Boalt 1Ls taking questions Forum

[Sav]

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[Redamon1]

Quick question about employment for current students:

For those who aren´t necessarily wedded to the idea of staying in California forever (though could definitely be persuaded to), how difficult is it to get a NY big law offer from OCI?

Also, does anyone know of current students or recent graduates who have gotten Magic Circle or Silver Circle offers from London-based firms? I have experience living abroad and foreign-language skills and would be interested to know if it´s totally a pipe dream to think about one day working either in a satellite office for a US firm or for a UK-based firm because it seems like the London firms don´t really recruit outside of east coast-based schools.

Thanks for the great advice so far, guys!

I've met a number of 2Ls with SAs in NYC and DC. Several 1Ls with summer gigs in Boston, NYC, DC and other places around the country. And numerous alumns in those cities when I worked there and at receptions since. Basically, my anecdotal encounters and discussions confirm what I'd heard before coming here: if you want to work outside of CA, you can. As hard as it is to believe from the outside, many people actually do end up deciding to stay in CA after coming here, so the predominantly Californian job placement does largely reflect self selection. It's a recurring joke that CA just grows on you and people from the East Coast or Midwest, one by one, just fall for it and decide to stay.

I don't know about direct hires in London offices. Not that many people are interested in it, so there isn't a lot of data. But the Berkeley degree definitely carries weight in Europe (LLMs here are a good source of info and contacts) - you might just have to more actively pursue those leads yourself, rather than rely on on-campus recruiting. Another approach: if you have legit creds to show that you can be an asset in a European office, and you don't want to just hop around like a tourist, I hear US firms will be attentive to your interests in transferring you to a European office some years down the line.

[Redamon1]

Does anyone have pics of Manville or Jackson? The ones from the website make the rooms appear incredibly small.

I was turned off by the small size of the Manville's rooms on the pictures (plus I wanted a real oven), so I decide to look for a studio / 1BR off campus, and it worked out fine. I flew to Berkeley in June for 3 days to sign a lease, but others just show up in August and find a place that way. Don't feel you have to go with Manville or Jackson, but if you don't want to deal with the hassle of house hunting, and you don't mind the small size (for a year maybe?), it can be a good option.

[Yardbird]

Boalt students!

I'm making a calculator to help calculate COA with tuition/COL increases but I need some data to help the project (http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=208464). The data specifically needs to come from current students who can look at their budget for the past 1-3 years. I would like to know the average rent, utilities, food, cable/internet for the following schools. If you can help out, please fill out this form. Thanks!

Link to Form (LinkRemoved)

[Sav]

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[Tanicius]

Any new Boalt 0Ls want to buy used 1L textbooks dirt cheap, PM me.

Yeah, um, actually don't do this. None of you know what professors or books you'll be using yet. Sorry to cockblock, Sav, but come on.

[5965]

Can and/or do law students take MBA courses, if not pursuing a JD/MBA program?

[Redamon1]

Can and/or do law students take MBA courses, if not pursuing a JD/MBA program?

Yes you can. Every semester Boalt sends out a long list of classes at Haas that are open to us. (but you can't do that during 1L though).

[Sav]

]

[5965]

Do all 1L take civ pro, torts, and real property in their first sem?

[SemperLegal]

Do all 1L take civ pro, torts, and real property in their first sem?

You will be assigned a small mod and 2 large mods of the following in the first semester: crim, contracts, property, civ pro, and torts. At least half the class will have civ pro first semester as a small mod, not sure what the other half will have (but my guess is property).

[worldtraveler]

Can and/or do law students take MBA courses, if not pursuing a JD/MBA program?

You can take up to 10 credits outside the law school and count them toward a JD, but be careful because that also limits the amount of credits you can use to do an externship. If you want to do UCDC or an externship for a full semester, can't really take anything outside the school and have it count.

[twinkletoes16]

If I'm looking to move in to an apartment in early August, when should I go up and look at places? Mid-June? Late June? Everywhere on Craigslist is for moving in early June or RIGHT NOW but I don't know if that changes over the summer or not.

[Redamon1]

If I'm looking to move in to an apartment in early August, when should I go up and look at places? Mid-June? Late June? Everywhere on Craigslist is for moving in early June or RIGHT NOW but I don't know if that changes over the summer or not.

Hey Twink - Glad things worked out with Berkeley! When I looked June 18-20 last year, most of the places on the market were for JULY 1st, and I had to look harder or negotiate with landlords for a delayed start of my lease. So if you show up July 1-5, many landlords will have just received notices of vacancy and a fresh batch of apartments should be available for viewing. That said, given the student population and predictable cycle, there definitely are a bunch of landlords that know about an August 1st opening earlier. But in my experience, those apartments tend to go very quickly and be harder for a newcomer to get because they get snatched up early in the season by friends of friends and word of mouth before they are even advertised publicly. That's how I found my new place for August 1st this year. Hope this helps.

