Texas Class of 2018 Forum

[FairchildFLT]

It was an invitation to apply to be a "Vinson & Elkins Law Preview Scholar."

[bizzy531]

What'd it say?

It was an invitation to apply to be a "Vinson & Elkins Law Preview Scholar."

It was basically an invitation to apply for a full scholarship for Law Preview, paid for by Vinson &Elkins.

[FairchildFLT]

What'd it say?

It was an invitation to apply to be a "Vinson & Elkins Law Preview Scholar."

It was basically an invitation to apply for a full scholarship for Law Preview, paid for by Vinson &Elkins.

I applied for the Dallas one. It would be a good opportunity to network with students at other law schools.

[bigtex29]

I am rising 3L, and I am happy to answer any questions y'all may have. I need a reason not to study for my last two finals.

[nicefunguy]

I am rising 3L, and I am happy to answer any questions y'all may have. I need a reason not to study for my last two finals.

How early do you suggest we start worrying about 1l summer jobs?

[StylinNProfilin]

I am rising 3L, and I am happy to answer any questions y'all may have. I need a reason not to study for my last two finals.

How early do you suggest we start worrying about 1l summer jobs?

Worrying about 1L summer would be about 50th on my list of things to worry about as a 1L; doesn't matter what you do your 1st summer as long as its legal. Yeah its great to land biglaw that 1st summer and get those $$$ but if you don't you'll still be fine. I guess if its April and you have nothing lined up you should start hustling.

[bigtex29]

I am rising 3L, and I am happy to answer any questions y'all may have. I need a reason not to study for my last two finals.

How early do you suggest we start worrying about 1l summer jobs?

Worrying about 1L summer would be about 50th on my list of things to worry about as a 1L; doesn't matter what you do your 1st summer as long as its legal. Yeah its great to land biglaw that 1st summer and get those $$$ but if you don't you'll still be fine. I guess if its April and you have nothing lined up you should start hustling.

I agree with Stylin'. To add to that, 1Ls are not allowed to even reach out to firms before Dec. 1st. So you should not be worried about it until after 1st semester grades come out or at least 1st semester finals. You may get big law interviews before you get your grades, but outside of the top ranked schools you will not get an offer until they see your first semester grades (there is the occasional outlier, but they are the exception, not the rule).

Like Stylin said, any work 1L summer will be fine. 2L OCI is where you get the big law internship/job. You would do yourself better in the long run by focusing on grades and doing well 1L than worrying about getting a job. Jobs usually follow grades.

[ptz]

I've lived in the South Austin area for about 4 years, I assume this is not great for going to school. I have a dog so would prefer space or small duplex/house and would like to be as close as possible to school. Where's the best area? Hyde park?

[EarthdogFred]

I've lived in the South Austin area for about 4 years, I assume this is not great for going to school. I have a dog so would prefer space or small duplex/house and would like to be as close as possible to school. Where's the best area? Hyde park?

What are your budget constraints? I will be living in the North Campus area, about 5 blocks north of the Law School. Some people would call it Hyde Park, but in my view Hyde Park doesn't start until north of 38th Street. I picked this area because it seems ideal. The neighborhood is a good mix of graduate students, empty nesters and families, and it's an easy walk or bike to school. There are a couple neighborhood bars (Crown & Anchor, Posse East), a nice cheap 9-hole golf course (Hancock), and it's accessible to the drag without all the hubbub. It definitely is not the chaos of West Campus.

[allentx]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a one bedroom apartment in north campus/hyde park? One of my friends from undergrad was supposed to live with me here but that fell through so I need a place quick

[celvreal]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

[Hikikomorist]

.

[EarthdogFred]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

[celvreal]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

I know! I can't believe it! SO ready for this! I love the idea of the Sunflower Ceremony, it's so beautiful!

Random question: Do they sell Texas Law t-shirts? I was looking at the co-op website and only found Texas Law coffee mugs (which makes sense considering the amount of coffee we'll need in law school), but couldn't find any t-shirts.

[BigZuck]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

I know! I can't believe it! SO ready for this! I love the idea of the Sunflower Ceremony, it's so beautiful!

Random question: Do they sell Texas Law t-shirts? I was looking at the co-op website and only found Texas Law coffee mugs (which makes sense considering the amount of coffee we'll need in law school), but couldn't find any t-shirts.

There's quite a few. No UT law student's wardrobe is complete without a Law Horns t-shirt.

[celvreal]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

I know! I can't believe it! SO ready for this! I love the idea of the Sunflower Ceremony, it's so beautiful!

Random question: Do they sell Texas Law t-shirts? I was looking at the co-op website and only found Texas Law coffee mugs (which makes sense considering the amount of coffee we'll need in law school), but couldn't find any t-shirts.

There's quite a few. No UT law student's wardrobe is complete without a Law Horns t-shirt.

Agreed! I will have to get one when I go apartment hunting in Austin.

[BigZuck]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

I know! I can't believe it! SO ready for this! I love the idea of the Sunflower Ceremony, it's so beautiful!

