NYU 1Ls taking questions Forum

[phillywc]

w/r/t those schollies: I don't know the people who are on them well enough to reveal i'm on TLS to them, but maybe someone else has a better connection with one of them.

[Skool]

w/r/t those schollies: I don't know the people who are on them well enough to reveal i'm on TLS to them, but maybe someone else has a better connection with one of them.

Folks who are waiting shouldn't worry. RTK reaches out directly with a phone call from current scholars to answer questions or concerns. They also helpfully forward interview tips. I'm sure they will be in touch soon for recent invited finalists.

[Slytherpuff]

PM me and I can give you contact info for some of my RTK section-mates. I know of one RTK TLSer but I don't think they go on here much!

[Hand]

I was initially awarded $0 in merit aid. I'm waiting to hear from a few other schools before I appeal, but I don't want to wait too much longer since the seat deposit is due May 1st. Do $100k+ offers from Emory and Vanderbilt have any value as bargaining chips? My initial thought is no but that it can't hurt to try. NYU is my top choice.

The turnaround time on negotiations isn't that bad; iirc, most of my negotiating happened in April, so you're okay waiting to hear about some more scholarships. That said, if you want to play back and forth between the schools, then you might want to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later.

But ultimately (and unfortunately), those offers aren't going to influence NYU too much. They're pretty tight with money. I might wait until you have an offer from a "peer" school. But that's just my two cents--I don't really know what's best.

any 1Ls have insight on whether NYU is open to upping their offer in response to big schollys from Cornell? PM me if you're too shy to post

[tucker79]

Hi-- I was wondering if anyone can speak to being part of the PI community without being an RTK. Do you find it's still accessible? Is there a big divide between RTK and non RTK students in PI? Do you feel like you can still access the PI reputation of the school for opportunities, or do they look down on you for not being RTK? Thanks

[k5220]

Hi-- I was wondering if anyone can speak to being part of the PI community without being an RTK. Do you find it's still accessible? Is there a big divide between RTK and non RTK students in PI? Do you feel like you can still access the PI reputation of the school for opportunities, or do they look down on you for not being RTK? Thanks

Hi! I'm a non-RTK PI student. I think being RTK is a definite plus, but being non-RTK is not a minus or anything. There is very strong support here for PI (I love our public interest career services), the school offers great opportunities to students looking to go into PI (like clinics at the ACLU and professors like Bryan Stevenson), and employers respond pretty well to NYU's reputation for PI.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more particular questions about PI employment at NYU!

[Skool]

A lot of the clinics at NYU sound awesome and, all things being equal on the fin aid front, they would be a big tie breaking factor for me in my NYU/ Columbia debate.

Are the clinics and externships as good as they seem (I'm particularly interested in the Fed courts/USAO/Fed Defender offerings). Do people generally get solid substantive lit experience, or is it just a bait and switch where students get admin busy work.

[k5220]

A lot of the clinics at NYU sound awesome and, all things being equal on the fin aid front, they would be a big tie breaking factor for me in my NYU/ Columbia debate.

Are the clinics and externships as good as they seem (I'm particularly interested in the Fed courts/USAO/Fed Defender offerings). Do people generally get solid substantive lit experience, or is it just a bait and switch where students get admin busy work.

The clinics are amazing. Don't know about the other two but my friend in the federal defender clinic actually had his own trial. All the clinics offer really substantive litigation experience under really experienced practitioners.

[AOT]

A lot of the clinics at NYU sound awesome and, all things being equal on the fin aid front, they would be a big tie breaking factor for me in my NYU/ Columbia debate.

Are the clinics and externships as good as they seem (I'm particularly interested in the Fed courts/USAO/Fed Defender offerings). Do people generally get solid substantive lit experience, or is it just a bait and switch where students get admin busy work.

The clinics are amazing. Don't know about the other two but my friend in the federal defender clinic actually had his own trial. All the clinics offer really substantive litigation experience under really experienced practitioners.

