Top Law Schools

CONGRATS! YOU MADE IT! Good luck to all first semester!
Be sure to post your 1L nonsense in this thread:
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 8&t=234765

Big thanks to Snapdragon25 for being original OP!



Useful Links:
Applicants' Thread
C/O 2016 Thread
Admitted Student Website
MyAccess Login for Student Account and Financial Aid (LinkRemoved)
2014-2015 Academic Calendar
2013-2014 First Year Part Time Hand Book

Admitted Student Open Houses
January 23-24, 2014
March 27-28, 2014

Important Dates
March 15, 2014 - Financial aid application deadline I
May 1, 2014 - First tuition deposit due ($800); Dean's certification due; Final transcripts due
May 12, 2014 - Gewirz housing application due (with $150 application fee)
May 16, 2014 - Gewirz housing lottery day
June 1, 2014 - Financial aid application deadline II; Second tuition deposit due ($1200)
June 9, 2014 - Deadline for partial refund of second tuition deposit
July 28, 2014 - Fall tuition due
August 23, 2014 - Gewirz Move-In Day
August 25-29, 2014 - Orientation and Registration for first-year students
September 2, 2014 - Fall classes begin

Polls:

How did you receive decision? I've heard nothing thus far.

mindarmed wrote:How did you receive decision? I've heard nothing thus far.

Mail. It seems like admits are by mail and waitlists/rejections will be by email.

I applied ED, so I'll be joining you as well. There is a small chance I'll defer, but most likely I'll see you in the fall. When you thinking of visiting?

MoHendy wrote:I applied ED, so I'll be joining you as well. There is a small chance I'll defer, but most likely I'll see you in the fall. When you thinking of visiting?

Probably at the admitted students' open house in January, whenever that ends up being. My boyfriend would be moving out there with me, so we'll try to coordinate visiting DC with job interviews for him. The last time I visited DC I was 12, so I'm really getting anxious to go visit!

Hey there, I'm glad someone made a thread for admitted students. I'm a 1L who would be happy to answer any questions. I'm actually a Student Ambassador, so whether you want to know about classes, classmates, grading, apartment hunting, fun things to do, whatever, I got you covered. More information will trickle in over the coming weeks and months, so don't feel like you need to figure everything out at once. Take your time, enjoy your last months of freedom, and make sure you make the right choice (i.e. Georgetown).

Found out I'm in today! Fast turnaround time, their office is clearly awesome!

In. Also thinking of going in January. Congrats to all!!

I was admitted ED so I'll be with you guys next fall too! How did you hear about the admitted students' open house in January? Outside of the acceptance letter/sweet handwritten note from the dean about three weeks ago I haven't received any more information or communication.

felicianocalamity wrote:I was admitted ED so I'll be with you guys next fall too! How did you hear about the admitted students' open house in January? Outside of the acceptance letter/sweet handwritten note from the dean about three weeks ago I haven't received any more information or communication.

I don't have the letter with me right now, but IIRC it said there would be an open house in late January. I haven't gotten any other info yet either, but somewhere on TLS I found the schedule for last year's open house:
http://apps.law.georgetown.edu/admitted ... hedule.pdf

I attended the January Open House last year (and will be helping host you guys this year). It was fantastic; I was pretty much convinced I was coming to Gtown after that. It's two days, but you can sign up to crash with one of us Ambassadors, so you don't need to worry about a hotel. The actual activities are pretty standard, but the time makes it really flexible and you get a ton of time to hang out with other admitted students and current students. We're working out the details for this year now and should have a tentative schedule out next month. I highly recommend it

kraffcook wrote:Hey there, I'm glad someone made a thread for admitted students. I'm a 1L who would be happy to answer any questions. I'm actually a Student Ambassador, so whether you want to know about classes, classmates, grading, apartment hunting, fun things to do, whatever, I got you covered. More information will trickle in over the coming weeks and months, so don't feel like you need to figure everything out at once. Take your time, enjoy your last months of freedom, and make sure you make the right choice (i.e. Georgetown).

Received my acceptance letter today- excited! I have a couple questions. What has your favorite class been so far? Do you find the professors accessible? Do you live in the on campus housing, and if so, would you recommend that?

MidnightinParis wrote:

kraffcook wrote:Hey there, I'm glad someone made a thread for admitted students. I'm a 1L who would be happy to answer any questions. I'm actually a Student Ambassador, so whether you want to know about classes, classmates, grading, apartment hunting, fun things to do, whatever, I got you covered. More information will trickle in over the coming weeks and months, so don't feel like you need to figure everything out at once. Take your time, enjoy your last months of freedom, and make sure you make the right choice (i.e. Georgetown).

