Stanford 1L taking questions Forum

[ndnlawdc]

Thanks, ndnlaw. This information is incredibly helpful.

Another question for folks already there: how necessary is owning a bike? It may be that I road trip it to CA, so buying a cheap bike and tossing it in the U-Haul would be easy enough. But I don't want a bike if law students typically don't need 'em. (I hope to live in Munger.)

So I live way the heck away from the law school (about a mile) and don't have a bike. You can check bikes out from the library, which is what I do when I need to run into downtown PA for something or have lunch with my wife (who works at the medical school). That said, if you're not going to have a car, a bike can extend your range to most of Palo Alto. If you buy your bike at a shop here, they will maintain it for you as part of the deal, so it might just be worth waiting for.

I think living in Munger is a great option. If I were single, I'd definitely live there. It's really expensive for a couple to do.

A car is really helpful in Palo Alto. I would hate living here without one. The only real option for intercity transit is Caltrain, which sort of sucks (it's slow and expensive). However, there's a new Trader Joe's across the street from campus (maybe a 20-25 minute walk or a 10 minute bike ride from Munger) and it just seems like 1Ls don't leave campus all that often anyway, and a lot of your friends/roommates will have cars. A couple of 1Ls came without cars and ended up buying them here, but I think if you use ZipCar and buy a bike you'll probably be fine. We just go off-campus a lot more than most folks do, so that plays a role.

[im_blue]

Thanks, ndnlaw. This information is incredibly helpful.

Another question for folks already there: how necessary is owning a bike? It may be that I road trip it to CA, so buying a cheap bike and tossing it in the U-Haul would be easy enough. But I don't want a bike if law students typically don't need 'em. (I hope to live in Munger.)

So I live way the heck away from the law school (about a mile) and don't have a bike. You can check bikes out from the library, which is what I do when I need to run into downtown PA for something or have lunch with my wife (who works at the medical school). That said, if you're not going to have a car, a bike can extend your range to most of Palo Alto. If you buy your bike at a shop here, they will maintain it for you as part of the deal, so it might just be worth waiting for.

I think living in Munger is a great option. If I were single, I'd definitely live there. It's really expensive for a couple to do.

A car is really helpful in Palo Alto. I would hate living here without one. The only real option for intercity transit is Caltrain, which sort of sucks (it's slow and expensive). However, there's a new Trader Joe's across the street from campus (maybe a 20-25 minute walk or a 10 minute bike ride from Munger) and it just seems like 1Ls don't leave campus all that often anyway, and a lot of your friends/roommates will have cars. A couple of 1Ls came without cars and ended up buying them here, but I think if you use ZipCar and buy a bike you'll probably be fine. We just go off-campus a lot more than most folks do, so that plays a role.

I would definitely recommend buying a bike. You definitely don't have to spend $400 at the bike shop; a $150 model from the local Target should easily last you 3 years.

[WhiskeyGuy]

I think I'll bring a bike along and see how it goes 1L. Thank you!

Another question for y'all: do most students take advantage of the subsidized hotel room rates for admit weekend?

[Laina]

I think I'll bring a bike along and see how it goes 1L. Thank you!

Another question for y'all: do most students take advantage of the subsidized hotel room rates for admit weekend?

You may want to contact whatever the American Indian Students Association is and see if one of them is willing to host you. I got a call Wednesday evening from someone from the Latino/a Students Association and she offered me housing for Admit Weekend. She said she'd put me on some e-mail list and they would contact me about it later.

[crackberry]

Question for those living in Munger:

I have an awesome, comfortable queen mattress with great sheets, etc. I would so much rather sleep on that than on the shitty plastic full mattress SLS gives you. I also would really not like to have to buy new full sheets when I already have these queen sheets. I live in SF, so transporting my bed frame and mattress is no big deal, but will I be able to store the SLS mattress and bed frame somewhere in Munger or am I really going to have to pay for storage?

[GOB Bluth]

Question for those living in Munger:

I have an awesome, comfortable queen mattress with great sheets, etc. I would so much rather sleep on that than on the shitty plastic full mattress SLS gives you. I also would really not like to have to buy new full sheets when I already have these queen sheets. I live in SF, so transporting my bed frame and mattress is no big deal, but will I be able to store the SLS mattress and bed frame somewhere in Munger or am I really going to have to pay for storage?

The bed is actually an extra long full, and so your queen sheets will fit it just fine. Regular full sheets will not. The shitty plastic mattress isn't that bad with a $20 mattress pad from target.

[crackberry]

Question for those living in Munger:

I have an awesome, comfortable queen mattress with great sheets, etc. I would so much rather sleep on that than on the shitty plastic full mattress SLS gives you. I also would really not like to have to buy new full sheets when I already have these queen sheets. I live in SF, so transporting my bed frame and mattress is no big deal, but will I be able to store the SLS mattress and bed frame somewhere in Munger or am I really going to have to pay for storage?

The bed is actually an extra long full, and so your queen sheets will fit it just fine. Regular full sheets will not. The shitty plastic mattress isn't that bad with a $20 mattress pad from target.

Hmm alright, thanks for the info. What about storage space in general?

