In at Harvard Forum

LaCumparsita · Post by **LaCumparsita** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:52 am

DFog wrote:Checking in for the first time. Just got my JS2 tonight!

Yay!!! Welcome!

countercouper · Post by **countercouper** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:49 am

Checking in too!!

So stoked. How do we join the FB group for admitted students?

soj · Post by **soj** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:53 am

countercouper wrote:Checking in too!! So stoked. How do we join the FB group for admitted students?

Check page 1 of this thread.

bogm2012 · Post by **bogm2012** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:30 am

countercouper wrote:Checking in too!! So stoked. How do we join the FB group for admitted students?

Yay! Now I don't feel like such a newbie

Congrats DFog and countercouper! Take some time to savor your tremendous accomplishment!

nametaken · Post by **nametaken** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 11:30 am

I'm going to visit campus tomorrow and am super excited to see it and Cambridge! Congrats to all of the new admits!

splbagel · Post by **splbagel** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:44 pm

Info that might be useful to others: I've been corresponding with SFS about how selling my car this summer might affect my expected contribution.

I have almost nothing in the way of liquid assets right now, and was hoping that the sale of my car would fund my moving expenses, apartment deposit, and some travel this summer so that I can take July and August off of work. Unfortunately, they said that the sale of my car would be considered an increase in my "assets," and I would have to report it in the fall if the sale is over $3000. They consider the total increase in my assets, not the net increase. So if I sell my car for $6000 and then spend it all on moving and travel, ending the summer with close to $0 in the bank, they would still expect a substantial contribution from me when I report the sale in the fall (she gave me a rough estimate of $4500). I would have to file a waiver request at that time if I want them to consider only the net increase in my assets.

This is throwing a big wrench in my plans, since my car basically represents my only savings. Anybody else dealing with this issue?

sailboat · Post by **sailboat** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:03 pm

splbagel wrote:Info that might be useful to others: I've been corresponding with SFS about how selling my car this summer might affect my expected contribution.

I have almost nothing in the way of liquid assets right now, and was hoping that the sale of my car would fund my moving expenses, apartment deposit, and some travel this summer so that I can take July and August off of work. Unfortunately, they said that the sale of my car would be considered an increase in my "assets," and I would have to report it in the fall if the sale is over $3000. They consider the total increase in my assets, not the net increase. So if I sell my car for $6000 and then spend it all on moving and travel, ending the summer with close to $0 in the bank, they would still expect a substantial contribution from me when I report the sale in the fall (she gave me a rough estimate of $4500). I would have to file a waiver request at that time if I want them to consider only the net increase in my assets.

This is throwing a big wrench in my plans, since my car basically represents my only savings. Anybody else dealing with this issue?

Yeah, that really bothers me... it's not just HLS that does this, but it amazes me that they don't seem to realize (or don't care?) that most people will need at least a few thousand in liquid assets for moving expenses, deposit/first and last months' rent on a new apt, etc. Plus, as part of being a reasonable adult, you should have a decent amount in the bank for cash flow purposes, unexpected expenses, emergencies, etc. It almost seems to be set up to penalize you for doing that, though. Maybe I'm missing something, but I wish they had sort of a threshold amount of assets (say, $5000 or whatever) that you could have before they started expecting you to use it to pay for school.

/rant

Sorry splbagel, I know that wasn't 100% relevant to the question at hand...

goodwillhunting · Post by **goodwillhunting** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:10 pm

A random question, but does anyone know why the admission office email is 1L2B@law.harvard.edu? 1L2B seems so arbitrary

thederangedwang · Post by **thederangedwang** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:11 pm

goodwillhunting wrote:A random question, but does anyone know why the admission office email is 1L2B@law.harvard.edu? 1L2B seems so arbitrary

1L to be

goodwillhunting · Post by **goodwillhunting** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:13 pm

thederangedwang wrote:
goodwillhunting wrote:A random question, but does anyone know why the admission office email is 1L2B@law.harvard.edu? 1L2B seems so arbitrary
1L to be

ah, that makes sense. thanks, thederangedwang!

splbagel · Post by **splbagel** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:07 pm

sailboat wrote:
splbagel wrote:Info that might be useful to others: I've been corresponding with SFS about how selling my car this summer might affect my expected contribution.

