Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges Forum

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feralinfant

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by feralinfant » Tue Jul 18, 2017 3:05 pm

yyyuppp wrote:
KunAgnis wrote:
feralinfant wrote:

thanks for this info. I am applying for clerkships likely after fall grades, so i really want to limit difficult/uncertain grading. Would you recommend trial team or something like that? I really want to get some trial advocacy experience, but not at the cost of my GPA or honors.[/quote]

Do a clinic, or even better, do a practicum and extern at the cook county states attorneys office and hope you get put in traffic. I'm sure trial team is fine (did not do it) but it's a big commitment for no credit so you'll have to weight that against wanting to get the experience.

carsondalywashere

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by carsondalywashere » Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:01 pm

Answered
Last edited by carsondalywashere on Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

core_four

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by core_four » Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:44 pm

We know NU favors work experience but is all "work experience" created equal? Is an MBB applicant w/ 2 years experience equally as competitive as a paralegal w/ 2 years experience? What is the breakdown of work experience for NU's class? What % from consulting, from finance, from industry, etc.?

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by RedPurpleBlue » Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:47 pm

core_four wrote:We know NU favors work experience but is all "work experience" created equal? Is an MBB applicant w/ 2 years experience equally as competitive as a paralegal w/ 2 years experience? What is the breakdown of work experience for NU's class? What % from consulting, from finance, from industry, etc.?
I don't think it really matters.

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AVokes

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by AVokes » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:52 pm

core_four wrote:We know NU favors work experience but is all "work experience" created equal? Is an MBB applicant w/ 2 years experience equally as competitive as a paralegal w/ 2 years experience? What is the breakdown of work experience for NU's class? What % from consulting, from finance, from industry, etc.?
As cliche as it sounds, it's a pretty diverse class. There are people who went the "traditional" route of banking, consulting, other finance, etc. But there are also a lot of people who were in the arts, teachers, advertising, and more. It's tough to give a breakdown, but know that law school is a whole new game. Whether you were a dancer or a banker will not necessarily give you an inherent advantage. From my experience it is about your ability to focus and learn which you can acquire from a variety of fields.

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yyyuppp

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by yyyuppp » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:58 pm

when are journal notes usually due?

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crumb cake

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by crumb cake » Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:59 am

yyyuppp wrote:when are journal notes usually due?
Week before spring break.

Probably varies based on your journal, though.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by ghostoftraynor » Fri Jul 28, 2017 4:19 pm

A little late to the show, but get supplements. No matter what your teachers try to tell you, the law is black and white on the exams (a vast majority of the time). Your teachers will do everything they can to hide the ball, but there is no secret what the general rules are. You just need a resource that will tell you what they are.

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Hippo

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by Hippo » Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:24 pm

ghostoftraynor wrote:A little late to the show, but get supplements. No matter what your teachers try to tell you, the law is black and white on the exams (a vast majority of the time). Your teachers will do everything they can to hide the ball, but there is no secret what the general rules are. You just need a resource that will tell you what they are.
I really wouldn't recommend this as a blanket guideline. Using a supplement with Kadens or Redish will only hurt you.

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skatch

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by skatch » Sat Jul 29, 2017 3:57 pm

ghostoftraynor wrote:A little late to the show, but get supplements. No matter what your teachers try to tell you, the law is black and white on the exams (a vast majority of the time). Your teachers will do everything they can to hide the ball, but there is no secret what the general rules are. You just need a resource that will tell you what they are.
I completely disagree with this advice. You don't get a good exam score by getting the "right answer." You get a good exam score by being able to discuss both sides of each major issue in as much depth as possible and talking about things the way your professor explains them. Unless your professor wrote the supplement, the supplement will probably cover different topics, organize topics in a different way, and explain concepts in a different way from how your professor does. Keep in mind that your professor is grading your exam-- not the author of the supplement. For a 1L who doesn't know what the hell they're doing, reading a bunch of supplements creates unnecessary confusion/distraction and wastes valuable time that could be spent reading the actual textbook more carefully or going to office hours/TA hours, both of which are far better uses of time.

