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!