Harvard Law School Class of 2018 Forum

[AnMzungu]

So what tv shows are you all bingeing in the next month and a half?

Oz! Poor Beecher...

[Mack.Hambleton]

Are broker fees normal? Person wants to charge us 1months rent as a fee for an apartment we found on cragislist..

[dnptan]

Yes but pay it after you sign the lease

[Mack.Hambleton]

I thought the broker fee was to find you an apartment?

Why would I pay them thousands of dollars they did literally nothing

[Mack.Hambleton]

Also have other people used Cambridge Square Real Estate? Want to make sure they're legit

[Indifference]

Are broker fees normal? Person wants to charge us 1months rent as a fee for an apartment we found on cragislist..

Very much the norm in the Boston area.

On an unrelated note, for anyone looking to get a locker, the request form is up.
You can find the link to the form here.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Are broker fees negotiable? I'm just confused why they exist if we found the apartment ourselves, does anyone know why they do it this way in the Northeast and nowhere else in the US that I'm aware of?

[Indifference]

Are broker fees negotiable? I'm just confused why they exist if we found the apartment ourselves, does anyone know why they do it this way in the Northeast and nowhere else in the US that I'm aware of?

I'm not sure if it's even a Northeast thing, so much as a Boston thing. And I believe it's because the listing is tied to the broker, regardless of where it is found by the prospective tenant. Generally not negotiable (what I've found in my few years of apartment hunting here), just because demand so far outpaces supply of housing here, and they could find 1000 other people willing to pay the month's rent to get the place. You can give it a shot though. Worst they can say is no.

Also, the Boston/Cambridge craigslist has a section for apartments posted by owners/no broker fee apartments. The selection is much smaller, though.

ETA: Here it is.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Thanks! I'll give it a look

[dirkgently]

Alright, this is gonna sound bad, but how essential is a suit for the first semester? I've gained a bit of weight since moving back in with my parents so the suit I bought a year ago (and never wore....) doesn't fit anymore. I intend to lose this weight, however, so I'd rather not spend a few hundred on something that won't fit very well 6 months from now. Can I get by with a blazer, some slacks, some khakis, and some nice shoes? I'm not saying this as if I'm a resolutioner who quits 2 weeks in. I lost 50 pounds 3 years ago, kept it off until I moved home, and have been going to the gym 3-4x a week for over a year -- I just need to rein in my diet, which will be easy when I am able to live on my own. Thanks.

[tonysoprano]

Alright, this is gonna sound bad, but how essential is a suit for the first semester? I've gained a bit of weight since moving back in with my parents so the suit I bought a year ago (and never wore....) doesn't fit anymore. I intend to lose this weight, however, so I'd rather not spend a few hundred on something that won't fit very well 6 months from now. Can I get by with a blazer, some slacks, some khakis, and some nice shoes? I'm not saying this as if I'm a resolutioner who quits 2 weeks in. I lost 50 pounds 3 years ago, kept it off until I moved home, and have been going to the gym 3-4x a week for over a year -- I just need to rein in my diet, which will be easy when I am able to live on my own. Thanks.

While someone here may know the answer, I feel like you're more likely to get the best response from HLS students who've been through 1L year. Maybe try asking here?

[mino]

Alright, this is gonna sound bad, but how essential is a suit for the first semester? I've gained a bit of weight since moving back in with my parents so the suit I bought a year ago (and never wore....) doesn't fit anymore. I intend to lose this weight, however, so I'd rather not spend a few hundred on something that won't fit very well 6 months from now. Can I get by with a blazer, some slacks, some khakis, and some nice shoes? I'm not saying this as if I'm a resolutioner who quits 2 weeks in. I lost 50 pounds 3 years ago, kept it off until I moved home, and have been going to the gym 3-4x a week for over a year -- I just need to rein in my diet, which will be easy when I am able to live on my own. Thanks.

While someone here may know the answer, I feel like you're more likely to get the best response from HLS students who've been through 1L year. Maybe try asking here?

