Another Emory 1L open to questions Forum

[ck80]

Ask away with what you wonder about! I'm not part of admissions so I cant say for sure what your odds of getting in are, but, halfway through that pain in the butt we call 1L year I'd be more than happy to share what I've come across in the classes, law school, living environment, city of Atlanta in general, you name it!

[bissey]

are you in state? if so why emory over uga? if not, why emory?

[DukeHopeful]

How do you like being in Atlanta? What is housing like in terms of price/availability/quality? Transportation (I.E. is it nice to have a car?)? I've not spent much time in Atlanta at all, would you say the city itself tends to be dirty, or fairly clean?

[idksomeone]

favorite thing about emory?
how is the social life?

also... are emory exams mac-friendly?

[ck80]

In the order they were posted:

First to bissey: I'm an out-of-stater. Going back on my decision making process I applied to Emory based on their solid reputation, and the total package they put forward in their materials and speaking with them. I did not (and still do not) have a pre-conceived "target area" I'd like to practice in upon graduation. I do love the south where a good number of alum reside, and the school is pretty dominant in Nashville and Atlanta, and yet it is also relatively close to major Alabama, N/S Carolina, and N Florida markets. The additional options in major markets like NY and DC as well as others could also factor in someday.

When I visited, which was WELL worth the trip, I found a very open staff of administrators and professors. On paper the school is "in atlanta" but does not have a big-city downtown feel. All of that is several miles away downtown, close enough to visit, but, not necessarily something you need to immerse yourself in all the time if you don't want to.

I'd be lying if I didn't say financial aid wasn't a helpful and deciding factor over other schools either, and yes, I had also applied to UGA. The rumors you hear, and the facts you can see on law school numbers *DO* hold true. Emory does reward people who do fairly well on the LSAT and have numbers to back it up, at least when they apply early and before scholarship awards are made. Having said that, their awards are truely that - an award. No games stacking recipients together so a number of them statistically *must* fall below the mandated performance threshold... not that it'd matter anyways, my award and those of all others I know of are only tied to maintaining good standing and not failing out of the school.

In all the school seemed a good fit to me, the student body, the faculty, the location, the net tuition... when added together and viewed as a whole Emory came out on top, and I'm glad I'm here.

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For DukeHopeful:

On the whole I love being in Atlanta. I would equate it in some ways to being a professional playground. Some cities have a reputation as being a party town. Here, there are plenty of social opportunities in the party sense (bars, clubs, etc) but also alot of more mature cultural offerings in museums, theaters, EXCELLENT restaurants, and if you are a sports fan, how many locals do you know that has representation for EVERY MAJOR offering? Atlanta Hawks, Falcons, Braves, Thrashers, we even have the speedway nearby if you are a Nascar fan (not to mention Lowe's isn't that far either)

Now the housing varies ALOT based on what you are looking for, and where. Availability is certainly NO issue at all. I have friends who rent apartments built into private homes, others who rent a small house with friends made at open houses, and others who opted for suite-style student apartments. Myself, I live in an apartment complex by myself. Prices I've heard mentioned range widely, from a bit under $500/mo to over $1000 per person, depending what they went for, if it was furnished, what utilities were included, etc.

Transportation is passable if you plan your living situation for what you want. You *could* in theory ride a bike if you wanted to, and occasionally I see one, but there is a great deal of traffic and many roads with narrow shoulders that make it slightly bike unfriendly in my opinion. That said, Emory funds a "cliff shuttle" you can google to see routes for. It goes to some of the major complexes students live at, as well as various park-n-ride locations a few miles out people can drive to and avoid the pricey ($650) parking permit fee if they desire. So far I do NOT have a car here that I drive FYI, so it is do-able if you choose somewhere to live appropriately. Beyond the campus system, there is a MARTA public transportation network that while I haven't taken, seems to be on par with the average for similar bus-based transportation networks.

For a city the size it is, its fairly clean. When I visited, I drove to MANY areas. There are a number of lower income parts, and those have the expected graffiti, but are not riddled with trash or abandoned property. In comparison I have spent time in NY, Boston, LA, and New Orleans... on the whole I'd compare it's cleanliness to Boston, and its neighborhood compositions of nice/impoverished to LA, but in the way large southern cities tend to get. It is a big city so you need to be smart and stay safe, don't get me wrong, but I consider it in my opinion to be as safe as other big cities if you keep to the good areas and use your street smarts.

