<p>Spoke to my D last night and she's up to her proverbial eyebrows with the academic workload in D.C. that's on top of her work day at the office. The classwork required is heavy compared to what her friends on UC internships are doing. Among other things, the UC interns' research papers have to be only about 25 pages, the Smithies' will be twice that and more.</p>
<p>She said that someone told her that this is the heaviest total load she'll have this side of 1L in Law School. I'm not sure that I can quite credit that but with most internships I don't think the associated classwork is <em>that</em> heavy. </p>
<p>In any event, the workload is heavy enough that she cancelled a weekend trip she was going to take to see friends in Chicago at the end of the month.</p>
<p>A datum.</p>
<p>However, the overall Smith experience is terrific. I feel like she hit the jackpot...but then I've felt that way about her and Smith on several occasions.</p>
<p>"She loves Smith, though she does report that the workload is pretty high." </p>
<p>The DAD</p>
<p>"The workload depends on the class. And some of the concern is overstated. Smith is pretty competitive but most of it is internally driven, not a competing-with-others kind of thing."</p>
<p>Ah. Different context. The second response was addressing a generalized concern about the workload being a grind overall; it's demanding but not impossible. The first response was in reference to the D.C. internship, which combines a 14-unit load with a 80-percent plus "day job" during the Fall semester. I note the "plus" because D is putting in overtime as required just like the regular staff. Not a lot of overtime but half an hour to an hour one or more days a week, after which she has to hit the books.</p>
<p>picker was definitely rough, workload-wise. commuting, grocery shopping, maintaining an apartment, working 4 days a week (plus some students get part-time jobs...I babysat once a week)....plus writing a 50 page paper? and going to class? i look back and don't quite know how it all worked out.
oh, and i learned to drive that semester. i must have been out of my mind. </p>
<p>on the plus side, i'd agree that when i think about all that it makes 1L year feel (a tiny bit) less draining. also, i just spent fall break with some of my picker buddies who are now working in dc, and their experiences while juniors have made a huge contribution to them getting the amazing jobs/apartments/connections that they have now.</p>