Delete Me

[Dannyalcatraz]

Yeah- I live in the D/FW Metroplex.

As for top 5 schools...WHY?

I have found that, even in the glutted market, a top 20 school can get you what you need. Heck, even some outside of the top 20 are worth attending!

If you want to be a trial attorney in TX, for instance, there is no better school than Baylor. They churn out some serious courtroom sharks.

If you want to be a mover & shaker in D/FW, SMU is where its at. There are firms here that are purely SMU grads, and the only school more heavily represented here is UT. Oh yeah- they apparently landed the George Bush Presidential library, too.

As for my school, you get out of there, you've got a strong foundation in theory, and you'll have paid 1/3 of what others would have for a lesser education. There is something to be said for minimizing your debt.

Especially in a glutted market.

And I'm sure it's the same in other states- one law school will be the "trial" school...another the bargain, another will be politically connected.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Psst...I think we're still being too serious...

(starts playing "Don't Fear the Reaper"...which needs some cowbell...)


All our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain. we can be like they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man...

Valentine is done
Here but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity...Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday...Like Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday...Redefine happiness
Another 40,000 coming everyday...We can be like they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man...

Love of two is one
Here but now they're gone
Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared...saying don't be afraid
Come on baby...and she had no fear
And she ran to him...then they started to fly
They looked backward and said goodbye...she had become like they are
She had taken his hand...she had become like they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper

 

[Jdvn1]

Yeah- I live in the D/FW Metroplex.

Neato, I lived there for about three years. What kind of law do you practice?

As for top 5 schools...WHY?

Because he can? A top 20 school is definitely good, but saying that you went to the number one school in your field is automatic prestige. It might not matter very much, but the name of a school can take you pretty far.

I know a disabled lawyer who graduated Harvard undergrad and also Harvard law (deaf lawyers are quite rare, particularly ones that have done so well for themselves). Would you be surprised to hear that he has a great, very well paying job as an attorney for a very large company? Of course not. Could he have been better educated elsewhere? Probably so. But the Harvard name says a lot.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What kind of law do you practice?

Technically, I'm an entertainment lawyer...but I'm not getting enough business. That's why I went back to school and got an MBA in Sports/Entertainment marketing, and I'm looking to get a job with some big 'ol company.

I must confess, my Wis score is a bit low- breaking into showbiz, even on the business end, is difficult. EntLaw is tougher than any other to get into, and I'm trying to do that in Dallas... :\

Would you be surprised to hear that he has a great, very well paying job as an attorney for a very large company?

No, but I bet HE would be! *baDUMbump crashhhhhhh*

I'll be here all week!

I understand what you mean, though. When I was starting off, I was offered a spot in a startup lawfirm...because that UT diploma goes a long way in some circles. (It fell through for a variety of reasons.)

Funny thing about Harvard...I have a buddy who is a Harvard grad (PsiD)...he said that up in Quincy, everybody and their pet guppy has a Harvard degree. Up there, apparently, a Harvard diploma is an entry level req for serving fries.

Outside of Quincy, however, many of their degrees are like a license to print money.

 

[Aurora]

and I'm a lousy, lazy student. Unless I looOOOOove the topic, I have a bad habit of "phoning it in" to get a high "B" or low "A" (and a smattering of other grades when I underestimate the topic's difficulty ).

Sounds like me. My teachers used to get mad at me and tell me I should have a 4.0. Eh, who cares was always my response. LOL Sports were more important than studying or *gasp* homework. I never did homework. It's a good thing I was well liked by faculty.

Damn, you did do well on the ACT. I think I got a 42 on the Math part and a 39 overall. (Stupid English)

 

[Aurora]

Yup. It's currently out of 180. My (minority) brother probably scored in the 99th percentile. He's kind of a freak like that, though.

Still, no stipend that I know of. Shame.

Holy crap they have changed the scoring system!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Ahhh....college "daze"

I have all kinds of whacky stories about how little I actually studied.

I once walked up to a classroom, and all of my fellow students were in the hall, all quiet, with their noses buried in their books. I laughed- "You guys look like you're studying for a test!"

"Duh- we are!"

I didn't even have my books.

I asked the girl who sat next to me if I could borrow her book- she smirked, closed it, and handed it to me. "Sure!"

For the next 5 minutes, I flipped through about 5 chapters- looking at headings "Yep...got that...know that...he'll test that..."

I was the first to finish the test. When we got them back, he wrote the score distribution on the board, and handed them back to us, in no particular order, folded so that only the test recipient could see the score. The girl who loaned me her book had the highest score of all of her friends- an 88. When I was handed mine, I quickly glanced at the score and made to tuck it in my backpack.

"Ah-ah-ahhhh! I loaned you my book, I want to see that score!"

"No you don't."

"Yes. I do."

"You really don't."

She glared...Sighing, I handed it to her.

When she saw my score, she threw my test at me. I had a 93, 3rd highest in the class.

Stories like that are why some people actually dropped classes I was taking within my majors- I was too likely to set or break the curve.

 

[Aurora]

Once again, it is quite scary, you sound an awful lot like DShai. That really is sickening ya know. I mean, I can not do homework and not study and easily get a "B" but not normally an "A". DShai bought a total of like 5 books his entire college career. If a class was hard and he thought maybe he should take a peek at the book, his motto was "find the cutest girl in the class and make friends with her." You have no idea how often we run into another one of DShai's hot ex-study partners. *eyeroll*

 

[Aeson]

I went to a Technical College. It wasn't even a Junior College. Most of the instructors were not professional teachers. The Math and English teachers were. The English teachers even gave us spelling tests, which I'm sure many of you can tell I didn't do well on them.


Many of my classes the instructor gave us tests that were true/false and multiple choice. They were often just like the study guide we had.

I'm glad the state lottery paid for it because I didn't get my money's worth.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

DShai bought a total of like 5 books his entire college career.

I had to buy my coursebooks, but that was about it.

I used my undergrad library 2 times- once to complete freshman orientation requirements, and a second time to complete a senior thesis on Chaos Theory in Economics.

I got lost in the library on my second visit, so I asked a guy I knew, John Anapakous (sp?), to help me find the card catalog...he fell to his knees in teary laughter.

Punch line: The library had gone to a computerized index 3 years previous.

It was pretty much the same in law school. The only times I used that library were for 1L orientation purposes and research on the works of Karl Renner, Communist Economics/Law theorist from Austria.

I was supposed to do a comparison between an assigned book of his, his other work, and Western Capitalist theory. Well, I could read his book, and I knew my Western Economics/law stuff...but the book assigned was the only one translated into English from his native German- something I only found out after the reference librarian did a month and a half of searching.

While I do speak German, my Deutche-skillz aren't THAT good.

I did what I could and guilted the prof into a B. Fair enough, IMHO.

And my notebooks?

Day one of class would have contact info for the prof and some fellow students and a lot of notes. Each progressive day of class had fewer notes and more doodles. Usually, by halfway through the class, my notebooks largely comprised of "Silent But Deadly: the continuing Adventures of the Kung Fu Mime!" and similar artistic endeavors.

Not too useful for people looking to crib notes...