Received my acceptance letter today- excited! I have a couple questions. What has your favorite class been so far? Do you find the professors accessible? Do you live in the on campus housing, and if so, would you recommend that?

Favorite class is mixed. Based on the material, I like contracts the most just because it involves all the type of sly, underhanded lawyerly stuff I find entertaining. As for the actual class itself, I like torts the best just because my professor is an amazing, hilarious woman. She sometimes has students act out famous cases and generally just treats the class in a fun manner. She also brings candy.

I've never heard of any problems with professors not being accessible. I have good relationships with all of my professors so far and never have an issue getting ahold of them for anything. I've actually been surprised by how nice and down to earth they all are. GULC is also really into pushing professors to be form closer relationships with their students, so the SBA actually pays for professors to throw parties and invite students over for dinner every semester. There's also things like "Take your professor to lunch Day" throughout the year.

About 1/3 of 1Ls live in Gewirz (the on-campus dorm). I don't live there, but most of my friends do, so I'm there a lot. It's nice because it's super convenient especially since it comes furnished and will all utilities. Also, you end up meeting a lot more people and actually have friends outside your section. I didn't live there because I hated the idea of being in law school 24/7 and never leaving. Also, the prices suck for what you're getting. It works out to around $1700 a month on average. I found a furnished english basement about a mile away for $1200 and I have way more space that the Gewirz people. Sometimes, when I'm walking home at 2am, I wish I lived in Gewirz, but so far I'm happy with my decision. I treat law school like a job. I go there, I get all my work done there, then I go home and relax.

Thanks! I would also love to hear more about the alternative 1L curriciulum B. Are you a participant or do you have friends who chose that route?

MidnightinParis wrote:Thanks! I would also love to hear more about the alternative 1L curriciulum B. Are you a participant or do you have friends who chose that route?

I'm not in it, but I have a ton of friends who are. The curriculum B section (section 3) is, in my opinion, the most social, fun, diverse group of students here. The principle behind it is that you learn the same legal doctrine as the rest of us, but you also look more at history and philosophy, understanding why the law is the way it is. It's a different perspective that generally attracts students interested in public interest and atypical career paths. That's not to say it isn't good for students that want to go typical Big Law or whatever; it's just not what it usually attracts. Everyone I know says they love it and the only downside is that they have 1 more class than the rest of the 1Ls and a bit more reading overall.
My reasoning for not doing it is that I just don't care about why the law is how it is. I just want to learn the rules and get out to start my career. If you're a deep thinker/academic type, section 3 is probably awesome. For me, I'll take the normal path.

kraffcook wrote:I attended the January Open House last year (and will be helping host you guys this year). It was fantastic; I was pretty much convinced I was coming to Gtown after that. It's two days, but you can sign up to crash with one of us Ambassadors, so you don't need to worry about a hotel. The actual activities are pretty standard, but the time makes it really flexible and you get a ton of time to hang out with other admitted students and current students. We're working out the details for this year now and should have a tentative schedule out next month. I highly recommend it

Thanks for answering questions for us! Super excited about Georgetown- from your post, I take it we admits can expect to get more details about the next steps sometime in December?

Checking in - just got my letter the other day (ED) !

leezabee wrote:

kraffcook wrote:I attended the January Open House last year (and will be helping host you guys this year). It was fantastic; I was pretty much convinced I was coming to Gtown after that. It's two days, but you can sign up to crash with one of us Ambassadors, so you don't need to worry about a hotel. The actual activities are pretty standard, but the time makes it really flexible and you get a ton of time to hang out with other admitted students and current students. We're working out the details for this year now and should have a tentative schedule out next month. I highly recommend it

Thanks for answering questions for us! Super excited about Georgetown- from your post, I take it we admits can expect to get more details about the next steps sometime in December?

Yep, as soon as the Admitted Students site is ready, all the info will be available on there. I think for us, it was launched around New Year's. There will also be groups for Admitted Students on Facebook and Linkedin, as well as updates coming via other social media sites and a blog we'll have running soon too. Most of this is run by Student Ambassadors, so chances are it won't really get going until after we get through our exams and have some free time. For now, you should just relax and keep reading up on schools.

kraffcook wrote:

MidnightinParis wrote:Thanks! I would also love to hear more about the alternative 1L curriciulum B. Are you a participant or do you have friends who chose that route?

