GULC 1L Taking Questions Forum

[smaakit]

They don't sell birth control in campus stores and apparently the student health plan doesn't cover the pill (but the faculty health care plan does).


My BC pill is covered, and I have the school's insurance plan. Also (possible TMI alert), I've been in to one of the Drs (the female one) for just regular annual OBGYN stuff, and she was super-professional--completely non-judgmental. She wrote me a prescription for the pill without blinking an eye, and made sure it would be covered by insurance. So the female students have nothing to fear in that regard.

[spree234]

Do you know anybody who has gotten a C+ or below in any course?

I believe that the curve quoted above looks correct and if so, then 5% of students in every class would necessarily get a C+ or below. That would be about 6 students in each class in a 1L section. You cannot break the curve as a class. When they grade the exams they group them such that the appropriate number of students receive each grade. I believe this is the practice at every school except Yale (which from what I hear still "grades" somewhat with a pass, high-pass, etc system).

Do you know any one who is at the bottom of the class? If so, how are they taking it?

All of us that are 1Ls wouldn't since we don't have any grades yet. We won't get grades back until February I think.

The usual jabber about the internet is that you have to do pretty well at GULC to get any kind of job. Having worked at law firms in and around DC, that doesn't seem true to me. In fact, I worked for a vault 100 firm that was positively salivating over a JD candidate from GULC with a 3.0. Granted he had other qualifications that made him exceptional, but I'm just curious as to what the students think about being in the bottom of the class.

I would think that "any kind of job" is definitely a ridiculous exaggeration of any difficulty in getting the job that you want. Look at the employment stats at graduation and you'll see that statement is just patently false. I have heard rumors with the economy that some 2Ls with GPAs below 3.0 had more difficulties early in the fall getting summer internship offers as a result of the general economic downturn right now. I'm not sure how that has panned out for them, but if you are willing to go to your home market where you have demonstrated commitment (i.e. where you are from) for the summer, then I would think you would be able to get an internship.

I've also noticed that DC firms (BIGLAW and other) are filled with grads from lower tier DC law schools who don't have "cum laude" attached to their JDs. Surely somebody in the middle of the class at George Mason, all other things being equal, is less attractive than somebody in the lower middle at GULC, no? I would think so. After all, the clients only notice where you got your JD. They never see how well you did getting it.

Absolutely. Especially with the economy being slow and firms taking less summer interns, being at Gtown is going to be much better than being at GM, unless you are like president of law review at GM. Also, events at Gtown, professors, and the overall experience just aren't going to be really parallel.

[smaakit]

Do any of the 1Ls live farther afield from DC? I'm considering getting a townhouse in Hoodbridge to be near my folks (free babysitting), and then taking the VRE in every day.

I know that a couple people commute from Baltimore. That would be pretty hard for me, but they appear to be pulling it off.

I think it might be worth it for you to do the long commute, because then you'll know that your child is safe with your parents and you don't have to worry about finding a good day care that you can really trust. Finding good and reliable daycare is really difficult, as I'm sure you know. I would definitely do an extra-long commute if it meant my child could be with my parents. Peace of mind, especially about your child's welfare, is priceless.

[cinnamonspice]

do they require you to have a job to get into the pt program? I don't think my numbers were good enough for full-time (maybe i'll get into the back door through the part-time program). Do a lot of the pt students use the extra time to work on trying to get law review?

[smaakit]

Cinnamon, I don't *think* you have to have a job to be in the PT program. I know a part-timer who's right out of undergrad. He did the PT program because he wanted to transition slowly into law school. He plans to transfer to FT for his 2L year.

I honestly don't know what the PT-ers do in their extra time...hopefully a PT student will come in and shed some light.

[bwv812]

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[hefferlump]

I have a friend who's PT at American and she mentioned to me that it's looked down upon to not be working while you're PT. I guess the concept is that if you weren't working, you were just slacking by being PT. I believe she's PT for the same reasons you would consider it: lower scores/grades. But, again, I don't think it's required.

