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Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:25 am
by BruinBoy86
So, how was the reception?

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:07 am
by BritApp
Is anyone else starting out from scratch furniture-wise in LA, or has done so before? I'm going to be living in Weyburn and coming from England so I'll have absolutely nothing. Any suggestions on where to get furniture etc. in the area would be most welcome. Thanks.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:32 pm
by Lancetastic
It's the summer which means that there are lots of people moving and they need to sell their furniture, so check out craigslist: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/

There's an IKEA over in Burbank and one down in Carson, neither is super close, but hopefully you'll have a roommate/friend in the area with a car.

A ton of the other little things can be found at Target, the closest of which is located down in Culver City.

Also, it sounds a little crazy, but the Ross located on Wilshire between Barrington/Bundy is one of the nicest ones I've ever seen and is great for linens/home furnishings/kitchenware. Good quality and name brands at bargain prices. I highly recommend a stop here, even if you don't normally like Ross, I always find some good deals.

These are your cheaper options for furniture/home furnishings. There are other higher end options in West LA, but I imagine you don't plan on going too crazy from the start.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:21 pm
by hope
The reception was really nice. I enjoyed meeting everyone, and the professors & faculty seemed very nice and approachable. The Dean gave a nice welcoming speech, which got me very excited to start in the Fall.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:56 am
by sarahs5
yay! i've completed my apps for loans! getting closer and closer to august... however, the uncertainty surrounding my housing situation is killing me! july is way too late to let people know about student housing, imo. life would be so much easier if they just gave me a spot in weyburn. *sigh*

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:36 pm
by rward2007
So has anyone heard back about Weyburn placement yet? I'm getting nervous...

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:16 am
by washdc23
I snagged a place a couple miles from campus. Biking to class will keep me lean and mean 8)

When is everyone thinking about moving to the area? We should have a get-together before classes start.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:30 pm
by ari20dal7
I'll be in August 1st.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:01 pm
by judgecrandall
I'll be there in less than a week. Still looking for a place though...

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:27 am
by ari20dal7
There is way too little activity on this thread lately. We are going to U-C-L-A, people. UCLA!

I am serving another eighteen days in T-Town and then I hop on a three legged aeroplane extravaganza. The worst part is that I'm shipping my TV, computer, PS2, and bike out there a few days before I leave, so I will spend the last few days of my time in Oklahoma with nothing but my family to entertain me.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:24 pm
by bob loblaw
I got in on June 15 because my fiancee had to start work on July 1. Awesome so far. It's getting a tad bit boring however, so I can't wait for everyone to get into town. Everyone at the reception seemed very nice and personable. Looks like we'll have a great class. See you all soon...

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:56 pm
by Lancetastic
-

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:13 pm
by Schuyler
?

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:57 pm
by ari20dal7
Fuck UCLA.

Yeah, I said it.
Fuck TTTs.

Yeah, I said it.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:21 pm
by gello5765
come on. . .hahaha. you'll be in at all, i'd say.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:35 pm
by ari20dal7
You should be in good shape for all of those, although you never know with Berkeley. I'm sure you're golden at UCLA and USC. You should start the UCLA '12 thread ;)

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:24 am
by ari20dal7
Current/former Bruins - is it safe to run early in the morning (say, 5:30-6ish) on campus? I'm thinking it is, but it IS Los Angeles, so I suppose one should ask.

Related question - if thugs are lurking in the shadows of Dodd Hall, can they stand up to an Okie-style beatdown?

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:45 pm
by BruinBoy86
ari20dal7 wrote:Current/former Bruins - is it safe to run early in the morning (say, 5:30-6ish) on campus? I'm thinking it is, but it IS Los Angeles, so I suppose one should ask.

Related question - if thugs are lurking in the shadows of Dodd Hall, can they stand up to an Okie-style beatdown?
Completely safe. I would often see 100 pound chicks going for runs at midnight. There are always isolated incidents but for the most part you should be okay. An Okie-style beatdown should be enough to deter any possible wrongdoers.

P.S. Who else is watching The Dark Knight tonight???

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:08 pm
by bruinbear
Dark Knight on Saturday! the imax thursday night and even friday was sold out by the time i looked.

as for safety. UCLA and Westwood is incredibly safe. My friends and I often wander around at 1 or 2 in the morning, a lot of times by ourselves. I've never even heard of anyone getting mugged or jumped around here. the few incidents that do happen are sexual harassment things (ie the Westwood groper- but with all the working out you dont have boobs so you dont have worry)

id say the campus is even safer than Westwood so no problems with jogging around in Drake early in the mornings.

If you're really afraid of thugs in Dodd you can call a campus escort to escort you to class (available only from sundown to a certain time at night though).

in a totally unrelated note, has any lottery people heard about weyburn yet? I read somewhere weyburn is almost exclusively for departmental allocated people so the chances of getting a place by lottery is really bad. i still have no where to live so :(

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:35 pm
by ari20dal7
Guys, that's great news. My favorite thing about Norman was the 2 AM walk with the MP3 player - glad I won't have to give that up.
(ie the Westwood groper- but with all the working out you dont have boobs so you dont have worry)
Sadly, this is not the credited response. I am a fat, fat man right now - being at home, I just lose all motivation to do anything. Yesterday, my dad and I sat around for like five hours straight listening to Kraftwerk. Plus, my year before this was in rural Oklahoma, and there was just not a culture that supported exercise there. Basically, I've depended on polite society to keep me exercising, and I now have boobs. This is what the workout group is for, though!

