A Day in the Life

1L Experience: Work Hard, Play Hard

We asked some 1Ls for their perspectives on what life is like at the Law School for them so far. Here's what 1L Emily Throop has to say about the social life at the Law School: "I think the biggest myth about law school, (or maybe just this law school?) is that it's not fun.  Well, not that it's all fun.  Right now I am sitting in the library on a Sunday afternoon reading Civil Procedure (which is probably not going to be anyone's favorite subject, even though class itself is quite engaging.)  But, unlike the mythical UC student who spent all weekend at the library, that is simply not reality.  Students here have fun, a lot of fun.  Every Thursday there is Bar Review, a common phenom at law schools around the country.  Students reps pick a bar in Chicago and everyone is invited to come up and celebrate that the weekend is (almost) here.  Contrary to popular belief tons of people go.  In fact, this Thursday, we had so many people at the original bar that we moved on to another bar down the street.  Every Friday, the Law School has Wine Mess, where at 4pm (yes, 4pm) students gather to patronize the "bar" that is set up in the Green Lounge and mingle with classmates.  And we often get food; this week it was chips, salsa, and guacamole, and pumpkin pie.  For those who don't enjoy the drinking, the law school sets up numerous other events.  About three times a week, different student groups bring lecturers to campus for lunchtime events.  And, yes, they do provide the lunch, which may account for stellar turnouts.  Bottom line:  we have to work hard (this is law school), but trust me, anyone who wants to will find many ways to make their time at this law school fun.  (And oh yeah, classes are pretty interesting too?)"

Meet APALSA

The Law School is home to nearly 60 student organizations, all organized under a student government known as the Law Student Association (LSA). The groups range from identity groups (such as religious, ethnic, gender, or preference groups), legal interest groups, political groups, service groups, and, of course, groups that are just plain fun. These groups do a wide variety of things from arranging social events to bringing in speakers at lunch time, from planning symposia to hosting and performing in concerts and talent shows. They even put on a film festival, a full scale musical, and a charity auction each year! The LSA not only supports all these organizations but puts on its own events as well, including an annual Prom.

We're going to use this space to introduce you to some of our student organizations from time to time. Today's entry comes from 2L Cathy Yu:

"The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) is a group that aims to bring Asian Pacific American students at the law school together. We're concerned with diversity, Asian Pacific American issues, and issues that concern law students in general. We hold social events within the law school community and with other law schools as well. We also bring in speakers for lunchtime events. So far this quarter we've had a very successful welcome BBQ for our new and existing members to meet each other. We've also had a speaker come in (U of C's APALSA's co-founder) to talk about his transactional practice in Japan and the US. Next week, we will have a law professor from China coming in to talk about human rights in China. And to start off next quarter, we will have a panel of attorneys from the law firm Goldberg Kohn coming in to talk about the transition from being a law student to a practicing attorney. We also plan to have a social event later this year with the APALSAs of the other Chicago area law schools. Please email Cathy Yu with any questions you have about APALSA, and we look forward to welcoming you to the University of Chicago!"

Financing Your Education

While certainly not the most exciting topic (except maybe to me!) Financial Aid is a crucial aspect of  law school. Law School is very expensive, and you owe it to yourself to understand your options to avoid the debt trap that many lawyers fall into. In this post, I hope to give you a general idea of how people pay for law school, and some things to think about. Later I will have more detailed, thrilling posts about things such as LRAPs, loan consolidation and budgeting, so stay tuned!

Students pay for Law School with four main resources: loans, scholarships, employment earnings, and family/personal contributions. Your goal as a student is to minimize your expenditures and your loans, because loans are clearly the worst of these four options.

Scholarships are the best way to pay for law school, so let's discuss them first.  Most law schools offer a combination of need-based scholarships and merit-based scholarships, but some only offer one type, so make sure to check with your schools! Need based scholarships are based on you and your family's financial situation, and require an application like the Need Access report, which Chicago and other schools use. These applications summarize your income and assets, and show us what kind of resources you have for law school. Merit-based scholarships are based on your application, and schools use these awards as ways to encourage you to come to their school. Schools use vastly different criteria for  merit scholarships, so check with the schools for details. There are also lots of outside scholarships, like our Tony Patino Fellowship. Do some research and try to find scholarships that match your background or interests. 

Sadly, very few students are lucky enough to get a full-ride scholarship at their dream school.  For most, loans are what pays for law school. Students use Federal Stafford loans of up to $18,500 to cover part of the cost of law school, and then private loans cover the rest of their expenses. Federal loans have a fixed interest rate (6.8%) and have other favorable terms, while private loans have higher, adjustable interest rates (based on market factors) and are also credit-based, so make sure your credit is strong!

While loans are obviously not the ideal way to pay for law school, bear in mind that different schools provide different options professionally. One law school may help you get a job that pays more money, and thus makes loan repayment much easier. More importantly, if your dream school admits you, but does not offer as much money as 'School X,'  don't be afraid to chase your dream!

1L Experience: Happy to Be Here

The Class of 2007 seems to be enjoying Law School quite a bit. How do I know? Because when we ask for blog posts, we get things like the following, from 1L Jason Krigel: "I became a law student only five weeks ago.  Since then, I have been almost constantly busy.  I received no shortage of warnings about the rigors of the first year of law school.  What I've discovered so far, however, is that these grim portraits of legal education don't quite describe the experience, at least not at University of Chicago.  If I focused exclusively on going to class and completing my reading assignments, I would have ample time to sit around and catch up on the current season of Project Runway.  Unfortunately for Heidi, my vegging-out time has been dramatically curtailed.  It's not that I am living in the library with my textbooks - although there is certainly plenty of work to be done.   Rather, I can't help but take advantage of all the opportunities that this school affords.

