SMU Dedman School of Law ASD: A Review

So this past week I took a quick jaunt (alone, completely alone) down to Dallas to check out the SMU Dedman School of Law's Admitted Student's Day. I'd never been to SMU or Dallas, so I wanted to spend a little extra time checking it out, so I flew out of Bakersfield on Wednesday afternoon and flew back Saturday night. It was FABULOUS.

I wanted to take a little time before the program to look at apartment buildings, just in case I decided to attend, so on Thursday I went around to a few buildings that had come recommended to me by a friend, a realtor, and a few people on the TLS boards. I checked out at least 6 or 7 different floor plans in 4 different buildings in the Village, and then went to two buildings uptown. (For what it's worth, I think I'd rather live in the Village than uptown, just for convenience and traffic).

Then I went shopping around Mockingbird Station and drove through University Park, checking out a few of the houses (and getting some phone numbers for town houses and duplexes in the area). I went to dinner at a souffle restaurant called Rise No. 1, and it was great. Overall, I really enjoyed the vibe around (but off) campus.

The next morning I drove the three minutes from my hotel to SMU (I seriously could have walked, I think). We started our program in Carr Collins Hall with a meet and greet and a continental breakfast (and good coffee, thank goodness!). I kind of liked that while there was an undergraduate campus attached to SMU, the law quad was a little more isolated from the school than I had seen at other campuses (on the far northwestern corner of campus). It was like the best of both worlds. The law quad was picturesque with it's rotunda and scampering squirrels. Plus there were amenities that were solely for the use of the law students -- a law parking garage, the law library, and the lawyers inn (kind of like a convenience store/deli on the law quad just for law students), which is great.

After the opening remarks by Dean Attanasio (who started off with the questions "Why do you want to go to law school?" and "Why do you want to go to THIS law school?" and didn't seem at all surprised when he heard crickets for a good two minutes), the whole group headed to Professor Crespi's contracts class. It seemed a little preachy to me -- there was literally zero interaction between the prof and the students, and I felt like I was being talked at rather than talked to -- but a few current students eased my mind by saying that it normally wasn't that bad, that none of the other teachers were like that and that Crespi had tailored his lecture style a little because of all of the prospective students there. That was reassuring, at least.

From the class we split into smaller (well, small) groups and took "campus" tours. They weren't really tours of campus so much as they were of the law quad, but that was fine, because we hit the important points. My tour guide (Cassandra) was a 3L and very sweet and knowledgeable. She talked to us about the pressure of exams and where to live and eat off campus as much as she did about the number of volumes in the library, etc. It was a very well-rounded tour.

From the tour we went back out onto the quad for something everyone was calling "Hamburger Man." I don't know what I expected -- maybe someone in the Hamburgler costume entertaining us? -- but what I got was a nice little cook out. We sat at tables around the quad and soon TONS of students from every building were swarming out to get the food. It was good, because it gave us a chance to talk to really anyone we wanted, rather than the five pre-approved admissions workers.

After a leisurely lunch, we went back into a classroom for the "talking head" portion of the afternoon, but it wasn't as painful as I was expecting. Then the student panel (3 girls) came to speak with us. The thing I didn't like about that was that the admissions director actually stayed in the room during the Q&A, often interjecting answers to student questions. It's not like they were bad answers, but it did seem, at times, that her presence might have been holding the student panel back just a little bit...they had to be more guarded.

(Side note: It kind of makes me laugh that the most common thing I've heard from every law student at every law school I've visited is how much free food is available to law students. I just think it's funny how that's a serious topic of conversation.)

After the program had ended, I took a little stroll around campus, snapping a few photos for my folks and generally taking in the pleasant afternoon (it was about 78 degrees and sunny outside, how perfect!). The campus reminds me of a bigger, southern version of my undergrad -- well manicured lawns, red brick buildings, the whole shebang. I drove over to the rec center to check it out (swanky!), and then hit up "i heart yogurt" for an afternoon treat before heading to the bookstore to pick up a t-shirt and then back to the hotel.

