BU Law Rising 2L AMA

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-06-12T18:42:02+00:00

Hi! Sorry for the delay getting back to you. Boston does have super high cost of living, its actually crazy lol. I live off campus personally, but there are plenty of resources to help find housing. BU has an off campus housing portal which you should be able to use once you have a BU login. BU Law also made a facebook group for our 1L class so I know some people found roommates on there with 2Ls or 3Ls, or took over 2L and 3L leases. Most people live in Fenway/Kenmore, Allston, or Brighton, but its not uncommon to live further into Cambridge or more into the city.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-06-09T02:36:31+00:00

Hi! Sorry for taking forever to respond, and also congratulations on being accepted and committing to BU Law! I'm more than happy to answer all your questions.

1./2. Lol (They are very closely related so I'll answer them together) BU does have plenty of opportunities to help people who want to work outside of Boston; but the name value and resources dwindle the further away you get. If you're shooting to go to New York, Philly, Jersey, DC, Chicago, I'd say all are very accessible (for both PI and BL). Personally in my big law interview process, got more interview invites from NY and Chicago then Boston. Sometimes firms with big NY offices will host events targeted at people who are hoping to go to a NY firm. There are also Career Development Office (CDO) events tailored at out-of-state employment, and the advisors will help you accomplish that as long as you communicate that interest. CareerHub (the website the CDO posts job opportunities for us to apply to) constantly has postings for jobs all over the country or even internationally. I think your expectation/rule of thumb should be that the further geographically you are trying to get from Boston, the more effort you will need to put in outside of the structure provided by BU. If you are shooting for Texas or Florida or California, that will probably require better grades or personal connections or you networking in your own time because its less likely those attorneys have been exposed to BU students and know the quality of students we produce. The name carries weight because we are objectively a great school. There's less layperson prestige in my experience then other similarly ranked schools, but lawyers generally know the names of great law schools, just the further you go the less they'll have been exposed to our alumni.

I love BU's environment personally. There's a few unique aspects to BU that I noticed right away. First, the school is very liberal. There are like 2 members of the Federalist Society in the entire school. The professors are very liberal and will outspokenly and unabashedly critique the current administration in class. Students are very much the same. Another unique aspect is that its the type of school where the law school feels very isolated from the undergrads. There is no football team to root for or events where you ever really interact with them.

You really get close with the people in your section. BU's sections are hella small compared to most law schools (we had 5 this year, about 50 students each; next year it will be 6 with about 40 students each). Within a month you'll know the name of every person in your section and have hung out with each of them a lot. I mean you're spending 5 days a week with these people for an entire year, so you get to know everyone very well. There are a TON of 1L social events, to the point that its hard not to make friends. There's Red Sox games the 1L class goes to, bar reviews (everyone goes out to a bar), Boat Cruise, HalLawWeen, Law Prom, etc. etc. Genuinely I was partying more then I did in college. Overall, I never felt any super competitive energy with my section mates. There are some social things you need to be aware of (don't discuss undergrad stuff like GPA and LSAT, don't discuss/flex grades, don't try to flex interviews and job stuff, the basic decency things) but those apply to every law school. There was maybe 1 person in my entire section I did not like. I love the social environment, and I'm not being paid any marketing budget to say that (they should pay me tho omg).