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Finally for idksomeone:

Its hard to name a single favorite thing about the school, I love it here, BUT I will put out there for you what is probably the thing that I found to be the most pleasant surprise. At many other schools if you want to get involved with a student legal clinic, or similar activities, there is a long application process with interviews, hoops to jump through, all the rest. At Emory, if you *want* to become involved, you *will* become involved. Even the campus tour guides are all volunteer based. Having pride in your school and a desire to help other interested "0Ls" get a better feeling about what it stands for is all that is required. (In case you haven't been able to guess, I have served in that role as well during this past fall semester.) I think its the ability to get involved in many more things that other schools restrict participation in has to be one of the things I really appreciate about the school.

The social life is what you would like it to be, and decide to make of it. Most Thursdays (not close to exams or on breaks) there are free kegs in the central courtyard for several hours. Additionally there are many clubs that plan events, even a food club that's mission is to have its members explore different restaurants around the city that have great (and pretty cheap) food. There are a couple of locations set up for students to go to most weekends, different bars/clubs with cover waived or drink specials, and of course the periodic house parties thrown by fellow students as well. The SBA (our student government) have also been planning and making events not centered around alcohol a focus as well, such as movie nights, bowling trips, and other fun activities for those who aren't as into drinking.

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Hopefully those answers were what y'all were getting at, but if not just let me know or throw out other questions and I'll try to give imput to those as well

[ck80]

And missed your edit to add the last question idksomeone:

Yes, the exams are mac-friendly, and a pretty good portion, although not a majority, of the class DO use macs to take the exams on.

[DukeHopeful]

Thanks a lot for answering the questions. Appreciated!

[idksomeone]

Thanks for the response.. very helpful!

[lawschool2]

Thanks so much for helping us out! I have some fairly specific questions:

1-Would you recommend Emory over a lower-ranked school, like BC or GW, to a prospective who is interested in practicing in NYC/Boston/DC/Chicago? And how would you compare it to similarly ranked schools like WashU and BU?

2-Could you elaborate on Emory's religious studies program? What does the program comprise of, and is it popular?

3-I know, from Emory's website, that the international student body is quite small. But in any case, is the international population widely distrbitued (geographically) or is there a certain region/country that is overrrepresented?

4-Do law students interact, socially, with med and other grad students?

I sincerely appreciate your time, thank you!

[chicoalto0649]

The more i read the more I like about Emory....

Think you could chance me- 163/3.3 urm (mexican)- good ps/recs/upward trend

[ck80]

DukeHopeful, idksomeone, both quite welcome. Also, if anything else comes to mind just let me know.

Next Batch:

First leckj:

No fudging necessary, *although* my stats are a bit unusual. I was an older returning student who had work experience, and besides that had some very strong softs from the previous college environment. That said, I *also* took the older version of the LSAT before they changed the reading comprehension formats. On the administration I took, my score corresponded to a higher percentile (several percentage points higher) than it would had I taken it right when I applied.

All of that said, I was a 3.4/166/94th percentile and my award was in line with those you'd find on LSN in that 80-90k window over 3 years.

Don't read *too* much into that because each year admissions get more competitive, and statistically (median/mean) better and better classes ARE entering our school, a trend voiced by upper level students as well. There's no guarantee on anything of course, but this trend has at least held true the past couple years.

My goals lean towards private mid to large firm, Atlanta area, and most likely transactional law. I tend to be open ended right now based on what is available as the time draws nearer, and could change as I experience more classes, but that is my initial plan.

I will say that although I haven't gone through an OCI program yet, our first is coming up in the near future, the career services staff are a GREAT asset. There is mock interviewing programs, AND, several sources for alumni mentors: There is a formal mentor program with a choice of local attorney or one in the area you are most interested in practicing in (DC/CA/NY etc) as volunteered that you go through a matching program for; there's a SBA sponsored program; and there's a less formal matching program also through the school. I can say the OCI programs I've seen so far are somewhat split up: one judicial clerkship, one regular - and this doesn't include the joint efforts such as the public sector career fair that will be held shortly at Georgia State. All in all career services here seems very active compared to stories I've heard from other schools, and able to draw in a moderate number employers. (Just remember not everyone gets their jobs that way)

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For lawschool2:

My *personal* opinion about the rankings is to take them with a grain of salt, and look at the numbers and formulae that went into generating them. Again, and just *my* opinion (which is in some ways worth what you're paying for it ) is that BC and GW are VERY good schools, and while I haven't attended them are probably comparable to Emory in general stature/reputation. If you asked U of Arizona v. Emory for example then I would say they are on a different level, but if you've done your research you know GW took a hit last year from some changes in calculation weighting as well... All of that said, if *I* was looking at things, I'd always try to pick a school with the best alumni network where you want to be. Emory does have alum in those areas, but, I think with the unknown projected job market going forward, your employment possibilities will extend deeper into the class rankings the stronger your school's presence in that market is. GW will be stronger in DC, BC/BU in Boston, WashU in Chicago. I also looked at graduating debt load when comparing as well, and took a broad overview picking what felt right to me, but, I think any of those choices assuming you got into them all would give a good experience and good education