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:05 pm
by BruinBoy86
awaitingmailman wrote:Dark Knight on Saturday! the imax thursday night and even friday was sold out by the time i looked.
BEST MOVIE EVER. Enjoy it.
awaitingmailman wrote:i still have no where to live so :(
Same here. But I hope to find something nice within 5ish miles. Probably Palms area.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure the WW groper is on hiatus.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:52 pm
by rward2007
I got into Weyburn two nights ago. Dean Schwartz was incredibly helpful, and called me personally with the good news. Anyone need a roommate?

I'm looking forward to meeting you all. We should have a TLS get together before classes start.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:14 pm
by dbt
So since you guys are all going there, this might be a good place to post.

I'm applying in the fall to UCLA along with a lot of other schools (mainly T14) and I have really started to like UCLA...a lot. My numbers are 170/3.7 so I think I have a pretty good shot, but I realize UCLA is getting more selective every year. Anyways, like a lot of people I have established in my mind the "prestige" of the T14 as somewhat absolute, and I noticed that at least 2 of you chose UCLA over NYU, and I'm sure that many of you chose UCLA over other T14 schools. My question is, how did you do it? I'm starting to think that UCLA will be one of my very top choices (alongside NYU and Columbia, which I have weaker chances at) but I'm most worried about career opps. It looks like UCLA is on the rise, but you never know.

Anyways, I guess this is all a bit convoluted but if some of you could provide reasons for why or how you chose UCLA over T14 schools I'd really appreciate it. Justification for a choice I may (hopefully) have to make in the future.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:46 pm
by ari20dal7
OK - well, I'll start!

Hi, I'm ari20dal7.

(Hi, ari20dal7!)

I chose UCLA over Michigan, Duke, and Cornell. I'm probably looking to go into biglaw (at least at first), so I didn't make the decision I did because prestige wouldn't help me. It would. That said, there were a few main factors:

1) Money. The worst case scenario debt-wise at UCLA would have me save 50K over Michigan and Duke, and more than that over Cornell. The best case scenario could feasibly see me save 80-100K, depending on the breaks. Either way, that's a lot of money.

2) Regional preferences. My top two markets by far are California and Texas. I would be willing to work in the Midwest or the South, particularly the Midwest. I have no interest at all in the east coast, so DC, NY, Boston placement didn't concern me at all. I didn't see much advantage for the lower T14 in placement in Cali, although there would have been an advantage in Texas. But, I've got local ties in TX/southwestern markets, so I don't see any reason that good grades at UCLA wouldn't travel. Bottom line: if I'm not in a position to seek national opportunities, UCLA's local market was my top choice of any of the schools to which I was admitted. Duke and Cornell place so heavily in NYC that I think I would have been paying a premium for a school where their best placement isn't what I wanted. Michigan was a very tough call, and I can't claim that I'll have better opportunities from UCLA than from Michigan. However, my regional preferences mitigated Michigan's advantage here.

3) Lifestyle. Honestly, when I was admitted to Michigan, I was like "yeah, OK, I suppose that's where I'm going", especially when Boalt rejected me. I visited UCLA because it's California, it's a great school, and they treated me exceptionally well. But I'll admit that I was not completely sold on LA yet, and half expected to go out there and feel that I just couldn't go to school there. Whole other ballgame. I loved the lifestyle, the feel, the people, and the school. It sounds really corny, but I felt like a Bruin when I was there, and I didn't feel like a Wolverine at Michigan. I knew Michigan was an awesome school and a great opportunity, but I didn't want to be there the way I wanted to be at UCLA.

4) Non-law prestige - This sounds silly, but I'm looking at possibly going into non-law academia at some point in the medium-range future. So, I asked around to see what the perception of the two programs was among other academics. Academics in my field generally see the programs as equal - of course, they're not all that informed about the peculiars of each school, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't screwing myself one way or the other on a potential PhD app. Michigan and UCLA have very strong reputations in the academic community, and Michigan's prestige wouldn't be any greater than UCLA's in that situation. If I wanted to be a law prof - well, different story, maybe. I don't know a lot about that career track and am not interested in it.

5) Risk aversion - If i hate being a lawyer, I don't want to have to do it any more than I have to in order to establish financial security. Less debt means that process is greatly accelerated - if I spend an extra three years to pay off my Michigan debt, that can cut a lot of money out of my investment accounts, and frankly, that's the money that works the hardest in your portfolio leading up to retirement. I want to have the financial freedom to pursue academia or possibly some community stuff, and I'm both very confident of UCLA's job prospects and very leery of taking on unnecessary debt.

All of those are basically my reasons, but here's what it came down to. Michigan was a great school, but UCLA was home. When you feel at home someplace you've only been for four hours, I think there's a clear choice.

Re: UCLA Law Class of 2011

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:16 am
by dbt
Thanks for the reply ari! I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I have the feeling that I too will be choosing between Michigan (as probably my highest ranked choice) and others like UCLA, so that was really helpful.

I've never been to California but I have a very strong feeling that I would love it. I am from Texas originally, don't like it too much, and now go to school in Connecticut. I still would like to have options open for getting a good job in Boston, NYC, or D.C. if I end up wanting a change from California. So, I guess my primary concern is how a UCLA law degree is received on the east coast.

Also, if anyone else wants to join in, I'd really like to discuss UCLA's future (regarding rank/prestige). It, along with Northwestern and Berkeley, seems to really be a school on the rise. I was very surprised (and impressed and somewhat worried) when I realized that under 18% of applicants were admitted last year and its numbers seem comparable to Berkeley/Cornell. Add the great location and it looks like if UCLA is already #16 after only ~50 years, it has nowhere to go but up.