I have almost nothing in the way of liquid assets right now, and was hoping that the sale of my car would fund my moving expenses, apartment deposit, and some travel this summer so that I can take July and August off of work. Unfortunately, they said that the sale of my car would be considered an increase in my "assets," and I would have to report it in the fall if the sale is over $3000. They consider the total increase in my assets, not the net increase. So if I sell my car for $6000 and then spend it all on moving and travel, ending the summer with close to $0 in the bank, they would still expect a substantial contribution from me when I report the sale in the fall (she gave me a rough estimate of $4500). I would have to file a waiver request at that time if I want them to consider only the net increase in my assets.

This is throwing a big wrench in my plans, since my car basically represents my only savings. Anybody else dealing with this issue?
Yeah, that really bothers me... it's not just HLS that does this, but it amazes me that they don't seem to realize (or don't care?) that most people will need at least a few thousand in liquid assets for moving expenses, deposit/first and last months' rent on a new apt, etc. Plus, as part of being a reasonable adult, you should have a decent amount in the bank for cash flow purposes, unexpected expenses, emergencies, etc. It almost seems to be set up to penalize you for doing that, though. Maybe I'm missing something, but I wish they had sort of a threshold amount of assets (say, $5000 or whatever) that you could have before they started expecting you to use it to pay for school.

/rant

Sorry splbagel, I know that wasn't 100% relevant to the question at hand...

100% relevant -- happy to commiserate. I completely agree with you that there should be some kind of minimum amount that they let us keep. Anybody else trying to figure out how to fund a move to Cambridge if HLS takes most of your savings? Does this just mean I have to take out more CoL loans?

bogm2012 · Post by **bogm2012** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:35 pm

splbagel wrote:
sailboat wrote:
splbagel wrote:Info that might be useful to others: I've been corresponding with SFS about how selling my car this summer might affect my expected contribution.

I have almost nothing in the way of liquid assets right now, and was hoping that the sale of my car would fund my moving expenses, apartment deposit, and some travel this summer so that I can take July and August off of work. Unfortunately, they said that the sale of my car would be considered an increase in my "assets," and I would have to report it in the fall if the sale is over $3000. They consider the total increase in my assets, not the net increase. So if I sell my car for $6000 and then spend it all on moving and travel, ending the summer with close to $0 in the bank, they would still expect a substantial contribution from me when I report the sale in the fall (she gave me a rough estimate of $4500). I would have to file a waiver request at that time if I want them to consider only the net increase in my assets.

This is throwing a big wrench in my plans, since my car basically represents my only savings. Anybody else dealing with this issue?
Yeah, that really bothers me... it's not just HLS that does this, but it amazes me that they don't seem to realize (or don't care?) that most people will need at least a few thousand in liquid assets for moving expenses, deposit/first and last months' rent on a new apt, etc. Plus, as part of being a reasonable adult, you should have a decent amount in the bank for cash flow purposes, unexpected expenses, emergencies, etc. It almost seems to be set up to penalize you for doing that, though. Maybe I'm missing something, but I wish they had sort of a threshold amount of assets (say, $5000 or whatever) that you could have before they started expecting you to use it to pay for school.

/rant

Sorry splbagel, I know that wasn't 100% relevant to the question at hand...
100% relevant -- happy to commiserate. I completely agree with you that there should be some kind of minimum amount that they let us keep. Anybody else trying to figure out how to fund a move to Cambridge if HLS takes most of your savings? Does this just mean I have to take out more CoL loans?

Sorry to hear that, Spl. I'm surprised that they consider this an increase... it seems much more like a conversion (or - having sold cars myself - a decrease in asset value).

I did find this, which you may want to look into (from http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/sfs/ ... ssets.html):

"In general, a student's contribution each year will include one-third of any assets reported on financial aid application forms, less an emergency reserve allowance (ERA). The ERA is a standardized amount automatically set aside from the calculations in order to protect a certain portion of the student's assets in case of unexpected need. The ERA is adjusted upwards when the student has a spouse and/or dependents."

