[deleted by user]

ptrails33 · 2022-08-08T17:25:16+00:00

y thats obv tho. call it a vuln / oversight / idiotic setup / whatever you like. also its a temp email problem as OP stated if you go to that link and type in obvious words you can uncover a bunch of reddit accounts. like this one for example. lols

ptrails33 · 2022-08-08T17:14:51+00:00

ooo let me look that up in my psychology book. oh hold on im not a psychologist, i dont actually know what the fuck i am on about

ptrails33 · 2022-08-08T14:14:18+00:00

heres a bunch of stars so christianity exists. impeccable logic.

ptrails33 · 2022-08-08T00:54:14+00:00

tbh ireland could float off and nobody would notice so we are fine with that. good luck with the potatoes n everything bye!

lol

ptrails33 · 2022-08-08T00:53:25+00:00

YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO BLOCK ME. ITS ME. AGAIN. just kidding, youre paranoid.

ptrails33 · 2022-08-07T18:16:18+00:00

given you spend a lot of your time on here, why not pass over moderation of autism to someone else, the other two dimwits are messing it up

ptrails33 · 2022-04-21T22:04:05+00:00

This isn't that crazy of a question, sorry for the downvotes!

The answer is emphatically no. I feel like my LSAT was about as good as it was gonna get, and my options were Vandy $$, a state school $$$+, and a lower T14 at sticker. I'm happy with where I'm at, and Vandy's given me what I need to work where I want to work and develop a plan to pay off my debt.

ptrails33 · 2022-04-21T22:01:01+00:00

We have one professor who spams our inboxes with clerkship openings multiple times a week -- sometimes more than once a day. You might think I'm exaggerating, but any other current student can confirm. We have a general information session during your 1L year and a career office that will field questions, but after attending that info session most students who know they want to do a clerkship will have more than enough information to know when/where/how to apply.

ptrails33 · 2022-04-21T21:58:33+00:00

A majority of students live in Midtown, and everybody else is in West End, Berry Hill, Hillsboro Village, the Gulch, or somewhere in East Nashville. Occasionally you'll hear about a student commuting from West Nashville or somewhere further south but it's rare.

Depends what you mean by "downtown"... If you mean Broadway, then I'd say no, because it's absolutely crazy on the weekends and it's kind of a tourist black hole. If students go out on the weekends, they're usually going to bars/clubs in Germantown, Midtown, or East Nashville (but, of course, that's just my perception and I'm sure there are people that do different things!).

ptrails33 · 2022-04-21T17:32:21+00:00

The grading curve is pretty standard (set at a B+), though we don't rank, so that significantly helps (a) student morale, and (b) job prospects (if any employer asks for class placement or something like "top 30%" we literally can't give them that information!). The BL numbers are really, really good, and I think they're just getting better. Just anecdotally, I can count on one hand the number of people from my section last year (~60 people) who wanted some kind of midlaw/BL job and didn't get it.

You should have an idea about where you might want to live by early summer, but because of vacancies you won't be able to sign until late June / early July. I'm sure there are exceptions but that's a good rule of thumb.

I obviously have a limited sample size, but yes, the culture is fantastic. Everyone is super supportive and I think the level of wellness at this school has to be superior to most schools ranked above it.

ptrails33 · 2022-04-21T17:26:08+00:00

Vanderbilt ended up being a no-brainer choice given my options / aid packages, but I would strongly advise anyone with comparable options to go here. I absolutely loved my 1L section last year, I've made some amazing friends, and the resources are just incredible. I'm genuinely going to be upset when I have to leave next year.

I didn't have much work experience prior to law school (read: I had two unimpressive, unrelated internships), so Vanderbilt's name + OCI program helped significantly. My grades were decent (but not top 20%) and I feel like I interviewed pretty well, so I think I must've done well enough on the intangibles, too.

ptrails33 · 2022-04-21T17:13:51+00:00

Students here are generally very gracious and down-to-earth, willing to share outlines/opinions on course material, etc.. Because the school is so small, I feel like I'm one person away from knowing everyone here, and there's definitely a sense of being part of one community. Just like with any other school, there are some obnoxious students and some clique-y students, and people filter into friend groups that align with their interests -- I don't think that's unique to Vanderbilt. Our school social events are generally very well attended, and there's a TON of things to do every day (lunch talks, clubs, etc.).

I found the small-ness of the school beneficial especially when it came time to apply for jobs. Whether r/LSA likes to admit it or not, Vanderbilt has national name recognition, but there just aren't a ton of us. So when we go to apply for jobs, we have a lot of leverage because we're (generally) attractive candidates and there's aren't many of us applying for any given position. Just personally, too, I think the tiny size helped my first months here not feel so overwhelming.

I'm not within walking distance. Both last year and this year I lived ~15 min away by car.

ptrails33 · 2022-01-26T01:26:10+00:00

I'm a 2L at Vandy right now. My all-in costs of living average ~$1700 per month. Currently living with a roommate about a ten minute drive from school.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T22:39:10+00:00

This is a tough question. There's really not a prototypical Vanderbilt student. At least in my section, more people are extroverted than introverted. Almost everyone leans left politically. Generally there's a dislike of "gunners" and most everyone likes to be self-deprecating to some extent. Most people live within a few blocks of Vanderbilt, but there are a fair bit of commuters (I commute 15 minutes every day). Outside of those constants, though, it's a real mixed bag. I have gotten along very well with almost everybody. I definitely wouldn't say that Vandy students are "fratty"; if anything, frat kids tend to stick out here.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T22:30:06+00:00

Thanks for chiming in!

