NYU Admitted Student Days Forum

[J.Straw from Wichita]

You guys going both Thur/Fri? I don't really want to take off two days from work, not to mention Friday starts at 8:30am, WTF.

[swampthang]

You guys going both Thur/Fri? I don't really want to take off two days from work, not to mention Friday starts at 8:30am, WTF.

I assume this is in reference to the early March ASD? I'm surprised there wasn't anything else on TLS about this- everything seems to be focused on April. Did you go? I was there- met some cool people.

[law_monkey]

You guys going both Thur/Fri? I don't really want to take off two days from work, not to mention Friday starts at 8:30am, WTF.

I assume this is in reference to the early March ASD? I'm surprised there wasn't anything else on TLS about this- everything seems to be focused on April. Did you go? I was there- met some cool people.

I think OP's asking about the upcoming ones since they're mentioning not wanting to take off work. If so, I'm going to the March 31-1 ASW, and yeah I'll be there on both days. But obviously it's not required, so just go to the events you want to go to. If you're going to the one at the end of this month I'll see you there!

[swampthang]

You guys going both Thur/Fri? I don't really want to take off two days from work, not to mention Friday starts at 8:30am, WTF.

I assume this is in reference to the early March ASD? I'm surprised there wasn't anything else on TLS about this- everything seems to be focused on April. Did you go? I was there- met some cool people.

I think OP's asking about the upcoming ones since they're mentioning not wanting to take off work. If so, I'm going to the March 31-1 ASW, and yeah I'll be there on both days. But obviously it's not required, so just go to the events you want to go to. If you're going to the one at the end of this month I'll see you there!

Yeah, but the OP is from wayyyy back in February so who knows. Just disappointed I've seen next to zero feedback regarding the ASD last week. Whatever, I already know what I thought, just wanted to see if anyone could share their experiences or fill in the gaps from all the free beer.

[law_monkey]

You guys going both Thur/Fri? I don't really want to take off two days from work, not to mention Friday starts at 8:30am, WTF.

I assume this is in reference to the early March ASD? I'm surprised there wasn't anything else on TLS about this- everything seems to be focused on April. Did you go? I was there- met some cool people.

I think OP's asking about the upcoming ones since they're mentioning not wanting to take off work. If so, I'm going to the March 31-1 ASW, and yeah I'll be there on both days. But obviously it's not required, so just go to the events you want to go to. If you're going to the one at the end of this month I'll see you there!

Yeah, but the OP is from wayyyy back in February so who knows. Just disappointed I've seen next to zero feedback regarding the ASD last week. Whatever, I already know what I thought, just wanted to see if anyone could share their experiences or fill in the gaps from all the free beer.

Haha completely missed that! But there were several write ups in the In at NYU thread that were pretty detailed.

[swampthang]

Yeah, but the OP is from wayyyy back in February so who knows. Just disappointed I've seen next to zero feedback regarding the ASD last week. Whatever, I already know what I thought, just wanted to see if anyone could share their experiences or fill in the gaps from all the free beer.

Haha completely missed that! But there were several write ups in the In at NYU thread that were pretty detailed.

I'll have to look for that. I usually only browse 1-2 threads/per school so I must've missed that one.

[law_monkey]

Yeah, but the OP is from wayyyy back in February so who knows. Just disappointed I've seen next to zero feedback regarding the ASD last week. Whatever, I already know what I thought, just wanted to see if anyone could share their experiences or fill in the gaps from all the free beer.

Haha completely missed that! But there were several write ups in the In at NYU thread that were pretty detailed.

I'll have to look for that. I usually only browse 1-2 threads/per school so I must've missed that one.

It's in the waiting forum. The feedback should be in the last couple pages.

[hotthaichick]

I have loved reading all the feedback from NYU ASW! I'm tempted to quote/post the reviews into this thread too so it's easier to find but I don't know if that's really proper forum etiquette...

Also, is anyone going to NYU March 31-April 1st? Yay for Law Revue!

[law_monkey]

I have loved reading all the feedback from NYU ASW! I'm tempted to quote/post the reviews into this thread too so it's easier to find but I don't know if that's really proper forum etiquette...

Also, is anyone going to NYU March 31-April 1st? Yay for Law Revue!

I am!!! Finding out that we get to go see Law Revue felt like Christmas!

[swampthang]

I have loved reading all the feedback from NYU ASW! I'm tempted to quote/post the reviews into this thread too so it's easier to find but I don't know if that's really proper forum etiquette...

Also, is anyone going to NYU March 31-April 1st? Yay for Law Revue!

I don't see anything wrong with that! Better to have a single-source repository that people can look at than a bunch of fragmented recollections all over the place.

[hotthaichick]

Ok let's see if this works. I apologize if it doesn't.

Reporting back from day 1 of ASW #1.