The religious studies program I do not know much about personally, I do know some students do a joint degree with them, but none of my friends or anyone I know personally have been involved in it making it hard to give a good deal of insight. However, from my application cycle both admissions and the program directions (in my case transactional law) were very friendly and helpful, and I would get in touch with them directly. Nothing better than getting info from the horse's mouth.

Of the international students I have met, they come from all over including from European countries, SE Asia, etc, but they are so few I have only met a handful over the first semester plus I'd been here.

There are opportunities to interact with other grad students from the Business/Med/Theology/etc Schools, in fact tonight there is a grad senate mixer event that I'm not heading to to get some time in watching the barrett-jackson car auction tonight lol, and they do them from time to time throughout the semester. This doesn't include other opportunities to serve on grad student panels if you so choose as well. For the most part though, the workload and frequency of law-school specific events tend towards us self-selecting to keep to ourselves a bit which certainly holds true for myself and a number of my friends. Of course, I am one of the older late-20s students already in a relationship, so, I don't have the same motivation to be out there networking at such things that other parts of our student body might. (There were a good number of people in classes today excited and looking forward to heading out tonight)

I'm not sure how much help I was with your special questions, but, I do know there is another Emory 1L who I believe from his username already went through medschool that posted in one of the forums, not sure which/where though at the moment. He might be able to give you some extra tips as well.

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For chicoalto0649:

I will say that I had your same reaction to Emory, which only increased in time as I went through the online chat sessions with admissions, then the admitted students weekend, visits to Atlanta, and thinking my options through.

I really cant guess or give you any fair idea at your shot, but, as with any school you find that is intriguing DEFINITELY apply. The earlier you're complete the better shot you have! The numbers on law school numbers website were within range for me both in admissions and scholarship awards, so that's probably the place to start by looking at last year's cycle, and even this year's responses that have been posted thus far as well. If your numbers are all still listed as pending, don't despair, just check back in once in a while and see when people start changing them to accept/reject statuses. It'll maybe spare you some anxiety for a time if they are "holding" apps in your stat range for later reviews if nothing else.

[gobucks101]

Rather then do LWRAP I can help pitch in and try to answer questions as well. I came straight from UG, and probably am a little more in-tune with the social life if any questions concerning that.

[simplyelle]

ha, so i'm not an 0L...actually a 2L at emory,and i just wanted to ask you 1Ls-->what did you think of getting grades all at once this year? last year we got each grade one by one (with some grades weeks apart from each other). which do you think is better? (sorry to sidetrack this thread)

[gobucks101]

Haha yea I was not a fan. LWRAP turned out to tie for my worst grade (stupid Legal Methods) so it was stressful to have only that grade hanging over my head for several weeks. I would have preferred either to have LWRAP with all the other grades at once, or to go ahead and have them released one by one during January. I really have been in neutral up until this point and I think I would be better off and more motivated if they trickled in rather then having this week in back of my mind constantly.

[chicoalto0649]

Haha yea I was not a fan. LWRAP turned out to tie for my worst grade (stupid Legal Methods) so it was stressful to have only that grade hanging over my head for several weeks. I would have preferred either to have LWRAP with all the other grades at once, or to go ahead and have them released one by one during January. I really have been in neutral up until this point and I think I would be better off and more motivated if they trickled in rather then having this week in back of my mind constantly.

What do you guyss curve to?

[simplyelle]

Haha yea I was not a fan. LWRAP turned out to tie for my worst grade (stupid Legal Methods) so it was stressful to have only that grade hanging over my head for several weeks. I would have preferred either to have LWRAP with all the other grades at once, or to go ahead and have them released one by one during January. I really have been in neutral up until this point and I think I would be better off and more motivated if they trickled in rather then having this week in back of my mind constantly.

What do you guyss curve to?

3.17 (B/B+)

[chicoalto0649]

Also how do you like Hot-lanta? Never been and i heard you either hate it or love it. Do the younger students-- ~~22-23 -- all live close to campus or are they scattered throughout the city?

[gobucks101]

Also how do you like Hot-lanta? Never been and i heard you either hate it or love it. Do the younger students-- ~~22-23 -- all live close to campus or are they scattered throughout the city?