I don't actually recall ever wearing my suit in first semester. There are a couple of formal parties where people dress up that are optional that people wore suits at - you may be able to get away with that combo but depends on how formal the parties end up being. After December 1 you can start applying for jobs so at that point you may start to need wearing a suit if you're applying for jobs where you'll be interviewing in person. You'll also need a suit when you do the Ames competition as part of your spring semester 1L class. The formal parties and proms also ramp up second semester.

[TripTrip]

You won't need a suit first semester unless you have a gunner Climenko.

[Indifference]

You won't need a suit first semester unless you have a gunner Climenko.

Care to elaborate how that goes together? Just curious.

[TripTrip]

You won't need a suit first semester unless you have a gunner Climenko.

Care to elaborate how that goes together? Just curious.

There are no events, interviews, or anything that you absolutely need a suit for during first semester 1L. However, one half of one 1L section my 1L year had a Climenko that wanted to do full business meetings to simulate biglaw life when we turned in our memos. He told us at the beginning of the semester that if we didn't have a suit, we would need to go get one.

Other than that oddly specific circumstance, you can wait until PSW or beyond to get a suit.

[Indifference]

You won't need a suit first semester unless you have a gunner Climenko.

Care to elaborate how that goes together? Just curious.

There are no events, interviews, or anything that you absolutely need a suit for during first semester 1L. However, one half of one 1L section my 1L year had a Climenko that wanted to do full business meetings to simulate biglaw life when we turned in our memos. He told us at the beginning of the semester that if we didn't have a suit, we would need to go get one.

Other than that oddly specific circumstance, you can wait until PSW or beyond to get a suit.

Wow, that sounds especially awful. Thanks for the info.

[Kobaine51]

Yo where do I send these health forms they wanted a month ago? Anyone successfully email them in?

[antiworldly]

Yo where do I send these health forms they wanted a month ago? Anyone successfully email them in?

Since health forms are confidential information and they're touchy about the security of email (rightly so), they ask you to either mail them in or fax them.

Via mail: HUHS, Pound Hall, 1563 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Via fax: 617-495-8090

[dirkgently]

Thanks for the replies. I'll hold off on the new suit for now

[ChemEng1642]

Yo where do I send these health forms they wanted a month ago? Anyone successfully email them in?

Since health forms are confidential information and they're touchy about the security of email (rightly so), they ask you to either mail them in or fax them.

Via mail: HUHS, Pound Hall, 1563 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Via fax: 617-495-8090

The form you can email - I did that. However if you are sending a medical record (from your doctor) or the results of a blood test or something you're doctor is going to want to either fax or email. My form only had the basic info (medical record and doctor filled out portion sent separately) so perhaps that's why they accepted it.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Yeah my doc sent me the filled out thing so ymmv

[Fawkes]

For the student ID photo, does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the photo taken? All the photo studios I can think of are rather expensive, and I'd prefer not to have to pay a lot for a student ID picture. Still, I'd like to have it done prior to orientation. Unfortunately, I don't think I can take it myself since I'm not sure how to get an all white background with no shadows.

[malleus discentium]

For the student ID photo, does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the photo taken? All the photo studios I can think of are rather expensive, and I'd prefer not to have to pay a lot for a student ID picture. Still, I'd like to have it done prior to orientation. Unfortunately, I don't think I can take it myself since I'm not sure how to get an all white background with no shadows.

Have someone take a pic of you standing in front of a wall with their phone.

[TripTrip]

FYI your HUID picture is permanent and used in a bunch of different places. They tell you it's just your student ID, but it's available for download in the directory so some student organizations will grab it if they need to put up a photo of you. A lot of students also have it set to be visible when they send an email from their HLS gmail account, but you can turn that one off if you don't like it.

No pressure or anything; some students are just surprised a few weeks into the semester when they start seeing their ID picture places other than on their ID.

[blueberrycrumble]

For the student ID photo, does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the photo taken? All the photo studios I can think of are rather expensive, and I'd prefer not to have to pay a lot for a student ID picture. Still, I'd like to have it done prior to orientation. Unfortunately, I don't think I can take it myself since I'm not sure how to get an all white background with no shadows.

The easiest way is to just have someone take a photo of you on a white background as mentioned.

If you really want to pay someone to do it, go to your local Costco and get a passport photo taken. Satisfies all the requirements. Their photography skills aren't the best though tbh.