USC 1Ls Taking Questions! Forum

[TheImpleader]

We saw that there wasn't a current topic and since we are resisting studying for our Civil Procedure final we thought we would help out if we could.

Ask away!

[High_Hopes]

where are you living your first year?

comment on facilities and teachers pls

[jms1987]

How are employment prospects looking for students right now?

[glitter178]

How are employment prospects looking for students right now?

+1. Also, can you please talk about places to study, eat, and hang out that are on or around campus? any good little restaurants or cafes? I just moved to LA and I know nothing about the area yet. Thank you in advance!

[TheImpleader]

Sorry for going MIA we did a little Vegas celebration post-finals and have been recuperating.

ANYWAY!

Facilities: The building isn't pretty to look at on the outside, though the rest of the USC campus is gorgeous (if not a bit bourgeois). But inside it is more than adequate with huge rooms, plenty of study space, and a great library that never really had space issues. There is a bit of an issue with cell phone service in the basement rooms... but thats more of an AT&T problem than a law school problem. There is also free Westlaw and LexisNexis printing for cases which is great because they can be really long. Also the computer tech, Jane, is fantastic! She's Mac and Dell certified and gets parts next day and even managed to fix my blackberry.

Professors: Are over all really good, you're always going to get some that would rather research than teach or have abrasive personalities (kind of the nature of law in general) but honestly 99% of the profs are SUPER approachable, always want to help, know their stuff inside and out, and have great/dry sense of humor.

Living: We both actually chose to live in Terrace the campus owned apartments for law students. You may hear a lot of negative stuff about them but we've pretty much enjoyed them! A lot of first year students live in various down town apartment buildings that are close to campus and in various parts of LA such as Culver City and Hollywood. If you don't mind dealing with the occasional traffic jam than these are totally viable places to live. But don't count out Terrace because of fears it may be too dormy... it's not at all.

Employment: We are just getting into the summer job search, but it hasn't fully kicked in yet. Many people have interviews with judges for externships and will start the private firm search in January. As for full time jobs in three years... if I could predict that far I'd be rich... but from the things I've been told and looking at the employment for the last class things are looking up in general for the legal profession. From what I can tell if you are above the median you're going to be just fine and the school has a significant interest in making sure you're employed to keep their USNWR status so I'm not concerned at all.

Extras: Around campus there are a lot of places to eat, including a lot of options on campus, they are the standard fast food offerings. But you are downtown and we enjoy happy hour at LA Live and The Lab. I enjoy going away from downtown to study so I venture to surrounding places to explore coffee shops- Culver City, Studio City, Burbank etc. Sometimes its hard to find a place on or around campus that isn't crawling with undergrads but its fun to explore options in and around the city. I'm sorry if that's not specific enough! Let me know if you want more info!

[TheImpleader]

If any other 1Ls want to throw in your 2 cents please do! We obviously don't know everything...

[jms1987]

How does it place in other parts of Southern California? (apart from LA)

[chango]

but from the things I've been told and looking at the employment for the last class things are looking up in general for the legal profession. From what I can tell if you are above the median you're going to be just fine and the school has a significant interest in making sure you're employed to keep their USNWR status so I'm not concerned at all.

This is adorably naive.

[TheImpleader]

How does it place in other parts of Southern California? (apart from LA)

You really can't beat the Trojan network. Not having gone through a recruitment process yet I can't say anything other than what I've heard/been told. In the end their USNWR ranking really depends on making sure people have a job and there really are TONS of alumns all over who will at the very least get you an interview of not do more for you. Ask me again when we go through OCI and I may have something different to say. SoCal- including San Diego and the OC are crawling with USC alumns and neither has a high profile law school to draw from yet (maybe UCI in the future) so I would think that USC and UCLA dominate their markets. The career services office probably has exact demographic break downs if you want them.

[TheImpleader]

but from the things I've been told and looking at the employment for the last class things are looking up in general for the legal profession. From what I can tell if you are above the median you're going to be just fine and the school has a significant interest in making sure you're employed to keep their USNWR status so I'm not concerned at all.

This is adorably naive.

Dude way to kill the manly testosterone heavy vibe I was going for. "Adorable," you couldn't have gone with a better adjective?

[chango]

but from the things I've been told and looking at the employment for the last class things are looking up in general for the legal profession. From what I can tell if you are above the median you're going to be just fine and the school has a significant interest in making sure you're employed to keep their USNWR status so I'm not concerned at all.

This is adorably naive.

Dude way to kill the manly testosterone heavy vibe I was going for. "Adorable," you couldn't have gone with a better adjective?

sorry, pookiebear.

[gdane]

LOL!!!

Love the username. "Chango". I haven't heard that in a lonnnng time.

[chango]

LOL!!!

Love the username. "Chango". I haven't heard that in a lonnnng time.

It's my childhood nickname. My parents told me it was because I was mischievous, but now I'm fairly certain it's because of my large ears and prehensile tail.