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yyyuppp

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by yyyuppp » Sat Jul 29, 2017 4:26 pm

skatch wrote:
I completely disagree with this advice. You don't get a good exam score by getting the "right answer." You get a good exam score by being able to discuss both sides of each major issue in as much depth as possible and talking about things the way your professor explains them. Unless your professor wrote the supplement, the supplement will probably cover different topics, organize topics in a different way, and explain concepts in a different way from how your professor does. Keep in mind that your professor is grading your exam-- not the author of the supplement. For a 1L who doesn't know what the hell they're doing, reading a bunch of supplements creates unnecessary confusion/distraction and wastes valuable time that could be spent reading the actual textbook more carefully or going to office hours/TA hours, both of which are far better uses of time.
i 100 percent agree with this. exam grading may end up being arbitrary, but supplements aren't going to get you closer than listening to your professor and using professor specific outlines. and in any case, the supplements may contradict your professor or include extraneous information (very likely) that if you put on your exam will be a total waste of time (cuz it may be in your supplement but your professor chose not to teach that specific rule or whatever)

edit: supplements do have their use, but they don't replace your professor

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by RedPurpleBlue » Sat Jul 29, 2017 8:58 pm

What does the printing situation look like? 100 pages/semester, 200, 500? $0.05/page? I'm trying to figure out if I should by my own printer or just use the school printers.

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yyyuppp

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by yyyuppp » Sat Jul 29, 2017 9:02 pm

RedPurpleBlue wrote:What does the printing situation look like? 100 pages/semester, 200, 500? $0.05/page? I'm trying to figure out if I should by my own printer or just use the school printers.
its 8 cents a page in the library for black and white. there is not a ton to print unless you don't like reading stuff in PDF (which you never really have to do outside a syllabus- maybe there is a stray article your prof has). maybe print CLR stuff to proof read.

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ghostoftraynor

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by ghostoftraynor » Sun Jul 30, 2017 4:23 pm

Hippo wrote:
ghostoftraynor wrote:A little late to the show, but get supplements. No matter what your teachers try to tell you, the law is black and white on the exams (a vast majority of the time). Your teachers will do everything they can to hide the ball, but there is no secret what the general rules are. You just need a resource that will tell you what they are.
I really wouldn't recommend this as a blanket guideline. Using a supplement with Kadens or Redish will only hurt you.
Agree hence "a vast majority of the time." Kadens and Redish are perfect examples of the times where supplements are not that helpful, but I can't think of other class I had where that is the case.

Everyone learns differently, but I think for most people supplements are probably the best way to go. Of course, you are going to have to argue both sides, but you can only do that once you know the law cold. Also, many upper level classes (tax, bankruptcy, secured transactions, BA), finding the right answer is actually more important than arguing both sides.

"include extraneous information (very likely) that if you put on your exam will be a total waste of time (cuz it may be in your supplement but your professor chose not to teach that specific rule or whatever)"

There are plenty of teachers who will include materials in the exam they didn't cover.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by core_four » Mon Jul 31, 2017 1:40 pm

RedPurpleBlue wrote:
core_four wrote:We know NU favors work experience but is all "work experience" created equal? Is an MBB applicant w/ 2 years experience equally as competitive as a paralegal w/ 2 years experience? What is the breakdown of work experience for NU's class? What % from consulting, from finance, from industry, etc.?
I don't think it really matters.

See, this is what I'm told frequently, but then NU's strategic plan explicitly states:
In assembling a highly credentialed, diverse, and interesting class in our core JD program, we will
look actively at students with business and STEM backgrounds and experience.
So I can't help but think that consultants/bankers/big 5 tech are going to be considered to have stronger softs.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by daisrt » Mon Jul 31, 2017 3:06 pm

core_four wrote:
RedPurpleBlue wrote:
core_four wrote:We know NU favors work experience but is all "work experience" created equal? Is an MBB applicant w/ 2 years experience equally as competitive as a paralegal w/ 2 years experience? What is the breakdown of work experience for NU's class? What % from consulting, from finance, from industry, etc.?
I don't think it really matters.

See, this is what I'm told frequently, but then NU's strategic plan explicitly states:
In assembling a highly credentialed, diverse, and interesting class in our core JD program, we will
look actively at students with business and STEM backgrounds and experience.
So I can't help but think that consultants/bankers/big 5 tech are going to be considered to have stronger softs.
I mean maybe, but I think two years as a paralegal is substantive enough too. But I also don't really see the point in speculating about this? I think your work experience (assuming 2 years paralegal) will measure up to other NU students just fine. I was at median LSAT/below median GPA with non-business/STEM work experience and got in with a scholarship. And not URM.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by AVokes » Mon Jul 31, 2017 3:29 pm

daisrt wrote:
core_four wrote:
RedPurpleBlue wrote:
core_four wrote:We know NU favors work experience but is all "work experience" created equal? Is an MBB applicant w/ 2 years experience equally as competitive as a paralegal w/ 2 years experience? What is the breakdown of work experience for NU's class? What % from consulting, from finance, from industry, etc.?
I don't think it really matters.

