Harvard C/O 2019 Forum

[Oskosh]

For those of you heading from Columbia to Harvard, did you get any kind of travel stipend from Harvard for their end of the trip? I didn't apply for an LSAC fee waiver, so I guess that's out for me. Just not sure what to say on the Columbia stipend request form on the question about whether I've requested assistance from the other schools. Should I just plan on asking Columbia to cover the ticket to New York and eat the cost back home from Boston myself?

My personal contact at Harvard Law is Anne Taylor, and she has been super helpful. She put me in contacted with the SFS office, and they instructed me to retroactively request a waiver (I guess to see if I would have qualified for one). They haven't gotten back to me, but it's worth a shot if it potentially defrays travel expenses.

[gamerish]

Curious how long it usually takes to get the HLS email account/email containing information about the admitted students site, ASW and all that jazz, if anyone is willing to share and enable my neurosis

[Bearlyalive]

Curious how long it usually takes to get the HLS email account/email containing information about the admitted students site, ASW and all that jazz, if anyone is willing to share and enable my neurosis

Admitted 2/11, got my HLS email address 2/18.

[gamerish]

Curious how long it usually takes to get the HLS email account/email containing information about the admitted students site, ASW and all that jazz, if anyone is willing to share and enable my neurosis

Admitted 2/11, got my HLS email address 2/18.

Thank you!

[maracuya]

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[Oskosh]

Submitted my FAFSA... Got a 13,000 EFC.

In undergrad I always had 0 EFC, but I am coming off of 3 years of WE. I don't feel like I can contribute that much, and I feel like it's going to adversely affect my financial aid package. Things aren't looking so good for me at Harvard suddenly.

Does anybody have any knowledge on Harvard's fin aid?

I'm pretty sure HLS assumes you have $0 to contribute to your education unless you have assets or are working through the summer. They use the FAFSA to access your 2015 tax info and then base your 2016-2017 award based on how much you are expected to earn during 2016. There's a form that requests this info when you go through the SLS process.

Yeah, I freaked out. Last year's EFC was higher for me, and Berkeley still offered me the maximum amount of grants. Hoping for the same w/ Harvard. Thanks for quelling my anxieties!

[Schneidersbetter]

I just got an email from a professor who teaches one of the subjects I'm interested, any suggestions for proper response etiquette, seeing as I'm probably not going to H?

[cantorb]

I just got an email from a professor who teaches one of the subjects I'm interested, any suggestions for proper response etiquette, seeing as I'm probably not going to H?

I would just keep it short and simple: Thank them for their time and explain that you will likely not be attending.

Side point: Am I the only one who hasn't been contacted by a professor? (JS2 12/8)

ETA: 4:14 AM?

[earthabides]

I just got an email from a professor who teaches one of the subjects I'm interested, any suggestions for proper response etiquette, seeing as I'm probably not going to H?

I would just keep it short and simple: Thank them for their time and explain that you will likely not be attending.

Side point: Am I the only one who hasn't been contacted by a professor? (JS2 12/8)

ETA: 4:14 AM?

I haven't been, I'm from the february wave

[curious bobcat]

I haven't been contacted by a professor either. I was in the Jan. wave.

I imagine it depends on which professors volunteer to chat with students and whether your demonstrated interests have a willing faculty match.

[Oskosh]

I haven't been contacted by a professor either. I was in the Jan. wave.

I imagine it depends on which professors volunteer to chat with students and whether your demonstrated interests have a willing faculty match.

I think that might be the case. I am currently an educator and Anne and I discussed it during my interview. The faculty member that reached out to me mentioned that he works in the education law clinic.

I am also being contacted by the Harvard SFS lol. Since my parents don't complete their taxes in a timely manner, it feels like my financial aid award process is being protracted, and it is a very painful one. I keep having to submit more documentation, and it is making me afraid that I won't be able to attend HLS because of financial circumstances.

[lawstud24]

I haven't either, was in the feb wave. What do you guys think about reaching out to profs/lecturers ourselves?

[jtg21]

Just got an email from a professor, was in the February wave. Did you all receive the email from your interviewer asking if you had more questions or wanted to talk to current students/finaid? I replied to that and listed a couple areas of law I am particularly interested in. I am 95% sure that my response to that email led to a professor reaching out to me.

[gamerish]

I haven't either, was in the feb wave. What do you guys think about reaching out to profs/lecturers ourselves?

If you're serious about attending and have a genuine interest in them, I'd say go for it. Might as well start cultivating relationships now.