There were far fewer parents at this ASD than at previous events at other schools that I had attended (a personal pet peeve of mine), everyone was REALLY friendly, the campus had a solid, easy-going vibe, which was important to me (I would imagine that 1L is stressful enough, you don't need the undercurrent of stress all over campus), and the location really can't be beat. University Park seems like a quiet suburb, but it's smack in the heart of things. The program itself didn't seem as structured or planned as the program at McGeorge, but was more interactive and enjoyable than my recent trip to Santa Clara. I enjoyed the opportunities for talking to older students that the program presented us with.

Overall, it was really a wonderful day, and really helped cement my decision -- but that's a story for a different post.

Santa Clara ASW: A Review

Well, this weekend found me making the (rather boring, but incredibly long) drive up the I-5 toward the Bay Area to take part in yet another Admitted Student's Weekend, this time at Santa Clara University. For those of you who have never driven up the I-5 through Central California, you're really not missing much. Cows. And rolling hills. That's all.

Hey, at least it's better than driving through Kansas.

But I digress. Santa Clara has been my top choice law school for a while now, and in spite of a recent bad experience with them, I decided that the ASW might be the perfect way to recapture that lost spark of interest. So I gassed up the hybrid and bought some twizzlers, and made the 5 hour trek up there (Santa Clara is actually only about 4 hours, but I drove up farther to visit my uncle in Marin County).

First and foremost, it POURED (like, we're talking "is-that-noah-over-there-building-an-ark?" poured) the whole time I was at Santa Clara. While I was lucky enough to have a rain coat and an umbrella in my car, I was not fortunate enough to have thought of packing my wellies, so I ended up walking around in my white canvas Toms all day. This has very little to do with the school itself, but my level of comfort probably affected a few of my observations.

Santa Clara is a BEAUTIFUL campus, and anyone who is considering it should definitely go visit. Aesthetically it's really pleasing - green, spanish style, close to the mission, across the street from the train station (so you could feasibly commute in from the city -- although hopefully you wouldn't try during 1L)...really just great. Santa Clara Law is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year -- wow. The streets are all hung with "SCU Law" banners, and I thought that was pretty nice!

The set up for the event was nice. Check-in was in front of the rooms in which the morning panels and classes were taking place, which was convenient. We were situated in Bannon Hall, which is where the majority of the law school and law classes are housed. The rooms were nice, well set-up so that every seat had a clear shot of either of the projection screens and the prof. There was at least one outlet for every seat, and the chairs were comfortable, but the lighting could have been better.

After hearing the dean speak for about 15 minutes (he took two questions, one about the rising cost of law school and one about legal fraternities and pretty much didn't answer either of them), two professors (Torts and CivPro) came in to do a quick question and answer session and discuss what the students could expect during their 1L year. A lot of people seemed like they were pretty nervous about the Socratic Method in application, and the professors did their best to allay the 0Ls fears. They also talked about time management and dedication (duh).

One interesting tidbit that stuck with me was something the CivPro prof said. She said, "Law school isn't really SCHOOL. It's the beginning of your profession. If you look at it in that way, I think you won't get caught up in the small, mundane stuff, and you'll make it through okay."

Then the contracts professor (Pope) came in to do a mock class. She had assigned three readings, and attempted to cover them all, but ran out of time before even getting to the third one. The readings were actually fairly interesting (they were about advertising and when advertising constitutes an offer and a contract) and the class seemed engaged. Personally this felt like an incredibly tame, soft version of what a class might be like. (Although I did take notes; one said, "Gunner in the back -- cute shoes, not cute attitude. Hands down, Hermione Granger.")

Unfortunately, since it was a Saturday we didn't get to sit in on an actual class to see the comparison.

