NYU ASW Forum

[legalnoeagle]

I sat in on two classes today, which were both awesome, and I will be at everything!

Which classes did you sit in on? Did you sit in on Admin with Rascoff? I was in that class!!!

The Rascoff class was fairly entertaining, and yes, he dresses quite well. Was this typical of his [teaching] style, or is he putting on a show for the prospectives, as I suspect some professors do?

This was pretty tame, actually. Sometimes he sings songs!

Hmmm... I actually went to his class during the 4/5th ASW. Looks like I may have missed out.

[ravens20]

Awesome day. The judge panel, Dean Ricky, the clerkship panel, and Professor Neuborne were all very entertaining. The general atmosphere was extremely laid back and students seemed more or less happy.

[facetious]

I sat in on two classes today, which were both awesome, and I will be at everything!

Which classes did you sit in on? Did you sit in on Admin with Rascoff? I was in that class!!!

yep! i was there. found it quite entertaining, though i must say i was quite intimidated for the first 5 minutes. but then i really really enjoyed it.

[facetious]

Awesome day. The judge panel, Dean Ricky, the clerkship panel, and Professor Neuborne were all very entertaining. The general atmosphere was extremely laid back and students seemed more or less happy.

i have to agree. the clerkship panel was really informative and all the students i ran into really seemed down to earth and lived up to nyu's laid back name. how many other TLSers were there today?

[scribelaw]

I was there.

I like NYU a lot.

After visiting CLS on Thursday and NYU today, I'm still divided. They are very different experiences, but I see merits to both.

Totally agree on the NYU students. The few I chatted with seemed very cool and down to earth.

[CG614]

I was also there. I enjoyed both panels (Corporate lawyers and Judges), that room is amazing by the way! I felt like the atmosphere was very relaxed. Seems like there is amazing access to the professors. The program was very well put together, my decision will be a hard one.

[lsathalon]

I had an awesome time. I really can't see myself at Columbia anymore because NYU was so perfect. I am so excited for next year!

[BaiAilian2013]

I was there.

I like NYU a lot.

After visiting CLS on Thursday and NYU today, I'm still divided. They are very different experiences, but I see merits to both.

Totally agree on the NYU students. The few I chatted with seemed very cool and down to earth.

I am interested in this. How would you say the experiences are different?

[CG614]

I had an awesome time. I really can't see myself at Columbia anymore because NYU was so perfect. I am so excited for next year!

Yeah, I haven't visited Columbia yet, but I absolutely loved NYU. Going to CLS' April ASW. It is going to be a hard choice! I wonder how many TLSers were there Thurs and Friday.

[BenJ]

Awesome day. The judge panel, Dean Ricky, the clerkship panel, and Professor Neuborne were all very entertaining. The general atmosphere was extremely laid back and students seemed more or less happy.

i have to agree. the clerkship panel was really informative and all the students i ran into really seemed down to earth and lived up to nyu's laid back name. how many other TLSers were there today?

Maybe it's just me, but I actually didn't like the clerkship panel much, and I kind of wish I'd gone to the clinics discussion instead, which sounds as if it was really great. I went to the clerkship discussion because I thought it would be informative to hear what NYU had to say about something that isn't their strength. They did give a clear impression that clerkships were a viable option, although I was tempted to ask what sort of academic performance they thought was really needed to get a federal clerkship from NYU specifically.

My favorite panel by far were the NYU-graduate judges. They were hilarious and really informative. Also, it was really interesting to hear such major success stories from people who graduated from NYU when it was never mentioned in the same breath as Columbia or Chicago let alone Harvard or Yale.

Also, the TLS concentration in the clerkship room must have been really high! There were only about twenty people there, and at least three were TLSers.

[clintonius]

I had an awesome time today and am looking forward to another awesome time tomorrow. Unfortunately, most people in my Greenwich Village tour group didn't like our tour guides spending most of their time telling us where to eat, shop and barhop, but I thought it was more useful than pointing out the various non-law school buildings. I mean, there's not much outdoor tour of the law school to give since it's only a few buildings.

Heh, I suspect you and I may have been on the same tour -- the one where the two guies pointed at the student union building from the corner, said, "that's the first stop on the tour," then proceeded around to the other side of the building and talked about communing with the spirit of Edgar Allen Poe? I think I enjoyed that a hell of a lot more than I would've enjoyed seeing a bunch of places I'm not likely to spend any time. Bars are an important part of any good legal education.

[ravens20]

Awesome day. The judge panel, Dean Ricky, the clerkship panel, and Professor Neuborne were all very entertaining. The general atmosphere was extremely laid back and students seemed more or less happy.

i have to agree. the clerkship panel was really informative and all the students i ran into really seemed down to earth and lived up to nyu's laid back name. how many other TLSers were there today?