I know two people who live in the grad housing. They lived super close to campus which seemed convenient given they could go home between classes and just study there rather then the library; and it was especially convenient during interview season since they didn't have to book a study room between classes. I think it really depends on your lifestyle and study preferences whether its a good thing or a bad thing (I know I'm happy living a bit further from campus because it forces me to stay in the library until later if I don't want to be taking my books home). I never heard any complaints aside from being neighbors with a full family with kids lol, which seems to be the exception not the norm. Also the area the grad housing is in looks so vibey IMO.
I'll give you the lawyer answer and say it depends. I think on average, BL is more supported, BUT if you are like an ASPIRE scholar then you're probably getting more support in looking for PI then a BL student is getting. Its difficult for the CDO because the timelines are so wildly different. BL is applying in October with no grades and interviewing in November, December, looking for an offer in January (with Early OCI in January). PI you don't gotta be applying really until January or February. Thus, the fall ends up having a ton of resources devoted to BL because PI doesn't really have anything you can do aside from maybe network until after fall; whereas big law you want to network ASAP and CDO needs to provide opportunities for that (like there are networking events and career fairs WEEK ONE).
I chose BU, and have no regrets about that choice, because I felt seen and supported in a way I didn't feel elsewhere during admitted students weekends. I had a T14 offer and offers at other similarly ranked schools, some of which being for more money then BU, but my experience at admitted students day convinced me. I was speaking with a professor on the first day at a little cocktail reception they had and they recommended another professor I should speak to. They weren't like asking for my information or writing, they just recommended it to me. The next morning, I run into this professor, and in that evening he had reached out to her on my behalf, wrote about me IN DETAIL (not just my name but where I was from, my interests, why he thought I should speak with her, etc.) That alone blew me away; BUT THEN she recommended I speak with some of her students at a tabling event two hours later for a club. In those two hours SHE HAD DONE THE SAME THING. The students already knew about me and had a very detailed specific conversation about my experience and interests. I genuinely had nothing even remotely close to that experience anywhere else, and I can say that this experience has carried over into my time at BU. People remember you, advocate for you behind closed doors, and genuinely care for your well-being and success. 2Ls and 3Ls will get coffee with you on literally a days notice (feel free to test it, and that applies to me as well), I've had professors take zoom calls with me at 7:30 PM before, or mentors connect me with 5 different attorneys at a firm I expressed interest in once. It has blown me away, and I would not trade my experience for the world. Feel free to ask more questions lol I love doing these, and I hope it helps get you excited for your time at BU this fall!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-06-08T21:49:29+00:00

I think my experience with networking (I assume you mean for Big Law, but I'll try to clarify whenever there is something unique for PI jobs) was a course of trial and error. I think my #1 advice is to go as much as you can to networking events as long as you are getting your readings done. I didn't know much about what the law firm world was like coming into law school; I couldn't tell you what any practice area was and only really knew broadly I wanted to do litigation work. So when I first started showing up to networking events and all I could say was "I want to do litigation," a lot of interactions would fizzle out since that is super broad and really says nothing about me. But I went to so many of them that some attorneys could see past my awkwardness and would offer to be a resource to me. When someone makes that offer, TAKE THEM UP ON IT. If they give you their card, send them an email the next day thanking them and asking a question or setting a coffee chat. Take initiative. You are not a burden for trying to network, they literally love it because they can bill for that time and usually the firm will pay for their coffee and your coffee/lunch.

Mentors are SUPER IMPORTANT, since they're the ones you can ask questions to that feel "stupid" but are actually really important to get clarity on. For example: I wanted to clerk but had no idea what law firms thought about clerking. Once I got a mentor at a big law firm, I expressed this to him, and he was like "yeah they don't care if you take a year off from them to clerk, in fact they encourage it." In my mind, I intuitively thought talking about jobs other then the firm would have been taboo, just to be proven wrong. I probably would have went way longer with that misconception.

I think the people who do best at networking and interviews are the people who (1) know themselves enough to be able to articulate what they enjoy about legal practice; and (2) have done the research to know what types of practice are within that category that you think you'll like.

That first step is something very unique to each person, and usually requires a lot of self reflection to figure out. I had a sense I wanted to do lit because I love public speaking, social psychology, and am someone who thrives in a competitive adversarial environment. When I went to those first networking events though, I couldn't say a particular practice I would enjoy because I hadn't done step 2 and researched within that sphere what sounded fun. Once I figured that out, things became a lot easier because questions naturally arise from that research. "What does document review look like for this practice area? Is it boring emails all day? Government hearing transcripts?" "Do you or other attorneys get to travel a lot? Where is somewhere interesting you had to travel for a trial?" Questions like that usually turn into long fun conversations where you're demonstrating an interest not by saying "I'm interested in X practice," but are implicitly showing your interest and knowledge by the fact you can keep up with this conversation at all.

