UMN 2L taking questions Forum

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kii909

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UMN 2L taking questions

Post by kii909 » Mon Nov 20, 2017 7:23 pm

2L at University of Minnesota here to take questions. I chose UMN>ND due to $ and still somewhat regret it. My mistake was not considering where I want to live after law school before going to law school. I'm not saying that UMN is bad. UMN is great if you are set on living in Twin Cities. It's comparatively easy to make connections with lawyers in large MN firms. The school was just not the right fit for me personally.

[School life]
PROS:
- Cheap living costs (You can find a 2b1b as low as $400 if you do some digging)
- Professors are generally approachable and friendly.
- Admin staff great, Students are nice, Many student groups..
- Really good Law Review (if you make it)
CONS:
- No good coffee (your option is limited to humble cup and starbucks It gets old over time)
- Getting good GPA during 1L is difficult (Ok I know it's tough everywhere) Some professors give C-
- School building old and underground
- You will not see sunlight for half of your 1L year

[Job Prospects]
PROS:
- Career Center really tries to help. (Unfortunately it is just not the kind of help I want)
- Career Center very connected with medium-small size midwest firms
CONS:
If you are sure that you don't want to live in Minnesota/Wisconsin/Surrounding midwest states, please think twice before enrolling.
- Very difficult to go East Coast, West Coast, Chicago.
- OCI firms limited

In short, you should attend if:
- You want to stay in MN
- You are interested in PI
- You want a JD/MBA. Carlson is great.
But not if:
- You want biglaw in NYC (I know a few who got into biglaw NY and DC but they really made x100 effort)
- You want to transfer (Some ppl in my section transferred to T14 schools. Lots of my 1L section-mates planned to transfer from the beginning. This means higher competition)
- You need a nice cup of latte everyday but you don't have the skills to make it yourself lol

para219

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Re: UMN 2L taking questions

Post by para219 » Mon Nov 20, 2017 7:32 pm

Thanks for taking questions! I suspect my cycle will come down to a decision similar to the one you made so I appreciate your perspective.

When you say it's very difficult to get to the coasts and Chicago is that because the UMN name does not carry, firms don't come to OCI, etc.?

Can you expand a little more on the law school being literally underground? I had never heard that before.

Also, how prevalent are minority affinity groups? Is there an active LLSA /BLSA, etc.?

kii909

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Re: UMN 2L taking questions

Post by kii909 » Mon Nov 20, 2017 8:32 pm

para219 wrote:Thanks for taking questions! I suspect my cycle will come down to a decision similar to the one you made so I appreciate your perspective.

When you say it's very difficult to get to the coasts and Chicago is that because the UMN name does not carry, firms don't come to OCI, etc.?

Can you expand a little more on the law school being literally underground? I had never heard that before.

Also, how prevalent are minority affinity groups? Is there an active LLSA /BLSA, etc.?

It's not that the name does not carry. You can find UMN Alumni in most major cities and you can connect with them through linkedin (and encouraged to do so). BUT you are right that the big city firms don't come to OCI. Once in a while DC/Chicago firms are on the list but rare. If you are totally set on big city big law, you'll most likely have to do your own legwork and apply to those firms directly instead of through OCI.

2. The "first floor/Plaza" consists of offices. Most of your 1L classes will be in the "Subplaza (basement floor)." Half the classrooms are in the inner side of the building in the basement floor, so there are no windows (which what I meant by underground). The other half of the classrooms have some exposure to sunlight but Winter is long in Minnesota, which means from around November to March the sun is short. By the time classes end (4:30pm-ish) it's already dark outside.

3. I'm not a member so I'm not sure so don't take my word on this. All I can say for sure is there are only 2-3 AAs in my class (Could be more..But I am certain the number is not more than five) I heard the Asian student group (APALSA) is huge though but not sure about others.

TLSPoster32

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Re: UMN 2L taking questions

Post by TLSPoster32 » Fri Dec 01, 2017 12:25 pm

Thanks for taking questions!

What is the PI market like in MSP? Do PI students have a hard time finding work (summers and after graduating)? I am primarily interested in PI, and happy to live in MSP, but worried that either (a) the PI market is dicey in MSP, or (b) UMN students might struggle in MSP PI market compared to e.g., UChi/Col/NYU/Mich students who might also be interested in MSP PI jobs (and possibly can even show they have reasons to be in MSP). But maybe those aren't big issues..

BL2017

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Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2017 6:17 pm

Re: UMN 2L taking questions

Post by BL2017 » Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:56 am

Thanks for taking questions. Do you or anyone you know have any experience with on campus housing? Any anecdotes?

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