Columbia students taking questions Forum

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appind

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by appind » Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:48 pm

Does whether a certain BL firm will hire someone also depend on whether their coursework is in the practice area of the firm? Say if one did government oriented coursework focused on general administrative law during 2/3L and then decides to apply for IP law BL during 3L along with planned government positions, is there a chance. that is, does one have to plan specific electives during upper class years to be able to target specific BL practice area?

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by almondjoy » Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:52 pm

appind wrote:Does whether a certain BL firm will hire someone also depend on whether their coursework is in the practice area of the firm? Say if one did government oriented coursework focused on general administrative law during 2/3L and then decides to apply for IP law BL during 3L along with planned government positions, is there a chance. that is, does one have to plan specific electives during upper class years to be able to target specific BL practice area?
Choice of classes has absolutely no impact on BigLaw hiring. Just know that biglaw hiring as a 3L is extremely limited. Most people will get a biglaw gig before 2L even starts.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by call-me-bubbles » Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:58 pm

.
Last edited by call-me-bubbles on Sun Mar 05, 2017 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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appind

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by appind » Sat Mar 04, 2017 8:27 pm

almondjoy wrote:
appind wrote:Does whether a certain BL firm will hire someone also depend on whether their coursework is in the practice area of the firm? Say if one did government oriented coursework focused on general administrative law during 2/3L and then decides to apply for IP law BL during 3L along with planned government positions, is there a chance. that is, does one have to plan specific electives during upper class years to be able to target specific BL practice area?
Choice of classes has absolutely no impact on BigLaw hiring. Just know that biglaw hiring as a 3L is extremely limited. Most people will get a biglaw gig before 2L even starts.
during BL interviews they'd want to know the interest areas and if they align with their practice areas. so wouldn't the relevant coursework show to the firm more clearly one's interest? if getting BL gig before 2L means that they were offered after 1st year SA, then wouldn't different coursework than their proclaimed interest would be noticed by the firm or could lead to offer withdrawal? thx.

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RSN

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by RSN » Sat Mar 04, 2017 10:15 pm

appind wrote:
almondjoy wrote:
appind wrote:Does whether a certain BL firm will hire someone also depend on whether their coursework is in the practice area of the firm? Say if one did government oriented coursework focused on general administrative law during 2/3L and then decides to apply for IP law BL during 3L along with planned government positions, is there a chance. that is, does one have to plan specific electives during upper class years to be able to target specific BL practice area?
Choice of classes has absolutely no impact on BigLaw hiring. Just know that biglaw hiring as a 3L is extremely limited. Most people will get a biglaw gig before 2L even starts.
during BL interviews they'd want to know the interest areas and if they align with their practice areas. so wouldn't the relevant coursework show to the firm more clearly one's interest? if getting BL gig before 2L means that they were offered after 1st year SA, then wouldn't different coursework than their proclaimed interest would be noticed by the firm or could lead to offer withdrawal? thx.
You're not understanding the timeline. The vast majority of biglaw hiring happens at the Early Interview Program the first week of August before the start of your 2L year (other schools call it OCI for On-Campus Interview program, at Columbia it's EIP), which is a massive program organized by the Career Services office where hundreds of firms conduct screening interviews in a hotel in Times Square for summer associate positions the following summer. At that point, you've only taken mandatory classes and a 1L elective, which can be something related to a particular practice area or not (almost definitely not, but in 1L it really, really doesn't matter). You'll be asked at the screeners what kind of practice areas you're interested in, and at that point you can talk about your interest in capital markets or securities litigation or whatever, but nothing you've done academically at that point is relevant. The only possible exception is IP, since if you want to do hard IP, you usually need a hard science background from undergrad/other grad school, and IP firms will ask about that.

There are other smaller OCI programs every spring and again in the Fall for 3Ls, and at that point they might ask about your courses, but the subject matter is still of pretty limited importance.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by RSN » Sat Mar 04, 2017 10:19 pm

call-me-bubbles wrote:Hi, all. I was placed on reserve last night, and I know the odds of getting taken off reserve are incredibly slim, so I have no illusions of that actually happening and/or of subsequently receiving aid. I'm wondering if there's any point in staying on reserve, or if it'd be wiser to just go ahead and withdraw now? My goal is UChi (already admitted, waiting on $), but I'd imagine simply being on reserve at Columbia offers no additional leverage. :| Thoughts?
Why drop off now? No real downside to staying on the list for a while, unless you're worried that you'll get in and then have a harder decision to make when you're already pretty sure you want to go to Chicago.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by ZVBXRPL » Sat Mar 04, 2017 11:20 pm

deleted.
Last edited by ZVBXRPL on Sun Mar 05, 2017 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Nebby » Sat Mar 04, 2017 11:33 pm