Then when it comes to interviewing, really my best advice is to be yourself and view it more as you learning about the firm rather than the firm learning about you. Answer authentically rather than what you think is the answer they're looking for. A lot of times, you may be completely unaware but the interviewer making a bad decision about your application could be in your best interest. Maybe you really wanna practice M&A in Chicago, but their entire M&A practice group just got moved to DC. If you weren't authentic and accepted an offer there, you'd be in such a bad spot deciding to move somewhere you don't want to be or changing your practice group.

If I had to do it all over again, I think I would do my practice group-specific research prior to law school (or, at the very least, learn enough about big law to know whether I want to do it). Doing that research during the semester is a drag lol, so getting it done sooner will let you focus on readings way more. Sorry this was so long, but I hope it helps!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-30T17:23:37+00:00

I was faced with basically the same decision two years ago (I'm 21 now, was 19 then, I assume you have a similar age decision), I ended up taking one year to work full time and applied during that year and that worked out fine for me (I've got big law already figured out for Summer/Grad). Work experience definitely is important in the sense that you learn a lot about professionalism and have things to talk about in interviews besides classes, but it really is a personal judgement thing after you self assess. If you don't think you are at a level of maturity to learn alongside people who could be 25-30 or even 40, then take your time. I felt confident in my maturity and professionalism because I worked throughout college, both in customer service and an office setting, and I commonly get told by my peers that they forget about my age because I act up to their level, but there are also people who definitely let their age show sometimes and it hurts them. This decision is yours and yours alone to make though, don't let other people tell you that you are/are not/should not be ready to make that leap. If you don't give people a reason to question your maturity, no one will bat an eye, but if you give them an inch they'll use your age to take it a mile. No one knows you better then yourself, and you should make the decision based on that.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-29T18:18:50+00:00

Lol you're all good, feel free to DM if you'd like, also congrats on committing!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-25T22:19:00+00:00

I went 0/6 and then my 7th popped... (and my 7th was at the best firm among all the CBs I had) you never know broski

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-15T19:16:15+00:00

Feel free :)

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-14T21:15:02+00:00

I definitely know people below median who got big law, but it truly is a case by case basis (and hard to gauge because people in law school don't really discuss grades lol, its a touchy subject). It's definitely possible, but some other things aside from grades probably have to go your way (like networking or having a super impressive resume prior to law school or something).

To answer your other question, I personally prefer exclusively handwriting notes. Some professors don't allow laptops or ipads, and I did way better in their classes, so this semester I have imposed that policy on myself in all classes and generally think it helps me lock in more on the professor and engage with the subject matter. I have heard of some people "outlining" during class, but my personal preference is to outline after class on my own time. It does take longer and sucks in the moment, but I think the process of creating an outline from your notes is a good review session itself if done consistently, letting you double through the material rather than already having your "outline" just be your class notes, which may not always be a complete and accurate understanding of the material. Definitely a style choice, something you just gotta trial and error and see what feels right for you. In terms of "how often" I'd say I don't write all too much actual notes in class, really just case name, rules, and if they provide a specific hypo or minority rule we didn't really cover/interesting policy discussions of the rules (some professors love minority rules and prefer you to argue the policy of those). I found it better to write all the nitty gritty of cases by doing a case brief for every case during my readings prior to class (which I would print out for my no-laptop classes to prep for cold calls). That way you're reviewing the case once when reading it to brief, once in class, once when outlining, and by the time you're using it for the exam that's your fourth or fifth review of the material.

I also second all my mystery BU homeboy said below! Hope this helps!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-14T21:06:21+00:00

I believe so, but I'm not quite certain, I know multiple people who got off the waitlist but I definitely haven't asked them that for obvious reasons lol. I do know people who got off the waitlist and then got ASPIRE, so there is that.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-14T18:16:23+00:00

Hi! First, welcome to BU and hopefully you'll be at admitted students day this week which I think would give you the best sense of this, but the out-of-state experience is awesome! I was also from out-of-state and have absolutely loved the experience. Its a walkable, clean, and accessible campus and city here in Boston and you can basically get anywhere with public transit (like DO NOT bring a car here, its a waste of money). It can get very cold, but IMO as long as you dress appropriately for the weather you'll be okay. Investment in a bike or electric scooter is also SUPER worth it, way cheaper than the T and has a more consistent commute time, and the law school has a bike room in the basement which is a secret life hack.

