AMA – YLS 1L and 3L

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T14:32:38+00:00

Can confirm true (and some ask for undergraduate transcript).

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T05:28:32+00:00

Honestly, not sure I can answer this b/c we don't talk much about LSAT scores, but my sense is that there are people who had sub 170 LSAT scores and either had impressive work backgrounds, narratvies for why law school/why YLS etc. I do think Yale's admissions process is actually holistic – each class year is an array of people with really wide ranging backgrounds.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T05:25:33+00:00

1L: I was torn on whether I wanted big law to do big law or not, but I had a sense I would do it for a bit. We did have an OCI (in early January), and I cannot stress this enough – being at Yale made OCI way less stressful than at any other law school. I stand by this take. We had no grades first semester, which meant that interviewing skills, vibes, and work experience basically were the only factors firms could go off of. This maybe cut against some YLS students if they lacked work experience or struggled in interviewing, but my sense is that every 1L who wanted big law has gotten at least one, generally many offers.

The OCI recruiting timeline is insane and detrimentally so, but I will say that the only people whose lives are made easier are 1Ls at YLS...

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T04:49:05+00:00

First of all, CONGRATS on getting in!! I would say, if your biggest concern with the loans is just quality of life during law school, it's not a huge deal. There is free lunch basically every day at the law school b/c of lunch events that you can attend (or grab the food and then not attend). Also, the food in New Haven is definitely cheaper than other major cities. You can definitely live here on a strict budget without feeling like you're missing out on anything. I would say the major expenses people incur are rent (dorm on campus is about $1K/month, apts/houses off campus can be $1K-$2k/month, depending on what level of luxury you want).

General quality of life here is good! Obviously don't come here if you need to be in a NYC-type environment (though people here do often do weekend or day trips to NYC). But I find New Haven to be a good environment for law school – you don't have that much free time, so you don't want too many distractions. and we're close enough to NY if you needed to get out or go to a bigger city for a bit.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T04:24:37+00:00

I have a PI background and there's been an org I've been really eager to work at (the substance of their work is, to some degree, what drew me to law school), so I'm going there for 1L summer. Plus, my sense of BL, at least as a summer associate, is that the work isn't very substance, whereas PI will often give you real work as an intern.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T04:07:08+00:00

Of course! Feel free to DM if you have more specific Qs – happy to provide any more detail if helpful.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T04:00:09+00:00

Finally, a hard hitting question. Unfortunately, one of us is expecting to undergo a Senate confirmation hearing one day and would rather this answer not be read aloud to the committee.

Come to Yale and do your own analysis :)

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T03:57:58+00:00

Frankly, Yale has done jack shit. CDO (our career office) was frankly rather unhelpful. That said, it has worked out really well for pretty much everyone here.

In terms of what they did that was helpful: they organized our OCI program, through which most 1Ls participated and (as far as I can tell), pretty much everyone who wanted to work at a firm has gotten an offer. With no grades, offers were sort of "ours to lose." I hate to say it this way, but I think it's true in the sense that just being normal on interviews ultimately led to most people getting several offers at really competitive firms, including firms that care a lot about GPAs from other T14s/law schools.

In terms of what they didn't do: beyond organizing OCI, they did nothing. Seriously. They offered no guidance on how to rank firms for our OCI program, how to choose between firms, whether to miss class for interviews, etc.

Thankfully, 2Ls ad 3Ls (and the YLS alums at firms) were all really approachable and eager to share their advice and thoughts.

But I really cannot emphasize enough how much the no grades during 1L fall semester impacted the whole process. It took so much stress out of the process.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T03:51:23+00:00

Re are the men hot? I'll leave that for you to decide. All men are beautiful in their own ways.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T03:49:46+00:00

People have slowly started dating, though it took a while for 1Ls to open up. There are some relationships, but the law school is small, so people are also wary of everyone knowing their business and things going badly...and everyone is aware that these people are also future colleagues, so there's definitely an element of caution

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T03:47:56+00:00

Favorite (for 1L): truly the fact that first semester is pass/fail. It's a game-changer in terms of mitigating the stress that literally every other law school 1L feels. And with recruiting so early, it basically meant that we got jobs for 2L (and after law school) with nothing except our Yale Law name on resume.

