Living Near Campus

If you're unfamiliar with Dallas, then you probably don't know about all of the different areas where you can live and still be within a commutable distance from SMU. Let me tell you, there are a lot. I have friends that live in Uptown, M streets, Highland Park, University Park, the Village, off of University and Greenville, etc. etc. I even have friends that live in Oak Cliff, Addison, Plano, and other outlying places like that.

Personally, I would never want to live that far away. Dallas traffic is ridiculous!

I however, won't ever have to worry about that traffic. Because my commute is 46 seconds long on foot. And after living directly across the street for this semester, I'm realizing the beauty of living so close to campus. I might not feel so great right after finals, because being that close to the source of my stress might not be the best for my psyche, but overall 3 months of convenience is worth two weeks of slightly more stress.

Here's the thing: my building might not be the newest. It has it's quirks...the floor is a little sloped in my living room, one floorboard squeaks in my bedroom, I find little cracks in the ceiling and walls, there aren't enough outlets, there aren't ANY outlets in the bathroom (I blow dry in my study!), and there isn't a dishwasher or central AC. Plus my rent is a smidgen higher than a lot of my friends who live in comparable buildings (not as high, though, as my friends who live in swanky buildings uptown).

BUT - I have only filled my car up with gas twice since school started. And I still have half a tank left. Which is pretty great.

Really, there's everything I need within a walkable distance. There's a grocery store, a bank, and CVS, restaurants, stores, a Starbucks, and school. I get covered parking by parking in the law garage, and I can run over to the library any time I need to print anything or do some research without having the hassle of packing my stuff up and getting into the car.

Plus I get to sleep in a LOT later than most of my friends who have to drive to campus.

PLUS SMU pays for taxis to and from campus on Thursday - Sunday nights, so if you're going to go out and you live close to campus you never have to worry about getting a DD!

What more could a girl ask for?

If you're looking to move closer to campus, there are a lot of really cute buildings off of Daniel, Rosedale, Hillcrest and Milton that all have condos and apartments, typically around $900/month and up. One of the easiest ways to figure out what is open around there is just to drive around. These buildings tend to put up home made "for rent" signs, and their open apartments can get snapped up pretty quickly.

Personally, as of right now, I really recommend living close to campus. It's suuuuuuper convenient, and worth the slightly higher rent and fewer options.

An Addition to my Family

One thing that I forgot to mention in my update from yesterday was the fact that, as of two months ago, I have a addition to my household...

This is Bingley (in his Halloween costume)! He's a schnoodle, and he is a little under 5 months old now. While a lot of people thought that getting a dog might be a bad idea during my first semester of 1L, I just couldn't help myself. I was lonely and I reeeeeeally wanted one.

Plus I live RIGHT across the street from campus. If I didn't there is no way that I would have gotten a puppy. It wouldn't have been fair. But as it is, and as you can see from my last post, I am home A LOT, so I feel like Bingley gets plenty of love and attention.

And he's a great distraction and outlet for when the sheer amount of work that I have seems to be too much...he always cheers me right up! Right now we're working on getting 100% potty trained (he's at, like, 88% now), and basic obedience commands. He knows sit, down, off, roll over, paw (shake), and jump. But he's a puppy, so he gets distracted.

If you're in law school and considering getting a dog, please consider whether you live close enough to be able to go home and give your dog the interaction that he deserves. Most of my friends stay on campus ALL day, at least 7 hours, and that's just too long to be away from a puppy (or dog of any age, unless you have a backyard). But if you're a dog lover and can give (or make) the time for a furry friend, I recommend having a pet...they make life so much better!

So far, so good

Well, I've been in law school for two and a half months. So far everything's going well; don't get me wrong, it's a LOT of work...but I expected that.

For you future 1Ls reading, concerned about the work load, here's what my schedule looks like on a day-to-day basis (Tuesday through Thursday...my schedule is different on Mondays and Fridays):
     6:45 - wake up, shower
     7:45 - study for an hour while I eat breakfast
     8:45 - go to class
     9:00 - 11:45 - class
     11:45 - 12:30 - eat lunch
     12:30 - 2:00 - read for class
     2:00 - 3:20 - class
     4:00 - 6:00 - study (clean up notes, outline a bit)
     6:00 - 8:00 - cook and eat dinner, watch an episode of trashy tv
     8:00 - 9:00 (three or four days a week) - gym
     8:00/9:00 - 10:30 - read for class the next day
     10:30 - 11:30 - relax
     11:30 - bedtime!!

Monday I don't have class until 1:30, so I wake up at 8:30, start reading by 9:45, and take a break at 12:30 for lunch and relaxing before class. Then after class it's pretty much the same as the rest of the week. Fridays I'm done with class by 11, so I take two hours off after class to have lunch and hang out, then I spend three or four hours cleaning up my notes and reviewing from the previous week, and (now) outlining.

Saturdays I work for about 7 hours spread out throughout the day. Sunday I work for about three hours, unless I have a legal writing assignment due on Monday or Tuesday.

Sometimes I don't get as much work done as I'd like -- facebook calls, or I can't stop at just one episode of The Jersey Shore (my trashy tv show of choice). But the above schedule is what I really try to stick to. Some people work a heck of a lot more than I do, some people don't work at all, but I feel like my schedule is pretty middle-of-the-road as far as where my friends are.

A fun day in Torts

My torts professor is HILARIOUS, both intentionally and unintentionally. Some days, a couple of kids in my section and I just can't help ourselves...we have to keep a running commentary of the day.

These few photos show one example:

Synopsis of SMU Orientation

Before I go through and describe my two days at orientation, I wanted to share this beautiful work of art, drawn by a fellow 1L, that I feel very accurately describes everything we learned at the first day of orientation.

We've got there a story that Dean Camp told about crossing the street to buy a kite (the ending depicted in the drawing was much more dramatic than the ending to the real story). There's a drawing describing the average cost of the books for your 1L. Also, she's included an interpretation of all law students hitting the wall, which, we learned, was inevitable in 1L.

Lastly, we have Dean Attanasio, the first (and absolutely most important) speaker, who mentioned -- no fewer than seven times -- the fact that SMU is comparable to, if not better than, Harvard.

That's right. Harvard. Just think about that (and then give SMU your money).

Moving Sure Takes a Lot Out of a Girl (Part 2)

Okay, so where was I? Oh yeah...the car.

Anyway, after we made the decision to ship me my car from high school, my dad left me in my new, half-set-up apartment with no cable, no internet, and no company. :( Luckily, my bestie decided that he had enough time on his drive from Lubbock to Austin to stop by my place for a few days.

Let me tell you, I put him to work. He mounted my bookshelf, fixed a few things in my bathroom, and was my general handyman for the short time he was here. Don't worry, I cooked for him, so it was a fair trade. Then he took me to my first ever Ranger game (I love me some baseball!) where I got this:

Apparently, Texas is delicious!

I digress. After my friend left, I didn't have too much time to be lonely. The next night I met a few of my future class mates uptown for a vigorous and fun round of pub golf. Then I had a day or two to recover and get everything ready for orientation to start.

While my apartment still isn't 100% done done done, it's very close, and that's awesome -- I have three more bankers boxes full of miscellaneous crap before I can consider myself done. I have all of the furniture I need in my apartment and set up, and a lot of the general furnishings and decorations done too.

I found a couple of old steamer trunks, one which just happened to be slate blue, to stack and make into a coffee table to match my slate blue patterned couch. I bought a blender, toaster, coffee maker, george foreman, and Brita pitcher to round out my kitchen, and found a big parson's desk that had been painted white on CL to finish off my study. I also went a little nuts at Ikea, and bought a huge TV on CL, too -- I don't think I realized how big 47 inches was.

Let me tell you: it's too big to take up three looooong flights of stairs by yourself.

Now that a majority of the big stuff has gotten done, I'm in the process of buying/acquiring/crafting wall hangings and other little kitschy things to put into the nooks and crannies of the apartment, so it doesn't look so spartan/dorm-like. Overall, it's going well, and my place is turning into a relaxing place that I can come home to and enjoy, but also have a dedicated place to do my reading and work (and not have to camp out at the library like I'm sure a lot of other 1Ls are doing).

