UC Hastings c/o 2020 Applicants (2016-2017) Forum

[Rebecca&Fiona]

How is everyone planning on the place to live?
I've googled and read yelp about McAllister tower and negatives do not outweigh the positives for me...
How are you finding roommates and other apartments?

I know Hastings offers the link to off-campus, but do you guys really selecting places from this link?
I live outside of US and cannot plan to visit till last minute so any advice would be helpful.

Use the map function on Craigslist. Also check out Bay area housing Facebook groups. If it were me, I would try to find somewhere within walking distance of Hastings in south of Market ('SOMA'), or somewhere on a bus line in the Richmond District/Outer Sunset (quieter/more family oriented area), or somewhere near a Bart station. But, none of that is easy to find, it takes a good amount of work to find a good place to live in the Bay. Oakland can be a quieter, more laid back place than SF, if you lived near Bart in Oakland, you could take Bart to Hastings.

Thank you for the useful information. I will try.

[SF_tax_guy]

There's been a "Decision Rendered" status listed on the online status page since 2/15. So far no email or no snail mail. Should I be worried?

What ended up happening?

Admissions sent an email saying I'd been waitlisted on 3/1. They suggested a "sincerely written statement of continuing interest" might be helpful, but so far I've heard nothing more than crickets. I'm hoping to hear back before 4/14, at which point I need to pay a deposit for another school.

[donosti]

Sent a negotiation email to admissions and got a response with a slight bump in my scholarship from anonymous

[kaptainkeepa]

Sent a negotiation email to admissions and got a response with a slight bump in my scholarship from anonymous

How long was the wait to hear back?

[ooglygoogly]

https://instagram.com/p/BRoEjhHF7ki/

this IG post gave me a weird vibe. Hastings of all schools....
Just because you trained your students poorly (with that horrible bar passage rate) does not mean you should be supporting this. The bar exam really should not be made easier, especially in CA when there's more than enough lawyers.

Going to ASD though and seeing what they say about this.

[futureellewoods123]

https://instagram.com/p/BRoEjhHF7ki/

this IG post gave me a weird vibe. Hastings of all schools....
Just because you trained your students poorly (with that horrible bar passage rate) does not mean you should be supporting this. The bar exam really should not be made easier, especially in CA when there's more than enough lawyers.

Going to ASD though and seeing what they say about this.

Totally agree. I'd love to hear what they say if you find out!

[265489164158]

https://instagram.com/p/BRoEjhHF7ki/

this IG post gave me a weird vibe. Hastings of all schools....
Just because you trained your students poorly (with that horrible bar passage rate) does not mean you should be supporting this. The bar exam really should not be made easier, especially in CA when there's more than enough lawyers.

Going to ASD though and seeing what they say about this.

I believe that all of the ABA schools in CA signed the letter requesting the ABA look into this. The issue is about the "cut rate" for the MBE. Apparently, CA uses a much higher cut rate than most states, meaning that if they used the same standard as NY, bar passage would be > 80+% for first time takers. I am a current Hastings 1L and that is the position we have heard from the dean. For the record, I love Hastings and am happy with my choice, but I do not understand how the recent test-takers performed so much worse than schools like SD. I can say that it is a top priority and they are implementing changes, such as requiring more bar classes. In recent years, they allowed students more latitude with which classes to take, and the bar scores seem to be suffering for it. Starting next year, we will be required to have 6 bar classes (after 1L) to graduate.

[donosti]

Sent a negotiation email to admissions and got a response with a slight bump in my scholarship from anonymous

How long was the wait to hear back?

Only two days

[SF_tax_guy]

There's been a "Decision Rendered" status listed on the online status page since 2/15. So far no email or no snail mail. Should I be worried?

What ended up happening?

Admissions sent an email saying I'd been waitlisted on 3/1. They suggested a "sincerely written statement of continuing interest" might be helpful, but so far I've heard nothing more than crickets. I'm hoping to hear back before 4/14, at which point I need to pay a deposit for another school.

And as an update, I cleared the waitlist and was offered admissions on 3/28.

[NewUser_2017]

There's been a "Decision Rendered" status listed on the online status page since 2/15. So far no email or no snail mail. Should I be worried?

What ended up happening?

Admissions sent an email saying I'd been waitlisted on 3/1. They suggested a "sincerely written statement of continuing interest" might be helpful, but so far I've heard nothing more than crickets. I'm hoping to hear back before 4/14, at which point I need to pay a deposit for another school.

And as an update, I cleared the waitlist and was offered admissions on 3/28.

Congratulations, what are your numbers? Any scholarship?

[tinkcuture07]

Am I the only one that hasn't received a decision despite having submitted the application in early November? What the hell, Hastings?

[kaptainkeepa]

Has anyone successfully negotiated with Hastings?

[BottomOfTotem]

https://instagram.com/p/BRoEjhHF7ki/

this IG post gave me a weird vibe. Hastings of all schools....
Just because you trained your students poorly (with that horrible bar passage rate) does not mean you should be supporting this. The bar exam really should not be made easier, especially in CA when there's more than enough lawyers.

Going to ASD though and seeing what they say about this.

I don't think an artificially inflated bar is the route to "weed out" prospective attorneys, no matter the reason. First and foremost, that is a life-altering investment that can leave a heavy burden weighing down a young individual for the rest of his/her life. Second, and as my fellow 1L pointed out, the CA is seen by just about ALL CA law schools (WTH UCD?) as foolishly difficult.

