UVA Class of 2013 Forum

[vanwinkle]

How big of a role do you think writing samples play in the acquisition of 1L jobs?

It's important for a lot of 1L jobs that you prove you can form complete sentences and use proper grammar. Beyond that, most jobs won't really care. They know you're a 1L and don't know what you're doing yet. It's one of those "won't really help you, just doing it badly enough will hurt you" things.

[plum]

.

[dailygrind]

i think i'll just put in some effort on the "big memo", but i can't be bothered with this 2nd one.

[Doritos]

i'll prolly just write some memos on my own over xmas break on topics that i actually LIKE instead of this incredibly boring mind-numbing stuff they give us in lrw (seriously? if the topic were more interesting i might actually enjoy putting some effort into it). my old firm job offered to edit my memos and review them for me anyways so i might hit them up on that offer.

Dude - that's just asking for burn out. You shouldn't spend xmas break writing additional memos. If you really want to get a non-LRW writing sample, participate in the Winter Pro Bono Project Program (which I highly recommend). That way, you can get some real research and writing experience, and get Pro Bono hours.

Question about the winter pro bono thing. I would like to do it but I would also like to visit my family for a week. Are they flexible with things like that or do I have to be in Cville the whole break?

[vamedic03]

i'll prolly just write some memos on my own over xmas break on topics that i actually LIKE instead of this incredibly boring mind-numbing stuff they give us in lrw (seriously? if the topic were more interesting i might actually enjoy putting some effort into it). my old firm job offered to edit my memos and review them for me anyways so i might hit them up on that offer.

Dude - that's just asking for burn out. You shouldn't spend xmas break writing additional memos. If you really want to get a non-LRW writing sample, participate in the Winter Pro Bono Project Program (which I highly recommend). That way, you can get some real research and writing experience, and get Pro Bono hours.

Question about the winter pro bono thing. I would like to do it but I would also like to visit my family for a week. Are they flexible with things like that or do I have to be in Cville the whole break?

Its the 1st 3 weeks of January - however, I did the first 2 weeks of January because I did a J-term course. They'll have meeting about in November. They will help you find a project in your hometown or in other cities if you prefer not to be in cville. I think most people probably did something outside of c'ville. Some places allow for remote projects and the quality of experience can vary quite a bit.

I personally got about 72 hours of pro bono hours done in 2 weeks.

[vanwinkle]

Its the 1st 3 weeks of January - however, I did the first 2 weeks of January because I did a J-term course. They'll have meeting about in November. They will help you find a project in your hometown or in other cities if you prefer not to be in cville. I think most people probably did something outside of c'ville. Some places allow for remote projects and the quality of experience can vary quite a bit.

I personally got about 72 hours of pro bono hours done in 2 weeks.

I did a pro bono project in NYC, just because I wanted to go hang out in NYC with friends over the winter break. They found me something there, it led to a great 1L summer internship, and that has led to other things. I highly recommend the winter break pro bono projects to everyone, even if you're not going to do public service for a living; it'll possibly give you connections for a 1L summer internship and definitely give you something law-related to talk about during 2L OCI interviews.

[BruceWayne]

Its the 1st 3 weeks of January - however, I did the first 2 weeks of January because I did a J-term course. They'll have meeting about in November. They will help you find a project in your hometown or in other cities if you prefer not to be in cville. I think most people probably did something outside of c'ville. Some places allow for remote projects and the quality of experience can vary quite a bit.

I personally got about 72 hours of pro bono hours done in 2 weeks.

I did a pro bono project in NYC, just because I wanted to go hang out in NYC with friends over the winter break. They found me something there, it led to a great 1L summer internship, and that has led to other things. I highly recommend the winter break pro bono projects to everyone, even if you're not going to do public service for a living; it'll possibly give you connections for a 1L summer internship and definitely give you something law-related to talk about during 2L OCI interviews.

If there is a specific legal aid society I would like to work for during the winter break is it better to approach them directly by sending in my resume in November, or should I try to go to one of the Public Interest meetings in Nov that you all are talking about and try to do it through the school?

[vamedic03]

Its the 1st 3 weeks of January - however, I did the first 2 weeks of January because I did a J-term course. They'll have meeting about in November. They will help you find a project in your hometown or in other cities if you prefer not to be in cville. I think most people probably did something outside of c'ville. Some places allow for remote projects and the quality of experience can vary quite a bit.

I personally got about 72 hours of pro bono hours done in 2 weeks.

I did a pro bono project in NYC, just because I wanted to go hang out in NYC with friends over the winter break. They found me something there, it led to a great 1L summer internship, and that has led to other things. I highly recommend the winter break pro bono projects to everyone, even if you're not going to do public service for a living; it'll possibly give you connections for a 1L summer internship and definitely give you something law-related to talk about during 2L OCI interviews.