I'm not in it, but I have a ton of friends who are. The curriculum B section (section 3) is, in my opinion, the most social, fun, diverse group of students here. The principle behind it is that you learn the same legal doctrine as the rest of us, but you also look more at history and philosophy, understanding why the law is the way it is. It's a different perspective that generally attracts students interested in public interest and atypical career paths. That's not to say it isn't good for students that want to go typical Big Law or whatever; it's just not what it usually attracts. Everyone I know says they love it and the only downside is that they have 1 more class than the rest of the 1Ls and a bit more reading overall.
My reasoning for not doing it is that I just don't care about why the law is how it is. I just want to learn the rules and get out to start my career. If you're a deep thinker/academic type, section 3 is probably awesome. For me, I'll take the normal path.

I have a question! Do people self-select into Curriculum B or is it randomly placed?

jannah77 wrote:

kraffcook wrote:

MidnightinParis wrote:Thanks! I would also love to hear more about the alternative 1L curriciulum B. Are you a participant or do you have friends who chose that route?

I'm not in it, but I have a ton of friends who are. The curriculum B section (section 3) is, in my opinion, the most social, fun, diverse group of students here. The principle behind it is that you learn the same legal doctrine as the rest of us, but you also look more at history and philosophy, understanding why the law is the way it is. It's a different perspective that generally attracts students interested in public interest and atypical career paths. That's not to say it isn't good for students that want to go typical Big Law or whatever; it's just not what it usually attracts. Everyone I know says they love it and the only downside is that they have 1 more class than the rest of the 1Ls and a bit more reading overall.
My reasoning for not doing it is that I just don't care about why the law is how it is. I just want to learn the rules and get out to start my career. If you're a deep thinker/academic type, section 3 is probably awesome. For me, I'll take the normal path.

I have a question! Do people self-select into Curriculum B or is it randomly placed?

100% self-select. They never have trouble filling it up in part because a lot of students come to Georgetown specifically because they want to do Curriculum B.

About the open house from Jan. 23-24, for students that are coming from out of town, would you recommend coming in Wed. or Thursday? Also, would you recommend staying until Sun. or leaving on Fri. after the events are over?

anon1538 wrote:About the open house from Jan. 23-24, for students that are coming from out of town, would you recommend coming in Wed. or Thursday? Also, would you recommend staying until Sun. or leaving on Fri. after the events are over?

If you can stay longer, I would, especially if you've never been to DC before. You're not really going to see much off-campus during the program other than when we all go out drinking Thursday night. You'll have to find your own place to stay though unless you get a really nice ambassador who doesn't mind you crashing with him/her through the weekend.

When I came up for it, I flew up early Thursday morning and went sight-seeing nearby for a couple hours until the event started (Not until like 2pm). When it ended Friday afternoon, I went sight-seeing some more then took a train into Virginia that night to visit some friends for the weekend. I figured I was already up there, so why not turn it into a full vacation? If hotels weren't so expensive I probably would have stayed in DC an extra night.

MidnightinParis wrote:Thanks! I would also love to hear more about the alternative 1L curriciulum B. Are you a participant or do you have friends who chose that route?

2L section 3'er here (I never understood why they call it curriculum B in the admissions process -everyone calls it section 3 once you're here). The curriculum is fairly different, with significantly more emphasis on history and philosophy, but this is woven through the standard 1L course load which just happens to be arranged a little differently. Instead of torts and contracts, the 2 are woven together in a yearlong course. Con Law 1 and Criminal Procedure are given a 1 semester treatment together. You get an extra class in the fall that is pretty much just legal theory.

This year though, none of the black letter law I learned (or supposedly didn't) matters at all. The only differences that I spot are some of the more serious/dry/business-oriented professors (think Corporations or Patents) might poke fun, and that there have been moments in several of my classes where I see other section 3 people as the only ones not confused when the professor brings up representation reinforcement or the post-Lochner disintegration of formalism.

If any of that sounds interesting, apply for section 3 (or B, whatever). It's certainly not for everyone, but I definitely knew more people who wish they had selected it (or been selected, it more than fills up by a small margin).

Checking in! RD!

Congrats new admits!! I know finals are coming up, but at some point I'd love to hear from current students about off-campus housing. Where do most students live/hang out? I'd love to live in a lively, young area ideally just a couple red line stops from the law school.
What do you think of NoMa and Dupont circle?