When I spoke with SFS, they seemed to indicate that the ERA was between $1900-$2000 per year, but looking at the website it seems like that 1L got $500 per year for his ERA. Maybe it was $2000 overall. It might be worth asking them about.

This is probably a question for SFS, but I wonder how they define that $3000 increase. I am expecting a tax refund slightly in excess of $3000, but neither the state nor the federal amounts will exceed $3000 individually. I guess what I would like to know is: does everyone who has gross income of more than $3000 between filing for fin. aid and matriculation have to report it, or are we only obligated to report discrete instances of income increases in excess of $3000?

iThwl · Post by **iThwl** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:02 pm

Hey, guys, when I tried to log into MyHLS fin aid, this message showed up:

"We are unable to activate your account. Please contact your financial aid office and refer to Code IA."

anyone had similar experience?

Curious1 · Post by **Curious1** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:04 pm

iThwl wrote:Hey, guys, when I tried to log into MyHLS fin aid, this message showed up:

"We are unable to activate your account. Please contact your financial aid office and refer to Code IA."

anyone had similar experience?

Yes--this means the admissions office hasn't passed your info to the fin. aid office yet. Call them to confirm this, then call admissions. It should be sorted out within a day, at least it did for me.

iThwl · Post by **iThwl** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:05 pm

Curious1 wrote:
iThwl wrote:Hey, guys, when I tried to log into MyHLS fin aid, this message showed up:

"We are unable to activate your account. Please contact your financial aid office and refer to Code IA."

anyone had similar experience?
Yes--this means the admissions office hasn't passed your info to the fin. aid office yet. Call them to confirm this, then call admissions. It should be sorted out within a day, at least it did for me.

Great! Thanks a lot!!

walnuto · Post by **walnuto** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:27 am

Hey all! I will be attending HLS's March ASW. I'm wondering if anybody would like to share a hotel room for Saturday and Sunday night. PM me if you're interested! Females only please, haha.

flavoredtootsie · Post by **flavoredtootsie** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:13 pm

Hello! I'm super excited to finally be able to check in!

This is quite possibly a silly question, but does anyone know if it's possible for recently admitted students to attend the upcoming admitted students weekend?

Curious1 · Post by **Curious1** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:25 pm

flavoredtootsie wrote:Hello! I'm super excited to finally be able to check in! This is quite possibly a silly question, but does anyone know if it's possible for recently admitted students to attend the upcoming admitted students weekend?

You have to sign up--so call the admissions office so they can give you your harvard ID so you can log in to the online system. It's in your packet, but the admissions office knows it. But I think they might not be able to give you the travel assistance for such short notice.

caminante · Post by **caminante** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:26 pm

flavoredtootsie wrote:Hello! I'm super excited to finally be able to check in! This is quite possibly a silly question, but does anyone know if it's possible for recently admitted students to attend the upcoming admitted students weekend?

Congrats! You should call the admissions office to ask about attending the ASW. I would think it would be fine as long as they have space.

sailboat · Post by **sailboat** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:01 pm

Sooo it looks like they changed one of the case assignments for the mock class to an Israeli Supreme Court decision. Interesting...

captainwasabi09 · Post by **captainwasabi09** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:25 pm

Hi guys, checking in. Best day ever!!

ladybug89 · Post by **ladybug89** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:41 pm

All you March ASW-ers, don't forget to share your thoughts/recap the weekend for those of who can't go until April (or at all)!! i'm super excited for everyone going this weekend =D

Byzantine · Post by **Byzantine** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:43 am

Bump. In, off a Saturday JS2!

So happy to join this austere group.

jd5 · Post by **jd5** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:53 am

Checking in.

captainwasabi09 · Post by **captainwasabi09** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:30 pm

Byz and Jd5, I promise the facebook page is more interesting that the TLS thread. We have photos and dorm talk and ASW meeting-up and all the works!

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