Top Law Schools

Hey all,

Are there any USC 1L's wrapping up the school year on TLS? I'm thinking of attending in the fall, I missed Law Day, and had some questions for current students...

-What was it like for your first year? Did you enjoy it / hate your life?
-Anyone have an interesting internship lined up?
-How are the summer fellowships determined by Dean Reid decided?
-Any advice re: classes to watch out for, test formats, grading policies, etc?
-Anyone turn down UCLA for USC? Were you happy with that decision? I'm considering the same thing...


Thanks!

Bump.

Are you fucking insane? You are seriously going to turn down UCLA and go to USC?

1) UCLA is cheaper.
2) UCLA is in a nice area, USC is in a gang-ingested (yes, ingested) shit hole.
3) UCLA is the better school, higher ranked, better placement, etc...
4) Bruins basketball winz.

Stop being a fool.

Lol GermX you certainly do flame USC a lot.

1) Given my situation and my scholarships, USC is cheaper for me.
2) I'm a commuter student, so why would I care where the school is? I've had plenty of friends (and my wife) who have had no problems there. (If you remember from another thread, I was robbed at gunpoint in Westwood in UG.)
3) Not better placement in NLJ 250. And for the kind of law I'm looking to do, USC is just as good. USC has a smaller class size, and an entire Trojan nation of SoCal alumni behind it.
4) Trojan football is a dynasty. And for the record, my bruins sucked ass @ basketball last year.

GermX wrote:Are you fucking insane? You are seriously going to turn down UCLA and go to USC?

1) UCLA is cheaper.
2) UCLA is in a nice area, USC is in a gang-ingested (yes, ingested) shit hole.
3) UCLA is the better school, higher ranked, better placement, etc...
4) Bruins basketball winz.

Stop being a fool.

Don't get your panties in a bunch. He might have other reasons for considering USC (like a big scholarship).

Edit: He beat me to it...

sluguy14 wrote: Don't get your panties in a bunch. He might have other reasons for considering USC (like a big scholarship).

Edit: He beat me to it...

It'd prob really piss him off if he looked at my LSN profile, and saw that I have a bigger scholly at UCLA than USC...

Haha, nah I appreciate the input. My situation is weird. I should probably make a poll for it.

Look, if USC is cheaper, go there. But if you have a better scholly at UCLA, then I don't care what you say, you're stupid for picking USC over it. Period.

NerdmoD wrote:Hey all,

Are there any USC 1L's wrapping up the school year on TLS? I'm thinking of attending in the fall, I missed Law Day, and had some questions for current students...

-What was it like for your first year? Did you enjoy it / hate your life?
-Anyone have an interesting internship lined up?
-How are the summer fellowships determined by Dean Reid decided?
-Any advice re: classes to watch out for, test formats, grading policies, etc?
-Anyone turn down UCLA for USC? Were you happy with that decision? I'm considering the same thing...


Thanks!

1. Its a great school, honestly. Professors are generally great, classmates are really smart, everyone is friendly, good sense of community, lots of activities going on, decent facility - I honestly have no complaints. Then again, I'm sure this is all true at every other T20 school.

2. Working in a prominent think tank's legal department this summer in DC (paid!). Got offers from a few government agencies, but took this job, very excited for it. I have to warn you though - getting an internship in DC is HARD WORK (or anywhere outside of LA for that matter). If anyone has any questions on that, I'd be happy to answer. I think this is for two reasons: 1. the name is just not well known outside of LA to the point of putting your resume at the top of the list, and 2. the whole career services office really only knows about LA. I got a binder with where all of last years 1L's interned, and I'm not exaggerating when I say 98% of the people stayed in socal. Other than that, the CSO was fairly helpful. My friends all have jobs with judges, the DA, various PI outfits in the LA area.

3. No idea what those are.

4. I am just finishing 1L, so I can't really say anything about the classes - they are all picked out for you obviously. Some profs are better then others - some are amazing (bice, pastore, dudziak, garet) some are not so good at all (rich, gross....and yea I totally just gave away what section I'm in). On the whole, the professors are great. They really know their shit, and most make a real effort to help students, meet for lunch, be helpful in general. They're all very, very qualified. Grading policies and testing formats are pretty standard.

5. I have to agree with germX - had I gotten into UCLA I would not think twice about going there. Its a better school, and from what I can tell, it has way more nation-wide prestige. And its substantially cheaper. AND its in a way better area. I don't care what anyone says, yea the campus is really nice, but it just in a boring, boring area. Def a bit sketchy as well, but mainly just boring. Have to drive everywhere, no pedestrian areas, no cool places, etc. If you do go to USC, do not live near campus. I'd much, much, much rather live in westwood then near USC.

As for USC in LA - the job prospects do seem to be pretty great (or as great as they can be). They love talking about how amazing the network is, and I think its kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. Everyone says its amazing, so it becomes that in actuality. Lots of alum stay involved, and there is a lot of effort to mix with alums (dinners, lunchs, etc - plus the CSO is very cool about giving you alum info - I got the contact information of every alum in DC, where they worked, etc). I've talked to the head real estate partner at skadden LA and he said they love USC and love to hire students there. If you stay in LA, USC WILL give you great opportunities.

Then again, so will UCLA.

5. I have to agree with germX - had I gotten into UCLA I would not think twice about going there. Its a better school, and from what I can tell, it has way more nation-wide prestige. And its substantially cheaper. AND its in a way better area. I don't care what anyone says, yea the campus is really nice, but it just in a boring, boring area. Def a bit sketchy as well, but mainly just boring. Have to drive everywhere, no pedestrian areas, no cool places, etc. If you do go to USC, do not live near campus. I'd much, much, much rather live in westwood then near USC.

Exactly. Seriously man, if you can afford UCLA, go there.

I picked USC over UCLA. After visiting both schools I got the sense that students at USC are a lot more social and less socially awkward.
The area immediately around campus isn't the best, but downtown L.A offers some great housing options. And when it comes to job prospects, it's a wash.

Where are some of the better areas to look for a place to live? I'm trying to live fairly close and fairly safely. are there any neighborhoods that are known as good places for graduate living? cost is an issue, so it must be considered.

Any info on living in Terrace?

Reviving old thread.

About the summer fellowships:
on the USC website it says that ROTHAM Recipients also receive a Summer Fellowship
that provides a guaranteed job in the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, following the first year of law school.

So apparently its connected to that - not a separate determination.

Did anyone have Professor Barnett for Contracts last year or the year before? He's a visiting professor at NYU this year and because he's new, there are no previous exams or outlines for his class available. Anyone have him and want to share outlines/previous exams/general tidbits? Because he does not use a casebook, it's especially hard to figure out what we're supposed to know for his class.