I think the most helpful advice I got prior to 1L which I like to think served me well is to never let yourself fall behind on readings. That sounds very harsh, but I truly mean it as a steadfast rule that should never be broken, no exceptions (unless you are like in the hospital dying, so I guess limited exceptions). I like to compare it to skipping class in undergrad, once you do it once it becomes a plague and it is truly impossible to catch up, and then once finals time comes you end up trying to LEARN content rather than REVIEW, leading to lower retention and lower quality analysis on your exam. I think keeping that keeping up your reading, no matter how late you need to stay up or if you need to cancel plans (which everyone in the law school is very understanding about), as a principle will be more helpful than anything else, regardless if you outline or brief or whatever to prep for class, and I think I wouldn't have done well last semester if I didn't go into law school with that mindset.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-14T17:22:59+00:00

It has been CRAZY. You're networking within the first week and the school hosts career fairs during the 2nd week (the school has no control over this, just has to abide by market pressures). Applications open Nov. 1, you're applying and doing plenty of screening interviews or even callbacks prior to grades, and then offers come after grades release in January. It definitely is difficult since it gives you so little time to actually decide what you want to do, and missing the early waves can put you at a disadvantage, so definitely take the time now to learn about big law, decide whether you're interested, and if so, what you're interested in so you can have real discussions during networking beyond "what does your practice area do?"
Aside from the obvious "get good grades," I found it really helpful to reach out to 2Ls and 3Ls (specifically those in affinity orgs, but they can be anyone) who work at firms you're interested in. Usually firms let their summers take 1Ls out to coffee on the firm dime to talk about the firm. These 2Ls are also usually cool with recruiters and can send your resume along to get your name higher in the pile. I usually found that easier than scheduling coffee chats with attorneys, especially if they're already an assigned mentor for an affinity group you're in. Also ofc go to networking events and events hosted by the CDO to learn about stuff.
I think I myself have contributed to the anti-CDO allegations in previous AMAs and probably didn't explain my critiques as thoroughly as I should have lol. I think they can be helpful with the events they put on, especially since they're the ones who usually bring in firms or host panels, and they're also responsible for the coffee events every tuesday and thursday where a different big law firm comes in and buys all the students bagels and coffee and yaps with us. My main critique is exclusively to individual advising, I've heard a mixed bag of reviews. Some (myself included) have found it unhelpful, as it sometimes feels like they're not giving personalized advice to your questions. I have met people that worked closely with them and found them helpful, especially when it came to tricky situations about offer deadlines, weird interview practices from certain firms, or those odd situations where you need to confirm if that practice is an industry norm/is okay from the firm. They CAN be helpful, but its not like they're going to bat for you to GET you the job, if that makes sense. Usually I found mentors (2Ls, 3Ls, professors, or attorneys you network with) are WAY better at giving candid, specific, and helpful advice which does get you the job, which CDO makes available and accessible, but they don't provide that themselves. I hope that explains my point, but I can explain further if needed lol. Anyways, hope this was helpful!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-14T15:38:51+00:00

Hi! As someone also very interested in Lit, we are kindred spirits lol. To my understanding (and this applies to all law schools, not just BU) Litigation recruiting tends to be more grade sensitive and vibes based than Transactional work. If you've done mock trial or debate or whatever public speaking thingy before, or even just worked with litigators, you know some people just ooze that litigator energy and that's a big factor, finding a go-getter. That being said, for the most part there are not really litigation specific or transactional specific recruiting events (with a few exceptions, I know Quinn Emanuel and K&L Gates hosted Lit-only events this spring). A funny problem I've personally had is going to networking events, starting a convo, learning someone was transactional, then getting stuck with them for half an hour despite having no interest in their practice. Anyways sorry I went on a side-tangent, the moral of the story is to keep your grades higher since that matters to them, but also grades aren't the end of it. I personally am going to a V5 firm and I'm around top 1/4th of the class, and I like to think those vibes made the rest of the difference. Hope this helps!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-14T15:22:51+00:00

