Texas Law c/o 2020 - Hook 'em!!! [Under New Management] Forum

[renc56]

Any current students know of journals that let 1Ls shadow the first semester and kinda help out the second? (This was mentioned at ASD but never clarified which journals let this happen) I just want to explore my options/soak up the knowledge of 2Ls and 3Ls lol

[cannibal ox]

The only thing you're going to learn from law school journals is fake power structures set up so people can feel important while doing grunt work that's mind-numbing, meaningless, and won't be appreciated (or read) by anyone.

You can join some journals as a 1L, and some journal societies as a 1L. Don't try and do the work, it's not going to be helpful for anyone involved. Go to the mixers and events if you wanna schmooze or get free drinks.

Focus on your grades during 1L.

[TheWalrus]

Any current students know of journals that let 1Ls shadow the first semester and kinda help out the second? (This was mentioned at ASD but never clarified which journals let this happen) I just want to explore my options/soak up the knowledge of 2Ls and 3Ls lol

TRESL lets you join 1L, but yeah Journals are useless 1L year.

[renc56]

The only thing you're going to learn from law school journals is fake power structures set up so people can feel important while doing grunt work that's mind-numbing, meaningless, and won't be appreciated (or read) by anyone.

You can join some journals as a 1L, and some journal societies as a 1L. Don't try and do the work, it's not going to be helpful for anyone involved. Go to the mixers and events if you wanna schmooze or get free drinks.

Focus on your grades during 1L.

Well, grades are my priority (hence spending way too much time on this website) but I wanted to be 'involved' to meet people/get free food and outlines. I didn't even realize there was a difference between journals and journal societies but obviously I'm not expecting to actually work/want to work for that.

[Torres1893]

Those of you who have negotiated did you only submit offers you are considering or all offers that you got?

[Tx878]

Those of you who have negotiated did you only submit offers you are considering or all offers that you got?

I only submitted the offers I was most seriously considering. I'm not sure if that's the best method or not, though. I'm more than likely attending regardless so I kind of half assed the process.

[TheWalrus]

Those of you who have negotiated did you only submit offers you are considering or all offers that you got?

Submit the highest number from a peer school, reason I'm at UT: the matching + in state tuition is unbeatable.

[Torres1893]

Those of you who have negotiated did you only submit offers you are considering or all offers that you got?

Submit the highest number from a peer school, reason I'm at UT: the matching + in state tuition is unbeatable.

That's the problem I didn't apply to peer schools

I'm kicking myself for not applying to Vandy just for the leverage.

I'm honestly considering retaking if they don't bump me up, but I have no idea what I can do for another year. Or I can take the full ride to Maurer and hope for the best.

[Tx878]

Those of you who have negotiated did you only submit offers you are considering or all offers that you got?

Submit the highest number from a peer school, reason I'm at UT: the matching + in state tuition is unbeatable.

That's the problem I didn't apply to peer schools

I'm kicking myself for not applying to Vandy just for the leverage.

I'm honestly considering retaking if they don't bump me up, but I have no idea what I can do for another year. Or I can take the full ride to Maurer and hope for the best.

I'm in the same boat as far as not really applying to peer schools

[Babe-Loblaw]

In my Financial Aid counseling with Mario Villa he said that last year they funded about 50% of the people that applied for Texas Law Fellowship funding for unpaid internships, so it looks like there's a good chance of getting funding if you hop on the ball early. Admittedly if I got a 1L SA that paid $3600/wk I would probably take that despite my interest in PI just for the chance to pay down my loans hard.

I'm not necessarily sure that hopping on the ball early matters for TLF. Unless they changed it people vote on who gets funded, and in order to vote you have to donate money (so in essence you "buy" votes and then distribute them).

Hopping on the ball early doesn't matter as much when it's more like a popularity contest/you need people to spend money to vote for you to receive money.

Also depends on what kind of PI you want but I'd consider not ever working for a firm if that's the goal (it depends though). If you're not a true PI diehard and are just like most law students in that you say you want to do PI but will ultimately work for a firm anyway then yeah, for sure take the 1L SA.

Yikes. Networking over qualifications, I suppose.

As for PI, I'm interested in transactional PI (small business/community dev/nonprofit counsel) which is a relatively small niche. However, a lot of real estate/corporate work translates in a way that it doesn't to other PI sectors, which is the only reason I'd really consider firm work.

[Torres1893]

Can any current student give me an accurate cost on books per year? UT says 2k

[cannibal ox]

Can any current student give me an accurate cost on books per year? UT says 2k

Yeah you might hit $2k if you buy new from the bookstore each semester. I did this first semester because I wasn't sure if I would be the type of student who wanted to highlight a blank page, or would be distracted by other students' notes in the margins. Turns out I'm not, so I went from maybe $750 for fall semester to ~$300 or $400 for spring semester by buying used.