See, this is what I'm told frequently, but then NU's strategic plan explicitly states:
In assembling a highly credentialed, diverse, and interesting class in our core JD program, we will
look actively at students with business and STEM backgrounds and experience.
So I can't help but think that consultants/bankers/big 5 tech are going to be considered to have stronger softs.
I mean maybe, but I think two years as a paralegal is substantive enough too. But I also don't really see the point in speculating about this? I think your work experience (assuming 2 years paralegal) will measure up to other NU students just fine. I was at median LSAT/below median GPA with non-business/STEM work experience and got in with a scholarship. And not URM.
As a rising 2L I would say our class has a diverse set of previous work experience. Handful of people that were traditional consulting and finance (IB/PE/VC). Another solid group that worked in STEM as researchers, tech, or something similar. But there is also an equal, if not greater, amount of people who worked in the arts, advertising, non-profits, restaurants, teaching, insurance, paralegals, etc. Also, a number of straight-throughs.

I don't think one type of work experience is given greater weight than another. I would take NU's preference of work experience as a signal that, in addition to traditional measures of diversity, they also look at creating a class with a diversity of work experience. Once you're in law school everyone is on an equal playing field academically, but the variety of work experience makes our class just more interesting IMO.

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skatch

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by skatch » Sun Aug 06, 2017 10:40 am

Are there any classes we're supposed to avoid taking until 3L if we want to clerk? I'm considering taking FedJur, ConCrimPro, or Admin this semester but I don't want to do it if getting a B+ is worse than not taking it at all.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by AVokes » Sun Aug 06, 2017 12:32 pm

skatch wrote:Are there any classes we're supposed to avoid taking until 3L if we want to clerk? I'm considering taking FedJur, ConCrimPro, or Admin this semester but I don't want to do it if getting a B+ is worse than not taking it at all.
People say Fed Jur is the most difficult out of those 3. I'm probably going to put off taking Fed Jur until 3L, but it's up to you. I think it's more important to put together challenging schedules overall than taking specific classes for a clerkship. I'm spreading the "core" clerkship classes out over the next two years.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by FloridaCoastalorbust » Tue Aug 08, 2017 7:49 pm

skatch wrote:Are there any classes we're supposed to avoid taking until 3L if we want to clerk? I'm considering taking FedJur, ConCrimPro, or Admin this semester but I don't want to do it if getting a B+ is worse than not taking it at all.
Avoid all of those if you can until after you get a clerkship. An A in Evidence, Legislation, Remedies, and other "easy" A classes is far superior than a B+ in the above three for clerkship purposes.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by hearsay77 » Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:09 pm

Anyone have recommendations or insight on O'Hare v. Lee v. Horwich for SecReg? Any differences in evaluation methods or teaching styles or materials?

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by Dondraper88 » Sat Aug 19, 2017 8:41 pm

These are the professors for section 4. What can you tell me about them?


Contracts
B. Markell



Criminal Law (Lecture)
L. Rubinowitz


Civil Procedure (Lecture)
S. Provenzano

Torts (Lecture)
M. Shapo

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AVokes

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by AVokes » Sun Aug 20, 2017 2:40 am

Dondraper88 wrote:These are the professors for section 4. What can you tell me about them?


Contracts
B. Markell



Criminal Law (Lecture)
L. Rubinowitz


Civil Procedure (Lecture)
S. Provenzano

Torts (Lecture)
M. Shapo
I only had Provenzano. She's great! Also your TAs will be awesome. She makes really good slides that should have everything you need to know for the exam. Also does a good job at simplifying otherwise complicated rules into step-by-step analysis. Only downside is that the curve is really tight.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by RedPurpleBlue » Sun Aug 20, 2017 4:42 am

When it comes to CLR, will the same books be used for both 1st and 2nd semester? I'm trying to decide whether I should rent or buy my books.

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Re: Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges

Post by Mullens » Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:59 am

Dondraper88 wrote:These are the professors for section 4. What can you tell me about them?


Contracts
B. Markell



Criminal Law (Lecture)
L. Rubinowitz


Civil Procedure (Lecture)
S. Provenzano

Torts (Lecture)
M. Shapo
Markell is tough but fair and usually writes the hardest 1L exam (even Kadens agrees). Len (Rubinowitz) and Shapo are both very old, especially Shapo. Len teaches his class like a seminar but the exam is very gameable.

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