[citydweller09]

I have a question:

I'm deciding between SLS and Columbia right now, and one of my biggest concerns about Stanford is its location coupled with the small class size. From what I've gathered, Palo Alto is basically a suburb, and San Francisco isn't THAT close to campus. That combined with the the law school's small class size makes me wonder: is it easy to feel boxed in socially, or that there aren't that many different groups to socialize with? Would that feeling, if it existed, be increased among URMs?

Hopefully my question makes sense, thanks for any assistance.

[ndnlawdc]

Hmm alright, thanks for the info. What about storage space in general?

Not 100% here, but I don't think folks in Munger have storage units. We do in EV -- probably big enough for a mattress.

I have a question:

I'm deciding between SLS and Columbia right now, and one of my biggest concerns about Stanford is its location coupled with the small class size. From what I've gathered, Palo Alto is basically a suburb, and San Francisco isn't THAT close to campus. That combined with the the law school's small class size makes me wonder: is it easy to feel boxed in socially, or that there aren't that many different groups to socialize with? Would that feeling, if it existed, be increased among URMs?

Hopefully my question makes sense, thanks for any assistance.

So, a couple of thoughts here.

First of all, Palo Alto is a semi-suburb. It is a city in the sense that its population grows during the day, and you get a sense that people come to Palo Alto to shop and dine, from other nearby suburbs. It's not like you'll always find yourself going to San Jose for stuff. That said, it's not particularly dense, and if you don't have a car you will feel quite limited. San Francisco is quite accessible for weekends, but not (in my experience) for weeknights. SF is also more accessible with a car -- I think Caltrain is relatively annoying.

The second thought is whether you'd really want to be in a city for law school. Don't get me wrong, at first blush I'd rather live in San Francisco than Palo Alto. But Palo Alto is a really easy place to live, and I've appreciated that during the stresses of 1L year. One of my other choices was NYU, and I think it would have depressed me to have such a rich environment just outside the law school doors, but to have very little time to actually enjoy it. I don't feel that way about Palo Alto, but I do appreciate its amenities being so close. I think I really would have just preferred to stay in DC for law school, but there's not a school of Stanford's caliber there.

Socially, I think small classes are a good thing. I'm not sure how many close friends you want to have in law school, but it surely can't be more than 170. Interests and lifestyles are pretty diverse, so I wouldn't worry about finding people to hang out with. Also, I think it could be a bad thing if you just surround yourself with people who look, act, and think like you -- and there isn't enough of any one group at SLS to do that.

RE: URM. I think I have a different perspective on this, because my URM group is actually far better represented at SLS than at most other top law schools. SLS's NALSA is larger than that of HLS and CLS for sure. But I get the feeling that BLSA and SLLSA and APILSA are all relatively decent-sized, but close-knit groups.

There's always the rest of the campus too, but I think it's pretty hard to get out of the law school for social stuff at least during 1L year.

Anyway, take that for what it's worth. Come to Admit Weekend -- I think you'll get a better sense of the community that way.

[GOB Bluth]

I have a question:

I'm deciding between SLS and Columbia right now, and one of my biggest concerns about Stanford is its location coupled with the small class size. From what I've gathered, Palo Alto is basically a suburb, and San Francisco isn't THAT close to campus. That combined with the the law school's small class size makes me wonder: is it easy to feel boxed in socially, or that there aren't that many different groups to socialize with? Would that feeling, if it existed, be increased among URMs?

Hopefully my question makes sense, thanks for any assistance.

As a member of SLLSA, I can assure you that the URM groups are all decently sized. I don't think I could name everyone in SLLSA, and I go to SLLSA events all the time. That said, we are also very integrated with the school at large. Between roommates and neighbors, section-mates, etc., you'll make plenty of friends outside of your minority group.

For the class generally, we definitely have some of the nicest classmates around, if not the most sociable and fun class mates. (That would be NYU, IMHO).

BLSA definitely has the most fun, and we frequently co-host events with them. Whatever your group, you can't really go wrong.

[GOB Bluth]

Question for those living in Munger:

I have an awesome, comfortable queen mattress with great sheets, etc. I would so much rather sleep on that than on the shitty plastic full mattress SLS gives you. I also would really not like to have to buy new full sheets when I already have these queen sheets. I live in SF, so transporting my bed frame and mattress is no big deal, but will I be able to store the SLS mattress and bed frame somewhere in Munger or am I really going to have to pay for storage?

The bed is actually an extra long full, and so your queen sheets will fit it just fine. Regular full sheets will not. The shitty plastic mattress isn't that bad with a $20 mattress pad from target.

Hmm alright, thanks for the info. What about storage space in general?

There is no "storage space" outside of a rather small closet. You could fit a mattress in your fifth bathroom if you're getting a 4 bedroom. Other than that, you'd have to get an outside storage rental. I know of no one doing this (at least for their munger furniture).

[crackberry]

There is no "storage space" outside of a rather small closet. You could fit a mattress in your fifth bathroom if you're getting a 4 bedroom. Other than that, you'd have to get an outside storage rental. I know of no one doing this (at least for their munger furniture).

Damnit. Ok. Thanks for the info.