Thanks for the TMI reproductive stuff. I'll have to schedule a visit for after finals!

There's also a day care on campus, for which your child needs to be 18 months.

[StCuervo]

Anyone know anything about the LRAP Program? How good is it? How does it compare to similar programs offered by other schools?

Thanks!

[sjp08]

I'm sure I can look this up online, but while I'm on this thread... do you know the average age of 1Ls? Do those coming straight out of undergrad feel disadvantaged in any way? Thank you

[hefferlump]

My understanding is that no one really quite knows what's going on with LRAP at the moment, because new rules are being propagated by the government and haven't been finalized. Does anyone else know more than me?

[iwanttogotolawschool]

I'm sure I can look this up online, but while I'm on this thread... do you know the average age of 1Ls? Do those coming straight out of undergrad feel disadvantaged in any way? Thank you

I would say the average age in this year's 1L class is probably around 24 (pulling this out of my ass) and, as far as I know, we're older than the typical GULC 1L class. There are a great deal of straight out of undergrad students (I'm one of them) and while I don't feel disadvantaged, I have had times when people with 1-3 years of BS entry level work experience have attempted to act as though that somehow made them more prepared to deal with certain aspects of law school. Thankfully, such occurrences are rare and part of the reason why I made GULC my choice was because of the age of the student body.

[hefferlump]

That being said, there does seem to be a little bit of a social divide between the "straight out of undergrad kids" and the people who are a few years older. BUT, there's a good chance that this has more to do with whether or not you live in Gewirtz, which seems to have a higher population of the slightly younger students. I don't think the divide's bad or anything, but it's there.

Purely on speculation, I think § 3 is a tiny bit older than the other sections on average.

[hmlee]

Sorry for the crazy thread revival, but I had a few questions...

1. What do you think of the fitness center that is right nearby?

2. Can you shine a little more perspective on the reading/work load. That is, not just how much reading you have for a class, but how many days a week that class is (this may be silly, but I don't know much about law school class scheduling). I mean... having say 100+ of reading for a single class that meets everyday is completely different than having that same number for a class that meets twice or three times a week.

3. I recently was in DC to visit a friend and see the inaugural. While there, my friend (who lives in Maryland right off the red line) showed me around areas like Dupont and Adams Morgan, which were really nice. Do you know anyone who lives in those areas? If so, is the rent reasonable? Etc.

[RussianGirl]

How's the placement on the West Coast?

[Gtown1L]

Sorry for the crazy thread revival, but I had a few questions...

1. What do you think of the fitness center that is right nearby?

2. Can you shine a little more perspective on the reading/work load. That is, not just how much reading you have for a class, but how many days a week that class is (this may be silly, but I don't know much about law school class scheduling). I mean... having say 100+ of reading for a single class that meets everyday is completely different than having that same number for a class that meets twice or three times a week.

3. I recently was in DC to visit a friend and see the inaugural. While there, my friend (who lives in Maryland right off the red line) showed me around areas like Dupont and Adams Morgan, which were really nice. Do you know anyone who lives in those areas? If so, is the rent reasonable? Etc.

1. The fitness center on campus is great. There are plenty of cardio machines (treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, stairmasters), lots of free weights, lots of weight machines, and the few classes I've taken have been a really good workout (and free!). There's also an indoor pool and a basketball court, as well as jacuzzis in both the men's and women's locker rooms. There's also a towel service free of charge. I live on campus and it's extremely easy to fit a workout in whenever I have a chunk of free time since the fitness center is so close.

2. Obviously the amount of reading depends on both the class and the professor (your writing class will have less reading than your torts/contracts/etc class) but the amount is definitely manageable. Most classes meet twice a week, although I had a class last semester that met three times a week. Nightly reading for each class usually ranges from 20 to 40 pages, which means that if you have two classes every day of the week, you have between 40 and 80 pages of reading a night (though most people don't do all the reading the night before but rather read for a few classes on the weekend to cut down the load during the week). None of the 1Ls have classes on Friday this semester, which opens up a lot of time for reading.