For 2L and 3L you can get away with getting old editions of books, sharing with a friend, or just not buying books at all.

[Torres1893]

Can any current student give me an accurate cost on books per year? UT says 2k

Yeah you might hit $2k if you buy new from the bookstore each semester. I did this first semester because I wasn't sure if I would be the type of student who wanted to highlight a blank page, or would be distracted by other students' notes in the margins. Turns out I'm not, so I went from maybe $750 for fall semester to ~$300 or $400 for spring semester by buying used.

For 2L and 3L you can get away with getting old editions of books, sharing with a friend, or just not buying books at all.

I'll probably do the same. Get new the first semester and used for the rest.

Are there any unexpected costs that you had?

Right now I just have:
Tuition
Rent
Utilities
Food
Gas
Books
Loan fees

[cannibal ox]

If you don't already own a tailored suit, that'll set you back a few hundred. You can get it over winter break, I don't think it's necessary during fall semester.

I feel like there were some more things I spent money on that I hadn't expected, but it's been a while so I can't think of any right now.

Edit: costs of furnishing an apartment and all those odds and ends that come with moving to a new place, health insurance (school plan is like $2k/year).

[Hikikomorist]

.

[cannibal ox]

If we're getting into OCI stuff then yeah you'll run into a lot of small costs that add up. Ubers to and from receptions. Drinks, if it isn't an open bar. Allen Edmonds (BigZuck call-in) shoes. Flights and hotels to out-of-state interview programs. You'll pay for your expenses for callbacks up front and be reimbursed (hopefully.. I had a firm lose my paperwork, then ignore my emails about reimbursement).

[Torres1893]

If you don't already own a tailored suit, that'll set you back a few hundred. You can get it over winter break, I don't think it's necessary during fall semester.

I feel like there were some more things I spent money on that I hadn't expected, but it's been a while so I can't think of any right now.

I bought decent suit when I graduated for interviews but loss a good amount of weight. Hopefully I can tailor it.

I got low offered with the negotiation so I got to cut costs now to see if I can afford to go lol.

[Torres1893]

I plan to do all of summer jobs in Houston and since my parents live there my costs should be low for that. I do need some better dress shoes. Just going to have to keep an eye on r/frugalmalefashion for some deals.

[TheWalrus]

Internet fees.

[cannibal ox]

Allen Edmonds outlet site

I know AE shoes are sort of a meme on TLS and there are plenty of good shoes out there, but I got a few pairs for ~$150 and the quality blows away everything else I've owned. Plus you can get them repaired or whatever when they wear out.

Definitely get your suit tailored. Appearance means more than it should. Check out the men's fashion thread somewhere in The Lounge if you (or any lurkers reading this) have questions. The tl;dr of it is: get a suit, navy or charcoal (not black), get it tailored so you look like an adult, get some decent shoes and a belt that matches, no cufflinks, no pocket squares, look nice but forgettable.

Internet fees.

Free WiFi on campus if you have AT&T for your internet at home.

[Tazewell]

.

[cannibal ox]

Words

Just one anecdote, but I negotiated and got an increase after the seat deposit deadline. I double deposited at another school and made them aware. This was also 3 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Torres1893]

I used ND in my negotiation, but it didn't help that much, but that might be due to the in-state tuition with UT coming out to be slightly more expensive than the offer ND gave me.

I submitted my form yesterday in the morning and got the email response today around 6pm.

[Hikikomorist]

.

[speedofthought]

Those of you who have negotiated did you only submit offers you are considering or all offers that you got?

Submit the highest number from a peer school, reason I'm at UT: the matching + in state tuition is unbeatable.

That's the problem I didn't apply to peer schools

I'm kicking myself for not applying to Vandy just for the leverage.

I'm honestly considering retaking if they don't bump me up, but I have no idea what I can do for another year. Or I can take the full ride to Maurer and hope for the best.

I'm in the same boat as far as not really applying to peer schools

So, true story, I'm pretty sure it hurts you to send in more than your highest offer. Maybe your highest at a higher ranked school plus your highest at a lower ranked school would be reasonable?

Don't make my mistake. UT definitely appears to have decided to "match" the lowest offer I attached of 3 (included only because we had compared opportunities between the two schools when I spoke with the school earlier), and then only as a percentage of tuition, not in total dollars. Ultimately, they only raised my offer by $3,000/year, and, both relative to the other schools I received offers from and relative to other students I can see on LSN with similar numbers, my initial offer was already a low-ball (though perhaps the LSN comparison is misleading, since I was already in-state).

Not really sure why Texas decided it didn't want to make me a truly tempting offer (rather than competing with the worst of my existing offers). I could have been swayed by an offer that fell somewhere between the other two for the opportunity to stay in Texas, but c'est la vie.