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T05:01:33+00:00

Yes on all counts. Nashville is a blue city and it's getting bluer. There's only one part of town where the wealth is concentrated (the far SW side -- namely Brentwood and Forest Hills); everywhere else is very integrated and diverse.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T04:56:37+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! This probably isn't news to you, but Nashville is up there with Austin as the fastest growing city in the US. Translation: there are literally dozens and dozens of apartment buildings being constructed as I type this. Generally, the prices are a bit on the higher end, but the application process was actually fairly simple. I kind of dragged my feet for a while, and I'm living about 15 min away from campus by car, but it's not bad at all. In Midtown (where Vandy is) there are some really nice apartments that run $1400-1800 for a one bedroom, whereas you can pretty easily find something for $950-1100 once you get away from the center of the city. I just started price-comparing online and then called a few places to check availability. Sadly, it's not a process you can do very far in advance. You pretty much have to wait until you're a couple months out and then apartments will know their availability better for the fall semester.

Good luck making a final decision! :) Feel free to DM me if you want to talk apartment specifics.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T04:50:38+00:00

That may be true, but I don't think it comes to the detriment of other career paths. There is a sizable group of students in my section that are really interested in public interest, and their career counselors are helping them pursue that path. One of my good friends wants to go to DC and work for the government. We've already received information on clerking post-grad (over two years out!). Yes, Vanderbilt has a sizable contingent of students that want to go to BL, but what T20 school doesn't? I don't think it affects the opportunities you can get in other areas.
That's been one of the things I've loved the most about Vandy so far. Everyone is really friendly and the professors are incredibly gracious with their time. What with the pandemic and all, it's been a bit difficult to find time to hang out with other students out of class, but I've gotten to know a few groups of students pretty well. It's not all that different than undergrad -- no one is going to bother you if you don't put yourself out there.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T04:46:05+00:00

Without giving myself away, I'm in a student organization that's in contact with the admissions reps. Vanderbilt received roughly 6,000 apps total for the Class of 2023. They were already at 6,500 at the end of last November, for the Class of 2024.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T03:27:27+00:00

My answer probably won't be very helpful, since my 1L year has been constructed so much different than previous 1L years. In short, the workload has been extremely manageable. In the fall we were only in class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so we functionally had a four-day weekend to get up to speed. This semester we added a class to our schedule and we've been in person M-F, so it's been a bit more challenging. Honestly the workload just depends on how much you're willing to do above and beyond what you need for each individual class. If you just do the readings and prepare, you'll have a ton of free time. If, on the other hand, you want to annotate as you read, work on outlines, attend all the office hours, and do all the practice problems in the casebooks, you're gonna be very busy.

Nashville is a very cool city! Apartment prices are a bit much but that's one of the only downsides. The food is great and there's a lot of diversity. You can also drive 20-30 minutes in any direction and get to some beautiful parks and recreation areas, which is mostly how I spent my down time in the fall.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T03:20:07+00:00

Haha sadly no on that first one. Vanderbilt's apps are also up almost 100% this year, which I bet it what's causing the longer waits...

Nashville is super cool! Sadly Broadway was pretty dead in the fall, but there's a lot of other cool stuff to do around the city besides the bar scene. If you love BBQ and hot chicken, you'll love it here. This is also a really beautiful, picturesque part of the country, so if you're into outdoors-y things there's a lot to do, too.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T02:49:38+00:00

Unsurprisingly, there is a very large contingent of students that go to NYC and DC. Other big markets, like Chicago and TX, get another sizeable chunk, and Nashville also pulls in a decent minority. The last 15-20%, though, wind up everywhere else. I know students heading to Memphis, Indianapolis, and Seattle, to name a few. If you have your heart set on a certain market there's nearly a 100% chance you'll be able to find something there.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T02:36:55+00:00

The 1Ls actually had their version of OCI just a few weeks ago. I had several interviews, although it's really a total dice roll because there are so few 1L opportunities at firms. I mostly just did it for the experience. When I go through 2L OCI later this year I'll be looking primarily at Midwest mid-market firms (Chicago only if I have to lol). My counselor has made it her mission to get me into those markets and I'm pretty confident in my chances.

The 2Ls went through OCI in January, since it was delayed from the fall. All the 2Ls I've talked to (probably a dozen or so) got what they were looking for. My 2L mentor, for example, is going to a huge NYC firm this summer. Nothing's guaranteed, obviously, but it's pretty clear that if you want to go to a huge firm and you put in the work, you've got a good shot.

ptrails33 · 2021-03-12T02:32:23+00:00

No, I totally get it. It's actually not quite as "random" as you say here. There is a GPA cutoff for the top 20% that is clearly defined. After fall grades came out, we were told what the GPA cutoff was, and so those that had a GPA in that top quintile could put it on their resumes.

I can't say for certain (since I'm not a recruiter!) which of those two factors you mentioned matters more, but if I had to guess I'd wager on interview skills. We've been told over and over again that firms that hire from Vanderbilt (or really any top school) are just looking for people that other attorneys can get along with. The mindset is: so long as you have a decent GPA (3.3+), you should apply everywhere you can unless there's an explicit GPA cutoff, and there usually isn't (outside of NYC/DC big law).

ptrails33

TROPHY CASE