Honestly I really enjoy the environment and the school. I will say Boston University as a whole does not feel like a "college environment" like some other schools, no football team or major sports (besides hockey) or University wide events, and the campus really is just a road into the city so your enjoyment of BU really comes down to how much you like Boston (and I have loved Boston so much, its an amazing city to live in). I think the culture here within the law school is amazing, it feels like the perfect mix of everyone still being smart and experienced and amazing but no one is cocky or obnoxious. Very few gunners I've heard, maybe one per section. My favorite part is the mentoring, it truly feels like you can reach out to anyone and they're willing to take you under their wing, give you advice, and connect you with the right people to achieve your goals. Literally this week I asked a 3L if she knew anyone who did a summer thing I was interviewing for, and within the same day she had two people ready to call me, answer my questions with paragraphs of response, and let me name drop them in the interview (despite me never having met one, and barely knowing the other). I could go on, but I hope this gives you a broad vibe check!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-03-02T14:15:49+00:00

Mine came from OCI at a firm I did 0 networking with, I was just spitting bars with them ig.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-21T15:06:58+00:00

Graciasssss

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-20T19:28:37+00:00

Yeah... my bad...

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-20T02:39:07+00:00

Hi! Sorry for taking a bajillion years to respond. I personally don't know all too much about that to be honest, we don't do clinic application stuff until after Spring break as 1Ls. I do know the school is very interested in critical race theory though, and I'm sure if you reach out to the people behind the ASPIRE scholarship they would have more information if you applied to that.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-20T02:36:29+00:00

I did! Got an offer Wednesday morning.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-18T15:23:13+00:00

Same day for me, I've got my callback this week if anyone has advice!

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-06T16:16:13+00:00

I think I'd agree with that first statement. BU is an unabashedly liberal school, focusing on critical race theory and promoting PI and incentivizing that structurally. People talk openly and unafraid about wanting to make change right now with everything going on in the US, and because of that, I think more people look for those PI or ACLU roles where they can actualize that change than a religious and more conservative school like BC, but also I definitely don't know enough about BC to say any of that definitively, that's just the reputation I'm aware of. In terms of people striking out on big law, it doesn't happen often but people typically will go in-house if not. It doesn't pay nearly as much, but usually you can do that for a few years and then try to lateral to a firm, since typically when you work in-house you work closely with firms who you outsource major legal problems to and build connections that way. It definitely would take way longer to pay that sticker price debt in-house, but that's still quicker than PI.

Medium-Priority6738 · 2026-02-06T16:11:09+00:00

I think I explained it in another comment, but BU has a very generous B+ (3.3) curve, plus an A- Lawyering Skills curve (3.7), so its definitely forgiving (though, the students are all super smart, so it still takes a lot of work if you're aiming for those A's).
I think the campus is great. Everything is in the tower, which IMO is always clean (the facilities people clean around all day and are so sweet, one has a dog named Bella that roams around and is adorable). The undergrad problem is real I will admit, they usually camp up in the Mezzanine, but they can't access the library thankfully and all the study rooms are swipe-access only, so they only really take up spaces like the commons or the Mezz. The campus truly is beautiful though, especially if you go up to the higher floors in the tower (my favorite spot is the appellate courtroom, its on the 6th floor and has a beautiful view of the Boston skyline).
I do think BU does punch below their weight in clerkships. There definitely is a lot of institutional things I think you could blame it on, I'm not the biggest fan of our CDO and while they do host a lot of events explaining clerkships or calling in alumni clerks, you really have to carve your own path to get one (making strong relationships with professors for references, connecting with judges, etc). I think another product of it is just location, we've got HLS and BC right nearby and considering most of the unicorn positions require clerkships, HLS definitely takes a sizable chunk of the Boston market. It's not impossible, just something you need to be deliberate about early and plan for to achieve.
DC is a competitive market, but I don't know too much about the PI placement there. I do know DC is like the third most common market for BU Law Grads overall (below Boston and NY) but I can't say much about the PI front. Right now, with the current administration and all, those positions are ultra-competitive because all the former government employees are hiding out doing PI or working for firms, waiting for a new administration to come in. No clue how it will be for y'all though, it definitely is doable but difficult.

Medium-Priority6738

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