Now, I think I'm caught up through orientation. Next time I have a few minutes to spare I'll give you all an inside glimpse at how scintillating (or not) SMU's 1L orientation can be!

Moving Sure Takes a Lot Out of a Girl (Part 1)

Let's do a quick run down of everything that I went through before orientation:

I got a very late start leaving my hometown (not my fault, I swear, thanks mom), and was about thirty seconds from missing my plane. Not an auspicious beginning to my move. Anyway, after arriving at the airport, they told me either I could make my plane and leave my bags, or I could wait for the next plane the next day.

I chose to leave my bags. Duh.

Now, my bags consisted of pretty much everything I had left at my house, and so it was A LOT. And I was concerned that they might not get to Dallas unscathed. Thankfully my bags caught up to me on my layover in Vegas, and so I had the "good fortune" of trying to load these huge boxes and suitcases into my rental car.

The next morning, my dad and I drove to my apartment near campus. It was sooooo frickin' hot in Texas (I mean, it still is, but that week it was 108 or over every day). My dad and I waited for my pod to get delivered, went to Target to pick up a couple of necessities, and then waited for my movers to show up...no way we were carrying that much crap up to the fourth floor!

(For anyone needing a mover in the DFW area, check out His Kingdom Movers. They're super nice, super efficient, and extremely reasonably priced. Can't recommend them enough! It only took them two hours to get an apartment's worth of stuff up three long flights of stairs!)

My dad and I spent the next few days alternately setting up my apartment and shopping for cars. I'd determined that I wanted to lease a 2011 Kia Soul (there was a really solid lease program on), but the only colors left in the entire DFW area were the ugly green and orange ones!

Luckily, they found a car in a color I could stand, and ordered it. But when it got to Dallas it was realized that they had actually already reserved it for someone else. The 2011s aren't being made anymore (since the 2012s are coming out this month), and the 2012s don't have a lease program in place yet. Needless to say, it was a huge waste of time.

Long story short, I decided it wasn't worth my time and worry to try to get a car here and now, so my parents agreed to ship me the car that I drove in high school for my use for the next few months, and then when I go home around Christmas we'll see how it's doing and if I even drive enough to warrant getting a newer car.

Le sigh. What's a (broke law student) girl to do?

To be continued...

Growly Notes in Action

For those of you wondering, I am still liking the organization options offered by Growly Notes. It's easy to use and read, and so far I don't have any complaints.

(The one complaint that I had about the printing was fixed in the latest update).

If you were just DYING to find out how I'm organizing my notes (so far) this semester, here's a screenshot for you (click on it to enlarge it).

I have a one "book" for 1L, and a separate "section" for each class I'm taking. Within the section I have "pages" for the following: Class Notes, Case Briefs, Reading Notes, and miscellaneous notes about the instructor.

Let's see how this strategy plays out for me...

It's only the first (full) week...

Goodness gracious.

It's only the first full week, and already my planner is full. Literally, that's not an exaggeration. I've had to add post-its to two different days in my planner this week in order to have enough room to write down my different reading and assignments, plus my "notes to self" about classes and profs.

It's exhausting. But, as my friend is so fond of saying to me, "you knew what you were getting into before you got there."

She's right. I did. But in times like these, when the newness of the classroom setting and the stress seems to be getting to me, I only have to think of one thing to be able to get back on track.

I feel like everyone should have a little mantra to keep themselves grounded in times of stress. It doesn't have to be a Bible verse, or even a whole quote. Just something to calm you down and keep you focused. Maybe even put this quote/verse/mantra into an art piece or somewhere in your house or apartment or book bag to force yourself to remember it.

Okay, back to my reading/briefing/writing. I swear at some point this week I will find time to blog about my orientation.

A Few Things I've Learned About Texas Thus Far...

I've been in Texas for a little over a two weeks now, and in the course of that two weeks I've experienced quite a few "culture shock" moments. I would have never considered that Texas and California could be so different! I mean, we have semi-similar climates, and similar population demographics -- but ultimately there's just a fundamental difference between the two states.

Instead of delving too deeply into that difference, I've tried to embrace my new state by learning a few things here or there. And this undertaking also served to underline some differences between sunny CA and hot hot Texas. 

Here are a few examples:

• In California, we refer to freeways by their numbers, saying things like, "the 405 is crowded," or "hop off the 5 and onto the 99." Here, if you say "the (insert number here)" in reference to a freeway or highway, they look at you weird. And then correct you. It's not "the 75," it's JUST 75.

• Along the same lines, we call areas of the freeway where multiple freeways merge together and then separate an "interchange." Here they say "mixmaster." Which to me sounds like an old boombox from the 80s/90s, like the kind John Cusack held up in High Fidelity.

• There is, apparently, a difference between saying "y'all," and saying "all y'all." The former refers to two or fewer people; the latter refers to three or more.

• "Texas Country" music is NOT the same thing as "Country" music, and it *should* be immediately obvious whether a song is a Texas country song or not. I say should because it is, in fact, NOT readily obvious to anyone who hasn't spent a significant amount time listening to songs about tractors, dogs, and whiskey.

• The "Six Flags of Texas" doesn't refer to the roller-coaster amusement park, but rather to the fact that Texas has, at one point or another, been under the control of six different governments. (Which ones, you ask? Spain, France, Mexico, US, Confederate States, and the Republic of Texas.) 

So, anyway, those are just a few of the things I've learned over the past 14 days in the Lone Star state. Recently I was pondering aloud just how I was supposed to keep all of this straight, and someone said to me, "Oh, honey, don't worry. It'll come natural soon enough. You might be Californian by birth, but now you're a Texan by the grace of God."

I guess that about sums it up. 

Right?

*Clears Throat* Long Time No (Talk)...

Well, hello again. It's been an age...

and I sincerely apologize. No, really, I do. Trust me when I say I wish that I could have been updating for everyone. But unfortunately I hit a few snags on the road to having an internet-capable apartment. (the biggest snag of all: thinking that Charter Communications was the cable company for me).

However, after two weeks of using my iPhone as a life source, I have seen the light, switched to AT&T, and am now completely hooked up and wireless. IT FEELS AMAZING, thanks for asking.

Anyway, a lot has happened in the last two weeks. I'll update more about exactly what happened for all of you inquiring minds, but first I need to finish my reading.

And so it begins...

Welcome to the Paper Chase...

My Last Day at Home

Today happens to be my last day at home.

It also happens to be my mother's 50th birthday. (Dear God, don't tell her I said that in public. Blogging counts as saying it in public, apparently).

I'm rushing to finish everything at work that needs to get done before my program gets handed over to someone else. I'm also rushing to finish putting together a training binder for the person who will eventually replace me full time. I'm also rushing to finish packing (1/2 of a suitcase left), and rushing to clean out my room so that the guys from Sears can come install the treadmill.

Yes, treadmill. My mother is turning my room into a home gym. I think that means I'm not allowed to come back to live after law school.

Anyway, I'm going to take this time to enjoy being with my family and friends. My mom and I are having a joint cocktail party, and then tomorrow morning I'll drive down to LA (ugh) and get on a plane and wing it to my new residence! It's exciting, but kind of weird...

But What I Really Wanted to be...

Yes, I'm going to law school. Very very soon. But what I really wanted to be was...

An owner of one of these fabulous "apartments"! The World is a residential yacht that travels the whole year round. (my thanks to a future classmate, who introduced me to this new world of luxury!)

Crickets

I know, I know, you've been able to hear crickets around this blog lately. I'm sorry! At first it was the vacation, then the moving thing, and then, to put the cherry on the sundae, I got suuuuuuper sick for the last week! It was awful!

Summer colds are the worst. You expect to be sick in the winter, and that's why some hot chicken noodle soup always does the trick! But in the summer? Blech, it was FAR too hot in my hometown this past week for anything resembling chicken noodle soup. (Eventually, though, I just had to have soup, so I cranked up the AC, turned on the fans, and drank a quart of miso soup a day until I got better.)

