SMU C/O 2017 (2013-2014 Applicants) Forum

[TheJanitor6203]

Called admissions and, in fact, the scholarship page of the packet had failed to print for me! 24k/year. Thanks again for the earlier feedback!

This must be what happened with my acceptance. I should call them and say "I think you forgot to admit me last week with the others."

[LEPWU]

Called admissions and, in fact, the scholarship page of the packet had failed to print for me! 24k/year. Thanks again for the earlier feedback!

This must be what happened with my acceptance. I should call them and say "I think you forgot to admit me last week with the others."

Keep your spirits up...maybe next batch. But yeah, it was weird calling and muttering something like: "Uhhhhh, please-don't-rescind-my-acceptance-after-I-ask-this,-possibly-interpreted-as-entitled,-question, but: ...?"

[TheJanitor6203]

Called admissions and, in fact, the scholarship page of the packet had failed to print for me! 24k/year. Thanks again for the earlier feedback!

This must be what happened with my acceptance. I should call them and say "I think you forgot to admit me last week with the others."

Keep your spirits up...maybe next batch. But yeah, it was weird calling and muttering something like: "Uhhhhh, please-don't-rescind-my-acceptance-after-I-ask-this,-possibly-interpreted-as-entitled,-question, but: ...?"

Yeah I can imagine that being a little awkward. Congrats though.

[ScottRiqui]

Packet came today - 18k/year.

[kobe1020]

165/4.0 and only 24k a year? Seriously..

But SMU emphasized which part if my experience they are particularly interested in, too..nice touch there.

[JRO1989]

Hey to everyone who also applied to Baylor (I think most of us), how much more money would Baylor have to give you before you'd go Baylor over SMU?

[grungy89]

I don't know about scholarship amount difference, but if the total savings in loan amounts was $30,000 or more then I would choose Baylor over SMU. Both have similarly high tuition, like Barry School of Law in Orlando, but neither offer the free ipad.

[AT9]

Seriously, USPS? It's going to take you 5 days to get a package from Dallas to the Central Gulf Coast?

[ScottRiqui]

But SMU emphasized which part if my experience they are particularly interested in, too..nice touch there.

Same here, but I have to wonder if they're just playing the same type of game that we do, and parroting back what they perceive to be the biggest feature of our resumé or personal statement?

Still, you're right that it's a nice touch.

[slayerhn]

1L at SMU here. Any questions just ask.

1L at SMU. If you have any questions, just ask. If I can answer with my limited time here, I will.

SMU still hasn't updated their medians for your class. I know some of the schools told their students the medians at their orientation. Did they happen to tell y'all what the medians are?

The only thing they really told us was some of the achievements of some of the students as if they needed to brag to us. I have absolutely no idea as to what our median LSAT is.

[JRO1989]

1L at SMU here. Any questions just ask.

1L at SMU. If you have any questions, just ask. If I can answer with my limited time here, I will.

SMU still hasn't updated their medians for your class. I know some of the schools told their students the medians at their orientation. Did they happen to tell y'all what the medians are?

The only thing they really told us was some of the achievements of some of the students as if they needed to brag to us. I have absolutely no idea as to what our median LSAT is.

Hey, how's the law school community there? For example, I got the feeling at UH that everyone just has their own lives. Like they live all over, just come to class, then go back home.

[texas_ranger]

This is not true. Literally 1/4 of all the employers who participated in this year's SMU OCI were interviewing for Houston as well as (or instead of) Dallas. Obviously some of those would tell you that you can only interview for one city, but they tell you that at Texas too.

Okay, I stand corrected. That said, my original statement still holds true for UH. Very few firms allow interviewing for multiple offices.

As for my Baker Botts example: it could very well be that they allow SMU students to interview for Houston jobs because Houston is their HQ location and, as such, has 80% more attorneys than its Dallas office. Now that I think about it, aside from Akin Gump most of the top firms founded/HQed in Texas are Houston-based, e.g. V&E and Fulbright, which could also help explain the reversal. To my recollection, the only BigLaw firm at UH OCI that allowed submissions for multiple offices was Jackson Walker.

[slayerhn]

1L at SMU here. Any questions just ask.

1L at SMU. If you have any questions, just ask. If I can answer with my limited time here, I will.

SMU still hasn't updated their medians for your class. I know some of the schools told their students the medians at their orientation. Did they happen to tell y'all what the medians are?

The only thing they really told us was some of the achievements of some of the students as if they needed to brag to us. I have absolutely no idea as to what our median LSAT is.

Hey, how's the law school community there? For example, I got the feeling at UH that everyone just has their own lives. Like they live all over, just come to class, then go back home.