I won't be too long-winded, as I had quite a few beers at the pizza and beer party they threw for us. I'll just let that sink in for a minute: pizza and keg beer... in grandiose Vanderbilt Hall... at NYU Law... where I might be taking classes next year. Okay.

The student panel was good, aside from the 2L claiming that anybody who wanted biglaw could get it. In his defense, that guy seemed cool otherwise, and his panel-mates were as skeptical as the crowd about that claim.

I went to Burt Neuborne's Evidence class. Neuborne was lively and engaging and didn't employ the Socratic method. All the admitted student guests were sitting in the back, and maybe some self-selection goes into who lurks in the back of class, but the students in front of me were definitely perusing Gawker, Facebook and the New York Times website, so class shouldn't get in the way of your web-browsing.

The student organizations panel was great. I plan on doing PI, so it was nice to be able to go directly to the people working in the issue areas I want. I chatted with a few students about their organizations, public interest opportunities and top-law-schools.com in general.

After that was a panel with recent alumni. NYU was obviously trying to cover all the bases, so they naturally had one clerk, one biglaw associate and one Legal Aid attorney. The focus of the panel was work-life balance. The panelists had different takes on what that balance was, but unsurprisingly they all endorsed NYU as a very collegial and non-stressful place.

After that was beer and pizza, and after that a nearby bar, though I left before the NYU Law cover band took the stage.

On the whole, the day was very impressive. I got the impression that the students were exceedingly smart and accomplished yet down to earth. There really does seem to be a more relaxed air to the school, but not at the expense of rigor.

Also, the administrators were excellent. They were incredibly helpful whenever I had questions and exuded enthusiasm and professionalism. This was a well-planned day and they're surely owed the credit for it.

Feel free to ask questions, or PM me.

So I figures I would give you guys a quick summary of day 2. It started with breakfast and mingling with some professors and then a sort of welcome speech/sales pitch from Dean Revesz. He had a lot of great things to say and discussed how they have been able to lure great professors away from other top schools. All in all that was a very impressive speech.

After that I checked out a corporate law panel and then a tax law class. Both were interesting but not terribly entertaining (I'm planning on going into tax law).

After this we had guided tours (it's a very cool area). Following that I had lunch where we ate with professors. I spoke with this professor about international law and it was very informative (I'd love to answer specific questions if you guys have any).

In the afternoon there was a panel with two current judges and they discussed topics varying from mentoring to how to best position yourself for a clerkship. This was perhaps the most interesting thing I attended in my two days. Hearing the career path and stories from these judges was truly impressive and pretty inspiring.

I also attended a presentation/discussion with professor Richard Epstein. He was very impressive. He is just one of those individuals you walk away from going "wow, he is an absolutely brilliant person." he's taught like 30+ different courses and just seems to be able to relate everything to everything else.

It finished up with a little reception and we got to chat with some more current students. Overall I had a lot of fun and definitely think NYU will probably he where I end up. Feel free to PM me questions or ask them in here and I can try to answer them as best I can

Second day had a LOT more variety than the first. I pretty much attended nothing listed above by birdlaw after the dean's schtick at the beginning...started out with a con law class (historical basis or lack thereof for the decision, as well as pros and cons of having to deal on the court for a unanimous decision), followed by a panel on clerkships (somebody remarked that we were all future gunners, probably not that far from the truth considering some of the people asking some of the questions). Prof on the panel was working with national security and various policy issues (vaguely something I'm interested in) and was hilarious as hell.

Had lunch with a professor who worked primarily with contracts (and was a previous graduate), and she made the entire experience sound extremely non-threatening (seems to be a theme for NYU that they stress like crazy). She was working with the updating of contracts due to technological advances, which is not really my interest at all, but she made it sound like there will be something to latch onto fairly quickly in school even if you have no idea what you want.

Afterward, a couple students talked about their experiences (supposedly a tour, but when the campus is 2 buildings); one did mention that because of the high PI component of the school (20%+ compared to maybe 5-8%), the 43% number in NLJ250 placement is slightly deflated.

I had a session on the LRAP that NYU offers...holy balls prospective law students cannot math AT ALL. Although potentially not as exciting as the current judges, this was extremely informative for somebody who may be ending up in one of the repayment programs.

Thecilent made my residence hall tour really awkward with a well-placed comment, and I'll leave it at that.

Finally, I attended a session hosted by the public interest law people, which was great. Seems like there is a ridiculous amount of support for all students to get into something that is interesting to them (as early as first-semester 1L even), and that the alumni network in terms of placing into a PI job afterward is pretty extensive.

NYU was probably near-even with CLS going in, but after stopping in at Columbia and then attending this thing, the scales may be starting to tip.

Hey, so i thought I owe it to everyone on here to give a rundown of my ASW experience.

Day 1 to me was pretty unremarkable, so im actually not going to spend really any time talking about it. They had some general student panels, classes, etc.