"I hate to sound like a shill for the Admissions office, but I truly am excited to be here.   In a typical week, I expect to have conversations with my professors outside of class, to debate with my classmates between lectures about public policy issues (It's true; we're all nerds), to attend a lunchtime lecture with a member of Congress or a visiting legal scholar (a lesser known benefit to law school are the speaking programs during lunch where food is provided - a frugal student can eat for free three or four days per week), to attend the weekly "Bar Review" on Thursday night where law students meet at a different Chicago bar, to grab a quick dinner with fellow law students in Chinatown, Pilsen or one of the dozens of other great Chicago neighborhoods.  Of course, the experience will be what you make of it.  But I am constantly impressed by my classmates and the law school.   

"If you are reading this blog as a means of procrastinating from writing your admissions essay, I advise you to get back to work on those apps.  The effort is well worth it.  (Of course, this rosy picture may be put to the test if they invite any 1L's to write for the blog in four weeks when we are all in the middle of studying for final exams.)  Good Luck!"

On the Road Part III

Well, I am in my final fall recruiting week and it it my longest (had to use the big suitcase!).  I am out in California starting in San Francisco for two days and then in Los Angeles for four days.  I am visiting five campuses and attending the LSAC LA Forum.  It will be a busy week but I will also get to see some recent graduates.  On Thursday I will see Holding Lau, Class of 2005, who is a teaching fellow at UCLA Law School.  He is going to help me at the UCLA Law Fair.  I am excited to learn how he likes teaching.  Then over the weekend I will see Guang Ming Whitley (O'Melveny & Myers) and Daniel Prince (Paul Hastings) both from the Class of 2004 who are both new associates in Los Angeles.  They are going to help me at the LA Forum at the LAX Marriott.  It will be great to have the help and nice to catch up with them.  The weather is nice and so that will make the travel a bit easier.  I really hate delays in the airport.  After this week it will be back in the office to do all of the work that has been piling up.  But I have enjoyed all my travels from Boston to North Carolina to Minnesota to California!! 

1L Experience: In Classes and in the Classroom

In our continuing series of posts by members of the class of 2007, we bring you 1L Christopher Trendler. Chris chose to focus on what classes are like here at the Law School: "Even though I've only been a student for a couple of months, I can definitely see that there is something different in studying law at the University of Chicago.  Ideas are everywhere.  From classes to the Green Lounge, from meetings of the many different student organizations to sitting with the dean and chatting at coffee mess, every idea is welcome. Especially innovative ideas.  One of the most interesting classes Chicago has is called Elements of the Law - a class idea that originated at the Law School.  Professor David Strauss is teaching us the different methods of reasoning judges use in making decisions, and how the law relates to other academic disciplines, like psychology, economics, business, political science, etc.  In this class, the professor will often ask us about the different ideas we might have about a particular judicial decision and encourage us to draw on our knowledge we might have from studying a subject in undergrad or working in a field for a couple of years.  It's so interesting to hear my classmates' perspective, and many times, the discussion will continue in the hallway after class.  The idea dialogue also continues openly with professors.  I've thoroughly enjoyed attending the Law School's "Best Ideas" lectures during lunch, where we can hear and debate a professor's ideas and cutting edge research.    For instance, last week Dean Levmore talked to us about single subject rules in state laws and how these relate to the legislature, as well as in litigation.  We were able to hear his arguments, and then respond with questions and other ideas we might have.  This free and open exchange of thought that is so prevalent here is one of the many reasons my first two months at Chicago have been incredibly rewarding."

The 1L Experience

The 1Ls at the University of Chicago Law School have been here for over a month now, so we thought we'd see what they had to say about law school now that they've settled in and made themselves at home. We'll share their thoughts with you over the next few weeks in a series of "1L Experience" posts. To start, here's what 1L James Burnham had to say on how the law school experience is living up to the expectations he had before he came:

"The University of Chicago has a certain reputation which can be neatly summed up in their self-deprecating slogan of being the place 'where fun goes to die.' When I was visiting other law schools during the admissions process, I heard endlessly from students that I shouldn’t go to Chicago because it would be boring and competitive and so on and so forth. Therefore, I have been tremendously surprised to find almost the exact opposite is true.

In the Class of 2009, a strong sense of camaraderie has already developed and is yet to be undermined by any of the bizarre law school competitiveness you hear about as an undergrad. Our many nascent friendships are furthered by the one stereotype of Chicago students that has turned out to be entirely true: everyone is very bright and very interested in the law as an idea, rather than simply learning it as a means to an end. For example, I am in a class unique to Chicago (taught by the highly regarded and always charming Professor Sunstein) called Elements of Law which is essentially a quarter-long discussion of different policy implications to various legal theories and the philosophical foundation of different aspects of law.

In terms of going out, it is true that Hyde Park is not the most thrilling place in America. However, we manage to get to the North side at least once a week and have livened up some of the sleepier spots down South. Fun is entirely what you make of it so if you are out with a large group of classmates just about anywhere will be entertaining.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and law school to suddenly morph into the stress-filled horror Scott Turow paints in 1L but, so far anyway, the two are not even comparable."

We'll check back in with James later in the year and see if that shoe's dropped yet!