Most of us live close to campus. We have probably around 40 in my apartment complex alone. Post Briarcliff has quite a few as well. Considering how terrible my apartment complex is though I expect that next years class will be a bit more dispersed. I love Atlanta weather. It has been cold the past few weeks, but being from the midwest this is nothing. As for Atlanta, it is good night life city. There are different areas depending on your mood. Highlands is the cheaper/relaxed bars, Midtown for clubs etc.

[chicoalto0649]

Also how do you like Hot-lanta? Never been and i heard you either hate it or love it. Do the younger students-- ~~22-23 -- all live close to campus or are they scattered throughout the city?

Most of us live close to campus. We have probably around 40 in my apartment complex alone. Post Briarcliff has quite a few as well. Considering how terrible my apartment complex is though I expect that next years class will be a bit more dispersed. I love Atlanta weather. It has been cold the past few weeks, but being from the midwest this is nothing. As for Atlanta, it is good night life city. There are different areas depending on your mood. Highlands is the cheaper/relaxed bars, Midtown for clubs etc.

Thanks!

Now I am keeping my fingers crossed to get admitted. Even if I don't go it sounds like it will be a great trip.

Also- not sure if this was touched earlier, but how do you like Emory's law building/ how does it compare to the other law schools you visited? I can barely find any pictures of it online.... Emory is like a TLS mystery in certain ways and i appreciate the feedback!

[treeey86]

Another Emory 1L here. I actually liked getting all the grades at once, as it prevented us from experiencing a slow-perhaps painful, dragging out of the affair.

There is a former MD in our class whose name has a striking resemblance to my user name, but I am not him.

[gobucks101]

Thanks!

Now I am keeping my fingers crossed to get admitted. Even if I don't go it sounds like it will be a great trip.

Also- not sure if this was touched earlier, but how do you like Emory's law building/ how does it compare to the other law schools you visited? I can barely find any pictures of it online.... Emory is like a TLS mystery in certain ways and i appreciate the feedback!

At first I felt like I was in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Floors 2 and 4 are exclusive to the library, while 3 and 5 are for the classroom sides. Bacardi Plaza is nice though. It is right outside the larger section classrooms so you can leave class, grab your lunch from fridge and enjoy it outside during good weather. Takes about 30 seconds from class to burrito. Good stuff.

[bissey]

All of that said, I was a 3.4/166/94th percentile and my award was in line with those you'd find on LSN in that 80-90k window over 3 years.

My exact numbers. Hopefully I get the same offer

If anyone attended UGA (or is familiar with Athens), could you compare the two schools in terms of the school/education and night/social life?

Thanks for the help/info!

[forty-two]

How competitive are the students? Also, how vegetarian friendly is Atlanta?

Thanks in advance!

[jamaicanjynx]

As I am procrastinating on my Property reading, I will chime in

Bissey: I am not instate, but the instate folks who picked Emory over UGA mentioned that Emory offered more opportunities or more $$, had more national reach for those who want to go to another market and was a change of pace for those who were from Athens or went to UGA for undergrad.


Lawschool2: The religious studies program is not popular per se. (I assume you're referring to the JD/MTS or JD/MDiv joint degrees). Last I heard, noone from our class is in the program, or at least not yet. However I have several 2L and 3L friends in the program and they love it. A couple mentioned choosing Emory over higher ranked schools because Prof AnNa'im is such a legend in the field of Isamic Law and Witte and Alexander are highly regarded as well. CSLR students that I've met seem more interested in PI or gov't jobs than biglaw. I e-mailed them last year and we exchanged a couple e-mails and they sent me a huge packet in the mail so ask them for more info if you're interested.

I'm an international student and I know 4 students from Asia, 1 from Europe and another guy from Africa. Sorry, I can't remember the specific countries. If you're interested in having an internationally diverse group of ppl to interact with, head over to the main campus or make friends with ppl at the Public Health school. There are lots there.

The amount of interaction you do with other grad students is up to you. I'm not big on the bar/club scene. Since the majority of our law school social events involve bar-hopping, I ended up getting involved in other stuff at the main campus and befriending other non-bar hoppers which is why I probably have more non-law school friends than the average student. I also probably have less law student friends than average but I think I hang out less on campus than most people. I have friends in MPH, Computer Science, MBA, Music etc.

[papatel]

How competitive are the students? Also, how vegetarian friendly is Atlanta?

Thanks in advance!

As a vegetarian living 10 minutes from Emory, I'd say you're good to go