[mushybrain]

I found a place and signed my lease in mid-July, to start the first week of August. I tried looking earlier but unless I wanted to pay for an extra month, it wasn't going to happen much longer ahead of time. I'd agree with the July 1-5 suggestion once people have had to put in their 30 day notice. There was a lot more activity on Craigslist once that hit.

[ssanonymous]

Boalties, are you roughing it with the COA that Berkeley budgets for you? Is there a way to increase the budget estimate for the year?

[Kronk]

Boalties, are you roughing it with the COA that Berkeley budgets for you? Is there a way to increase the budget estimate for the year?

I really don't find the budget to be bad, tbh. Unless you're trying to stretch it out for the entire 12 months instead of the 9 months allotted. The only times I've been in trouble financially with the budget were when I had large, unexpected things happen (e.g. $1500 repair on my car, but I still made it through the semester relatively unscathed).

[ssanonymous]

Boalties, are you roughing it with the COA that Berkeley budgets for you? Is there a way to increase the budget estimate for the year?

I really don't find the budget to be bad, tbh. Unless you're trying to stretch it out for the entire 12 months instead of the 9 months allotted. The only times I've been in trouble financially with the budget were when I had large, unexpected things happen (e.g. $1500 repair on my car, but I still made it through the semester relatively unscathed).

Well, the one thing that stands out to me is that Berkeley only budgets $700 or so a semester for incidentals. That seems a little low, no? Also, Berkeley doesn't factor everything that comes with moving to Berkeley. I imagine I'll be spending a fair amount on furniture and a new laptop. Finally, Berkeley calculates 9 months of rent instead of 12. Is it that easy to find subletters?

[Kronk]

Well, the one thing that stands out to me is that Berkeley only budgets $700 or so a semester for incidentals. That seems a little low, no? Also, Berkeley doesn't factor everything that comes with moving to Berkeley. I imagine I'll be spending a fair amount on furniture and a new laptop. Finally, Berkeley calculates 9 months of rent instead of 12. Is it that easy to find subletters?

I don't know. I was able to end my lease early both years and didn't end up paying through the summer for that reason. You'll also either be getting paid at a firm or getting an Edley Grant + other grants ($4k+) so you won't be making nothing. But, if you're concerned about it, I imagine they are open to it. I just found htat I don't live at all frugally and didn't have financial issues. Depends on how much you intend to spend on a laptop, though, and how nice you want your furniture to be. I did lots of cheap furniture (e.g. IKEA or Target) and/or craigslist and didn't struggle with the amount.

[20130804]

Well, the one thing that stands out to me is that Berkeley only budgets $700 or so a semester for incidentals. That seems a little low, no? Also, Berkeley doesn't factor everything that comes with moving to Berkeley. I imagine I'll be spending a fair amount on furniture and a new laptop. Finally, Berkeley calculates 9 months of rent instead of 12. Is it that easy to find subletters?

I spoke to a financial aid person when I went for ASW. You are allowed to appeal the budget to account for moving expenses up to $3,000. I'm not sure if furniture would be covered, but deposits do count with a copy of your lease. There's also a one time laptop allowance that can be used at any point during your three years. Here's a link to the form from last year. I'm not sure when it will become available for this year, so you should probably plan to pay for it all upfront and then get the money back once loans are disbursed.

[ssanonymous]

Well, the one thing that stands out to me is that Berkeley only budgets $700 or so a semester for incidentals. That seems a little low, no? Also, Berkeley doesn't factor everything that comes with moving to Berkeley. I imagine I'll be spending a fair amount on furniture and a new laptop. Finally, Berkeley calculates 9 months of rent instead of 12. Is it that easy to find subletters?

I spoke to a financial aid person when I went for ASW. You are allowed to appeal the budget to account for moving expenses up to $3,000. I'm not sure if furniture would be covered, but deposits do count with a copy of your lease. There's also a one time laptop allowance that can be used at any point during your three years. Here's a link to the form from last year. I'm not sure when it will become available for this year, so you should probably plan to pay for it all upfront and then get the money back once loans are disbursed.

I think I'll try to adjust my COA for both moving expenses and a laptop. Thanks for the info!

[mushybrain]

I think the form was available in September or October this past year, and you had to submit it by May 1.

[5965]

To current students:

Do you think it absolutely doesn't matter if you use mac or PC?

Also, do you also use OneNote for taking notes? I didn't know about this software until very recently and many people seem to praise it so much! Thanks!

[SemperLegal]

To current students:

Do you think it absolutely doesn't matter if you use mac or PC?

Also, do you also use OneNote for taking notes? I didn't know about this software until very recently and many people seem to praise it so much! Thanks!

Doesn't matter. We dont use Examsoft or anything, so there is no real issue of computer compatibility.

I use One Note, I think it helps organize my notes better then Word. However, I am kind of computer dumb, so I get very little actual use out of it.

[5965]

Does anyone know about Pre Orientation? I wanna attend it but i have to change my schedule to do so, so i would like to hear how the program runs. Thanks!:)