I'd say it depends on the group of people you hang out with. There is a large amount of married students who have more important things to do after school (kids or significant other) and rush home to tend to those. However, there is definitely a majority of students who want to have fun. There are students who meet a few times a week after class to have a beer and catch up, you have the students who party hard, and everyone wants to help each other. With my short time at SMU, I haven't seen any of the horror stories about Baylor's competitiveness. Not to say that we aren't competitive, but everyone seems to prefer pushing themselves ahead instead of holding others back.

We're in Dallas and you have Uptown 5 minutes away. A good portion of the class (and the upperclassmen) go out every weekend. If you're into that kind of thing it's definitely available for you.

Overall, I'm probably the wrong person to ask about this as I have no desire to really have a relationship with most students. However, some of my good friends right now I've met at law school. I'm really glad to be here.

[JRO1989]

Cool, that seems like a good mix. Thanks. It's because if you're single and don't know anyone in Dallas, a really commuter-ish campus would make law school suck even more than it needs to haha

[slayerhn]

Cool, that seems like a good mix. Thanks. It's because if you're single and don't know anyone in Dallas, a really commuter-ish campus would make law school suck even more than it needs to haha

Yeah, I don't think that will be a problem. If you're single and want to meet people, you will. Dallas is a great area for that. You'll be broken down into one of three sections, and then put into a smaller section for your legal writing of about 10 people. You'll really get to know your section and legal writing section. You can show up to a Bar Review and drink on SMU's tab or join one of the many student organizations that will invite you out and meet tons of people.

[texas_ranger]

Hey, how's the law school community there? For example, I got the feeling at UH that everyone just has their own lives. Like they live all over, just come to class, then go back home.

Interesting question. It really depends. There's kind of a three-way divide in terms of residential locale: inside the loop, way out in the 'burbs, and on-campus in Calhoun Lofts. The ones who live way out don't socialize much, at least in my experience, with others, and they're generally a bit older than the norm and/or doing a p/t program. About 20% of my 1L class lived in Calhoun, and I know they hung out together quite a bit. I live inside the loop within a ten-minute drive of pretty much everyone I hang out with outside of class, most of whom live between 59 and I-10 (in Montrose, Upper Kirby, etc.).

Btw a few things on the topic of SMU vs. Baylor:

1. You can ABSOLUTELY play one financial aid office against the other to gun for an increase from the school of your choice. With the huge drop in applications, it's basically the law school equivalent of a buyer's market, and particularly if your LSAT/GPA are above the median, schools will bend over backwards to accommodate you.

2. Think LONG AND HARD before deciding to go to Baylor. Being stuck in Wacko Waco for three years will absolutely work to your detriment in terms of landing jobs, both during school and after graduation. (There's a reason why SMU is ranked #22 on ATL's rankings, UH is 35th, and no other Texas school besides UT is on it at all.) Yes, they think they're hot shit because they always have the highest bar-passage rate in Texas, but that's entirely because they TEACH TO THE BAR (which few other law schools do because it inevitably leads students to focus less on what they should focus on, namely the area of law they plan to practice).

3. As for quality of life: again, this is Waco, and Baylor was a school where it was literally against campus rules until 2000 or so for undergraduates to dance with one another. No, I am not kidding. Also, Baylor is notorious for having one of the most hellish 3L programs in the country -- whereas at SMU or UH, a significant number of students are already working for a living, oftentimes at the firms that will end up hiring them after graduation. In contrast, since there are no law firms to speak of in Waco, Baylor instead does some kind of Marine Corps-style shit to get students "ready" for real-life law (as opposed to the on-the-job experience you'd get at a law school in a large city).

Seriously, most of you probably have an idea of at least a few law firms where you'd ideally like to work. Go to their Web sites. Read their lawyer bios -- all of them, if necessary. See how many of them went to Baylor versus SMU or UH. (Hell, in Houston you'll probably find more grads from third-tier South Texas at most firms, outside of the most elite BigLaw ones, than Baylor grads.)

[TheJanitor6203]

Cool, that seems like a good mix. Thanks. It's because if you're single and don't know anyone in Dallas, a really commuter-ish campus would make law school suck even more than it needs to haha

Yeah, I don't that will be a problem. If you're single and want to meet people, you will. Dallas is a great area for that. You'll be broken down into one of three sections, and then put into a smaller section for your legal writing of about 10 people. You'll really get to know your section and legal writing section. You can show up to a Bar Review and drink on SMU's tab or join one of the many student organizations that will invite you out and meet tons of people.

On SMU's tab???? I haven't heard about this.. tell me more.

[slayerhn]

Cool, that seems like a good mix. Thanks. It's because if you're single and don't know anyone in Dallas, a really commuter-ish campus would make law school suck even more than it needs to haha

Yeah, I don't that will be a problem. If you're single and want to meet people, you will. Dallas is a great area for that. You'll be broken down into one of three sections, and then put into a smaller section for your legal writing of about 10 people. You'll really get to know your section and legal writing section. You can show up to a Bar Review and drink on SMU's tab or join one of the many student organizations that will invite you out and meet tons of people.

