Minnesota class of 2011 Forum

[seancs14]

I'm headed there in a month or so and have a friend who just completed his 1L and did really well. If anyone has any questions about the school or Minneapolis, I can ask him. He's been really helpful for me to get a feel for the school.

He lives a little out of the city in the suburbs since he has 2 kids and they wanted some space for them to play, but he seems to know quite a bit about the city.

The one thing he said about apartments was that make sure you heating costs are included in the rent, otherwise you will be paying hundreds of dollars a month during the winter for heating.

[worldtraveler]

The neighborhoods close to campus that won't have undergrads are:
St Anthony Main (across the river from the law school, easily bikeable/walkable, easy parking, near some nice restaurants/coffee shops, has bike trails by the river, also about a 2 mile walk/bike to downtown Minneapolis, lots of grad students and young professionals). A one bedroom in this area should be 550-750 depending on amenities. I paid 550 for a really nice place.
Seward (not across the river but about a 1-1.5 mile walk from the law school, lots of families/immigrants, has a co-op grocery store, easy parking, not the safest walk to take at night (there is a campus walk service that will walk you up to 2 miles off campus). Cedars 94 apartment complex is in this area and it's pretty nice although a little dated.
Cedar/Riverside-this area is mainly full of Somali and Ethiopian immigrants and there have been some pretty serious crime problems lately. Karin Splass apartments are in this area as well as a few houses to rent. Less than a mile to campus.
Dowtown-expensive, will have to pay for parking, but there are some really cool areas to live in. The warehouse district (I think?) is being converted into lofts, and there are a lot of highrise condos/apartments. Easy bus access to the law school (about 10 minutes on the #3 or #16). If you want to be closer to bars and nightlife not full of undergrads, this is where you would want to be.
Uptown-Not near the school but there is bus access on the #6. A fun area to live, close to Lake Calhoun, trendy shops/restaurants, a bit pricier than other areas but less than downtown. I would not recommend it for 1Ls since you wiill have to commute but it is an option if you don't want to live close to the school.
Como-bus access on #3 route, is bikeable. A bit farther from school but lots of families. It is not a super safe route to walk/bike late at night. Rents are lower, nice parks, lots of housing options. Fewer restaurants, etc.
NE Mpls-you'll need to drive or bus to campus, rents are lower, safety is so-so. I know a couple law students who live in this area and don't mind the short commute but there really aren't advantages to living here.

If you don't want to be around the undergrad scene, avoid Dinkytown, Marcy Holmes, Stadium Village. These are all on the opposite end of campus anyway.
I haven't lived in Minneapolis for a year so some of this stuff may have changed a bit. Also, if you are planning on commuting, make sure you don't have a route that has problems due to the bridge collapse, since that is very close to the law school. I wouldn't recommend driving to campus at all since you will have to pay to park.

[wadmcfly]

Thanks for the info, worldtraveler. I've been in the Minneapolis area for the past week or so, and have been finding it quite challenging to find a place that's an easy commute to campus and in a nice area. I'd also really rather not live with undergrads, but I'm starting to get desperate! I might just have to cough up some more money for a crappy studio...

[drleather]

Anyone know what the Logan Park area of NE Minneapolis is like? I might have a lead there.

[est1980]

has anyone received their financial aid award letter yet? or is it just me waiting in limbo...

[ColtonDLong]

Hey guys,
I would kill to get in to U of M. What were your LSAT scores and GPAs? I'm a 3.5, and averaging about a 165 right now on PTs. What should I expect?

[Amira]

Hey guys,
I would kill to get in to U of M. What were your LSAT scores and GPAs? I'm a 3.5, and averaging about a 165 right now on PTs. What should I expect?

Take a look at law school numbers (LinkRemoved). It uses self-reported data, so it is definitely incomplete and can be inaccurate. However, I think it can still give you a general idea of your admission chances or a rough estimate of a school's cutoff numbers. Looking at Minnesota, if you sort by GPA you can see that people are rejected (and accepted) up and down the entire GPA scale. If you sort by LSAT, however, you can see that scores at or above 166 are very likely to be accepted. You can see this very clearly in the graph (LinkRemoved) as well. Getting a 166 instead of a 165 on the LSAT looks like it would dramatically improve your chances.

[Amira]

has anyone received their financial aid award letter yet? or is it just me waiting in limbo...

I'm still waiting. A couple of weeks ago they sent an email asking for my tax return. I mailed it immediately, but I imagine that will still delay my award by a few days. I wish they would have just asked three months ago. I'm nervous about the GradPlus loan I'm going to need, and there isn't a lot of time left before school starts.

[bocifious]

Guys -

I posted some info in my TLS "blog" on the Cali-Midwest consortium that Minnesota runs every summer. If you are interested in working in CA or the east coast (NY/DC) you should check it out, I listed the employers and any grade cutoff they might have listed.

[Maccoux16]

I will be there in September!!!!

[Amira]

Guys -

I posted some info in my TLS "blog" on the Cali-Midwest consortium that Minnesota runs every summer. If you are interested in working in CA or the east coast (NY/DC) you should check it out, I listed the employers and any grade cutoff they might have listed.

Very helpful info, thanks. You mentioned that 3.0 GPA for 1L is approximately bottom 25% of the class. Do you know roughly what the GPA is for the other quartiles?