3. Lots of students live in Dupont and some, though not as many, live in Adams Morgan. Adams Morgan is generally more affordable than Dupont, but whether rent in either is reasonable is a matter of personal opinion. Studios in Dupont are between $1500-$2000/mo whereas those in Adams Morgan are slightly less; there are also houses in Adams Morgan and they tend to be cheaper per person than apartments.

[bwv812]

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[RussianGirl]

How's the placement on the West Coast?

About 10% of the class is usually placed on the west coast (11% in 2007). They have a small west coast interviewing program they run in cooperation with Cornell, but that's apparently more for small and mid-size firms. The larger firms will do OCI, from what I understand.

Thanks

[ChiSoxinDC]

How's the placement on the West Coast?

Dirty little secret of law school: sometimes it's better to be farther from where you want to work. If you go to NYU or Columbia the large majority of the class is going to be trying to work in NYC. Same with GULC/GW in DC. Even though firms will generally hire larger classes from the local schools the competition for those slots is going to be heavier.

Now, there are advantages to being in the city you want to work. First, you'll have networking opportunities at the school and around town that could help you out. Second, you don't have to travel for interviews. Third, you don't have to explain why you want to be in the other city.

[SethD2767]

Do you happen to know which government agencies interview on campus? Also, I've heard the transcripts are prescreened by government employers? Do you know anything about this?

[legends159]

Anyone know anything about the LRAP Program? How good is it? How does it compare to similar programs offered by other schools?

Thanks!

For this year's prospective G'town students,

this blog about their LRAP is pretty interesting: http://lawyersgarden.blogspot.com/2007/ ... chool.html

She turned down most of the T14, including HYCN for GULC

[aspasia]

Anyone know anything about the LRAP Program? How good is it? How does it compare to similar programs offered by other schools?

Thanks!

For this year's prospective G'town students,

this blog about their LRAP is pretty interesting: http://lawyersgarden.blogspot.com/2007/ ... chool.html

She turned down most of the T14, including HYCN for GULC

Legends, I think the way you put this is a little misleading (no offense meant!) and I want to clarify for those who don't want to read through that whole post. It's true that she picked Gtown over a bunch of other schools, for various reasons, and she does say that their LRAP is better than most. However, as someone committed to public interest work and currently experiencing pretty limiting debt, she provides a great perspective on the factors that should go into the decision of someone also set on PI work. Although Gtown's LRAP is great, it definitely has its limitations. I think her main point was to consider everything very carefully: don't assume that an LRAP will solve all of your problems or that the debt will just work out because everyone else is in the same situation (most of them will work for firms).

Anyway, it was a great post and it's definitely making me reconsider my potential choice of school with a great LRAP and no financial aid... scary thoughts. Thanks for the link, Legends!

[ChiSoxinDC]

Do you happen to know which government agencies interview on campus? Also, I've heard the transcripts are prescreened by government employers? Do you know anything about this?

Georgetown does a joint public sector job fair with GW where resumes are pre-screened. That may be what you are thinking about. The fair includes hundreds of government and non-profit employers. GULC also has the OPICS career office that holds regular events for public interest job seekers and has career counselors solely focused on government and public interest.

[smaakit]

Just bumping in case anyone is considering GULC! I have to say--I love this school a LOT. So fire away with any questions!!

[whiteballea]

Just bumping in case anyone is considering GULC! I have to say--I love this school a LOT. So fire away with any questions!!

1. What will you be doing this summer for work?

2. Do you recommend living on campus for 1L?

3. Do you have a car at school? Do you wish you had one? (dumb question I know, but coming from Texas I have no clue)

4. Did you take curriculum B or know anyone who did?

5. Any other useful information for OL noobs?

[bwv812]

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