Harvard ASW In April Forum

[Non-Chalant1]

I want a detailed report.

[SubwaySandwich]

I want a detailed report.

+1

[unc0mm0n1]

I love Boston so much right now, besides it's freezing here. The only thing I don't understand is why are so many people walking around in shorts??? Cambridge at night is very vibrant, can't wait for school to start!

[moneko]

.

[Melvin]

I'll randomly share my thoughts.
I may not be very objective since I had already decided to attend before my visit.

This area is a small city with most needs within walking distance (although I met this student who bikes to purchase less expensive stuff from nearby areas).

I really liked the current students. There is a wide diversity of personalities and interests. Anyone will fit right in here. There are shy students, quiet students, outgoing students, hyper students etc. Some are interested in firms, others are focusing primarily on non-profits and/or government, others are focusing on consulting, others on starting a company etc. I did not interact with the admitted students as much as I would have liked, but my limited interactions lead me to believe that the incoming class will be as diverse in personality and interest as the current students are. I met a few who had their minds made up to attend, and they were a pretty diverse group.

The 1Ls I met were very nice and friendly. They were pretty relaxed given that finals are less than 3 weeks away. I heard most of the 1L sections(groups of about 80 students that take most their 1L classes together) are relaxed although there is one section that is more intense than the others. 1L schedules are pretty much beyond your control. The first semester of 1L is set for the students, so you have no control over your schedule. I think there are 2 required classes the second semester and 2(maybe 3-I can't remember) electives. All 1L students have classes on Friday, and all 1L students have a workshop during the January session(1Ls return to Boston immediately after New Years for the January session)

2L and 3L years seem like a blast. They are literally what you make of them. There are several students who have classes only 2 days a week. Some use the rest of the week for clinics/extracurricular activities while others have internships in and out of the area. Another student has class 5 days a week but his earliest class starts at 11. Some guys with top firm offers advised that you must pay your dues(go to every class and study) the first year and then you can relax thereafter if you like.

No pics of dorms but will share some on those later.

[sarahh]

Thanks for the summary Melvin. Did you meet any students who were worried about finding a job?

[BlakcMajikc]

I also went to the ASW, but due to personal stuff going on, I just attended Saturday and Sunday. Met tons of current students (solid conversations with 10 or 11 of them), but mostly met with prospective students to hopefully get a feel for some of my future classmates.

I also may be biased. I am definitely attending HLS in the fall, so I was looking for confirmation that I made the right decision before even visiting. I was impressed by the ability to do anything of interest during your 2L and 3L years. Also got a sense that the sections, student orgs, clinics, and journals become such a huge factor in making the school feel smaller. I definitely walked away with a better understanding of the LRAP program at HLS (LIPP), which was comforting.

Did you meet any students who were worried about finding a job?

To answer your question first, none of the students I met were worried about finding a job. One of the student admissions liaisons talked briefly about the job search system where firms/orgs are grouped into prestige tiers so that students know where they should apply based on the numbers of HP's and good softs (also referred to as H's) that they have on their transcript/resume. It seemed like the HLS career services system was basically perfected.

[Non-Chalant1]

Good to know.

[Melvin]

Thanks for the summary Melvin. Did you meet any students who were worried about finding a job?

Sarahh, I didn't meet any although I wasn't specifically looking.

[Confused7]

Because I'm interested in public interest specifically, I talked to a bunch of current public interest students who said they had JUST found jobs. The students and panels were very informative about the different timelines for applying for biglaw/PI jobs and clerkships. Many of the students also assured me that they didn't "know anyone who would be graduating jobless," but others told me that they knew a couple who were still searching for jobs. I'm sure it's the same case in every law school, but I appreciated the frankness with which some students spoke about HLS (especially as it pertains to PI).

Overall, I enjoyed the visit and I ended up depositing at HLS over the weekend. I haven't been to any other ASWs so I can't really speak to how the "quality" of the student body differed here as opposed to other places. But I genuinely enjoyed learning about people's interests and backgrounds and found that most students there were agreeable and down-to-earth. I also really enjoyed the mock class and lunch with faculty, where I found the faculty to be accessible and just plain friendly. Of course, it's ASW and everyone needs to put on a good face. But I thought people did a good job of advertising the "HLS brand" while at the same time dispelling any myths of HLS being a cold/inaccessible/impersonal place.