On SMU's tab???? I haven't heard about this.. tell me more.

Some nights at Bar Review the student organization will have an open tab and it's free to use for SMU students until it runs out. Other nights you get drink tickets.

[TheJanitor6203]

Cool, that seems like a good mix. Thanks. It's because if you're single and don't know anyone in Dallas, a really commuter-ish campus would make law school suck even more than it needs to haha

Yeah, I don't that will be a problem. If you're single and want to meet people, you will. Dallas is a great area for that. You'll be broken down into one of three sections, and then put into a smaller section for your legal writing of about 10 people. You'll really get to know your section and legal writing section. You can show up to a Bar Review and drink on SMU's tab or join one of the many student organizations that will invite you out and meet tons of people.

On SMU's tab???? I haven't heard about this.. tell me more.

Some nights the Bar Review the student organization will have an open tab and it's free to use for SMU students until it runs out. Other nights you get drink tickets.

Wow, if there was ever any doubt SMU was for me those doubts are gone... now if I could just get accepted.

[texas_ranger]

Wow, if there was ever any doubt SMU was for me those doubts are gone... now if I could just get accepted.

Just to be clear, that type of thing isn't unusual in law school -- well, okay, maybe at Baylor since they're mostly Southern Baptists who abstain from drinking, but not elsewhere. UT and UH have the same types of things regularly as well, and various student groups have plenty of separate mixers, too. (And if you make it onto law review, you can fully expect to be wined-and-dined on a firm's dime on a regular basis.)

[JRO1989]

Damn thank you all for all the info! Much better response than I expected haha

[JRO1989]

Yeah, I don't that will be a problem. If you're single and want to meet people, you will. Dallas is a great area for that. You'll be broken down into one of three sections, and then put into a smaller section for your legal writing of about 10 people. You'll really get to know your section and legal writing section. You can show up to a Bar Review and drink on SMU's tab or join one of the many student organizations that will invite you out and meet tons of people.[/quote]
On SMU's tab???? I haven't heard about this.. tell me more.[/quote]

Some nights the Bar Review the student organization will have an open tab and it's free to use for SMU students until it runs out. Other nights you get drink tickets.[/quote]
Wow, if there was ever any doubt SMU was for me those doubts are gone... now if I could just get accepted.[/quote]

haha don't worry man, I bet you're in this coming week

[BVest]

Some nights at Bar Review the student organization will have an open tab and it's free to use for SMU students until it runs out. Other nights you get drink tickets.

BTW, until it runs out usually means get their early and be ready to to squeeze up to the bar. You can also eat for free many (perhaps most) lunches if you want to attend every student group's meetings and all the Lexis/Westlaw trainings.

On the other question, I agree that overall I'd say SMU 1Ls are a pretty tight group. It also helps that SMU is right in the middle of the two main areas that students live. Probably 80% of my section will lived either just east of the campus in the Village area (older apartments off University or Southwestern between Skillman and Greenville) or just south of campus in Uptown (newer apartments between campus and downtown). Beyond that, there were about 10% in houses in Lower Greenville/Lakewood (still within 4 miles of the law garage) and another 10% scattered about town or in the suburbs.

[TheJanitor6203]

haha don't worry man, I bet you're in this coming week

I hope so. It's driving me crazy. SMU is the ONLY school I truly care if I don't get into.

Some nights at Bar Review the student organization will have an open tab and it's free to use for SMU students until it runs out. Other nights you get drink tickets.

BTW, until it runs out usually means get their early and be ready to to squeeze up to the bar. You can also eat for free many (perhaps most) lunches if you want to attend every student group's meetings and all the Lexis/Westlaw trainings.

On the other question, I agree that overall I'd say SMU 1Ls are a pretty tight group. It also helps that SMU is right in the middle of the two main areas that students live. Probably 80% of my section will lived either just east of the campus in the Village area (older apartments off University or Southwestern between Skillman and Greenville) or just south of campus in Uptown (newer apartments between campus and downtown). Beyond that, there were about 10% in houses in Lower Greenville/Lakewood (still within 4 miles of the law garage) and another 10% scattered about town or in the suburbs.

I'll be one of those 10% (if I get in). I've already got a house in North Dallas. I've got a wife and little people so I probably wont be involved in everything but I'll go to the occasional bar review or whatnot.

[TheJanitor6203]

I'm assuming the 10% that live a distance away are probably the same 10% or so with families right? For the ones that choose to go to bar review every once in while, do they fit in with the crowd, or is it more of a "closed group" if you know what I mean?