If there is a specific legal aid society I would like to work for during the winter break is it better to approach them directly by sending in my resume in November, or should I try to go to one of the Public Interest meetings in Nov that you all are talking about and try to do it through the school?

I would go through the school - its a formal program. If you're really anxious then schedule a meeting with Dean Emory to talk about it.

[plum]

how does uva tend to do in the DC area (not just firms, but all the legal opportunities out there)...does it have a solid rep or do we flood the town so that they're sick of us?

[Doritos]

how does uva tend to do in the DC area (not just firms, but all the legal opportunities out there)...does it have a solid rep or do we flood the town so that they're sick of us?

You have to have good grades to work in DC. I have heard this constantly from everyone. It's a small market and everyone @ UVa wants to work there

[jawsthegreat]

how does uva tend to do in the DC area (not just firms, but all the legal opportunities out there)...does it have a solid rep or do we flood the town so that they're sick of us?

You have to have good grades to work in DC. I have heard this constantly from everyone. It's a small market and everyone @ UVa wants to work there

I would say that if you want to work in D.C. you're going to be needing top 20% type grades.

[im_blue]

how does uva tend to do in the DC area (not just firms, but all the legal opportunities out there)...does it have a solid rep or do we flood the town so that they're sick of us?

You have to have good grades to work in DC. I have heard this constantly from everyone. It's a small market and everyone @ UVa wants to work there

I thought DC was the 2nd largest legal market behind NYC, or did you mean small relative to the number of graduates who want to work there?

[BruceWayne]

I thought DC was the 2nd largest legal market behind NYC, or did you mean small relative to the number of graduates who want to work there?

Yeah it's not small; It's just small in comparison to NYC, which is loaded with firms.

[plum]

so i just started using OneNote and can't seem to figure out how to create a shortcut key for §

anyone know how to do this?

[jdavid901]

I have an addition to the procedure I referenced above. In Onenote 2010, I can't just cut and past the § symbol in the autocorrect box. To work around that problem, I had to insert it using the unicode character code: type 00A7 in the box and hit "Alt + x" immediately afterward. Hope it helps!

[plum]

I have an addition to the procedure I referenced above. In Onenote 2010, I can't just cut and past the § symbol in the autocorrect box. To work around that problem, I had to insert it using the unicode character code: type 00A7 in the box and hit "Alt + x" immediately afterward. Hope it helps!

awesome just fixt it. thanks.

[billyez]

I have an addition to the procedure I referenced above. In Onenote 2010, I can't just cut and past the § symbol in the autocorrect box. To work around that problem, I had to insert it using the unicode character code: type 00A7 in the box and hit "Alt + x" immediately afterward. Hope it helps!

I've been wondering how to do this. Thanks a bunch!

[plum]

seriously what the hell is wrong with OneNote....where is the find-and-replace option?

[YCrevolution]

..

[slider]

Alt-21 with Numlock on should also generate the section symbol.

Hmmm that didn't work for me. What version are you using?

[dailygrind]

Alt-21 with Numlock on should also generate the section symbol.

sweet. alt 0167 also works, but 21 is a whole lot easier.

[Doritos]

Alt-21 with Numlock on should also generate the section symbol.

Oh snap! I've been doing alt-0167 all this time. My mind has been expanded

[RVP11]

how does uva tend to do in the DC area (not just firms, but all the legal opportunities out there)...does it have a solid rep or do we flood the town so that they're sick of us?

You have to have good grades to work in DC. I have heard this constantly from everyone. It's a small market and everyone @ UVa wants to work there

I would say that if you want to work in D.C. you're going to be needing top 20% type grades.

I'd cut that down to more like top 33% (3.4ish), assuming you interview reasonably well. The trick with bidding DC is that it's a good way to end up with like 10 interviews even though you have above-median grades.

[BruceWayne]

I'd cut that down to more like top 33% (3.4ish), assuming you interview reasonably well. The trick with bidding DC is that it's a good way to end up with like 10 interviews even though you have above-median grades.

We really do have a tight curve. Eh, getting grades is going to be really interesting. Is top 10 percent a 3.6 or a 3.7? I've been getting a bit confused about that.

[RVP11]

I'd cut that down to more like top 33% (3.4ish), assuming you interview reasonably well. The trick with bidding DC is that it's a good way to end up with like 10 interviews even though you have above-median grades.

We really do have a tight curve. Eh, getting grades is going to be really interesting. Is top 10 percent a 3.6 or a 3.7? I've been getting a bit confused about that.

Top 10% is roughly 3.65