOURSELF, bs imo

[foxes]

just read this on the sfs site (reposted from the ask hls students thread)

Potential LIPP applicants REMINDER: (From our “How Do I Choose a Loan Program?” page) You should consider the length of a private loan’s repayment term and contact the lender to ask about the possibility of formally shortening the repayment term to 10 years from the 15 or 20 year terms that are typically standard. LIPP only provides assistance on the ACTUAL required payment and, although not required, recommends that participants place all of their loans on 10 year repayment terms to maximize the LIPP benefits.

sorry for the dumb question, but does anyone know why a 10 year repayment plan better in terms of lipp? how does that maximize benefits? i read the lipp info on the site, but cant seem to figure it out is it because a 10 year plan would result in higher monthly payments, so lipp would pay more...?

[HorseThief]

just read this on the sfs site (reposted from the ask hls students thread)

Potential LIPP applicants REMINDER: (From our “How Do I Choose a Loan Program?” page) You should consider the length of a private loan’s repayment term and contact the lender to ask about the possibility of formally shortening the repayment term to 10 years from the 15 or 20 year terms that are typically standard. LIPP only provides assistance on the ACTUAL required payment and, although not required, recommends that participants place all of their loans on 10 year repayment terms to maximize the LIPP benefits.

sorry for the dumb question, but does anyone know why a 10 year repayment plan better in terms of lipp? how does that maximize benefits? i read the lipp info on the site, but cant seem to figure it out is it because a 10 year plan would result in higher monthly payments, so lipp would pay more...?

I think the idea is that, after 10 years, you're probably going to be earning enough that you no longer qualify for LIPP. I remember this being the case with fed gov, so the only exceptions might be state gov or something from career changes. If you're doing PI work and make no money, then it's better to take the 10yr repayment plan because LIPP will cover all of it and then you don't have that debt hanging over your head.