<p>I had a great time my 3 years in law school. I hung out mainly with other grad students, dated & nearly married a wonderful grad student, went to classical music concerts and coffee houses, participated in camping, hiking, bike riding, gymnastics. My niece is now graduating from law school & has had a wonderful 3 years as well. My younger brother loved his law school experience & met the woman he has since married. My older brother found law school very competitive & intense & tolerated it (won't talk about it & don't think he enjoyed it much--endured it). We're all so different--there were very intense folks at my law school but I chose to socialize with grad students rather than law students & loved the perspectives I gained by discussing their research & classes--it helped me be grounded to a larger world outside of law school. My roommate was a grad student from another country studying chemistry--she read classics in their original language for fun (she was intense). Folks I knew differed on what they enjoyed--some drank socially, some drank heavily, some didn't drink at all, some took drugs, while others were high on life.<br>
SOME law students put their social lives on hold when they go to law school while others are able to strike a good balance between studying & socializing (just like everything else). The ones I gravitated toward were those who were able to strike a balance between studying & socializing similar to mine. Those who put their social lives on hold seemed very stressed & projected the stress wherever they went. Partly, it depends on the student & partly it depends on the atmosphere of the law school. Over-generalizing, CA & OR & HI (West Coast) law schools tend to be more cooperative & less "cut throat" than what I've heard about East Coast law schools.</p>
<p>HIMom makes an excellent point - if you (and other law students) can get out of the law school mode, it will be a much better experience.</p>
<p>For various reasons, my law school is very insulated. It's all law students, all the time, which makes for quite the "bell jar" atmosphere. During October of 1L year, I was thrilled to take a road trip with a friend who lived a few hours away - just spending time with someone who has never been to law school, does not attend law school, and never wants to go to law school.</p>
<p>I would not say that law school is X-rated... maybe I just hang around with too many Christians for that. ;) I'll go with PG-13 or maybe an R (for the cursing during finals time).</p>
<p>As for high school... picture this. You are handed your schedule when you arrive; you're taking all of the same classes as everyone in your grade. The only differences are when you meet and who teaches the course. There are no majors or specializations. It's a small atmosphere - the entire school is between 500 and 1000 students. Everyone knows each other within the first month. People gossip because there's nothing else to do, get catty, get cliquish (big enough for cliques, small enough so that it's not a group of friends), and get competitive, because they are all striving for the same brass ring. </p>
<p>Sounds like high school? Or law school? </p>
<p>Imagine high school. Add in a $50k/year price tag, alcohol, and sex - voila! Law school! </p>
<p>Everyone is always up in each other's business - flying below the radar becomes an art form. The best one was when I realized that people from other law schools gossiped about me. I am not that exciting of a person.</p>
<p>"Add in a $50k/year price tag, alcohol, and sex - voila! Law school!"</p>
<p>I had the alcohol and sex part already in High School. Gotta love the NYC educational system</p>
<p>Well, in law school, you buy it yourself.</p>
<p>I hope you are referring to the alcohol;).</p>
<p>Who buys their own alcohol? ;)</p>
<p>I have a good friend of mine who looks at least a good 10 years older than all of us, so haha... And in law school we can all buy our own if we want, lol...</p>
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And in law school we can all buy our own if we want, lol...