ZVBXRPL wrote:
LSAT <25TH GPA>75th
This is all that matters. You wait and you either get in or you don't.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Kaziende » Sun Mar 05, 2017 4:49 am

Nebby wrote:You wait and you either get in or you don't.
Motion to have this post stickied in its own thread in the applicants forum.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by GreenEggs » Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:32 am

Nebby wrote:
ZVBXRPL wrote:
LSAT <25TH GPA>75th
This is all that matters. You wait and you either get in or you don't.
Re-take the LSAT and re-apply.
Last edited by GreenEggs on Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by BoyJord » Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:48 pm

Kaziende wrote:
Nebby wrote:You wait and you either get in or you don't.
Motion to have this post stickied in its own thread in the applicants forum.
+1

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by ZVBXRPL » Sun Mar 05, 2017 1:39 pm

BoyJord wrote:
Kaziende wrote:
Nebby wrote:You wait and you either get in or you don't.
Motion to have this post stickied in its own thread in the applicants forum.
+1
Ha

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appind

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by appind » Sun Mar 05, 2017 5:23 pm

LetsGoMets wrote:
You're not understanding the timeline. The vast majority of biglaw hiring happens at the Early Interview Program the first week of August before the start of your 2L year (other schools call it OCI for On-Campus Interview program, at Columbia it's EIP), which is a massive program organized by the Career Services office where hundreds of firms conduct screening interviews in a hotel in Times Square for summer associate positions the following summer. At that point, you've only taken mandatory classes and a 1L elective, which can be something related to a particular practice area or not (almost definitely not, but in 1L it really, really doesn't matter). You'll be asked at the screeners what kind of practice areas you're interested in, and at that point you can talk about your interest in capital markets or securities litigation or whatever, but nothing you've done academically at that point is relevant. The only possible exception is IP, since if you want to do hard IP, you usually need a hard science background from undergrad/other grad school, and IP firms will ask about that.

There are other smaller OCI programs every spring and again in the Fall for 3Ls, and at that point they might ask about your courses, but the subject matter is still of pretty limited importance.
yeah, that is useful. i have a science and engineering background but may want to switch to a public service law area (such as civil rights law or employment law) after LS. If one is looks mainly for govt positions, what kind of government jobs one can get to work in public-private or tri-sector partnerships in the civil division area (say, IP law or administrative law) after LS? If one has no pre-LS experience in civil rights or employment law related matters, how easy is it to convince those recruiting to get such job in government?

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RSN

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by RSN » Mon Mar 06, 2017 5:09 pm

appind wrote:
LetsGoMets wrote:
You're not understanding the timeline. The vast majority of biglaw hiring happens at the Early Interview Program the first week of August before the start of your 2L year (other schools call it OCI for On-Campus Interview program, at Columbia it's EIP), which is a massive program organized by the Career Services office where hundreds of firms conduct screening interviews in a hotel in Times Square for summer associate positions the following summer. At that point, you've only taken mandatory classes and a 1L elective, which can be something related to a particular practice area or not (almost definitely not, but in 1L it really, really doesn't matter). You'll be asked at the screeners what kind of practice areas you're interested in, and at that point you can talk about your interest in capital markets or securities litigation or whatever, but nothing you've done academically at that point is relevant. The only possible exception is IP, since if you want to do hard IP, you usually need a hard science background from undergrad/other grad school, and IP firms will ask about that.

There are other smaller OCI programs every spring and again in the Fall for 3Ls, and at that point they might ask about your courses, but the subject matter is still of pretty limited importance.
yeah, that is useful. i have a science and engineering background but may want to switch to a public service law area (such as civil rights law or employment law) after LS. If one is looks mainly for govt positions, what kind of government jobs one can get to work in public-private or tri-sector partnerships in the civil division area (say, IP law or administrative law) after LS? If one has no pre-LS experience in civil rights or employment law related matters, how easy is it to convince those recruiting to get such job in government?
This is not the appropriate thread for that question. I'd recommend starting a new thread in the Legal Employment forum.

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Thelaw23

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Thelaw23 » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:24 pm

There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Nebby » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:25 pm

Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Thelaw23 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:45 am

Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?

Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Nebby » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:59 am

Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?

Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.
Probably won't like Blink. From its yelp photos, it appears to only have hex plates which are awful for deadlift.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by GreenEggs » Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:31 am

Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
Just try Dodge first before you get a membership anywhere. One of my friends signed up for NYSC the first day (because everyone said Dodge sucks) and he went once. He goes to Dodge everyday.
Last edited by GreenEggs on Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by jpark86 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:07 pm

Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?

Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.
I went to Columbia as an undergraduate and used Dodge quite often
However, it does get crowded VERY quickly given how small the gym is... plus the equipment is oooold

I started lifting quite a lot too over the last year and if i do decide to go to CLS, would probably pay extra to get a more proper gym with less crowded equipment

if you want a training partner, im also down to help spot!

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Thelaw23

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Thelaw23 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:11 pm

Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?

Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.
Probably won't like Blink. From its yelp photos, it appears to only have hex plates which are awful for deadlift.

DCfilterDC wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
Just try Dodge first before you get a membership anywhere. One of my friends signed up for NYSC the first day (because everyone said Dodge sucks) and he went once. He goes to Dodge everyday.

I'll definitely give Dodge a try first and then try out the gyms around it.

I also know NYSC really isn't that bad, in general.

jpark86 wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?


Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.
I went to Columbia as an undergraduate and used Dodge quite often
However, it does get crowded VERY quickly given how small the gym is... plus the equipment is oooold

I started lifting quite a lot too over the last year and if i do decide to go to CLS, would probably pay extra to get a more proper gym with less crowded equipment

if you want a training partner, im also down to help spot!

For sure, if you decide to come, let me know!

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by jpark86 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:15 pm

Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?

Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.
Probably won't like Blink. From its yelp photos, it appears to only have hex plates which are awful for deadlift.

DCfilterDC wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
Just try Dodge first before you get a membership anywhere. One of my friends signed up for NYSC the first day (because everyone said Dodge sucks) and he went once. He goes to Dodge everyday.

I'll definitely give Dodge a try first and then try out the gyms around it.

I also know NYSC really isn't that bad, in general.

jpark86 wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:
Nebby wrote:
Thelaw23 wrote:There's a Blink fitness 15 minutes from school which is 15 a month.

If dodge is half as bad as people say I'm taking my talents to Blink.
What type of lifting do you do?


Nothing olympic/crazy, the standard deadlift/squat/bench and iso excercises.
I went to Columbia as an undergraduate and used Dodge quite often
However, it does get crowded VERY quickly given how small the gym is... plus the equipment is oooold

I started lifting quite a lot too over the last year and if i do decide to go to CLS, would probably pay extra to get a more proper gym with less crowded equipment

if you want a training partner, im also down to help spot!

For sure, if you decide to come, let me know!
i actually use NYSC right now and its great because you can get a $10 student discount from the monthly rate
also you get access to all NYSCs in the state

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by jpark86 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:18 pm

Question to current students

I am a NY resident and will most likely end up staying in the city for law school. I've heard mixed comments about this but do you think its worth living on campus or nearby Columbia during 1L? I do understand I would be spending a lot of time in the library and wouldn't want to waste time and energy commuting to Midtown (where I live now).

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Tiago Splitter

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by Tiago Splitter » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:30 pm

jpark86 wrote:Question to current students

I am a NY resident and will most likely end up staying in the city for law school. I've heard mixed comments about this but do you think its worth living on campus or nearby Columbia during 1L? I do understand I would be spending a lot of time in the library and wouldn't want to waste time and energy commuting to Midtown (where I live now).
I think it's better to live in the vicinity of the school but not worth doing if you have a good setup as is. Especially if you're only in midtown as opposed to Brooklyn or somewhere else much farther away.

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Re: Columbia students taking questions

Post by jpark86 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:39 pm

Tiago Splitter wrote:
jpark86 wrote:Question to current students

I am a NY resident and will most likely end up staying in the city for law school. I've heard mixed comments about this but do you think its worth living on campus or nearby Columbia during 1L? I do understand I would be spending a lot of time in the library and wouldn't want to waste time and energy commuting to Midtown (where I live now).
I think it's better to live in the vicinity of the school but not worth doing if you have a good setup as is. Especially if you're only in midtown as opposed to Brooklyn or somewhere else much farther away.
my lease ends in August anyway so the timing works out perfectly
guess I will apply for student housing

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