Harvard Student(s) Answering Your Questions Forum

[kdxsam]

Thanks for the answers everyone!

[apsq21]

Hi people! How does 1L and 2L summer positions impact grant the next year? Trying to figure out total COA right now.

[o0o0o0o]

Does anyone have experience with Kraakman, Coates, or Ramseyer for corporations? They are all teaching in the fall and wanted to hear some thoughts. (J. Fried has a huge waitlist)

Ramseyer is acceptable but not great. His stories are entertaining. The nice thing about the class is his predictable cold-calling schedule, which went row by row when I took the class. He gave a 3-hour final that was a super long, extended riff on Harrison Ford's roles in Indiana Jones and Star Wars, that I have to imagine may have disadvantaged LLMs and anyone who doesn't read very quickly.

[Nonconsecutive]

Does anyone have experience with Kraakman, Coates, or Ramseyer for corporations? They are all teaching in the fall and wanted to hear some thoughts. (J. Fried has a huge waitlist)

I rank Corporations with Kraakman as one of the most substantively useless classes I've had at HLS. He's disorganized, the class is disorganized, and at least half of each class is off on tangents that have nothing to do with the material that is supposed to be covered. The class has a very finance heavy focus, so much so that I wonder how much he even alters the syllabus between his Corps and Corporate Finance classes. On the other hand, he does panels, so there's no unexpected cold-calling. In my class you were on panel 4 times throughout the semester, though a lot of people skipped one (or all) of their panels and I'm not even sure Kraakman cared to be truthfully honest.

[tomwatts]

Hi people! How does 1L and 2L summer positions impact grant the next year? Trying to figure out total COA right now.

Here's the policy in all its glory. Basically, 90% of what you make above a threshold that's probably around 8K-9K (depending on taxes) gets subtracted from your aid.

[apsq21]

Hi people! How does 1L and 2L summer positions impact grant the next year? Trying to figure out total COA right now.

Here's the policy in all its glory. Basically, 90% of what you make above a threshold that's probably around 8K-9K (depending on taxes) gets subtracted from your aid.

Thanks! Basically in 3L year, what's left of SA income replaces grant?

[Goldie]

Does anyone have experience with Kraakman, Coates, or Ramseyer for corporations? They are all teaching in the fall and wanted to hear some thoughts. (J. Fried has a huge waitlist)

I rank Corporations with Kraakman as one of the most substantively useless classes I've had at HLS. He's disorganized, the class is disorganized, and at least half of each class is off on tangents that have nothing to do with the material that is supposed to be covered. The class has a very finance heavy focus, so much so that I wonder how much he even alters the syllabus between his Corps and Corporate Finance classes. On the other hand, he does panels, so there's no unexpected cold-calling. In my class you were on panel 4 times throughout the semester, though a lot of people skipped one (or all) of their panels and I'm not even sure Kraakman cared to be truthfully honest.

Ditto. Kraakman's Corporations was the worst class I've had at Harvard and the only one I was legitimately worried about getting an LP in. He's such a nice man, but he is confusing and disorganized. He was in the middle of doing a new version of his casebook when I took Corporations with him, and he would give us these really rough drafts of chapters, once with a key part of the holding of a case accidentally missing. And I also agree about the finance emphasis - to be fair, I don't think he tested on it, but there was finance stuff assigned and discussed in class that was way out of my depth.

[LikelyThrowaway]

How much more debt is Harvard worth than Michigan or Chicago, generally speaking? Ignoring personal factors, just want to hear opinions of current HLS students.

[Studybuddy17]

0L here, can anyone please explain the waitlist system at Harvard for classes? What determines one's "enrollability" in a specific class or position on this waitlist? Thanks!

[tomwatts]

How much more debt is Harvard worth than Michigan or Chicago, generally speaking? Ignoring personal factors, just want to hear opinions of current HLS students.

About $50,000.

But seriously, my opinion — which may be idiosyncratic, not sure — is that there is no possible meaningful answer if you ignore personal factors. It depends on you much more than it depends on the schools.

0L here, can anyone please explain the waitlist system at Harvard for classes? What determines one's "enrollability" in a specific class or position on this waitlist? Thanks!

Most classes are done by preferencing. You submit your preferences and then the Registrar runs a preferencing algorithm that decides who gets into what. Those who don't get in are put on the waitlist. (This actually happens in a few rounds; preferencing for multisections, preferencing for clinics, and preferencing for other electives happen separately. Some more on that is here.)

A few classes are done by application. You submit an application and the professor chooses who gets in.

