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polisciapp

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Everything posted by polisciapp

  1. Law school is completely different than grad school. No one in adcoms actually reads those personal statements. All they do is look at your LSAT and GPA.
  2. polisciapp

    Atlanta, GA

    Thanks. Is the best way to find a place to go and look around the neighborhood?
  3. polisciapp

    Atlanta, GA

    Thanks for that info--it is helpful. I would like to live within walking distance (i.e., within 1 mile). Can I do that on $650 per month. When you said "2/3" miles do you mean two-to-three, or two-thirds?
  4. polisciapp

    Atlanta, GA

    So, what about Druid Hills? I'd like to live there, or somewhere close. I'm willing to have a roommate, but I don't want to spend more than $650
  5. Anotherrealist, I am deciding between two similarly ranked schools (US News). School 1 is by far the best place to live in terms of location and cost. The academics are good, but the placement is not as good as Schools 2. School 2 places fairly well--or at least more consistently than school 1. But the location is less than desireable. The rankings we are talking about are 25-30 in US News, a difference I view as negligible. I think my concern stems from the varying placement of school 1 v. 2. Should placement be my guide at all times? School 1 offers the most in the way of living if I need a break from studying--and seems to be the best place to live--but the program's past placement concerns me.
  6. Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? Did you say 27k? That is insanely high, at least from what I have been told. Would you mind sharing the school? That is 10k more than my highest offer!
  7. Not having a quant background really won't hurt you, or at least that what's I've been told my many profs--especially that the programs to which I have been accepted. Most profs won't go out and say it explicitly, but a JD from a top school definitely says something. Your publications may have an impact, depending on what you want to study. I think polisci is more quant focused, and programs DON'T want you write and research the same way you did in law school. I don't really know how grades will factor in, but if you go to HYS or even CCN, you probably don't have much to worry about, so long as you have above a 3.0. Like I said, though, that is a guess. Your letters will be fairly important--you want them to be as good as possible. Pick wisely. The most important element of your app is your SOP--BY FAR. Concentrate on this, rather than factors over which you have no control. A good SOP goes a long way.
  8. The rec's will generally not be a problem. Your law school experience will show schools you can do an advanced degree; however, it's not something that is particularly important. The clerkship, also, is probably not that important. Law and courts is a field typically devoted to empirical and statistical studies, rather than law-school-oriented publications--such as law reviews. I had certain professors tell me that law school can sometimes raise questions about applicants because PoliSci profs have had bad experiences with some law students (re: "I already know how to do research"). That being said, your experience will place you above certain applicants, but will not siginificantly bolster your application the way attending HYS would. Enjoy your clerkship(s)--they will be very rewarding I'm sure.
  9. *impatiently and with the pathetic urgency of someone who has been waiting four months* Anyone?
  10. polisciapp

    Ann Arbor, MI

    I disagree with this. I think Angelos is grossly overrated. I would head over to "Afternoon Delight" on E. Liberty. It has the best cinnamon french toast in town. There is another breakfast joint on main called "The Broken Egg," which I like a lot. Other than that, make a trip through the law quad and check out the law library. Both are very cool. In terms of living, it depends what you want to do. You can live almost anywhere--it's cheaper to live in a neighboring town, such as Yipsilanti, though. Most undergrads live close to campus. I'm not sure where all the grad students live, but lots of law students live in houses or apartments just a little farther from campus. I would recommend living as close to campus as you can reasonably afford since the winter walks outside are killer. Anywhere within a several block radius should do it. Driving in AA sucks because there is nowhere to park on campus--unless you finagle a pass, somehow.
  11. I am one of those people (I received the email)--I was just wondering if you had any further (inside) information.
  12. Does anyone know anything about the waitlist?
  13. Like it matters--anyways, you could characterize it as either. It was JOKE.
  14. I would disagree that UPenn is a top 20 program. I would say Top 50 would be more accurate. I think it has a good name (re: Ivy), but its department is not that strong--though it is probably a bit stronger than Pitt.
  15. I hope that typo wasn't in the email!
  16. polisciapp

    Taxes!

    Is this a joke? The government taxes people who make under 20k? Does the government really need my 1.5k more than I do? This is just silly.
  17. Not that it's really relevant, but I feel compelled to chime in because realist's take on graduate school is eerily similar to the perspective many have on law school. That perspective is this: only go if you get into a top school. Generally, as far as law school goes, that is fairly good advice IF you want to get a certain type of job. That is, if you want to be a legal academic (usually top 5 law schools) or a lawyer in a large firm (usually top 25 law schools), then go to a top school. But there are many lawyers who do not do either of these things; indeed, most lawyers do not. I would bet the same holds true for academics--if you want to go to an R-1 institution, you had better have attended one yourself--and it most likely will have to be the best. Most people who get PhDs, likewise, do not go to HYPS et al. and most academics do not teach at R-1 institutions. The trade-off in academia is perhaps larger (because not having a prime job makes life economically difficult), but the analogy is there. Also, the responses people have to this fact are generally the same. Most people have an "it won't be me attitude" or "I have to make the best with what I have." The latter person is resigned to working at a less-than-"prestigious" law firm or graduate school; and that is fine. This person will generally be content because their expectations are on par with reality. The former person deludes himself/herself into thinking that I can be the best because it's me. That's not true. I see lots of intelligent lawyers excluded from firms and clerkships based solely on the school they attended. This makes even less sense in law than graduate school since admission to law school is based almost entirely on the LSAT. Like I said, this is just an observation; but it has made me think that maybe I shouldn't go to graduate school unless I get into HYPS et al. Or, at least, it makes me think very hard about where I will go. Is Emory better than Northwestern? Is Ohio State better than WashU? One last note: the legal job market seems MUCH easier to break into once you attend a top school--you have your pick of city and firm. That does not seem to be true of academia--you have your pick of neither; you will be lucky to land an R-1 job.
  18. polisciapp

    Atlanta, GA

    Could you comment on the availability of rental housing in Druid Hills (or somewhere as close). I want to live very close to campus, and I don't want to live in a complex.
  19. It's not that I am offended by your tone, or that my comment was directed only at you. But you sound surprising like a lawyer!
  20. I'm really glad you made that last comment--the one about me not really knowing the answer. The truth is that none of us really know the answers to these questions, we are just speaking from out limited experience. It kind of irks me when people who got into X suddenly think they know everything there is to know about how to get into school X (or other schools like school X). But I digress . . . . I can tell you only what I have been told; I have no idea how i affected my application. Professors have told me that JDs used to be looked down upon, but it is becoming more fashionable now. Nevertheless, I think it created more hurtles than opened doors. Many people question your dedication to political science and the quantitative method--assuming that you want to focus on doctrinal legal concepts. Political science is not the place to do this--though political theory may lend itself to this a bit more. On the positive side, I think it shows a dedication to a particular topic, if not a focus within that area. Professors seem to take your interests seriously after you have spent three years going to professional school only to forego that very profession. Personally, I think law school showed me how much I would enjoy political science. It showed me what I would be doing if I was a lawyer, gave me the skills to do that, and encouraged me not to practice those skills in my profession. Instead, I felt I would be better served intellectual if I could apply at least some of those skills to a different discipline but study the same area, law, from a different perspective.
  21. This might be a good place to also post stats for posterity. I have not made my decision yet, so I will withhold that info until the appropriate time.
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