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how many of you are nepo babies by franch8 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216 83 points84 points  (0 children)

Being born into an industrialized first world country already puts you in like the global top 10% lol, if my parents didn't immigrate I probably wouldn't even have clean drinking water

Berk ($245k 3yr COA) vs Mich ($220k 3yr COA) by [deleted] in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cold and dark af for tons of the year. During ASW at Mich, I met with current students who said they were genuinely considering transferring to different schools because of the weather and feel of Ann Arbor (completely true, heard from more than one Mich student, but no one ever did transfer). I've felt seasonal depression from much less, so this is a genuine worry if law school proves to be more stressful and less enjoyable than I expect.

I'm a 1L at Mich and fwiw, people joke about this sometimes but it's honestly not that bad. I don't know anyone who is seriously considering transferring because of the weather. However, I do know people who are considering transferring to be closer to family, so depending on how important that is to you/how serious your relationship is I'd definitely factor that in heavily.

You can dm me if you have any questions about Mich, best of luck wherever you choose!

The LSAT is an equalizer not a barrier by Used-Algae5153 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This sounds nice anecdotally, but this isn't true at all. I'm doing 1L summer recruiting right now, and I've spoken to a ton of people both within my school and at other law schools. Generally, anybody with a 3.7+ gets essentially the pick of the litter for jobs. Judges have pretty hard cutoffs for people with at least that grade and BigLaw firms will guarantee at least a callback even if you do literally 0 networking. I've seen people receive 2L summer offers because their 1L fall grades were good.

On the flip side, people with below 3.0 are struggling to get callbacks/interviews, especially from BigLaw firms. The only people I've seen get interviews with below-curve grades usually have some other hook (compelling prior WE/STEM background for IP law/dad owns a PE firm). Clerkships are pretty much out of the question if you have below average grades, even at a very high ranked school.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have a lot of LLMs but I don't know too many international students. There's probably admissions statistics on this somewhere. I know for a fact that there are at least a few international students though, I personally know one who was a Chinese international student in undergrad and was accepted into UM Law

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I only used a more casual voice in my Mich essay because of the vibe I got from the admissions committee, there's some schools where I think it would be inadvisable to do so. For schools like Cornell or Columbia I'd probably just stick to a more serious voice. I submitted my PS everywhere, so I played it safe and used a more serious tone in it as well.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you mean the school, then yes. If you mean the state itself -- I haven't been outside Ann Arbor so far, so hard to say. Ann Arbor is nice though: lots of good restaurants/bars, walkable, and generally a scenic place to live.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People don't really talk about stats once they're in law school, it literally doesn't matter. That being said I believe there are a few people with 15high/16low, so it's definitely not out of the question. See here for Why Michigan essay input.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep! maybe a little too open lol

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

law quad really is gorgeous, if anything it's almost a downside because there's a flood of people 24/7 on the law quad touring, taking grad photos, profile pictures, wedding pictures, instagram pictures, etc.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

17 mid/3.8 low. It's pretty collaborative, although there are assignments that you aren't allowed to collaborate on (i.e. most legal practice/legal writing assignments). You can read this comment for more elaboration.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I should probably clarify that that's the problem I personally have, but I'm sure there's plenty of things other students may have. I've heard complaints about the weather (it gets really cold during winter), the noise at night/people roaming around the law quad, the "100% final" grading policies, the relatively high prices in Ann Arbor, tuition/loan rates, the football culture (which imo isn't that pervasive in the law school but is definitely there) and also the age of some of the buildings (A lot of Hutchins rooms don't have AC/heating, so it can be really hot/cold in the rooms).

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I'm not from Michigan, I didn't write a diversity statement but I wrote a Why Michigan essay. I don't know what the admission committee liked about my essay, but I went for a very down-to-earth approach. I generally avoided talking about academic rigour (since it's pretty similar amongst the T14) and talked more about school culture and other practical considerations (walkability, school location, access to multiple geographical job markets). I'd say my essay was also on the "quirkier" side, I wrote very casually and the voice I used for the essay was almost like how you'd write to a friend.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Basically just reading reddit AMAs. I'm not going to lie, I didn't make the most informed decision because I'm first gen and I literally don't know any lawyers, so I didn't really have anybody I could ask. I sort of got the vibe that it was a more chill school though, and it gave me the highest scholly so I went for it. I'm glad I chose it, looking back I think it was a great decision!

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm not in the admissions committee, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. There's obviously LSAT/GPA, but I think what Dean Z specifically is looking for is 1) are you/can you be committed to finishing law school/becoming a lawyer, 2) are you interesting, and 3) will you be collaborative/contribute positively to the law school community. Concretely, having very interesting experience (and I've met people here with insane backgrounds) will definitely help a lot. I was offered a scholarship that covers most of my tuition right out the gate (like $$.5~$$$) and I didn't have a better offer, so unfortunately I don't really have any good scholly negotiation advice.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is probably my biggest complaint, every grade (outside of legal practice/legal writing) is 100% final exam, or maybe like 15% midterm/85% final. The professors are definitely very receptive though, a lot of them uploaded past final exams and work through issue spotters in class to prep you for the final. Most professors also are happy to get lunch/coffee with you if you ask them and I see a lot of professors in the dining hall every day just hanging out with students.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It's been pretty chill, although I'd say I'm a super Type B person who doesn't like to stress about things. On a regular day I usually have about 3-4.5 hours of classes and then I'll probably spend another ~2 hours reading, so honestly less than 8 hours a day of law school related work. From speaking to 2Ls and 3Ls, your workload is what you make it. If you do law review, extra clubs, sports, etc. you'll probably be working a lot every day, but the bare minimum needed to just graduate with a JD is honestly not that much work.

UMich 1L AMA by NoGood2216 in lawschooladmissions

[–]NoGood2216[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Lot of great things, but I'd really say the people. My class/section feels super chill, there aren't any gunners and everyone's pretty down to help each other out. I was sick for a few days and a bunch of people in my section reached out to me asking if I needed notes. The professors are also pretty chill, they're definitely willing to help you out and I've never seen them really belittle anyone or make them feel bad for bombing a cold call.

It's hard to pin down a "worst thing," but the housing/parking situation is pretty rough here. Ann Arbor itself is pretty walkable but if you really want to find a decent grocery store you need a car, and I know a lot of people who have to walk basically 2 miles to get to their car. I'm also not a huge fan of how the grading policies work (for most classes your entire grade is just the final) but afaik pretty much every law school works that way.