wilfred wrote:So what's the consensus on the Lawyers Club? Pretty cool digs, or a little too much like undergrad?
Current Lawyers Club resident here.
I like it a lot and I think most of the people who live here are happy with it. The 1Ls who tend to live elsewhere are those with significant others, pets, and/or former UM undergrads who already had a place. It really makes meeting people from other sections very easy and I particularly loved it at the beginning of the semester when everyone was still getting to know each other. The lounges are great for watching TV/Movies and I've never had a problem finding at least one unoccupied one. I've also found the staff to be extremely friendly and accommodating. I like the location a lot too. It's obviously the closest option for all of your classes, but it's also a pretty quick walk to the State Street convenience stores, the gyms (the Ross $200/semester one is just across the street and the free CCRB and IM Building aren't more than a few minutes away), and it's pretty easy to get to both the South U and downtown bars/restaurants. Another pretty convenient thing is that apartments in Ann Arbor tend to be 12-month leases, not school year leases. You'll never have to worry about finding someone to sublet your room.
It has its drawbacks though, some of which I knew before moving in and others I did not. The no-kitchen thing is the big one I saw a lot. I loved cooking before law school so not having an in-room kitchen was extremely disappointing at first, but now I like the convenience of someone else cooking for me. The dining hall food isn't bad and every room has a mini-fridge (I took the shelf out in mine and I would say it fits three gallons of milk on the main shelf and has a decent sized drawer as well as door shelves) and microwave. There are no meals on Saturdays which is certainly less than ideal, but I tend to use the community kitchen if I don't want to eat what's in my room or go out. The rooms can be a little hit or miss as well. The standard room is pretty much defined as "under 200 square feet, not counting the bathroom". Most of the rooms are very close in square footage, but a few lucky people will get the ~195 sq. foot rooms while an unlucky few will be stuck in the ~130 sq. foot ones (For the same price). Some of the rooms also look very different from the rest and are oddly (and, perhaps, inconveniently) shaped. That said, none of them are THAT bad and the smaller ones tend to have extra space savers like additional wall-shelves and book shelves.
Room-to-Room, the noise levels are very low. I have neighbors on both sides and I have never heard anything through my walls from them. Hallway-to-Room noise tends to be a little worse. If you happen to be by an entrance or staircase, and people are having a conversation as they walk by, you can hear them through the door. People here are pretty considerate though, so unless it's like the last day of finals or Halloween or something like that, I would never call it "noisy". One of the only "bad undergrad experiences" that I have at the Lawyers Club is with laundry. You can check online before leaving your room to make sure machines are open, and it's super easy to put money on your Student ID to use them. That said, there are only 6 washers and 6 dryers. If you want to do laundry every Sunday at Noon, it's probably not going to consistently happen.
The last thing I can think of sort of comes with the territory I guess. The Lawyers Club and Law Quad, particularly before the snow starts to fall, get a lot of visitors. Wedding photos are pretty common on the Quad and it seems like the most desirable spots are also the ones you will be walking to the most. It's never been super inconvenient or anything like that, but it can be a little annoying at times. I don't think of myself as a rude person, but when what seems like the hundredth wedding shoot of the week is taking place between your door and the dining hall at dinner time, I'm not going to wait for the shot before walking where I need to go. We also get a lot of alums come in for football games, usually between like late morning Friday and Saturday before kickoff. If you happen to like studying in the reading room, and want to either skip the game or just read beforehand, expect a lot of traffic. People love to come in to the reading room and look around for a bit. Others just tend to hangout in the Quad with their family.
Overall, I love living here and I think most of my classmates enjoy it. I know a really good number of current 1Ls who are planning to sign a lease for next year as well. I also thing that most of the drawbacks I mentioned can easily be a positive thing. We have a few alumni receptions on the Friday nights before gamedays, which are pretty good networking opportunities. The community kitchen has pots, pans and, measuring cups so you don't have to worry about buying all of that. For what it's worth, I don't think I've talked to anyone who regrets living here for 1L. In fact, I've heard from a few people that if they weren't in serious relationships or didn't have pets, they would live here as well. Hopefully that helps!