Do people ever take more than one clinic over the course of the three years?

[barrelofmonkeys]

A lot of the clinics at NYU sound awesome and, all things being equal on the fin aid front, they would be a big tie breaking factor for me in my NYU/ Columbia debate.

Are the clinics and externships as good as they seem (I'm particularly interested in the Fed courts/USAO/Fed Defender offerings). Do people generally get solid substantive lit experience, or is it just a bait and switch where students get admin busy work.

The clinics are amazing. Don't know about the other two but my friend in the federal defender clinic actually had his own trial. All the clinics offer really substantive litigation experience under really experienced practitioners.

Do people ever take more than one clinic over the course of the three years?

I don't really know much about clinics (yet! applications are coming up though eep) but I'm pretty sure that people definitely do take more than one clinic.

[barrelofmonkeys]

Hi-- I was wondering if anyone can speak to being part of the PI community without being an RTK. Do you find it's still accessible? Is there a big divide between RTK and non RTK students in PI? Do you feel like you can still access the PI reputation of the school for opportunities, or do they look down on you for not being RTK? Thanks

Just wanted to add on a little bit. I'm also a non-RTK PI kid and, sure, would it be great to have that network? Yes. But there is absolutely no lack of support for PI students not on RTK.

Support, opportunities, and culture all make NYU one of the best places to be for PI even without RTK.

[Skool]

A lot of the clinics at NYU sound awesome and, all things being equal on the fin aid front, they would be a big tie breaking factor for me in my NYU/ Columbia debate.

Are the clinics and externships as good as they seem (I'm particularly interested in the Fed courts/USAO/Fed Defender offerings). Do people generally get solid substantive lit experience, or is it just a bait and switch where students get admin busy work.

The clinics are amazing. Don't know about the other two but my friend in the federal defender clinic actually had his own trial. All the clinics offer really substantive litigation experience under really experienced practitioners.

That sounds really, really, fucking awesome. Congrats to your friend.

Anybody with bad experiences to share, feel free to chime in.

[rae_mal]

1. PI reputation / LRAP: this was really, really huge for me, as I fully intend to pursue PI
2. scholarship money: if i had gotten nothing from NYU, i wouldn't have come here over a lower-ranked school. (that said, NYU is one of the least generous in terms of scholarship money and i had to push them multiple times to get from a $0 scholarship to something worth my while)

1) Are you worried at all about LRAP (also a big selling point for me) changing if PSLF gets capped or restructured in some way?

2) Can you give a little more detail about the process of negotiating aid?

i'll speak to the second part
it's a fairly standard process. you'll get an aid package. you'll have the option to appeal it, and you should. if you have other acceptances/aid packages from other schools, tell nyu about it.
i continued to negotiate long after my appeal was denied, even going in person twice. it paid off big time. if you think you underperformed on the aid side and really want to attend, be persistent even after the formal process ends.

Thank you so much for answering questions! As far as the appeal process, how did you go about that? Was it just an email to the financial aid or admissions office or is there an official process? I can't find many more options on the faaps website. (I only applied for merit aid)

[phillywc]

Thank you so much for answering questions! As far as the appeal process, how did you go about that? Was it just an email to the financial aid or admissions office or is there an official process? I can't find many more options on the faaps website. (I only applied for merit aid)

There is an official appeals process. I think sometimes you have to email admissions to have them open the appeal on faaps? But its been a while, I don't remember for sure.

[chadbrochill]

That time of the year already eh philly + bom? I remember a year ago like it was yesterday!

I encourage everyone to explore their scholarship offers both at NYU and at other schools - don't have any regrets. That being said, I've really enjoyed my time at NYU, in particular the people and the culture. I think the size of the student body and the backdrop of the city makes it easier for people to find into what they like.

[arsenal11]

Is anyone familiar with applying to the Jacobson Program as a 1L? I'd like to know if 1L grades are considered or just prelaw accomplishments and work experience, how many apply/are accepted, how to increase my chances, etc. Thanks.