Day 2 was really the difference maker for me. I am one of those people who going in was not thrilled about nyu. Still a little bitter about the lsat, my cycle, etc. so that just gives it a little context.

Overall, I was extremely impressed. As everyone mentioned, the overwhelming theme of the weekend was public interest and collegiality. Its interesting, because when the first few students talk about it, then the dean, then all the professors, then all the alumni you really do start to believe it. There really wasn't any bashing of other schools,and the dean and professors made a point to compliment other schools and acknowledge that all the kids in attendance probably had great options. What they also did, however, was make a point to express that nyu was a unique place, and to appreciate it for that.

I spoke to current students and professors, and everyone emphasized how willing professors are to meet with you, respond to emails, and how students generally arent cutthroat of competitive. Everyone acknowledged law school is stressful and naturally competitive, but that nyu certainly has a different feel than some "peer schools".

I am not really considering going into public interest, and would have loved to hear a little more talk about the job market and biglaw. However, the point was kind of that nyu is nyu, it has great placement, and that isnt going to change or be outdone by really any schools. The public interest opportunities sounded great, especially for those who are interested, and its cool that 40% of the students take advantage of the guaranteed $4500 stipend to do public interest work during 1L summer.

As for the days program itself.

I sat in on a bankruptcy class, which was pretty interesting though i was admittedly fairly lost (its an upper level class). I sat in on a judicial clerkship panel, heard from a district court clerk, a former supreme court clerk, and the clerkship office chair. They obviously have the process down pack, and made it seem like they go very much out of their was to prepare students, give them backgrounds on all the judges, help with the application, etc. I also then sat in on the "nyu alumni on the bench" panel. This was probably the most interesting event for me. One judge worked in Delaware and the other was a COA judge on the 2nd circuit. They gave some awesome insight about mentoring, how to distinguish yourself, approaching the legal market with passion, etc. It was extremely impressive. After that i also heard professor Epstein speak. He rambled on about everything for an hour, and is an obviously brilliant man. Again he echoed nyu's commitment to collegiality, and explained why he came from Chicago and why he believes other faculty will continue to do the same. I was truly impressed by the nyu faculty and the recruiting job they have done.

This is my synopsis, admittedly pretty scattered. I am still really hoping to get into Stanford, and may never be completely ok with my lsat score. Nonetheless, the weekend made me pretty excited about the real possibility of attending nyu, much less caring/anxious to hear back from columbia, and overall very very pleased with the school.

If anyone has any questions let me know, id be happy to answer them. For those of you who were there, I was the guy in the green button down the first day and a purple sweater with glasses the second day. If you met me, it would be cool to hear from you, if you met me and hated me, guess thats how it goes lol.

Alright, a quick unsolicited view from my half-day at NYU. First, full disclosure, I didn't apply to a lot of schools and NYU was near/at the bottom of my list coming in. I've already researched my options ad nauseam, so while Admit visits are good for color and flavor, I try not to put too much weight on them.

Pros: free beer and pizza (although they did run out of pizza), followed by more free beer and free shots. In general, I met a lot of people (0Ls and current students) who I enjoyed talking with, who were in some shape or form nice/interesting/friendly. And the free beer helped. People were very pro-NYU, excited about being there, and I actually did learn a little something at the student activity fair while chatting with the reps there. I felt comfortable in these interactions, like I could see myself studying or drinking a beer with the people I was talking to.

Cons: I sat in on Evidence Thursday afternoon and I was very surprised by the lack of perceived engagement. Class was not very interactive, and the students seemed very reluctant to participate. Two minor points: my 'campus' tour guide was a 3L who was possibly clueless about the surrounding area and I found current students almost pushy with their NYU-ness (as in "so you're coming to NYU?" was the first thing they said to me, and not in a funny, half-joking but still serious way; just serious). Far more important for me was my experience with the city. I've never been a big NYC fan, but figured I should give it a shot- maybe we got off on the wrong foot? While most people raved about how dynamic and vibrant the environment was, I couldn't help feeling dirty and overwhelmed. I just don't think New York is the ideal geographic setting for me, and the discussion of housing prices didn't help.

All in all, I generally enjoyed my visit due in large part to the many people I got to meet and the free beer. Really, everyone seemed genuine and friendly, but I just do not have a lot of love for New York. As I'm debating between 'peer schools', I think this is a significant factor for me. I won't completely rule out NYU yet (pending scholarships, but I happen to think no news is bad news), but my experience didn't do anything to increase the schools ranking in my eyes.

Also, the 2L "guaranteeing" biglaw placement in the Thursday panel was beyond hilarious.

[hotthaichick]

Yay it worked! Now all the ASW reviews are in one place. If others would like to give their take on the first ASW, please do so! I know I am very curious and excited to see what NYU is all about!