So here's a little update: my pod was delivered while I was in Atlanta. I came home and started filling it up. My mom and aunt are both redecorating, so I scored my bed (obvs), a couch, a dining table, dining chairs, place settings, a chaise (that pulls out into a twin bed), lamps, cushions, a nightstand, and my bookshelf, among other things. Aside from a TV, desk and coffee table, I think that as far as furniture goes I'm pretty much set! I also was able to fit pretty much all of my clothes and books, leaving behind maybe three file boxes of books in my garage.

BUT, while I should have been packing, I started getting sick. And then I decided to skip a day of packing in order to go out with my friends for a farewell party they threw me (how sweet, right?). So when the people came to pick up the pod on Monday morning I wasn't quite ready. Thankfully the nice people at ABF ReloCube were willing to work with me, and so my friends helped me pack all day before they came back the next day to pick it up. It was pretty full, let me tell you!

So, once my pod had been picked up, my body relaxed and then the sickness really set in. I don't think I left my house (really, my bedroom) for, like, three days. I was miserable. But now I'm over it and excited to get to Dallas! I get in late on Friday evening and will be moving myself in all weekend! I'm really excited!!!!!!

(PS - One thing I did do while I was sick was watch the entire first season of Happy Endings. If you haven't ever seen the show, you really don't know what you're missing. Watch it. Now.)

Prime Time, Baby!

Sometimes being a student has perks. You can get discounts on movie tickets, your car insurance rates can be lower...and you can get a year of Amazon Prime for free!

Amazon Prime is awesome, and you get all sorts of bonuses for being a member. Normally a year of membership is $79, but if you have a .edu email address you can get one year free, and a second year at half-price!

The best part of Prime, for me, is the free two day shipping! So even though my loan money might not come in until the 13th or so, I can still order the books I need after I get that money and have them in time!

Hey, that's one less expense to put on my credit card!!

Sections and Class Lists Are Up!

For anyone going into 1L at SMU next year, the class and section lists are now up on SMU Access. You can see your section, your professor, your schedule, and your book lists!

Section 1, represent!

Personally, I have one class on Mondays, a full day Tuesday through Thursday, and I'm done by 11:15 (I think) on Fridays. And I'm in section 4 for LRWA.

PS - This is my 100th post in 2011! Yayyyyyyyyy. Thanks for reading, thanks for your emails and comments. Comment more! I'm no expert, but I'm happy to give you my opinion about anything!

How to Waive or Elect Health Care Coverage

For Katie Cristina (and anyone else wanting the answer to her question):

The way to waive or elect health care coverage is really, really simple. Go to SMU Access and log in. On the front page the second "Announcement" involves the steps you can take to waive or elect coverage. Click on the link and it will take you to the proper page.

It asks you to fill out a form regarding your current insurance coverage, and then you can elect or waive coverage from there. If you don't waive coverage by a certain date, then you'll be automatically enrolled in the health insurance program (SHIP).

I wish I could give you more information, but SMU Access is down for maintenance right now. It's pretty easy to figure out, though.

EDIT: All right, the website is back up. Go to your Access.SMU account, log in, and click "Student Center." On the right hand side in the bar that is titled "Other Links" you should see a link that says "Health Insurance." Click on that link, and it will take you through a 4-step process to waive coverage. You will have to give them all of your insurance information, and they may decline your request to waive coverage.

You have until August 26, 2011 to elect or waive coverage. If you do nothing on or before the 26th, you will be charged. This year's cost is $759 PER SEMESTER.

This is the Sound of Silence

One last family hurrah before I leave for school in a few weeks! Since I'll be in Atlanta (sans laptop), odds are that I won't be posting until at least Thursday of next week. Don't worry, I'm not dead, nor have I deserted you in favor of business school.

In the words of my very (in)famous governator, I'll be back!

But What I Really Wanted to Be...

Yes, I'm going to law school (moving in two weeks, eeek!). But what I really wanted to be was...

An upscale wedding planner! I'm very good at coordinating events, and my flower arrangement ideas (and executions) are always awesome, if I do say so myself. One of the many reasons I loved my old job.

I Just Have to Say...

Everyone should go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. RIGHT. NOW.

(I cried, like, five times).

So so soooooo good.

All right, next post will be law school related, I swear.

Budget, Budget, Budget!

I will admit, I am not the best with money. It's not like I lose it, or buy really stupid things that I'll never use. I just like to spend it on nice things for myself, or spend it on my family and friends. And for the last few years that hasn't ever really been a problem -- I've been working full time and have very few bills to pay, so I've been able to enjoy myself without really ever worrying about money.

This is not going to be the case for the next few years.

I'm going to have to put myself on a tight budget, and really stick to it, if I don't want to ask my parents for (monetary) help. And so I've taken a few hours over the last day or so to get real about my spending habits and my financial situation over the next few years, and outline a budget that, while tight, should *hopefully* be easy to stick to for the next year.

I've found a handy app on my iPhone that will hopefully help me keep better track of my spending and budgets while I'm on the go. It's called Ace Budget, and it's helpful in that you can track multiple budgets at once, you can set different budgets for different cycle dates (weekly, monthly, etc.) and you can see your budgets in reports or charts for easy comparison. I've become a fan, and I think having something like this will make it easier for me to stick to my definite budget.

As far as my budget goes, I know several people who are only budgeting for the 10 month academic year. I don't think this is wise. While you might be able to secure paying (legal) employment during the summer after your 1L, chances are you might now, and so you should be prepared. My apartment building only offers 1 year leases, so I'm going to have to pay rent during the summer whether I'm working or not. As such, I'm stretching my budget to the full 12 months, and then just hoping that I get a paying job so that I'm a little bit ahead of the curve (budget-wise) for 2L.

Since I don't plan on getting my loan disbursement until classes start, that means I'm going to have a lot of expenses out of pocket right out of the gate: my first month's rent (and deposit), first semester books, moving expenses, a down payment on a car and my first month's payment, etc. So I'm probably looking at $5000 out of my pocket before school has even started. Yikes!

Something that I would recommend to people starting out on their budget: make sure you over estimate a little for your first two or three months. It's better to have a little bit of a surplus in one area than to be scrambling to make ends meet by taking money from here and there. So if you think you can do on a food budget of $250 per month, for the first three months allow yourself $300. After three months you've got more of an idea of what you're actually spending (especially if you've been tracking your expenses on a budget app like Ace Budget), and can reevaluate your needs compared to your budget.

My budget looks like this:

Rent: $800/month
Utilities: $250/month
Car Payments: $250/month
Car Maintenance and Gas: $100/month
Car Insurance: $100/month
Health insurance (boo): $715/semester
Books/Supplies: $1000/semester
Food: $400/month
Entertainment: $200/month

Now, when you crunch all the numbers, that's pretty much my entire budget for the year...my total amount of student loans. I've got a bit of savings for a real emergency, plus (even though I don't want to) I know I can always ask my parents for help if I'm in a real bind.  But the thing is, I feel like I've over estimated on several items...my car payment won't be that high, nor will my utilities. My food consumption probably won't take the whole budget either.

But when it comes down to it I'd rather be able to take the extra money at the end of the month and put it in my entertainment budget for the next month, than have to do without in November because I overspent in October, you know?

I'm a Big Girl Now, See My Big Girl Shoes...

(ah, I love Ingrid Michaelson).

A lot of people lived in their own apartments off-campus during undergrad. I'm not one of those people. Neither are 99% of the people I went to undergrad with. You see, Denison (my alma mater) is a 100% residential school, so everyone, except for students whose parents lived within 5 miles of campus, was required to live in the dorms. It was great, because you never really had to worry about anything, and you got to know everyone really well. It fostered a great sense of community.

It didn't foster the knowledge of how to set up all of the things you'll need to live on your own, however. So here I am, 24 and going into law school, and this is allllllllll new to me.

I've found an apartment okay, and signed my lease without any hitches. But now what do I do? Set up my utilities!

For those in my shoes, moving out on your own for the first time, I mean, you'll need to set up your utilities. Don't wait until you move in to get these things taken care of -- call a week or two ahead of time and have them switch over service on your move in date! It's easy to do, and that way you can make sure that you'll have lights/air conditioning/etc. on your move in day.