Practically speaking, I've found that you get most of the classes that you want, but you may have to preference strategically for a few (e.g., list as your #1 preference a class that lots of students want to take). There are a few that are harder to get or that are highly selective application-only classes, and you may not be able to take them even if you preference them highly or submit a good application, but there are only a few of these.

[sidequest]

I apologize if this is elsewhere in the (very informative!) thread, but can any current 1Ls estimate how many hours they spend studying per day / what time they usually call it a night? I'm a 0L and if I end up attending I'll be moving with my SO, who I would love to see at some point in the day. I've looked at some of the other TLS threads on this subject and it seems like there's a pretty wide variation in the amount of time people spend studying, but I'm wondering if Harvard's grading system makes a difference to the non-gunners among us.

[Studybuddy17]

I apologize if this is elsewhere in the (very informative!) thread, but can any current 1Ls estimate how many hours they spend studying per day / what time they usually call it a night? I'm a 0L and if I end up attending I'll be moving with my SO, who I would love to see at some point in the day. I've looked at some of the other TLS threads on this subject and it seems like there's a pretty wide variation in the amount of time people spend studying, but I'm wondering if Harvard's grading system makes a difference to the non-gunners among us.

Very curious about this too

[Dcc617]

I'm very much a non-gunner. Realistically I spend between 30-90 minutes of outside preparation per class period. It's not that much, and also depends on your professors.

I have a ton of free time though. I work out everyday, do fun stuff around the town, go out, etc. I'm right in the middle of the class grades wise.

Life is pretty good as a law student, to be honest.

[cantorb]

I apologize if this is elsewhere in the (very informative!) thread, but can any current 1Ls estimate how many hours they spend studying per day / what time they usually call it a night? I'm a 0L and if I end up attending I'll be moving with my SO, who I would love to see at some point in the day. I've looked at some of the other TLS threads on this subject and it seems like there's a pretty wide variation in the amount of time people spend studying, but I'm wondering if Harvard's grading system makes a difference to the non-gunners among us.

I think most 1Ls would agree that it varies greatly from week to week, depending on your LRW schedule, 1L job search, and any SPOs or other activities you may be involved with.

As a general matter, you should have no problem spending significant time with your SO, except right before an LRW deadline or during study week.

[tomwatts]

I apologize if this is elsewhere in the (very informative!) thread, but can any current 1Ls estimate how many hours they spend studying per day / what time they usually call it a night? I'm a 0L and if I end up attending I'll be moving with my SO, who I would love to see at some point in the day. I've looked at some of the other TLS threads on this subject and it seems like there's a pretty wide variation in the amount of time people spend studying, but I'm wondering if Harvard's grading system makes a difference to the non-gunners among us.

Not a current 1L — I guess that was five years ago now — but I had a fairly intensive study schedule (you can see what I did a few pages back), and I still had time to maintain a good long-distance distance relationship during law school (i.e., hour-plus on the phone/Facetime/Skype almost every day, bus to NYC for the weekend about every 4-6 weeks). It's probably a lot easier with a live-in significant other. You definitely will be able to see each other.

But yeah, right around LRW deadlines (a few times per semester), you won't be able to do a lot more than say hi and have a brief chat. (Maybe that's not true; you can probably have dinner together or something. But time is tight around then.)

[robotrick]

I'm very much a non-gunner. Realistically I spend between 30-90 minutes of outside preparation per class period. It's not that much, and also depends on your professors.

I have a ton of free time though. I work out everyday, do fun stuff around the town, go out, etc. I'm right in the middle of the class grades wise.

Life is pretty good as a law student, to be honest.

Second all of this.

[taxman14]

Do we actually need the full $23,158 of living expenses for 9 months of school? That's Harvard's estimate, but in undergrad I spent 12k per academic year, including room and board.

My actual cost of living was less than Harvard's estimated cost of living, possibly 5K-10K less. (I never exactly calculated.) I did live in the (cheap, tiny) Gropius dorms and mostly cook cheap food for myself, though.

Also, I second taxman14's question on taking out loans. It says we must take out the full amount before receiving grant, but can we pay it back right away?

I'm pretty sure you can make early repayments whenever you want. I got some emails during law school encouraging me to do exactly that.

Thank you! I will check out the earlier posts and also its true that H reaches far and wide. I can't even imagine the intellectual engagement - super nerdy but it would be nice to not have grades really and just learn

IMO HLS has a pretty anti/non-intellectual mainstream, and theoretical classes are fringe. The professors care about ideas; most students don't (although policy is hugely popular).