[rundoxierun]

Does anyone know if it helps in admissions for a prospective to do a visit? According to the profile they place a "high value" on school specific visits so Im just wondering if it may be worth the cost to come do a visit before being admitted.

[crackberry]

Does anyone know if it helps in admissions for a prospective to do a visit? According to the profile they place a "high value" on school specific visits so Im just wondering if it may be worth the cost to come do a visit before being admitted.

Are you sure that's not the school-specific LORs you're referring to?

[crackberry]

Question for you guys:

Do you know of anyone - 1L or otherwise - who lives in SF and commutes to campus?

[GOB Bluth]

Question for you guys:

Do you know of anyone - 1L or otherwise - who lives in SF and commutes to campus?

A few older 1Ls do it, and I'm pretty sure lots of 3Ls do it. I guess it just depends where you are in your life. If you're younger than, say, 28, you'll feel fine in Munger.

[rundoxierun]

Does anyone know if it helps in admissions for a prospective to do a visit? According to the profile they place a "high value" on school specific visits so Im just wondering if it may be worth the cost to come do a visit before being admitted.

Are you sure that's not the school-specific LORs you're referring to?

Wow.. mind freeze.. yea I was referring to the school specific lors in the first part but I guess my question was since they obviously consider specific stanford interest there.. are there any points given for visiting before receiving a decision. Basically, if stanford is my top choice, I have the money, and I'm a borderline candidate should I visit hoping to get a few interest points for admission.. or would they never have any idea I even visited?

[crackberry]

Does anyone know if it helps in admissions for a prospective to do a visit? According to the profile they place a "high value" on school specific visits so Im just wondering if it may be worth the cost to come do a visit before being admitted.

Are you sure that's not the school-specific LORs you're referring to?

Wow.. mind freeze.. yea I was referring to the school specific lors in the first part but I guess my question was since they obviously consider specific stanford interest there.. are there any points given for visiting before receiving a decision. Basically, if stanford is my top choice, I have the money, and I'm a borderline candidate should I visit hoping to get a few interest points for admission.. or would they never have any idea I even visited?

Well, I'm not a 1L, but I can't imagine they'd really be able to answer this question any better than I can.

I'd say if you visit and swing by the admissions office so they know you were there, it's not going to hurt you, but I don't really think it's going to help you either. If you submitted school-specific LORs and Stanford is high on your list, I think a LOCI would do you more good (and save you some $$).

[WhiskeyGuy]

Trivial question: have people found it easy to have their @stanford.edu e-mail automatically forwarded to their gmail account?

[GOB Bluth]

Trivial question: have people found it easy to have their @stanford.edu e-mail automatically forwarded to their gmail account?

Yes I do this and it works just fine. You'll definitely want to set up a filter for Stanford mail though, as you'll be getting tons of unimportant emails.

[WhiskeyGuy]

Trivial question: have people found it easy to have their @stanford.edu e-mail automatically forwarded to their gmail account?

Yes I do this and it works just fine. You'll definitely want to set up a filter for Stanford mail though, as you'll be getting tons of unimportant emails.

Thank you. I set it up and it seemed to work OK. But a heads up for folks considering consolidation: I use Gmail Mobile on my BlackBerry, and I couldn't get the program to allow me to change the "From" field to my Stanford address. Maybe it is user error, but a Google search suggests that others have also been unable to set it up. Since I do most of my reading and replying from the BlackBerry, I'm going to keep my e-mail accounts separate for now.

Another question for folks: have you had issues with e-mails from your Stanford account winding up in people's spam folders? A couple people reported this when I sent a test e-mail. Maybe it's because it is a new (i.e.g, 2 hours old) account?

[calawbiz]

Another curriculum question, sorry guys. I've seen this article (http://www.law.stanford.edu/publication ... ation.html) pop up in various places on the interwebs, but don't quite understand how "concentration sequences," which are discussed a bit in the piece, have been implemented in practice or if they exist at all. Are they just something Dean Kramer dreamed up but never really came to fruition? Or does something akin to concentration sequences exist in the current curriculum under a different name?

[ndnlawdc]

Another curriculum question, sorry guys. I've seen this article (http://www.law.stanford.edu/publication ... ation.html) pop up in various places on the interwebs, but don't quite understand how "concentration sequences," which are discussed a bit in the piece, have been implemented in practice or if they exist at all. Are they just something Dean Kramer dreamed up but never really came to fruition? Or does something akin to concentration sequences exist in the current curriculum under a different name?

Nope. There are lots of interdisciplinary courses, and there are a lot of SLS students taking classes in other Stanford schools (folks really seem to enjoy several courses in particular), but no "concentration sequence" or whatever.

[crackberry]

Question: when is that building that's under construction behind the law school (I assume it's another wing?) going to be finished? I walked by it today and the noise was pretty annoying.

[ConMan345]

Question: when is that building that's under construction behind the law school (I assume it's another wing?) going to be finished? I walked by it today and the noise was pretty annoying.

http://lbre.stanford.edu/dpm/law_school_building

Edit: looks like they're probably on schedule...I read "Winter 2010" as Winter Quarter, 2010.