For my apartment building, the service providers were already decided, so I just had to call and transfer service into my name. I'm still deciding on my cable service (should I get it? Will it be a distraction? Can't I just watch Hulu Plus or Netflix online?), but for now my electricity and gas are both good to go. I'm not going to get a land line, and water and trash are both taken care of by my landlord.

It sure feels good to make those check marks on my to-do list! Soon my "to-done" list will be longer than my to-do list! Yayyyyyyy.

FINALLY!

SMU has finally reviewed my financial aid application and my award has been confirmed and emailed to me! If you're an SMU student and waiting for your info, go check your Pony Tracks...I'm sure they released everybody's awards at the same time.

Don't forget to make sure that you've done everything you need to do in order to receive your loans on the disbursement date! Read my blog entry all about getting your MPNs and Loan Counseling all taken care of!

EDIT: I also learned (from a very helpful source on TLS) that you can set up to receive a direct deposit of your loan funds into your bank account. Here are the instructions from chrisokc on the SMU 2014 thread at TLS. Looking at how slow SMU was in getting the awards actually approved, you should probably look at doing this just to lessen the time it will actually take you to get your money.

I'm Peeved

So, yesterday I took care of a bunch of health related stuff. Last step? Calling to waive SMU's health care option. I have my own health care, so I don't need to pay the extra $715 per semester for theirs, right?

WRONG.

I'm super peeved at my new educational institution right now, because apparently even if you have health insurance, people with HMOs instead of PPOs don't get the option of waiving the SMU coverage. What does that mean, exactly?

Well, to be a student at SMU you have to do two health related things. You have to pay your Student Health Center fees, which are built into your student fees. Every student has to do this. You don't have a choice. Those fees cover routine visits at the Health Center, as well as counseling services, etc. etc. So if you're going in because you've got strep throat, or something, that would be covered by the student fees you're paying.

The second thing you have to do is have health insurance/medical coverage. This is in case something a little more serious were to happen -- x-rays, ambulance rides, hospitalizations, etc. Now, if you have a PPO then you can waive SMU's health insurance, no problem, and you go on your merry way. But those of us with HMOs? Fuhggedaboudit.

We don't have the choice. We have to pay the extra $715 per semester. So then we are covered DOUBLE, and if we choose to use the SMU insurance to visit a local doctor for something we would have a $250 deductible! I don't have a deductible on my own health insurance! Why would I want to pay for insurance when I'm just going to have to pay a deductible if I really have no need to?

The answer is: I don't. I don't want to pay that extra $715 a semester. My budget is already going to be tight enough as it is. I don't want to pay for the health insurance PLUS the health fees, when the health fees in addition to my own personal insurance that I already have will pretty much take care of any situation that could possibly arise. But do I have a choice? NO. Which amounts to little more than thievery, in my book. I'm paying $1430 per year to get covered less comprehensively than I am without having to pay anything per year.

What part of that makes sense? No wonder I'm peeved.

0L Prep: Taking Care of (Your Body's) Business

Over the last week, I've started really getting into the swing of the whole "I"m moving to Dallas and going to law school in less than a month" thing. I've started actively packing up my room, and I'm slowly but surely checking things off of my to-do list. 

One thing that I can count as checked off as of today? Getting my health care stuff in order. You see, any law school that you attend is going to want to have a health questionnaire filled out by your doctor. But you should also take this opportunity to make sure that you are in tip-top shape before you leave the comfort of home and your family doctor.

You should review all of your immunization and booster records to make sure that you're not due for something important. All educational institutions require that you have your MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccines. Most people get them as kids...I got mine when I was about a year old.

Tetanus boosters should be given once every ten years, so if you haven't had one since junior high you'll want to get that taken care of . The tetanus booster is often administered in conjunction with the vaccines for pertussis (whooping cough) and diptheria, all together called a PDT or TdaP vaccine. I got mine last Thursday, and I'm no wimp, but BOY was my arm sore! For three or four days!

You'll also want to make sure that you're immune to Varicella (chicken pox) and Hep A and Hep B. Most colleges will have required you to get vaccinated against Meningitis, so odds are you've had that done in the past, but it doesn't hurt to take a look at your records just to make sure. 

Lastly, you will be required to show proof of a negative TB test. The test, known as a PPD skin test, is pretty simple -- they insert a small dose of tuberculin units into your forearm, and in two days you go back to have the test "read." They just check to make sure that you haven't had any sort of bad reaction to the injection, and that the bubble has receded. 

Another thing you should do is make sure that you get your "yearly" visits out of the way before you leave, so that you don't have to worry about scheduling them during the school year. Eye appointments, dental check ups, lady-parts visits, physicals -- they can all be taken care of in July and August.

If you have contacts or glasses, make sure that your prescription is valid for a whole year from the summer, that way if for some reason you do need to order new glasses or contacts you can do so without having to schedule another eye exam. I personally wear contacts, so I'm going to make sure I have no less than a six month supply before I leave.

It pays to make sure that you have all your ducks in a row, that way you aren't scrambling around like a crazy person once you make it to school and realize you only have a couple of days to get the different shots or inoculations before school starts. 

I Made a Moving AND a Car Decision!

So, if you've been reading you know that I've been wrestling with the decision on how to (or whether to) move my crap from here in California to Dallas. I was weighing a couple of different options, but after a lot of number crunching I've decided that it makes the most sense to rent a PODS-like storage cube, pack it up, and ship it to Dallas.

I decided to go with ABF's U-Pack ReloCube because of their competitive pricing. Ultimately, it's going to cost me about $920 to get a cube that will fit a studio's worth of furniture and stuff from here to Dallas. I picked the door-to-door method, which is a little more expensive (but significantly more convenient and less stressful) than the terminal-to-terminal option. They will drop off a ReloCube (which is about 6' x 7' x 8') in front of my house, give me 5 days to fill it up, and then pick it up. 4 days later it will be in Dallas waiting for me when I get off of the plane!

Originally it seemed a little bit of a waste to me to pick to storage pod option, just because I didn't have enough furniture to fill my apartment anyway, and I would have ended up shopping for the big things (bed, couch, table, etc.) in Dallas anyway. However, my mother and my aunt both decided to redecorate rooms in their respective houses over the summer, so I now have pretty much everything I'll need at my disposal, so it ends up costing me less in a long run (and it's nicer furniture than I could afford on my own!).

ALSO, I've decided to wait until I get to Texas to get a new car. I think I've pretty much decided to go for a lease instead of a purchase, in an effort to keep my payments down and because I really don't know where I'll be in 3 years. I'm going to try to sell my car as a "Mechanic's Special" locally, and if I get $1,000 that's great. I'm thinking that my plan will be to arrange for the lease over the phone over the next month, and then when I land in Dallas go to the car lot and pick up my new ride. I'll just have to drive one of our family cars around until then.

I decided not to buy or lease here at home because if I went with a lease then 15% of my annual mileage allowance is used in the first month just driving out to Dallas, and that just didn't make sense to me. PLUS Texas has a lower sales tax rate than California, and they tax you on the cost of the car out the door (after rebates), rather than the sticker price (pre-rebate) like California does.

So, those are two huge weights lifted off of my shoulders. While I still have to get all of the details ironed out, it does make me feel so much better to at least have a direction in which I'm moving already worked out!

But What I Really Wanted to be...

Yes, I'm going to law school (in less than a month!). But what I really wanted to be was...

An editor at Vogue!

Schools with Free Applications

"Why can't we hunt something cool? Like a hawk or an eagle, something with talons?"
"That'd be awesome. We could get something like big game. Even a gorilla, or a rhinoceros, or a f***ing human being! That'll get you jacked up."
                         - Wedding Crashers (2005)

What do you like better - Christmas, or Application Season? I'd definitely go with Christmas. Sorry, Vince Vaughn.

In my personal journey towards law school, I'm well past the application cycle (no duh). But if you're gearing up to apply for the 2011-2012 cycle, there are a fair few things you should be taking the summer to get done, especially if you're still in undergrad.

Of course, you should take the LSAT. At this point the June LSAT has occurred, but if you still haven't taken it, or if you plan on re-taking because of a less than stellar score, now is the time to study for the test. If you put in even an hour a day, four or five days a week during the summer, then once school starts you're golden. All you'll have to do is take a BUNCH of practice tests, but you'll already have worked out the approaches to the different sections that are effective for you.