With that said, I think plenty of blame can be shared with both student and institution. As an adult, I would never point my failures on a standardized test at my school. Yet I get that you are paying a lot to become an attorney, so if you don't achieve that, why did you pay?

I can say with certainty that this issue will be fixed. The person they have promoted to lead the policy on the issue is brilliant, and was one of the best professors I've ever had.

[coco831]

What is wrong with their admissions and housing admin and staff? All the communication I have had with them has been subpar, ingenuine, cold, and rude. Compared to other schools that I applied to that made me feel like they wanted me to attend, UC Hastings is all about taking your $$$$ and so far the admissions feels poorly ran on their behalf.

The housing application "process" is also a joke, sent in the $300 app fee just to find out there's a waitlist that's 40 deep. Thanks for the headsup!

[kaptainkeepa]

What is wrong with their admissions and housing admin and staff? All the communication I have had with them has been subpar, digenuine, cold, and rude. Compared to other schools that I applied to that made me feel like they wanted me to attend, UC Hastings is all about taking your $$$$ and so far the admissions feels poorly ran on their behalf.

The housing application "process" is also a joke, sent in the $300 app fee just to find out there's a waitlist that's 40 deep. Thanks for the headsup!

Holy crap....on that note, I don't think I will place my deposit.

[NewUser_2017]

What is wrong with their admissions and housing admin and staff? All the communication I have had with them has been subpar, digenuine, cold, and rude. Compared to other schools that I applied to that made me feel like they wanted me to attend, UC Hastings is all about taking your $$$$ and so far the admissions feels poorly ran on their behalf.

The housing application "process" is also a joke, sent in the $300 app fee just to find out there's a waitlist that's 40 deep. Thanks for the headsup!

Can you elaborate on 'subpar, digenuine, cold, and rude,' please?

[coco831]

What is wrong with their admissions and housing admin and staff? All the communication I have had with them has been subpar, digenuine, cold, and rude. Compared to other schools that I applied to that made me feel like they wanted me to attend, UC Hastings is all about taking your $$$$ and so far the admissions feels poorly ran on their behalf.

The housing application "process" is also a joke, sent in the $300 app fee just to find out there's a waitlist that's 40 deep. Thanks for the headsup!

Holy crap....on that note, I don't think I will place my deposit.

It could just be my experience. I'm sure it's different for everyone. I also didn't get to attend admitted students day so maybe it's better in person?

The admin staff gave me the complete run-around when trying to get in contact with their director of admissions and via their communication -email or via phone- I feel like just another number to them. I submitted my first deposit last week and had some questions about housing but no one replied until AFTER the app fee was sent. Just annoyed af.

[kaptainkeepa]

What is wrong with their admissions and housing admin and staff? All the communication I have had with them has been subpar, digenuine, cold, and rude. Compared to other schools that I applied to that made me feel like they wanted me to attend, UC Hastings is all about taking your $$$$ and so far the admissions feels poorly ran on their behalf.

The housing application "process" is also a joke, sent in the $300 app fee just to find out there's a waitlist that's 40 deep. Thanks for the headsup!

Holy crap....on that note, I don't think I will place my deposit.

It could just be my experience. I'm sure it's different for everyone. I also didn't get to attend admitted students day so maybe it's better in person?

The admin staff gave me the complete run-around when trying to get in contact with their director of admissions and via their communication -email or via phone- I feel like just another number to them. I submitted my first deposit last week and had some questions about housing but no one replied until AFTER the app fee was sent. Just annoyed af.

Students are working it so you can tell that they are not 100% professional about it.

I sent in a reconsideration for a scholarship and never got a response back for a month. I followed up with another competitive offer and they responded back in 5 minutes thanking for the other offer but did not acknowledge my previously submitted offers until I mentioned their lack of punctual response. I doubt I will hear anything until after deadlines.

[sconcep]

Has anyone received a response that applied through LEOP? Does anyone know anything about LEOP status?

[lordmac69]

Has anyone received a response that applied through LEOP? Does anyone know anything about LEOP status?

I'm in LEOP, PM if you have specific questions.

[donosti]

Anyone have confirmation on housing in the Tower? Judging by the posts on the admitted students facebook page, it looks like no one has heard back.

[Mhowsley]

Anyone have confirmation on housing in the Tower? Judging by the posts on the admitted students facebook page, it looks like no one has heard back.

Not a peep. When did you apply for housing?

[donosti]

Anyone have confirmation on housing in the Tower? Judging by the posts on the admitted students facebook page, it looks like no one has heard back.

Not a peep. When did you apply for housing?

Applied the same day as the first accepted students day.

Just received an email that I got assigned a unit!

[Gryzzle]

Decided on Hastings over local school USD (among other more prestigious options out of state) because I hate LA and wanted to be in either SD or SF. Anyone else have similar struggles when deciding between Hastings and other competitors? A little apprehensive to dive into Hastings with their terrible employment numbers/bar passage rate/financial aid/resident tuition and the rest of it. I know I'm somewhat looking for some self reassurance here but I'm curious if any of my fellow classmates went through similar conflicts about attending Hastings or if any Hastings grads/current students could shed some light on the rankings and other struggles the school is having. Thanks!

[BabyJD]

I'm feeling the same way. Thank you for bringing this up, as it makes me feel better knowing it's not just me who isn't 100% about Hastings. I recently told my employer and every attorney I work with was so excited for me and kept telling me that it's such a great school and is well respected. Also, remember that the school doesn't make the attorney. As an example, there are a few employees in the legal department (it's a small dept) that went to not-so-reputable law schools but have a great legal mind. Hope that helps!