smsteph

Does anyone know if the JSP PhD program at the law school usually provides typical grad school funding (as opposed to law school funding, which doesn't really exist)

I was admitted off the waitlist after posting. I am trying to decide whether to go.

Hi, I live in Atlanta and have lived here on and off for the last 12 years. I currently live in West Midtown (near Georgia Tech - highly recommend for Tech students but avoid Home Park) and have lived in Virginia Highlands aka VaHi (very close to Emory and very popular with the recent grad crowds), and Inman Park (also fairly close to Emory). I went to Emory as an undergrad and am mostly familiar with where I've lived and that area. If you live in Atlanta then you need a car. Yes, you can live really close to your school and get by with shuttles and stuff but it will often be a pain if you do not have one and it will greatly limit your housing choices. Reliable public transportation is not a reality in Atlanta. MARTA trains are reliable but their lines are very limited and there are genuine safety concerns during off peak times. The buses are wholly unreliable. I don't have experience with commuter buses so I can't say anything about those. Nevertheless, I highly recommend against living Outside the Perimeter of I-285 (aka OTP). You DO NOT want to drive in from the suburbs if you value your time or your sanity. Yes, it is cheaper to live out there. No, it is not worth it. Anyone who treks in from Smyrna to downtown Atlanta is a much more patient person than I. If you are going to Emory, here are some suggested areas with a variety of price points: area immediately surrounding Emory North Druid Hills Downtown Decatur Candler Park Inman Park Little 5 Points Virginia Highlands Morningside A little farther out in various directions, you've got: Midtown Kirkwood Oakhurst For people going to Georgia Tech, I'd recommend Midtown and West Midtown. Georgia Tech is basically in the middle of the city so just look at it and go outward in a circle. You definitely don't want to go too far out and say, try to live in Downtown Decatur and try to go to Tech. It's not worth the hassle of driving back and forth. For GSU, you're still really close to Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward, Kirkwood, Grant Park, VaHi, Midtown, etc. Whoever said that you shouldn't live in or buy in Old Fourth Ward (O4W) is crazy. O4W is right off Inman Park and gentrification, for better or worse, has made it a good area to live in, even if it's a bit riskier (and therefore cheaper) than other areas. There are other neighborhoods I've left off, which I am sure are great, but just wanted to throw my experiences and perspective in the mix. I have paid (for all decent places): $850 for a 1BR in VaHi; $1150 for a 1BR in VaHi; $1200 for a 1BR in Inman Park; and currently $1600 for a 2BR TH with a garage in West Midtown (at MWest near Tech and convenient to GSU). At the first place I shared a W/D but otherwise I have had my own. Also, my favorite neighborhoods for living and walking to stuff are: VaHi; Inman Park, and Midtown. L5P is also great for walking around but I wouldn't want to live there. I think downtown decatur would be awesome for that but I haven't ever lived there.

Anyone still deciding on UCSB?

I'm applying for F14 and I'm working on rec letter writers. I've been out of school for a while and have two professors lined up to write letters. Should I get a third or should I use a former/current employer?

Hi, I've been reading comments on here for a while and you all give such helpful feedback that I thought you might able to give me some great advice, as well. I'm trying to decide where to apply - any thoughts? Broadly speaking, I'm interested in studying gender. More specifically, I am interested in studying gender and modern politics in the US (women's rates of participation, the War on Women, what lessons can be learned from the 2008 election and the reactions to Clinton and Palin), as well as reproductive rights in the US (which crosses over with the political aspect, but also from a legal standpoint), and I am also interested in comparative perspectives (women's participation in the upheaval in the middle east, their participation in nation building/re-building, understanding Islamic feminists). Given all that, I'm not sure where to apply. I've looked into the following schools: U Wisc UC Santa Barbara UC Berkeley Stanford Yale Harvard U Mass-Amherst UT Austin NYU Columbia Cornell U Mich I'm thinking of applying to: Yale Stanford UT Austin U Wisc UC Santa Barbara I did a lot of research and tried to figure out which schools had good matches in terms of faculty and/or good overall programs/schools with significant resources. Have I missed any schools that I should look into? Are any of the ones I'm interested in bad choices for non-obvious reasons? I'd like to limit my list to fewer than 8 schools, preferably 4-6. For reference, I already have a professional degree and have been out of school for five years. I just took the GRE and got a 170V/159Q. In professional school (a top 30 school), I was in the top 5% of my class. And, I have a few (non-soc) journal articles to my name. Thanks!

Hi, I am a law school grad and a former teacher for Kaplan's LSAT Testprep program. The two single most important factors in your law school application are your grades and your LSAT score. Oftentimes, your LSAT score, your GPA, and the name of your school are what get your proverbial foot in the door to even be considered by a school. It's only after you meet those threshold requirements that an admissions committee will look at your resume and your essay. Volunteering and work experience are very much secondary to your grades and LSAT score. It sounds like you are working really hard and are already spreading yourself very thin. Rather than spend any spare time you have volunteering for additional extracurricular activities, you should be spending that time on your studies. It sounds like you are doing well in school, but until you are making straight As, you can always do better. Nevertheless, for your own edification, I would recommend finding ways to expose yourself to the legal field through work, interning, or volunteering. Are you working at a law firm now? Have you ever? What do you want to do with your law degree? Have you interned/worked in that area? Answers to these questions will help you write your law school application essay and they will also help you know if you truly want to go to law school. Because, if you don't really want to be a lawyer then it probably isn't worth the money. All the best!