Since it's been years since I studied for the LSATs I don't want to talk about that too much. What I do want to talk about it identifying your application strengths and weaknesses, and working on a list of where to apply. If you're planning to apply for admission to law school for next fall, you should be setting up your list of target schools now, and applying as early as possible (especially if you're a splitter or your numbers are on the less-competitive side for a given school). A lot of applications go up in September, and an early application never hurts, so you should have your applications, and any supplemental materials, ready to go by then.

Take some time to re-read my post from last year about picking where to apply. Use those tools to craft a target list for yourself. Another good resource for finding out information about each application you might be interested in (fee, deadlines, requirements, etc.) in one centralized location is AppReqs.com. You can filter and sort results based by what's important to you (deadline, essay length, application fee), and it has a majority of the ABA-accredited law schools

But bear in mind the cost of applying to each school. Those $60 applications add up REALLY quickly. So, I've taken it upon myself to craft a list (not exhaustive, but pretty good) of schools that have no application fee. Some of this data is available on TLS, but in threads that are locked, so you can't find it really easily.

Don't forget, you can always ask for a fee waiver! And even if the application is free or you get a waiver, you still have to pay the LSAC fee of $12. Check out my list after the jump!

All Comedians Go to Heaven

All comedians MUST go to Heaven. How else would God have developed such a wicked sense of humor?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been looking at the transportation options that I have for the coming year. Buy a new car? Buy a used car? Keep my own car? Sell my car and let my dad give me the little truck to keep back there for a year or so?

Well, sometimes the decisions we think are ours to make get ripped from our little fingers.

Over the weekend I came to the decision that I was going to sell my car and use the money for moving expenses, then I was going to take our little truck to Texas with me and use it for a year or two. I'm probably not going to be driving all that often, and it might be handy to have a truck, even if it is a truck with manual windows and doors (and transmission). I've had a couple of unforseen expenses come up in my personal life in the last few weeks, and so I thought that might give my budget a little more wiggle room.

Today that plan went straight to hell in a hand basket.

You see, I've been predicting that my transmission on my Explorer was going to go out. But I'm a girl with no automobile knowledge, so my dad thought it was just me being fatalistic. Turns out it wasn't. I was reversing out of a parking spot yesterday (after lunch with my mom and dad, where we had discussed possibly just using my car to load up and move to Texas, since it wasn't going to be a daily driver any more), and my car just clunked, and all of a sudden being in reverse was like being in neutral.

Yep, my transmission went out. Estimated cost of a rebuild? $2200. Worth it? Nope, probably not.

So now I'm on my way to go shopping for a new car. At least I can get some trade-in value for it here. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. I just have to keep reminding myself that everything happens for a reason.

RIP Dora the Explorer.

Summer is an Uncertain Entity

One of the bummers about signing a lease for an apartment in a new city where you're going to be going to law school is that you don't know exactly how long your lease term should be. While everyone in 1L takes the same subjects and reviews the same cases, not everyone has the same opportunities for summer employment, and that employment is what will dictate where you live during May, June, July and half of August.

So the predicament that a lot of law students find themselves in is in deciding how long of a lease term they should sign to. 10 months? 12 months? A lot of times you'll get a price break for a longer (12 month) lease, but the practicality of a 10 month lease is appealing.

I don't have the luxury of making that decision at this point. The apartment that I'll most likely be signing for is a 12 month lease...I didn't have the option of making it a 10 month with an option to renew. Luckily I was able to get the option to sublease the apartment should I be unable to live there for all 12 months.

Ideally I'll get a paying 1L summer gig at a biglaw (market paying) firm in Dallas. Realistically? Those positions are few and far between, and it is more than likely that I'll either have to move back to my hometown and work at a mid-law (but still paying) gig here where I have ties, or work/clerk for free in Dallas over the summer. Either way I'll have to continue paying rent through the summer, so if I do move home for those months I'll definitely need to sublet my place in order to afford it.

Siiiiiiiigh. The trials and tribulations of being a grown up.

Taking a New Approach to Apartment Hunting

So, after careful consideration of several different factors, it was my intent to sign a lease at Cambridge Apartments in Dallas. The area seemed nice enough, the leasing agents were all very helpful, it was in my price range, and there was a one-bedroom unit available.

Unfortunately, my intent meant very little when it came to actually signing a lease. In fact, I never even saw a lease. At the last minute the one-bedroom became no longer available, and that was a bummer.

So I started looking again, this time slightly more panicked (as we're getting closer and closer to my moving date). I widened my net, so to speak, to take in apartments in more locations and at a higher budget. And my belief that when God closes a door he opens a window was completely reaffirmed.

I found a new place that I'm signing a lease on this week, and I'm stoked. It's a 2/1 unit literally right across the street from the law school. Now, I wasn't looking for a 2 bedroom, but I was looking at the floor plan and it looks like this unit will be ideal because I'll be able to have a study area, which sure beats doing my work at my kitchen table. (My dad suggested turning the extra bedroom into a closet. He knows me so well!)

However, there are pros and cons to every situation.

In this instance, I'll be paying a premium for the extra room and convenience in proximity to the law school. After all is said and done, my rent + utilities will be about $200-$250 per month higher than if I had rented at Cambridge. However, I think that not really having to drive anywhere and being in an incredibly safe neighborhood will be worth it in the end.

I'm only worried that really I might not be far enough away from campus. I know that sounds ridiculous. Living so close will be awesome during the school year, but what about finals time? I feel like the stress I will feel on campus (that I could normally get away from if I chose to live somewhere a little more removed from campus) will be just hanging over me all of the time if I'm that close to the source of my stress.

I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?

A Hidden Gem

Today when I was halfway through my daily  "de-cluttering" task, I found something that I had completely forgotten I owned. While this in and of itself isn't necessarily an earth-shattering occurrence, I do think that it will help me transition into life in my new place of residence when I move in (approximately) 37 days.

What do you think? I feel like I'll get a lot of compliments on it. Right? ;)

The Speed of a Turtle

So it turns out that SMU's financial aid office moves at a turtle's pace! I submitted my FAFSA in mid-April and have yet to hear anything back. For the last two months SMU's Pony Tracks website has shown my FinAid Application to be at "Step 3 - Under Review" with a note saying to check back after June 15 for an update.

Guess what? It's after June 15th. And I have no update yet.

So today I called the FinAid office. I don't know who I spoke to, I would assume it was a student worker but I really couldn't tell you. I just asked when I could expect my award and he put me on hold for about two minutes while he checked with someone else in the office. When he came back he said that I should know by the end of the month, or the end of the first week of July at the latest.

That's in a week, possibly two. You know how they say "trust but verify"? Yeah, I'm not holding my breath for a FinAid award before mid- to late-July. Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

Luckily I've taken care of every single other piece of paper work involved in getting my student loans, so as soon as I get the award from SMU and accept my loan amounts then I should be golden. The guy I talked to on the phone said I would have my loan disbursed before school started, so I'll be able to pay tuition and get books and all of that fun stuff.

Once again, we'll see. My friend didn't get his loan disbursement at Tech until 5 or 6 weeks in to the semester. Yikes!

You've Got to Pay the Price

Going away for a relaxing family vacation is lovely. It really is. 

For those of you that were wondering, my parents surprised my sisters and I with a getaway to a Hot Springs resort and spa a few hours from home, right in the mountains on the Central Coast. It was wonderful! We had massages and facials and soaked in our personal hot springs, and spent some quality time together. 

The not-so-lovely consequence of this lovely time off from my work is that I now have about a million fires to put out. It seems like after a week of a relatively quite office existence, everyone decided to have emergencies during the week that I was gone. 

Isn't that always the case?

Anyway, things are going to be a little quiet on the blog front for the next three or four days while I get all of my work stuff sorted out. But never fear! I'll be back up and blogging in no time. 

Stay tuned!

But What I Really Wanted to be...

Yes, I'm going to law school. But what I really wanted to be was...

the owner of a Villa in Tuscany! Drink wine all day, lounge in the Tuscan afternoon warmth, eat gelato all night...ahhhhh, that would be the life!