Maybe it's just me, but I actually didn't like the clerkship panel much, and I kind of wish I'd gone to the clinics discussion instead, which sounds as if it was really great. I went to the clerkship discussion because I thought it would be informative to hear what NYU had to say about something that isn't their strength. They did give a clear impression that clerkships were a viable option, although I was tempted to ask what sort of academic performance they thought was really needed to get a federal clerkship from NYU specifically.

My favorite panel by far were the NYU-graduate judges. They were hilarious and really informative. Also, it was really interesting to hear such major success stories from people who graduated from NYU when it was never mentioned in the same breath as Columbia or Chicago let alone Harvard or Yale.

Also, the TLS concentration in the clerkship room must have been really high! There were only about twenty people there, and at least three were TLSers.

It wasn't the most fun panel but I thought that the numbers of clerkships in the last year was pretty impressive: 45 COA clerkships (including 7 in the DC circuit and another significant number in the 2nd circuit) and some huge number (can't remember what number for some reason) of clerkships overall. It definitely showed a major improvement over past years and echoed what the dean said in that NYU has not only concentrated more on clerkships recently but also that he (and the NYU staff) worked hard to secure clerkships for students who couldn't land the biglaw jobs available to typical NYU graduates.

I agree - the judges were informative and very engaging. What struck me is how they all still seemed to love law as a profession after practicing it in various forms for decades.

And that room on the Ninth Floor of Furman Hall is absolutely beautiful - the view is spectacular and just reinforced one huge thing about NYU: you get to spend three years in downtown New York City!

[ravens20]

I had an awesome time. I really can't see myself at Columbia anymore because NYU was so perfect. I am so excited for next year!

Yea I walked away with the same impression.

[scribelaw]

I was there.

I like NYU a lot.

After visiting CLS on Thursday and NYU today, I'm still divided. They are very different experiences, but I see merits to both.

Totally agree on the NYU students. The few I chatted with seemed very cool and down to earth.

I am interested in this. How would you say the experiences are different?

I liked Columbia more than I thought I would. The campus is really nice. There's a big area where steps lead up to the main Columbia U. library, and a lot of green spaces. It's really pretty.

The law buildings were nice, although the CLS library isn't great.

Morningside Heights gets a bad rap, but I thought the neighborhood had a great vibe. There's maybe a 10 minute walk between one of the law apartment buildings -- Lensfest -- and the law school, and there were cafes, fruit stands, etc. on the way. The area had a ton of students everywhere.

Also, Columbia seemed a little bit older than NYU -- a lot seemed to be maybe mid to upper 20s. I'm sure this was largely the result of NYU being invaded by accepted students, many of whom are still seniors in college, versus having the full three-year spectrum of CLS students.

...

I also really liked NYU. Greenwich Village is awesome. Within a block of the law buildings, I had a great cappucino for $3, an awesome slice of pizza and a beer with my uncle. Great people watching. I also skipped one of the events and walked down to Soho, which is a 10 minute walk and has awesome shopping.

NYU's library was really, really nice, I thought. It's the nicest I've seen aside from HLS.

NYU doesn't really have a campus. They own buildings randomly through the village. You would never know which ones are NYU buildings if they didn't hang purple signs on them.

Every student I talked to at NYU was great -- friendly, helpful, they seemed happy and unpretentious. I was very impressed.

After visiting both, I honestly don't even know which one I like better. NYU is in a much better location, it feels like its part of the city, and has an edge in clinics and PI programs. Columbia has a more campus feel, a little quieter neighborhood, and a slight edge in clerkships and elite firm placement.

[scribelaw]

One thing I forgot to ask -- how are roommates chosen/selected? Did anyone ask that?

[sikwitt]

One thing I forgot to ask -- how are roommates chosen/selected? Did anyone ask that?

I did. So most people get randomly assigned (I assume because they don't preference anyone). If you and a friend (or 2) preference each other you are pretty much guaranteed to live together just not necessarily in the particular dorm building you want.

[twistedwrister]

I'm glad to see that most of you had a great time at NYU's ASW. I'm a 2L at NYU and couldn't recommend the school more highly. If anyone has questions, I would be happy to help out. A few quick plugs for NYU that you might not have gotten during your visit:

(1) Re classes: NYU has amazing colloquia. A couple of friends took the Colloquium in Legal, Political, and Social Philosophy run by Ronald Dworkin and Thomas Nagel (http://www.law.nyu.edu/academics/colloq ... /index.htm). They said it was absolutely incredible.

(2) Re clerking: If you are a bit shy and/or have trouble asking profs for recommendations, NYU has a great clerkship recommendation matching program. Students list their top 7 or so profs, the profs do the same re students, and everyone gets matched with the 3 or 4 recommenders that are the best fit.

(3) Re publishing: I wanted to publish a paper that I originally wrote for a seminar, but I needed some tips on how to improve the paper. I sent it to several professors, one of whom I had never even met. Within a month, they had all reviewed my paper, provided extensive comments and suggestions, and met with me personally to discuss publishing. My paper was accepted for publication in a top-ten secondary journal in my field.