[bklynlady]

Received a dean's merit scholarship (unnamed) from NYU. Also accepted at HLS. Do you think I can negotiate with NYU for more money with a Harvard acceptance (obviously without money)? If so, how to go about it without sounding like a jerk! Thanks

[phillywc]

Received a dean's merit scholarship (unnamed) from NYU. Also accepted at HLS. Do you think I can negotiate with NYU for more money with a Harvard acceptance (obviously without money)? If so, how to go about it without sounding like a jerk! Thanks

Probably not, but if you got into HLS you'll probably get more money from one of the CLSs so you should use that.

[stephcurry]

I asked this in the C/O 2018 thread as well but I figure you guys went through this process last year and should have some insights! Looking for some opinions on when I should submit the merit-based only financial aid form. I'm in the process of filling it out and there's a section that asks for what other schools I've been admitted to and am seriously considering. NYU is actually the first T-14 school I've been accepted to (had all my apps held until my feb lsat score came out), and I'm still waiting on the rest of the T-14. Other than NYU, I'm in at UCLA, USC, and WashU. I'm wondering if I should wait until I get another T-14 acceptance before filling out this form (pretty much to have some bit of leverage and persuade them to give me some amount of scholarship). Or is it smarter to just put down UCLA/USC and submit the form sooner rather than later?

[phillywc]

I asked this in the C/O 2018 thread as well but I figure you guys went through this process last year and should have some insights! Looking for some opinions on when I should submit the merit-based only financial aid form. I'm in the process of filling it out and there's a section that asks for what other schools I've been admitted to and am seriously considering. NYU is actually the first T-14 school I've been accepted to (had all my apps held until my feb lsat score came out), and I'm still waiting on the rest of the T-14. Other than NYU, I'm in at UCLA, USC, and WashU. I'm wondering if I should wait until I get another T-14 acceptance before filling out this form (pretty much to have some bit of leverage and persuade them to give me some amount of scholarship). Or is it smarter to just put down UCLA/USC and submit the form sooner rather than later?

hmmm interesting question

Personally, I'd just submit it now but I'm not sure that its the best strategy. At the end of the day though, nyu has limited money and getting your award earlier might mean there are more resources available. Understand your hesitation though.

[Smoking Gunner]

So I was looking around the c/o 2017 thread, and I saw that a couple people had professors who didn't allow laptops in class. Is this the norm? Or do most professors allow laptops in class?

[barrelofmonkeys]

So I was looking around the c/o 2017 thread, and I saw that a couple people had professors who didn't allow laptops in class. Is this the norm? Or do most professors allow laptops in class?

It's a bit of a mix, though I think more allow laptops than don't.

Of my six professors, 2 haven't allowed laptops.

Of my roommate's six professors, 1 hasn't allowed laptops.

Of another friend's six professors, 4 haven't allowed laptops (one of those profs overlaps mine).

So, a mix, but more allow.

[Sidenote: nobody is allowed to have laptops during Lawyering (but you also pretty much never take notes during Lawyering).]

[Tswkb4]

Hey guys, thanks for answering questions. I'm a 0L attending next year.

So question: I was a music performance major in undergrad. I've been living abroad for a couple years and miss playing my instrument. I was looking for groups to play with and found the Greenwich Village Orchestra. They rehearse one evening a week and have six concerts a year. (Basically one every other moth during the school year) I want to audition, but would this be a realistic commitment to keep up with during a 1L year? Would it detract from my law school experience?

[Nekrowizard]

Post removed.

[w0w]

Hey guys! So I just made the decision to attend NYU next year. I attended Michigan's preview weekend and had a couple questions from my experience there.

Are there any clinics avaliable to 1Ls?
What is the clerkship office like at NYU? Michigan seemed to have well established staff that really knew the different judges and could make great recommendations to students (and alumni) about which judges would be the best fit for them. They made it seem like this was very unique to Michigan though.
Also, are there scholarships avaliable for teaching assistantships??