I think you should do whatever you think will put you in the best possible mental zone, scenario, and make you feel the least nervous. I tried to limit all of the factors that I could control prior that might add stress. For me, it would have been like driving to LAX (coming from Ventura county) so that’s how I judged how bad the drive might be. So I knew I’d never want to have to take a test after that because let’s face it, LA traffic is the worst and I get road rage easily lol. But I can’t personally attest to the Saturday AM traffic since I stayed there. Driving down there Friday night was HORRIBLE though. It took me 2 1/2 hours.

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Pretty sure I have bad news waiting at home from Irvine. lol This cycle is rough.

Oh no! What makes you say that? Re the bad news waiting

Bunch of letters were sent out recently. Both WL and rejections.

Side note: super irritating that some schools are still doing snail mail. I moved in to a new apartment a few weeks ago and informed every school, but I'm still nervous they will send stuff to the old address. I have my mail forwarded but that can take a week or 2 sometimes when they re-route it. Or sometimes the post office messes it up and just doesn't forward. It's a total crapshoot.

Wait, UCI is doing snail mail!? You have to check my physical mail box!? :worried:

YES. Snail mail, no status checker or anything. I saw some people post saying they got notices from USPS saying that mail was en route, but it sounds like not everyone got that notice either. So weird. Very 90s retro haha. Feels like when I applied for undergrad and we all had to wait and check the mail every day after school!

I got an email with my acceptance. With them it looks like acceptance via email and any scholarship info is contained within the actual acceptance package.

With my scholarship I still have loans so personally, I'm just going to accept the Federal Loans provided on my Award Letter that the school sent. I believe you must accept your award letter and then follow the guidelines. At least for undergrad, we had a deadline for when we had to accept our award letter by, provide a payment contract, etc.

Normally it starts with accepting or rejecting the loans. If you accept them, you have to go through the entrance counseling, complete the MPN, etc. Normally each school provides a detailed explanation as to the step by step process. If they don't, you can always call Financial Aid and ask them to further explain the process.

In terms of private student loans, I defer to others who have more experience with that. Let me know if you have any questions because I went through all of this for undergrad. :)

Many big law firms provide clerkship bonuses (as alluded to above). The higher the level of clerkship, the higher the bonus (often). It depends on what you want to do in terms of what level you should clerk at. Federal clerkships are also favored unless the state court is very highly regarded... like CA, NY, and Massachusetts. In order to get one, grades & being on some type of journal are arguably the most important. There are a lot of benefits but I'd say the top reasons would be interaction with litigants, discovery issues, motion practices, etc. and obviously the relationship you build with the judge you clerk for!

Still under review at Berkeley (week 7) and on week 10 of complete at Vandy /:

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I would highly recommend staying there the night before unless you live really close. I did and I don’t regret the extra money spent at all. If it’s not close to LA Live or something, it might be a good experience!

I don't know... Some people find it hard to fall asleep in a new place. For something like the LSAT, it could be a problem.

I agree with you completely! I woke up 2 a.m. and couldn’t go back to bed and then started having anxiety because I couldn’t fall back asleep. It was terrible. But that traffic can be even worse and I’d never want to endure that the morning of that test.

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@ hope i can change test center :(

I would highly recommend staying there the night before unless you live really close. I did and I don’t regret the extra money spent at all. If it’s not close to LA Live or something, it might be a good experience!

I took mine at the JW Marriott in LA in December. There were several hundred of us in a giant ballroom. It was irritating because we heard the music from LA Live faintly throughout the majority of the test (but enough for it to be slightly distracting and annoying).

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Snow is beautiful until you have to live in it, in my opinion lol. I LOVED the idea of snow until this winter when I spent about a week in it. It gets so dirty and gross and complicates so many things! So obviously, sun over snow. Mountains over grassland. Earthquakes over tornadoes 10000%. I’ve lived here my entire life and honestly never felt an earthquake. That’s why I think it’s so funny when people who get tornados all the time tell me that they could never move to CA because of the earthquakes lol. However, I do like the country over the city. I am actually not fond of LA.

What sort of hellish place could people live in where they get tornadoes all the time? As far as I'm aware there are usually one or two threatening storm systems per year in most of the most hit areas and sometimes those are accompanied by a tornado watch. If they are and one is spotted, then there is a tornado warning. The tornado usually passes by harmlessly over head while people hide in their basements or interior bathrooms. Every once in a while one touches down on one person's house if they are really unlikely. Additionally, they almost all happen in the summer when law students probably wouldn't be there.