[Oklahoma Mike]

If the numbers stay pretty much the same year to year, the BCG guide gives them for class of '08 in the '05 and '06 academic years and should give a pretty good general idea.
http://www.bcgsearch.com/pdf/BCG_Law_Sc ... e_2007.pdf


First Quartile 3.503 -4.153 3.543 – 4.148
Second Quartile 3.311 – 3.502 3.247 – 3.542
Third Quartile 3.059 – 3.310 3.012 – 3.246
Fourth Quartile - 3.058 -3.011


So, it looks like a pretty solid B+ curve there with a full half the class between 3.0 and 3.5

[bocifious]

The Registrar’s Office has completed its calculation of 2007-2008 1L class ranks. The Official Quartile thresholds for the 2007-2008 academic year, based on cumulative grade point averages, are as follows:

Class of 2010

259 total ranked students
One quartile = 65 students

First Quartile: 3.481 – 4.074
Second Quartile: 3.234 – 3.480
Third Quartile: 3.037 – 3.233
Fourth Quartile: ……. – 3.036


Last year's ending quartiles

Class of 2007

296 total ranked students
One quartile = 74 students

First Quartile: 3.549 - 4.151
Second Quartile: 3.353 - 3.548
Third Quartile: 3.133 - 3.352
Fourth Quartile: ... - 3.132

Class of 2008

264 total ranked students
One quartile = 66 students

First Quartile: 3.560 - 4.094
Second Quartile: 3.340 - 3.559
Third Quartile: 3.095 - 3.339
Fourth Quartile: ... - 3.094

Class of 2009

255 total ranked students
One quartile = 64 students

First Quartile: 3.494 - 4.062
Second Quartile: 3.234 - 3.493
Third Quartile: 2.963 - 3.233
Fourth Quartile: ... - 2.962

[Oklahoma Mike]

In addition to your grades, do they give you your specific class rank and can you reveal it to employers? Do they only do a breakdown smaller than top quarter for clerkship applications, or will they do it for other employers as well?

[bocifious]

Class ranks are computed but not revealed to students or others except (1) for qualifications for Order of the Coif, although ranking is not disclosed to students, and (2) for the limited purpose of application for judicial clerkships or academic teaching positions. Individual students may receive their class rank for the limited purpose of application for judicial clerkships or academic teaching positions provided the student /alumni submits a list of potential judges and academic institutions to the Law School's Office of the Registrar.

Although the Law School's policy on releasing class ranks is widely accepted, a letter stating the Law School's policy towards class ranks may be sent out by the Registar's office if requested.

The Law School releases quartile distributions that indicate the range of grade point averages in each quartile of a particular class. Many students/alumni disclose their grade point average in their resumes and often substitute quartile calculations for class ranks.

[Oklahoma Mike]

I thought I had read that previously- just wasn't sure if it were still the case. How does that work with places that have a top 15% cutoff to interview? (like some at the consortium?) Do you just give the gpa and the gpa range so that they know you're probably in the top half of the top quartile?

[bocifious]

basically. Most will say top 25% or top 20% so it is pretty obvious if you meet it. Of course, the recruiter has discretion when reviewing resumes and even if they aren't sure if you are top 20% or top 15% they can still offer you an interview. My friend had a GPA around 3.58 (first quartile was 3.48-4.00+) and he got interviews at places requesting top 20% and I think top 15% although you wouldn't really know if he met these cutoffs for sure (probably met the top 20% one though).

[Maccoux16]

Are you guys bringing parents/spouses/partners with you to the orientation at the end of August? Also, did we get info on books yet? I was admitted kind of late so I just wanted to see what info they have released. Thx!

[bocifious]

If orientation is anything like last years, you wont want to bring parents/spouses/partners/kids etc.

[ozzie]

Are you guys bringing parents/spouses/partners with you to the orientation at the end of August? Also, did we get info on books yet? I was admitted kind of late so I just wanted to see what info they have released. Thx!

Congratulations on your admission.

We haven't received book lists yet. It's my understanding that will come with the next mailing (supposed to be in early August) that will also tell us our sections.

[Oklahoma Mike]

Are you guys bringing parents/spouses/partners with you to the orientation at the end of August? Also, did we get info on books yet? I was admitted kind of late so I just wanted to see what info they have released. Thx!

Congrats!
The reply form in the last mailing for the section dinner had a place to write in which section you are in and so I was looking in the packet assuming they'd sent the section info. But, I suppose I'll know soon enough
I'm not bringing anyone with me- I'm going to move up the week before so I'll be all by my lonesome. In addition to going to the section dinner you should come hang out with those of us who show up August 23rd at the Town Hall brewery at 8:00
(bocifus you should come as well and let us know how much the next year of our lives is going to suck.)

[drleather]

Saturday at 8. Got it.

Is there any portion of the Orientation that wives can/would want to attend? I know they have the "wives/partners" segment, but what about the BBQ afterwards?

[Maccoux16]

I just found on the website it says "We encourage you to invite your partner, spouse, or a family member to the social events we’ve planned and to the Law School Parents & Partners session on Thursday, August 28." So I am guessing they are only invited to those actitivities.

[Oklahoma Mike]

Well, the portions in classrooms likely wouldn't have room for students to bring people with them, and they'd probably be bored to death anyway. I think that bringing your spouse to the social events would make sense (so they can see who they'll be losing you to for the next couple years) but I personally wouldn't take my parents. Really though, I don't think it's a big deal. I wouldn't think anything less of someone if they brought their parents with them. I do, however think that parents might not really enjoy the going out for drinks type atmosphere of some of the evening social events.

[bocifious]

(bocifus you should come as well and let us know how much the next year of our lives is going to suck.)

Sure I can try and make it, but the first day of OCI interviews isn't until the 25th and I'm not really sure when I'm flying out yet.