Random question: Do they sell Texas Law t-shirts? I was looking at the co-op website and only found Texas Law coffee mugs (which makes sense considering the amount of coffee we'll need in law school), but couldn't find any t-shirts.

There's quite a few. No UT law student's wardrobe is complete without a Law Horns t-shirt.

Agreed! I will have to get one when I go apartment hunting in Austin.

The co-op across the street from the law school has a ton of UT law stuff

[celvreal]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

I know! I can't believe it! SO ready for this! I love the idea of the Sunflower Ceremony, it's so beautiful!

Random question: Do they sell Texas Law t-shirts? I was looking at the co-op website and only found Texas Law coffee mugs (which makes sense considering the amount of coffee we'll need in law school), but couldn't find any t-shirts.

There's quite a few. No UT law student's wardrobe is complete without a Law Horns t-shirt.

Agreed! I will have to get one when I go apartment hunting in Austin.

The co-op across the street from the law school has a ton of UT law stuff

Good to know. Thanks!

[ellewoods817]

Hey y'all! I was just accepted off the waitlist today! I'm so excited! I just graduated today and Texas Law was my first choice! I'm excited to meet all of you this Fall!

That was quick. Congrats! I was playing Golf today when a big storm rolled into Austin. I decided to seek refuge in a local joint and grab a beer. I saw quite a few law school grads pouring in straight from the Sunflower Ceremony in their rain-soaked suits and dresses That will be us in 3 years, hopefully sans the rain-soaked part.

I know! I can't believe it! SO ready for this! I love the idea of the Sunflower Ceremony, it's so beautiful!

Random question: Do they sell Texas Law t-shirts? I was looking at the co-op website and only found Texas Law coffee mugs (which makes sense considering the amount of coffee we'll need in law school), but couldn't find any t-shirts.

There's quite a few. No UT law student's wardrobe is complete without a Law Horns t-shirt.

Agreed! I will have to get one when I go apartment hunting in Austin.

The co-op across the street from the law school has a ton of UT law stuff

Good to know. Thanks!

Does the law school give out the law-horn shirts? I was in Austin two weeks ago, and there weren't any at the co-op!

[BVest]

[Ninja Ox]

[cannibal ox]

[illiterate ox]

[DJ JD]

I am rising 3L, and I am happy to answer any questions y'all may have. I need a reason not to study for my last two finals.

How early do you suggest we start worrying about 1l summer jobs?

Note: TL;DR provided at the bottom if you don't feel like reading.

I'm going to go against the status quo and say, work on summer jobs well before Dec. 1 (applies to big law hiring). I think the sweet spot is to have an idea of what firms you want to hit and what practice areas you want to target early, preferably immediately after you get settled in (~1–4 weeks; I got settled fast, others didn't) but before you should really start to get busy (mid-October–Finals).

The reason I say get it done early is because a cover letters are a bitch, and look, honestly, most people don't read them, and the people that read them apparently don't read them, but you have to do them, and having them done well before December 1 will be very relaxing while a good amount of your fellow 1Ls will be running around with their hair on fire. It takes a surprising amount of time to right one generic sentence about a firm's strength, make sure you didn't mention another firm's name, typo check, and make sure they actually have the practice group(s) you mentioned. Come Dec. 1, all you'll have to do is fill in blanks, attach files, and click send; you'll spend finals time studying and winter break actually relaxing.

Also, CSO, though helpful, isn't really in touch with what employers want for resumes, so take advantage of those receptions, network with people you hit it off with, and have them critique your resume and mention them in your cover letter/when you send off materials (if via email).

If you somehow fail to do that ahead of time, big firms will still hire all the way up until February, and I got my offers pretty late, but it's free market on jobs before then and some people will have offers before finals are even over, so you're only helping yourself by getting it done ahead of time. More spots open only helps you.

People are right that not having a big law job will in no way hurt you at OCI, but honestly, having a 1L SA now has only helped me refine practice areas. If I end up working elsewhere, I now know what firms to shoot for. Imagine bidding heavy on the biggest M&A firms, and you get in and you actually hate that work. Then you'd have to foot it as a 3L and pray for a hail mary through mass-mailing. After working with a couple of different departments so far, let's just say something like this would have happened had I not had an opportunity to work at a firm after my first year.

TL;DR: You'll still be able to get a job if you wait until after finals to apply, but you're better served applying early. If you don't get a big law job 1L, you're fine; but try to anyways because the exposure to practice is invaluable.

[DJ JD]

Does the law school give out the law-horn shirts? I was in Austin two weeks ago, and there weren't any at the co-op!

Nope. Gotta buy it at the coop. Maybe they weren't in stock? Ask the lady next time. She's really really nice. Well all of the staff are. But yeah, just ask.

[Tuxedo]

Checking in. Checked out of TLS for a while after getting into UT.

Lived here 8 years. PM with questions--hoping to be a resource for folks if anyone needs someone in town already.

[loverofwineandpie]

Hi everyone! Checking in after following this thread for a while.

I'm interested in finding a roommate (or roommates) for the fall. I'm female and would prefer a female roommate, very neat, and hoping to live as affordably and close to campus as I can. PM me if interested.

Excited about joining everyone in the fall!