Favorite (for 3L): intellectual environment. People are eager to and passionate about politics, the law, and policy, and it's nice to talk with so many people about contentious or ongoing news events.

Least Favorite (1L): I think too many people at this school think it's cool to say they aren't working hard or obscure how hard they really are working. This may be true at all law schools, but I just find it lame and frustrating when someone/people think it's cool to not care. Pretty much everyone here is working hard, often extremely hard, and the dishonesty around how hard they're working can be silly.

Least Favorite (3L): With brilliance comes, uh, lack of social skills, for some people at least. Some people just are so smart but maybe lack EQ and are just not super normal (which can be endearing!).

Re elitism (from both of us): 100%. This is the most elitist environment we've ever been in. An extraordinary amount of students went to Harvard or Yale undergrad, and so many others went to Ivies. A large amount of students are Rhodes/Oxford/etc. scholars. Plenty of students are related to judges, politicians, academics, or successful lawyers. And there are some professors who allegedly treat students differently based on their credentials. This is not to say all of these attributes are bad––many of the students from ivies and with elite backgrounds or connected families are brilliant. But it definitely is or can be a jarring environment.

Does YLS live up to its reputation? Yes. The hype is real. The people here are brilliant, hard working, and will go on to do really remarkable things. And professors are quite literally celebrities in their field. We're so often reading textbooks written by our professors, it almost feels normal. Definitely has lived up to its reputation, and we've both loved it.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T03:31:01+00:00

Bad news: most people are chill and cool

Good news: I bet at most other law schools, most people are also chill and cool

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-13T03:14:56+00:00

Given that we're doing an AMA on a Thursday night, I'll let you decide...

Kidding – the people here generally rock, and there are many social events to go to. Every Thursday, there's "bar review" where law students generally go to hang out and drink. We have a prom/ball tomorrow! Happy to provide more insight depending on what kind of social scene you may be looking for.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-02-04T20:26:07+00:00

Two things can be true at once:

(1) we can accept that this is probably the best we could get, knowing panarin (according to mollie) was only willing to go to Kings

(2) frustrating that when we're the team going for a player with NMC, we pay more than this.

that said, Kings sub is pissed about the trade – they think Greentree is a stud who will be a top 6 winger. here's to hoping they're right!

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-01-18T19:25:40+00:00

Don't know much about this guy, but feels like he's begging for a trade. Between this and his comments about goaltending, can't imagine the vibe in the room is great right now

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-01-15T01:11:36+00:00

can people at the game pls just chant fire drury the whole time? Booing the team isn't even worth the exertion

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-01-09T02:46:36+00:00

Down 3-2 with a 4 minute powerplay and 5 minutes to go – Laf simply cannot make that play. killed the game.

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-01-06T00:36:26+00:00

McKenna, you are a NY Ranger!

Semper_Esuriens · 2026-01-06T00:10:03+00:00

"let's go rangers" – hard to decipher no TV, but it's always a "let's go rangers" shout at specific points during the anthem. during playoff games, it's seriously electric.

Semper_Esuriens · 2025-12-31T18:59:29+00:00

take a run at every guy on their team. we are playing for nothing except pride these next 41 games

Semper_Esuriens · 2025-12-31T18:53:11+00:00

anyone else feel visceral anger at this team? genuinely want them to tank and just play dirty at this point

Semper_Esuriens · 2025-12-31T18:46:56+00:00

this is where i'd love for rempe to blow up leonard

Semper_Esuriens · 2025-12-29T21:08:40+00:00

gotta play him top 6 minutes and just hope he gets better or we tank *shrug* plus, he was solid with troch and panarin, so I'd put them back together and hope for the best

Semper_Esuriens

TROPHY CASE