Anyway, these are a few anecdotes to steer you towards NYU and away from all your other amazing choices.

[BenJ]

Also, Columbia seemed a little bit older than NYU -- a lot seemed to be maybe mid to upper 20s. I'm sure this was largely the result of NYU being invaded by accepted students, many of whom are still seniors in college, versus having the full three-year spectrum of CLS students.

I have to comment on this. I was shocked by the total lack of people straight from undergrad at the NYU ASW. Of the 15-20 people who I talked to enough to find out about how old they were/when they had graduated, only one other person was currently in undergrad (like me), plus one person who would be in undergrad but had graduated a year early. Most were at least a couple of years out of undergrad, and some were five or more years out (more than were straight from undergrad). I guess it was especially surprising given NYU's reputation for admissions being numbers-focused.

[clintonius]

Also, Columbia seemed a little bit older than NYU -- a lot seemed to be maybe mid to upper 20s. I'm sure this was largely the result of NYU being invaded by accepted students, many of whom are still seniors in college, versus having the full three-year spectrum of CLS students.

I have to comment on this. I was shocked by the total lack of people straight from undergrad at the NYU ASW. Of the 15-20 people who I talked to enough to find out about how old they were/when they had graduated, only one other person was currently in undergrad (like me), plus one person who would be in undergrad but had graduated a year early. Most were at least a couple of years out of undergrad, and some were five or more years out (more than were straight from undergrad). I guess it was especially surprising given NYU's reputation for admissions being numbers-focused.

And this is where small sample sizes get us into trouble -- virtually everybody I met at the ASW was finishing up their senior year at UG, and I felt almost odd having been out for three years.

[scribelaw]

Also, Columbia seemed a little bit older than NYU -- a lot seemed to be maybe mid to upper 20s. I'm sure this was largely the result of NYU being invaded by accepted students, many of whom are still seniors in college, versus having the full three-year spectrum of CLS students.

I have to comment on this. I was shocked by the total lack of people straight from undergrad at the NYU ASW. Of the 15-20 people who I talked to enough to find out about how old they were/when they had graduated, only one other person was currently in undergrad (like me), plus one person who would be in undergrad but had graduated a year early. Most were at least a couple of years out of undergrad, and some were five or more years out (more than were straight from undergrad). I guess it was especially surprising given NYU's reputation for admissions being numbers-focused.

And this is where small sample sizes get us into trouble -- virtually everybody I met at the ASW was finishing up their senior year at UG, and I felt almost odd having been out for three years.

+1.

Most of the people I met were in UG and everyone in my little campus tour group was still in UG.

I heard someone say 40 percent of the people at the ASW were in UG, but I don't know if that's accurate.

[BenJ]

Also, Columbia seemed a little bit older than NYU -- a lot seemed to be maybe mid to upper 20s. I'm sure this was largely the result of NYU being invaded by accepted students, many of whom are still seniors in college, versus having the full three-year spectrum of CLS students.

I have to comment on this. I was shocked by the total lack of people straight from undergrad at the NYU ASW. Of the 15-20 people who I talked to enough to find out about how old they were/when they had graduated, only one other person was currently in undergrad (like me), plus one person who would be in undergrad but had graduated a year early. Most were at least a couple of years out of undergrad, and some were five or more years out (more than were straight from undergrad). I guess it was especially surprising given NYU's reputation for admissions being numbers-focused.

And this is where small sample sizes get us into trouble -- virtually everybody I met at the ASW was finishing up their senior year at UG, and I felt almost odd having been out for three years.

+1.

Most of the people I met were in UG and everyone in my little campus tour group was still in UG.

I heard someone say 40 percent of the people at the ASW were in UG, but I don't know if that's accurate.

Interesting. After it being that way in my first tour group, I thought it was just sampling, but then it was the same in the second tour group and again at my table at the faculty lunch. Weird coincidence, then. 40% is about what I would expect.

[forza]

I have to echo the poster who mentioned the 9th floor of Furman Hall... WOW.

--ImageRemoved--

[sikwitt]

Interesting. After it being that way in my first tour group, I thought it was just sampling, but then it was the same in the second tour group and again at my table at the faculty lunch. Weird coincidence, then. 40% is about what I would expect.

Im not sure about the ASW though I thought most people in my group had were not in UG, but I was told that average for NYU is 1/3 UG 2/3 not per class

[scribelaw]

A lot of people I met were deciding between NYU and Columbia.

[BenJ]

I have to echo the poster who mentioned the 9th floor of Furman Hall... WOW.

--ImageRemoved--

Indeed, even for someone from the NY metro who has seen similar views before.

Are any of you the guy from Alabama who was practically running around the room looking out all of the windows?