0L Preparation: Hanging with the Fam-Bam

When I was in undergrad in Ohio, I pretty much saw my family every 8 weeks or so. I went to school at the end of August, saw my parents in the beginning of October for Parent's Weekend, came home at the end of November for 10 days of Thanksgiving, went back to school for a month before I got a month-long break at Christmas, had Spring break in mid-March, and was home for the summer by the second week of May.

This is not going to be the case while I'm in law school. There's no Parent's weekend, Thanksgiving break isn't 10 days long and I'll have other stuff to do during that time off, my winter break isn't as long either, and I may or may not come home for the summer. Taking in to consideration that all of my sisters are off doing their own thing too, and you'll come to the conclusion that this summer may very well be the last time that we'll all be able to get together for a while. And so I'm preparing for my drought of family time by doing some very family-centric things this week.

We're taking family portraits for the first time since I was in high school, we're going to our beach condo without our cell phones (ha! yeah right) in order to spend some time with each other without the temptation of running down to the office to tie up some loose ends, we're going to go see a play in LA (my dad and sister are obsessed with Les Mis, we've probably seen it 6 times at least!) and just generally enjoy each others' company.

I think that even though tempers might flare at one point or another during this upcoming week, the time that I spend with my family now is what will get me through some tough times during 1L. I'm sure I'll enjoy law school, but I'll always miss my family.

The Many Moving Decisions of Miss Twenty-Something Law Student

Okay, so moving cross-country (or partially cross-country, as the case may be) isn't a new thing to me. But this will be the first time I've undertaken a move like this without a dorm room (and the included amenities and furniture) waiting for me on the other side. And that just makes this whole process a little bit more difficult.

During college I acquired quite a bit of "stuff" and I had to get rid of 75% of it when I moved back to California, so everything that I ended up keeping was really special or useful to me. And in the last two years that I've been out of college, I've managed to accumulate even MORE stuff. Now that the time has come for me to be a big girl and get my own (unfurnished) apartment, I have to decide what "stuff" comes with me and what stuff stays. 

Let me give you a clue: I want it ALL.

Needless to say, there aren't very many scenarios in which I can keep or even use all of my stuff. And how much I ultimately decide to part with will determine how I move to Dallas in 50 days. Here are the options that I've explored.

1. Moving Truck - I could rent a moving truck from a company like U-haul or Penske. These trucks run about $850 to pick up in my hometown and drop off 6 days later in Dallas, and have a mileage limit of 1750 miles. Now, it's only 1300ish miles to Dallas, so I'm thinking that I would be fine as far as mileage goes, but if I rent a truck I still have to pay for gas and hotels, etc. These trucks get about 12 mpg on the freeway, so at $4/gallon that's an extra $440 in gas at least, not to mention food and lodging. I'm thinking that this option, in total, will cost me about $1600 when all is said and done, plus will take 4 days (1 to load, 2 to drive, 1 to unload).
   
2. U-Haul Trailer - I could rent a small trailer to hitch behind our car/truck. To pick one up in my hometown and drop it off in Dallas 6 days later would cost about $150. Now, the added expense here would come from the mileage and money put into our personal vehicle. Since I'm not planning on taking my car to Dallas, we would probably use one of my parent's cars. We have a hybrid and a small truck, and odds are we would end up taking the small truck (it's older and an extra car, anyway, so no one cares about the added mileage...plus it's tiny and gets good gas mileage). The bad thing about this option would be that someone (probably my dad) would have to drive the truck to and from Dallas, and one of these trips he would be by himself. :/ Total I think that this option would end up costing about $650.
   
3. ABF U-Pack Pods - This option is the least amount of stress. The pod is delivered to my house, I pack it, they pick it up and 4 days later it's dropped off in front of my apartment in Dallas. The contents are insured, so that's another worry off of my mind. It is pricey though, and we're looking at about $900 for the door-to-door service. In addition to that price, I would have to get a plane ticket to Dallas for myself, which is an additional $200, so our total out the door would be around $1100. STILL, it does make it exponentially easier and less stressful on me, which makes it more valuable.
   
4. Two Suitcase Limit - In this option my dad and I fly out to Dallas, and whatever I can pack with me in two suitcases (technically three, since my dad wouldn't need two) is what I end up starting with in Dallas. Of course, this means that the big things -- my bed, my amazing bookshelf, my books, and my mementos and knick-knacks -- couldn't come with me. I would have to sell everything possible before leaving and use the proceeds from that to set myself up with some Craig's List and IKEA furniture before school starts. I might ship myself a box or two of books before moving, but other than that...no comforts of home. While this option is the cheapest (only the price of a plane ticket), it's the least amount of "stuff," and it would probably cost me more in the long run to replace my stuff than it would just to move my stuff.
   
5. Road Trip - In this option we load the little truck down with as much stuff as it can hold, strap the mattress with a tarp over it on top, and take a road trip to Dallas. This option would fit an amount of stuff somewhere between options #4 and #2, which is doable without being outrageously expensive to supplement once I'm in Dallas. This option would probably cost about $500 in gas, food, and lodging.

So, those are the options I'm weighing right now. I think ultimately it will probably come down to my dad, who is the one who's going to be doing the lifting and taking the time off to move me in. It's kind of an overwhelming amount of information to process, isn't it?

Signing Your Life Away is Ridiculously Easy These Days

I'm a blessed girl. I know that I am for a variety of reasons, but this time I'm saying it specifically for one: I have no student loans from my undergrad days. Zero. I'm lucky, because my family was able to pay for all of my expenses after my rather large scholarship was deducted from my tuition, so I have no debt after four years. That's a nice feeling, especially seeing as how a lot of my friends weren't so fortunate.

So, after two years of working, I also have a little bit of cash saved up -- not a lot, mind you, as I did take a fabulous month-long trip to Europe, two trips to Cabo, and a major repair on my car. But enough that I can comfortably move into my apartment and set it up and probably put down a decent down payment on a car.

But definitely not enough to pay for three years, or even a single year (or really, even a semester) of tuition, fees, and expenses (personal or otherwise) at SMU. So I'm definitely going to have to take out loans. And for a first-timer like me, this can be a confusing and scary process. FEAR NOT!

Even though SMU moves at a snail's pace with financial aid (I'm basing this off of the boards on TLS as well as the fact that I filed my FAFSA back at the beginning of April and have heard NOTHING from SMU since then), there are still steps that you can take to get everything on track so that when the school finally releases your decision you've got a head start.

First, head over to studentloans.gov. This is the Federal Government website all about student loans. From here you can complete your loan education, apply for loans, and fill out all of the necessary paperwork to get your loans. You will need to sign in with your pin from your FAFSA filings, so have that pin handy, or request a duplicate on the website.

First, take your loan entrance counseling. Anyone who takes out federal student loans will need to complete this and it takes 15 minutes or so if you read through everything quickly. You read a section and answer the easiest questions ever down at the bottom. Hint: almost all of the answers are either "true" or "all of the above." I'm serious.

Then, apply for your GradPLUS loan. It's a simple, four-step process, and you'll get an immediate decision as soon as you submit. If you're not approved they'll let you know what steps you need to take to get approved, and give you the forms for a cosigner and all of that good stuff. If you are approved, they'll send your approval directly to the school within 24 hours, so that way when your FinAid decision comes through there's not a waiting period before you can accept it!

After filing an application for a GradPLUS loan, you should complete Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) for the loans you'll be taking out. Most people will need two -- one for the GradPLUS loans and one for the Stafford loans. Most of the forms autofill if you've already filled a loan application, and it really doesn't take the 30 minutes that the website estimates. Mine took, like, five? Eight for both...

Make sure you print and save these MPNs in a very safe location, as a lot of your high risk data is on this form.

In total, the whole process, from logging on to getting approved to printing and filing my MPNs took less than half an hour. They make it far too easy to sign away your life to the government these days.

You know what bugs me?

So I was talking to one of my friends that is planning on attending law school this upcoming year like me. As we were chatting, she casually mentioned that she will probably be transferring to the T14 (or at least a seriously higher ranked school than where she will be going, which is ranked between 60 and 95). I asked her why she felt this way, and she said that with her grades in undergrad she couldn't have gotten into the schools she "deserved" to be in, but that after finishing in the top 10% of her class, she'll most likely be able to get into at least Cornell or Northwestern, probably even Penn or Michigan.