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<p>Sure, but why buy your own when you can have it given to you?</p>
<p>I kid...sorta.</p>
<p>Still wonder about the question. CaN you name at least some law schools where you can work/study hard but still have a life and moderate rather than major stress?</p>
<p>SO much depends on the individual involved, his/her preparation & aptitude for law, his/her resources & disposition. I know folks who LOVED their time in law school while others attending the same place hated it. </p>
<p>GROSSLY generalizing, from what I've heard & read, law schools in the west are relatively more collaborative & less "cut throat" & competitive than those in the east. Also, schools which have other types of grad students living with (& thereby mingling with) the law students also tend to be a bit more "rounded." Not sure what the point of naming particular schools, since the individual experiences are so different among students.</p>
<p>Some law schools I know of where at least some students graduated while keeping some balance (i.e. "had a life") are UHawaii, UCLA, UCDavis (in the 80s), Willamette U (in the 90s).</p>
<p>Dogs, within each law school class the atmosphere entirely depends on how hard you want to work. Virtually everyone who gets into law school is capable of doing extremely well, but if you choose to do the minimum, your life will be much less stressful--until you start looking for a job. My 300 person law school class had, at the top, kids who were as cut throat as you could imagine, and at the bottom, total screw offs who used Gilbert's (the law school equivalent of Cliff's Notes) to study and just skated by. The academic experience in law school is totally what you make it.</p>
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<p>Can you name at least some law schools where you can work/study hard but still have a life and moderate rather than major stress?</p>
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<p>Since this thread has been revived...depending on what kind of job you want, the answer is either the top 6 law schools, the top 10 law schools, or the top 14 law schools. If you graduate from a top 6 school, you're pretty much guaranteed a high-paying job if you want it and a lower-stress, lower-paying job if that's what you prefer. So that's by far the best way to minimize stress.</p>
<p>Ariesathena...you're a *****.</p>
<p>I realize that this is like 4 months after the fact, but I just saw this thread. </p>
<p>FYI: There are plenty of bars, plenty of concerts, plenty of community events that occur in both Lincoln and Omaha, b/c surprise! they both happen to metropolitan populations of 280k and 815k respectively. The Men's College World Series is played in Omaha every year.</p>
<p>Oh, and rural NE has plenty of cows...but Nebraskans are smart enough to know that cow-tipping is dangerous to both you and the cow.</p>
<p>I was kidding! No need to get upset. Besides, we all know that I go to law school in a small town. (The one upside to that is, since there's literally nothing else to do, we do get to know each other well.)</p>
<p>As for finding law schools that have a social atmosphere - after talking to students at different law schools and driving by one on a Friday afternoon, I'll suggest my Friday Afternoon Test. </p>
<p>Vist a law school on, you've guessed, a Friday afternoon. Are the students studying? Are they cooped up in the library and hoping to get out by 10 pm? Or are they playing softball outside? </p>
<p>Must say, I do like the fact that Friday afternoons are sacred at my school. I drove by another school one Friday around 7 pm and saw that the lot was full of cars. I asked someone later about that - he said that yes, everyone does stay in the library on Fridays, just studying through the night.</p>
<p>I vouch for BigRedMen. There is more than meets the eye..</p>
<p>Nebraska rocks! In fact, Omaha, NE was rated by CNN money as the 7th best big city to inhabit within the USA.</p>
<p>We have a great education system here. Many of our best students aren't pretentious; they don't brag about their college's ranking in US News. Rather, they earn a degree at UNL in engineering or in some other subject that is actually practical. While east coasters waste their money paying for a college that manicures its hedges to perfection, all while earning a degree in Underwater Basketweaving, Nebraskans get a down to earth education and save their money. </p>
<p>In Nebraska, UNL and Creighton Law School are highly regarded, and academic success at these institutions will most certainly lead to a sound job -- one that pays decent (mind you the prices are lower here than on the east and west coast) and one that may very well let you have a family life!</p>
<p>In conclusion, Nebraska has a superior education system as well as a superior work force.</p>
<p>Ok.....Yay Nebraska????</p>
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While east coasters waste their money paying for a college that manicures its hedges to perfection, all while earning a degree in Underwater Basketweaving, Nebraskans get a down to earth education and save their money.
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<p>Emphasized for stupidity.</p>
<p>(Tut mir Leid, weil ich das sagen muss. Später.)</p>
<p>You do realise that you directed that comment to an engineer, right? ;)</p>
<p>Yes, I do know that, whch I admire...engineering seems so difficult.</p>
<p>Heh, nspeds. Don't take me seriously.</p>
<p>Since I'm not literate in German, I had to refer to Babel Fish. Oh by the way, Nebraskans are too practical to learn a language when you can simply use Babel Fish as a substitute. :-)</p>
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Tut mir Leid, weil ich das sagen muss. Später.
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<p>Wrong does to me, because I must say. Later.</p>
<p>Either 1) I'm bad at even understanding translations 2) Babel Fish sucks or 3) Your German was wrong</p>
<p>It's probably number one.</p>
<p>If you go to freetranslation.com, it says, "I am sorry because I must say that," which is much less poetic than Blaze's translation. Nevertheless, the "Yeah, I'm the nerd that has to write in German in response to a comment about being practical with one's education," theme remains.</p>
<p>German's on my list, but Latin is consumming my time at the moment.</p>