[maracuya]

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[WinterComing]

Ugh, I feel you. My mom got married to a rich guy like 3 months ago, so my childhood adversity was all for naught since he'll be figured into the financial aid calculations but won't be contributing to my education at all. And taxes won't be filed for another month.

That was super inconsiderate of your mom.

[linguafranca90]

I haven't either, was in the feb wave. What do you guys think about reaching out to profs/lecturers ourselves?

If you're serious about attending and have a genuine interest in them, I'd say go for it. Might as well start cultivating relationships now.

I actually advise the opposite. Professors are busy finishing up their semester and they may not have the time to have a substantive conversation with someone who won't be at the school for another five months. They might also see reaching out this early as being a bit too aggressive or overly keen. There'll be plenty of time to reach out to professors during the summer, when they'll have more time to respond to emails and have phone calls.

[curious bobcat]

Ugh, I feel you. My mom got married to a rich guy like 3 months ago, so my childhood adversity was all for naught since he'll be figured into the financial aid calculations but won't be contributing to my education at all. And taxes won't be filed for another month.

That was super inconsiderate of your mom.

[QuentonCassidy]

I haven't either, was in the feb wave. What do you guys think about reaching out to profs/lecturers ourselves?

If you're serious about attending and have a genuine interest in them, I'd say go for it. Might as well start cultivating relationships now.

I will give a +1 to this. I have a pretty specific interest in an area of law that a professor at HLS is known for and emailed them about the topic and also about my plan to try to get an internship in that industry over this summer, basically asking if they had any advice. I wasn't expecting a response anytime soon, but they got back to me within 12 hours and were very nice, helpful, and enthusiastic; they even gave me their personal email and recommended that I contact them at that email in the future so they could respond more quickly (as if 12 hours is such a long time for me to wait for a response hahaha). Needless to say, I was very impressed by the response.

[QuentonCassidy]

I haven't either, was in the feb wave. What do you guys think about reaching out to profs/lecturers ourselves?

If you're serious about attending and have a genuine interest in them, I'd say go for it. Might as well start cultivating relationships now.

I actually advise the opposite. Professors are busy finishing up their semester and they may not have the time to have a substantive conversation with someone who won't be at the school for another five months. They might also see reaching out this early as being a bit too aggressive or overly keen. There'll be plenty of time to reach out to professors during the summer, when they'll have more time to respond to emails and have phone calls.

To add to my previous post, I totally get this and would just add the caveat that you:
1. Only contact them if have fairly specific interests/questions that you can't satisfy from other sources (ie not just "Hey, I'm interested in corporate law and see you have written papers on it, got any advice?")
2. Keep the correspondence short and sweet
3. Make it clear that what you are asking about is neither urgent nor of huge importance (unless somehow it is, but I feel like that would be pretty weird). For instance, I started the subject line of my email with "At your convenience" and made sure to begin the message with a short bit explaining I was only a 0L and simply had a few questions for whenever he had time to get to them.

[gamerish]

I haven't either, was in the feb wave. What do you guys think about reaching out to profs/lecturers ourselves?

If you're serious about attending and have a genuine interest in them, I'd say go for it. Might as well start cultivating relationships now.

I actually advise the opposite. Professors are busy finishing up their semester and they may not have the time to have a substantive conversation with someone who won't be at the school for another five months. They might also see reaching out this early as being a bit too aggressive or overly keen. There'll be plenty of time to reach out to professors during the summer, when they'll have more time to respond to emails and have phone calls.

To add to my previous post, I totally get this and would just add the caveat that you:
1. Only contact them if have fairly specific interests/questions that you can't satisfy from other sources (ie not just "Hey, I'm interested in corporate law and see you have written papers on it, got any advice?")
2. Keep the correspondence short and sweet
3. Make it clear that what you are asking about is neither urgent nor of huge importance (unless somehow it is, but I feel like that would be pretty weird). For instance, I started the subject line of my email with "At your convenience" and made sure to begin the message with a short bit explaining I was only a 0L and simply had a few questions for whenever he had time to get to them.

I second all of this.

Also, just got my HLS email!

[maracuya]

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[curious bobcat]

Taking suggestions for a new poll.

[QuentonCassidy]

Taking suggestions for a new poll.

Aspirations:
biglaw
gov't/PI
academia
unicorn (explain in thread what your ideal unicorn job is)
survive

^this will of course need some major polishing

[lawstud24]

Taking suggestions for a new poll.

Aspirations:
biglaw
gov't/PI
academia
unicorn (explain in thread what your ideal unicorn job is)
survive

^this will of course need some major polishing

would love an option for "biglaw until loans paid off, then PI"