I'll confess, I almost did a spit take. Look, if you have lofty aspirations, that's fine. That's good, actually. Those goals and dreams will help drive you to work harder, and you're more likely to be more disciplined if you have a specific goal in mind. 

But expecting that you'll be in the top 10% of your class just because you're you and you're smart? Puh-lease.

Look, pretty much every law school, even down to Cooley, will have at least a few seriously smart kids. Smarter than you. (Just putting that out there.) And the higher up in rankings you go, the smarter your classmates will be, and the more competition you'll face for a spot in the top 10% of your class. 90% of the people you go to school with won't be in the top 10%. 

Odds-wise, I'd say it's much more reasonable to expect to be in the bottom 90% than in the top 10%. It's a numbers game, after all. And if you are in the top 10% -- good for you! That will open a lot of doors for you! You're more likely to get a good SA position and more likely to be able to transfer, if you so desire.

But don't go to one law school planning on outscoring the dummies who went there only because they couldn't get in anywhere higher ranked and then transferring to a top ranked school. It's just not going to happen that way. You're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment if you choose this path, and then two years down the road you'll be stuck at a school you don't want to go to, with debt you won't be able to pay off because you were too busy trying to transfer to make any valuable networking connections.

Work hard to be in the top 10%. Be diligent and disciplined, because natural ability will only take you so far. But don't put all of your eggs in that basket, or you'll end up with a not-so-delicious omelet.

My Reading List for the Summer

I only have 52 days before the big move, and I'm using this time not only to work, but also to tie up any loose ends I have here in my hometown, get my shiz packed and ready to go, hang out with friends, and generally relax and have fun.

The way I relax? I read. Trashy romance novels, young adult science fiction, historical fiction, you name it. And I've got a pretty extensive list of things I need to read before I head to Dallas. Well, before school starts, anyway. I'm going to have two weeks in Dallas to acquaint my self with the area, set up my new digs, and (hopefully) see one of my oldest friends graduate from Tech.

Yeah, he's just now graduating. He's on the Van Wilder college plan.

ANYWAY, here's a small sample of the things I'm going to attempt to read before the end of my summer. I'm going to try my hardest to stay away from the romance novels, since I can read those in a few hours and have already read most of the ones in my house. I can always reread my favorites on my (limited) down time once 1L starts as a way to de-stress.

Just Like Heaven (Julia Quinn)
My Life in France (Julia Child)
The Botticelli Secret (Marina Fiorato)
Bitch-Proof Suit (De-Ann Black)
The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova) -- I've been working on this one for FOREVER. So close to done.
House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds (Stephen Berry)
Heaven is for Real (Todd Burpo)
Game of Thrones series (George R. Martin)
Bossypants (Tina Fey)
The Romanovs: The Final Chapter (Robert K. Massie)
The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown)
A Year in the World (Frances Mayes)
Debutante Divorcee (Plum Sykes)
Summer at Tiffany (Marjorie Hart)
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson) -- late to the game, I know.
Day of Infamy (Newt Gingrich)
Thanks for the Memories (Cecilia Ahern)

I also want to reread a few of my favorite sci-fi series. I already reread all 7 of the Harry Potter books last month, and I'm done rereading the Hunger Games, so I want to start in on Catching Fire and Mockingjay, and finish up the summer with my very favorite series, The Belgariad (and the sequel series, The Mallorean). If you're at all fond of the Harry Potter/Hunger Games/Uglies genre, you should DEFINITELY read these series. I think there are 10 books in total, 5 in each series, and they're very very very good. The author is David Eddings.

So, does anyone have any must-reads that I should pick up over the summer?

But What I Really Wanted to be...

Yes, I'm going to law school. But what I really wanted to be was...

A purse/accessories buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue. Siiiiiiiigh.

Checking out Apartments around SMU

So today I spent a few hours on the phone with various leasing offices around the University Park area of Dallas. Exhausting and confusing, to say the least. It's difficult to assess an apartment building and address when you're not familiar with the city in which you will be living. So I took exhaustive notes, and hopefully, with the help of my dad and maybe a friend who is familiar with the Dallas area, I'll be able to make a smart, informed decision about where I want to live and how much I'm willing to pay.

The apartments that I visited when I was in Dallas last time that weren't in the Village were all too expensive for me to live in on my own, and so I originally planned to go back to Dallas at the end of June/beginning of July to figure out a few other options and visit with some leasing agents. Now, because of family schedules, that's looking like it might not be possible. Soooo, not only am I finding an apartment in unfamiliar territory, I may also be signing a lease sight unseen.

Scary stuff, right?

Well, I've talked with a bunch of leasing offices within the Village: The Cliffs, The Corners/Corners East, The Bend/Bend East, The Gate, and The Meadows. Apparently they are tearing down of the building to start construction on a new building, and so the tenant of the Bluffs have moved into other buildings throughout the Village communities, so not only is there a decreased availability, there is an increase in rate as well. This is a bummer, but probably not a barrier to my living there. Rent in Dallas is still less than rent in Santa Barbara (although considerably more than rent at my parents' house, which after utilities is a whopping $0).

As it stands, the least expensive 1/1 in the Village for a 10 month lease starting on or around August 1 would be about $730. I think that both the Bend East and Corners East had apartments at that rate. My preference in the Village would probably be to live in the Cliffs, because it has a gated parking lot and comes with alarms on the apartments, but apparently most of the people displaced from the Bluffs are moving into the Cliffs, and so there is zero availability as of now.

We're still 60(ish) days out from my move, so within the next 30 days things should be opening up, so I'll have to check back. As of now I'm on the wait list at the Gate and the Cliffs, and hopefully everything will work out.

Contrary to popular TLS wisdom, there are more places to live than just the Village. :) One place that has come recommended was a building called Cambridge Court Apartments. They, too, are gated, and are cheaper than the Village, but they lack some of the amenities of the Village properties and are a little bit (maybe 5 minutes) farther away from school. BUT, on the plus side, they offer a student discount, so that's good. I hate to consider somewhere that I haven't seen, and I haven't been able to check out these particular apartments, but the property has a pretty decent score on apartmentratings.com and the pictures look nice.

Siiiiiigh. Moving 1200 miles away from home when you don't have a dorm room (and the attached conveniences of one) waiting for you on the other end is turning out to be trickier than I thought it would.

Moving 1200 Miles = Good Time to De-Clutter

So, since it's summer - and by "summer" I mean the summer before law school - I've started working more often than not on my own schedule. I still have just as much to get done, but I'm lucky enough that I'm able to do it from home (or really anywhere that I have the internet and a phone), or at weird times. And so I've been able to get a lot more done on my time "off."

One thing that I've been working on this week is de-cluttering my life. I am a saver, a clothes horse, and a bibliophile, so I tend to have quite a lot of stuff packed into not so much room.

When I packed up my life the first time, in 2005 after graduating high school, I threw away a lot, took a majority, and stored some stuff in my parents' garage. Then when I packed up my life the second time, in 2009 to move back from college, I threw/gave away most of what I owned, but still managed to fill a Ford Explorer so full that I had to rely on just my side mirrors during my 32 hour, cross-country trip.

This time around, I'm trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible before the big move. I have learned over the years that the only way to pick over your closet thoroughly is to evaluate your full wardrobe as often as possible. If you're just going through things once a year, you'll never get rid of anything, because you'll always think, "Oh, I might wear this." You've got to be critical of your closet at least once a week for a month to be able to truly let go of the things you'll never wear.

At least, you do if you're me.

So, for the last month I've been organizing and reorganizing my closet, trying to get rid of as much junk as possible. I've had quite a few, "what was I thinking," moments, but on the whole I think I'm much happier now that I've gotten rid of three contractors bags full of clothing, and one full of shoes (what can I say? I have a big closet). PLUS there are always lots of good causes looking for new or gently used clothing donations. Personally, I donated my clothes to Teen Challenge. Often the kids that go to Teen Challenge have only one set of clothing to make it through the whole program, so it feels good to donate clothes to the people who will need them and appreciate them the most.