And IDK what school you're talking about that doesn't have grades. HLS's grades are weird, but easy for employers/judges to screen with. "We only hire people 3 H's" or "this judge needs all H's for you to have a chance"

Because of HLS's size, you can find kind of whatever you want here, so if you want intellectual engagement, you can get that, and if you want to tune out, you can find that too. (I wanted both, and I found both, generally with different people.)

Agreed on grades. HLS has obfuscated grades, not no grades. But if you're likely to apply to employers who either don't regularly hire from HLS or are not especially grade-focused and therefore don't want to go to the trouble of figuring out what your grades mean, obfuscated grades can be the same as no grades.

I spoke w fin aid and they said you can pay everything back as soon as you want. So no restrictions there - you just need to prove you took out the loans.

[guppiesbaby]

Hi all! Way back in this or another HLS thread, I saw people talking about getting access to the Harvard gyms before school starts/before getting a HUID.

I emailed the membership guy for H gyms and he nixed this, said I had to wait to get my HUID.

Any crafty ways of getting around this, etc.? Getting to Cambridge in July and would love to get my gym on...

Thanks!

[Dcc617]

Hi all! Way back in this or another HLS thread, I saw people talking about getting access to the Harvard gyms before school starts/before getting a HUID.

I emailed the membership guy for H gyms and he nixed this, said I had to wait to get my HUID.

Any crafty ways of getting around this, etc.? Getting to Cambridge in July and would love to get my gym on...

Thanks!

You should have your HUID number by then. That's all I needed to get in the gym before I got my ID.

[theventriloquist]

Hi,

Do u know about the JD/MBA program? Is their an admission advantage in that program? People here have said I have a shot at harvard law, but not the business school. I want to get in the business school so would applying for the duel program be good? Thank you for all your help!

Also, do u think that JD/MBA would be good job-wise? I'd like to work in IB, but I can't get into the business school. I imagine that JD/MBA would be good to open doors in the top place.

for my LSAT: 177.

I have not taken GMAt but I took MCAT (for medical school, harder than GMAT) and got in the upper 99 percentile. So I can get good GMAT score as well. but i don't have much business experience--but have work experience--so i wonder if the JD/MBA program will be more easy with regards to the MBA admission.

[theventriloquist]

Also, do u know if the GMAT has strong influence in MBA admission? I am good at standarized tests, even since high school, so I wonder if a good score would compensate for poor grades and lack of business experience at the business school?

Of course, i'll also ask around other places, but here we have a live, breathing Harvard guy, so I'd thought I'd ask, in case u know people in the JD/MBA program, like people who maybe even applied as 1L, maybe you might have some info, I was jsut thinking.

Thank you os muhc once again!

[Dcc617]

What do you want to do with your life? How are you paying for everything?

[theventriloquist]

What do you want to do with your life? How are you paying for everything?

Thanks a lot for your help. I'd like to go into IB. But I have no experience in IB or business, so I have no chance at MBA.

I have worked in lab, biology.

My dad can contribute 30K/year. I have savings, can pay 100K, rest in loans.

Do u know anything about admision advantage?

[tomwatts]

Do u know about the JD/MBA program? Is their an admission advantage in that program? People here have said I have a shot at harvard law, but not the business school. I want to get in the business school so would applying for the duel program be good? Thank you for all your help!

Being a 1L at HLS is a small boost to admission at HBS, but, well, only a small boost. If you're not likely to get into HBS as is, you're probably not all that much more likely if you're at HLS.

Also, do u think that JD/MBA would be good job-wise? I'd like to work in IB, but I can't get into the business school. I imagine that JD/MBA would be good to open doors in the top place.

This is not something I know a lot about, but if you want to work in IB, I don't think that the JD does you any good. Just get an MBA.

But also, how do you know you want to work in IB? It sounds like you have no education or work experience even tangentially related to that.

I have not taken GMAt but I took MCAT (for medical school, harder than GMAT) and got in the upper 99 percentile.

If you got far enough along as a pre-med that you did that well on the MCAT, why are you not going to medical school? You must have put years into it and gotten right to the point where you could do it and then backed off....

Also, do u know if the GMAT has strong influence in MBA admission? I am good at standarized tests, even since high school, so I wonder if a good score would compensate for poor grades and lack of business experience at the business school?

A bad GMAT score keeps you out. A good GMAT score doesn't necessarily get you in. You still need all the other things that they're looking for.

[HLSstudent]

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