After the contracts professor came the LARAW (Legal Analysis, Research and Writing) demonstration. It was supposed to be a mock class, but it DEFINITELY wasn't. The professor (Ekern) was engaging and interesting. It seems like the sections are split into smaller groups for LARAW, and that's where you learn lawyering skills. Prof Ekern definitely seemed like she would be a good resource for 1L students to go to when they had questions about the process of 1L. I was impressed.

THEN we had a panel of 6 students (5 FT, 1PT; one 1L, one 2L, three 3Ls, and one 3E) come in to talk about the student's perspective on SCU. I kept hearing over and over that the school was expensive. It seems like the debt load on these students is worrisome. While the students raved about the active alumni base and the ease of networking, I was a little wary, just based on the competition from the other Bay Area schools. However, two of the three 3Ls had jobs already lined up after graduation, and the third said she hadn't even been looking, that she's focusing on passing the bar. So maybe it's not all that bad. No one was suuuuper stressed about not having a job or not passing the bar, everyone seemed pleased to be there. The 2L and 1L both had internships lined up, the 2Ls was paid (with relocation).

The students were from a wide variety of practice interests (2 Public Interest, 1 IP, 1 Family law, 1 Intl. Law), and all seemed like they had a good experience in finding classes that suited them, which helped calm my nerves about going to such an IP-centric school. They also seemed to appreciate the opportunities afforded to them by being a part of a school with an attached undergraduate campus (sports games, choice of libraries, etc.), and none of them mentioned the undergrad campus being a distraction at all, which was also a worry of mine. It seemed to me that there wasn't much evidence of serious competition, either, which is good.

After spending literally the WHOLE morning in the same room, in the same seats, by the time lunch came around we were ready to stretch our legs. We walked a little ways to the Locatelli Center, past a heated Olympic-sized pool and the field that the San Jose Earthquakes (the local soccer team) calls home. Lunch was nice, veggie burgers and BBQ chicken, but there weren't assigned faculty/current students at each table, which made lunch kind of non-informative (for my table, anyway. I noticed a few tables with three or four professors or students, so the prospies at those tables must have been very informed).

After lunch we took a campus tour. It was the Saturday after Spring Break started, so it seemed like everything was closed. Not to mention my feet were wet and cold. We saw the (impressive) moot court room, the undergrad/grad dining facilities, the bookstore, the law library (fair -- not too new, but enough resources for all), and the two main law buildings, Bannon and Bergin.

Overall, I think that the experience was fair. They certainly didn't knock my socks off, and when I compare the effort McGeorge put into their ASW with SCUs I'm left a little disappointed. BUT, that being said, Santa Clara seems like it would be an amazing place to spend three years, and the students that I talked with all seemed incredibly pleased with their choices. It's well ranked, has 13 study abroad programs, a great reputation in Northern and Central California, and seems to put a lot of effort into preparing students to become lawyers.

In short, (or TL;DR, whatever): While Santa Clara didn't knock my socks off, they were impressive enough to stay on my very short list. I don't think choosing Santa Clara would be making a "wrong" choice.

Calling Law Schools

Calling law schools is always kind of nerve wracking. I don't want them to think that I'm one of those nagging gunners, or get so annoyed with me that they just pitch my file in the trash without even looking at it, but I NEED information. I HATE being at "file complete" for 4 months (I'm looking at you, McGeorge).

Today I called a few schools just to get some information about scholarships and possibly getting a travel stipend...visiting these campuses is even MORE expensive than applying! But knowing what a difference a campus visit makes (my visit to my undergrad choices is what sold me on my eventual alma mater, and made me decide that the "best on paper" school I was gunning for was definitely NOT for me) I can't possibly make this important decision without visiting the different school I'm seriously considering.

Unfortunately, DePaul doesn't offer travel stipends, and neither does SMU, so it looks like I'm going to Chicago and Dallas on my own dime.

Eek. I don't have many dimes lying around these days. Stupid economy.