After attacking my current closet, my attention shifted to the garage. When I moved to Ohio I left a shelving unit full of stuff that I was sure I was going to need someday in the garage. Now I know why my dad rolled his eyes. I have not even thought about the stuff in the garage more than a handful of times, and out of the twelve or so bankers boxes I've left, I've probably "needed" one. So I went out there and pitched pretty much everything.

It felt good.

So, if you're planning to make a move farther than a 2 hour drive for law school, do yourself a favor. Attack your clutter early. You really don't want to get down to the final week at home and still have to worry about getting rid of half of your worldly possessions. It will make the remaining time you have with your family and friends more stressful. Start going through your clothes, books, knick knacks, and furniture now, selling what you can, donating anything that's left over, and generally de-cluttering (and thereby de-stressing) your life.

You won't need all of that stuff in law school.

I'm in a Glass Case of (Stress) Emotion!

I know that it's been (gasp) almost a whole week since I've updated here. There's a good reason for that, I promise you: I've been sooooo insanely busy with everything in my life that I literally haven't had a half hour to myself that didn't have something to be done in.

I guess I'd better get used to the feeling before next year, right?

Well, aside from being so busy -- or maybe because I've been so busy -- I've been incredibly stressed about the impending move and all of the worries that go along with it. I've been trying to book my flight to Dallas at the end of June to find an apartment, trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my car, what I'm going to do with my furniture, how I'm going to move all of my stuff 1400 miles, how to go about applying for student loans, how I'm going to pay for everything, etc. etc. etc. I've also begun the process of targeting firms for 1L SA positions, getting a mail merge ready (where it's needed) and figuring out cover letters and resumes, since I know I won't have time come November.

My head's going to explode one of these days.

And because I was seriously so stressed about all of the things I just mentioned, plus a couple of things in my personal and work lives that have hit snags, I kiiiiiiiiind of had a mini-meltdown late last week. I cried and vented and pondered aloud, and then when it was done and I had prayed about it, I came away with a much clearer head about the whole thing.

I mean, yeah, I still have a CRAPLOAD of things to figure out, but I just have to take things one at a time, and I trust that everything will work out the way it's supposed to.

So, yeah. That's what I've been doing. I'll get back on the updating train soon, I promise.

Reliable Transportation -- Worth More Debt?

So here's an issue I'm struggling with right now...is taking a loan out for a car right before law school advisable?

Now, before everyone starts shouting, "NOOOOOO," and/or laughing at me uncontrollably, let me explain. Now I know that I'm going to need reliable transportation while I'm in law school, especially since I'm going to school in Dallas. Yes, Dallas has fairly extensive public transport options, and it's not 100% necessary to have a car, but it would make life about a million times easier, so we're calling it a necessity.  I have a car in California, but it's old...it got me faithfully through college, and it certainly wasn't new then, and I feel like it might be on its last legs.

My original plan was to pack my car up and drive it to Dallas, and then drive it until it crapped out. I mean, I paid cash for it, so I don't have any debt on it, it's in good external condition, and while the transmission might be wearing down, I did just have the brakes done, and it could (probably) get through another three years of daily driving.

But, do I want to chance it? I mean, if I do drive it until it literally craps out on me, then what do I do? I'm not going to be working during law school, so I won't have any money to buy a new one, and by then I'll already have the expenses of law school...loans, living, etc. And I won't even be able to sell it and use the little money I could get for it as a down payment or anything. I'd definitely have to ask my parents to help me out, and to be honest, I really don't want to do that unless I have to.

If I go ahead and drive it to Dallas and then sell it there, my only concern would be that the car's transmission might go out on the road from here to Dallas. Then I would be stuck on the side of the freeway in the southwest US in the middle of summer, and I'd have no choice BUT to pay for the repair to the car, so then I'm stuck with it.

If I sell it here in California, then drive around one of my family cars for the rest of the summer, I have to move back to Dallas by packing everything possible into suitcases and flying back there. Then I have two choices: I can either buy a car for the money I have now + whatever I get for my current car, or I can take out a loan and get a new car with a warranty and everything.

I don't need a BMW. I just need something that will get me from point A to point B and hopefully won't cost me a lot (or anything) in maintenance between now and 2014.

I guess I've just got a lot of thinking/number crunching to do. I hate number crunching.

Writing a PS without a Tragic Life

If you frequent the TLS boards, you've no doubt read through threads upon threads of people posting their personal statements as examples or for critiques. When I was going through the process of planning and writing my own PS, I definitely drew a lot of advice and inspiration from reading the personal statements of those who went before me.

Pretty much every single PS I read on TLS dealt with some sort of tragedy in the upbringing of the writer. Whether the death of a parent, the loss of a home, the incarceration of a sibling, the drug abuse of a family member, or a battle through some terrible disease, each of the personal statements I read focused on overcoming the obstacles they've faced in life. I see where they're coming from...from a topic statement, their lives are pure PS gold.

There's just one problem: I don't have a tragic past. I'm a white female from a happy and prosperous middle-class family. My parents have been married for 28 years, they're still together, none of my sisters is a raging alcoholic, drug addict, parolee, etc. I've had a normal, healthy, well-adjusted life in a white-bread sort of town. What on earth do I have to write about?! I remember moaning to my parents in my writing haze that my life (at that point) would have been so much easier if one of them had had cancer, or had been in prison.


Don't worry, I didn't actually mean it.


But I did have to think a little harder about what to write. Writing a PS is like toeing a fine, fine line between sincere and genuine or trite and overwrought. Just a little too much emotion or pushing can really make your PS head downhill faster than Heroes after the middle of the second season.

So I have a few tips for those of you planning on writing your PS over the summer in order to get a head start on the cycle (this is a very smart idea, by the way!). Now, bear in mind, these are just my personal thoughts and tips, they definitely aren't the end-all, be-all to PS writing. What do I know? I'm just one applicant.

Here are my thoughts:

• I feel like everyone and their mom writes about the death of their grandparent. Seriously. I must have seen no fewer than 18 PS drafts that mentioned the death of a grandparent and how the writer worked hard in school because they know that's what their grandparent would have wanted for them. If I've seen that many, imagine how many the adcomms have seen.
• Don't try to make a situation sadder or more dramatic than it is. Readers can tell that it's forced. Okay, you broke up with your high school sweetheart, who you thought was "the one." That's terrible, we feel for you, but unless you're somewhat mentally/chemically imbalanced, this should not have been the impetus for your three suicide attempts. If you are feeling clinically depressed or suicidal, please get help. If you're just trying to connect or relate with someone who might know how you're feeling about a break up, don't make it sound worse than it was.
• In general, don't write about a break up. Period.
• It is okay to let your voice come through your PS. You don't need to be 100% formal 100% of the time. If you try to be business like and write formally, you're going to come across as either arrogant, soulless, or like you're trying too hard. My topic was tongue-in-cheek, and I inserted a few silly one-liners in order to show the adcomms that I don't take myself too seriously.
• On the other hand, don't go too far in the other direction. This can't read like the transcript of your stand-up monologue. Don't swear, don't use slang unless you define it, try to include as few contractions as possible, and PROOFREAD PROOFREAD PROOFREAD. People are judging you based on this one two-to-three page essay.

My PS was about clumsiness. Kind of. Basically, I wrote about signing up for an advanced flamenco class when I was in college. I'm not exactly the most coordinated person in the world, and I knew ahead of time that signing up for this class was signing myself up for something where I'd have to work twice as hard to look half as good as my more experience and better coordinated class mates. But I did it anyway, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could, and I enjoy the challenge of pushing myself to get through things at which I am not naturally gifted.

Earth shattering stuff? Nope. But I think it was just light enough to convey my point without bashing the reader over the head with it. It probably made the adcomms smile a time or two. And it accurately reflected my personality, and the approach I'm going to try to take to law school.

Ultimately, you have to write a PS that shows the adcomms who you are while getting the point across that you are a good writer and would be a good addition to their program. You don't need to be Little Orphan Annie in order to write a startlingly poignant PS. My best piece of advice is this: write about what you know, not what you think they want to see.