Earthquakes on the other hand tend to level whole cities or small countries instead of jusst hitting one or two houses. On the other hand, serious ones are more rare than tornadoes.

That said, I would rather have 50 tornadoes in my county at the same time than one big earthquake. They'll do less damage since they like to float up into the sky instead of shaking the ground we build our buildings on.

I guess I'll have to get back to you when I actually experience a severe Earthquake lol. My sister actually slept through the Northridge earthquake which was a 6.7.... but maybe tornadoes are much scarier to those who have not lived in or around areas that actually get them, like myself.

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My interests are super Southern Californian, idk where else I can find commonality with most people in surfing yoga holistic healing vegan food.

&& Mexican food and sushi are not as good outside of SoCal I swear.

Today I learned that my interests are super SoCal.

We would definitely be friends.

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Snow is beautiful until you have to live in it, in my opinion lol. I LOVED the idea of snow until this winter when I spent about a week in it. It gets so dirty and gross and complicates so many things! So obviously, sun over snow. Mountains over grassland. Earthquakes over tornadoes 10000%. I’ve lived here my entire life and honestly never felt an earthquake. That’s why I think it’s so funny when people who get tornados all the time tell me that they could never move to CA because of the earthquakes lol. However, I do like the country over the city. I am actually not fond of LA.

I think personality plays a large role in this discussion of where y'all want to go to law school. It makes sense that for those who want to stay in Cali, must also love the people/company. Because I personally am in the "LA" of Florida, I mainly want to leave because of the people. I haven't heard anyone mention this reasoning for wanting to attend school in California which is surprising. Do you guys really like the people there, and their lifestyles? Only asking because in Boca and Miami it's pretty vapid, and pretentious... "born with a silver spoon" type. Even though theres cases lile that everywhere, I'd definitely say the people up North are a bit more humble, no??

Yeah... one very large downfall of So Cal. I also feel like it's just something that kind of comes with the territory.. unfortunately. You've got the "glamorous" LA life, Malibu, etc. I guess I feel like it's sort of the price you pay for having the other really wonderful qualities. I've spent a lot of time in the Mid-West and people are MUCH nicer there. Even the people that I meet on the planes going from CA to that destination are so much nicer. BUT, you find your people and your own trade off...

Snow is beautiful until you have to live in it, in my opinion lol. I LOVED the idea of snow until this winter when I spent about a week in it. It gets so dirty and gross and complicates so many things! So obviously, sun over snow. Mountains over grassland. Earthquakes over tornadoes 10000%. I’ve lived here my entire life and honestly never felt an earthquake. That’s why I think it’s so funny when people who get tornados all the time tell me that they could never move to CA because of the earthquakes lol. However, I do like the country over the city. I am actually not fond of LA.

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I would be cautious to rely on the ranking jump for Pepperdine.. I just found this on Reddit :neutral:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/8501vo/pepperdine_law_ranking/

Wow wow wow. Thank you so much for this! The ranking jump is what caused me to double think Pepperdine.

I've visited Pepperdine and really loved the campus and the people. I also work with 3 attorneys that went there... I definitely think your specific goals should guide your decision! For instance, when I was there, I met a girl that was in the interview process for a position with the Ventura County DA's office. But, as others have said, Loyola has the DTLA network.

UC Irvine :blush: :smiley:

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I am born/raised So Cal and have done a lot of traveling to the East coast for sports. For me, I couldn't honestly be okay with living long term in an area that gets pretty cold. Maybe it's because of the way I was raised or because I'm a weather wimp... but anything below like 60 is too cold for me.

The qualities of So Cal that I love are specific things that I don't feel comfortable sacrificing... neighborhoods, weather, atmosphere, nature (I love mountains and running on trails). That being said, from the vast number of attorneys I've spoken with, it's way easier going to LS in California and going out of state to practice than vice versa.

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Most importantly because West Coast is truly the best coast

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Living in California most definitely has its perks. You're a drive away from either the desert, the snow, or the beach. While I love the east coast vibe, I most certainly couldn't live there.

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Agreed. Location, location, location! California has several excellent schools and if you plan on practicing there (like I do) it's a no-brainer. Obvious exceptions could be made for attending T-14 schools on the East Coast but it's still a hard sell for many people who know they'll be living in Cali.

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Probably the climate. I don't think many coastal states see people hanging out at beach during the winter season, and there's something magical about being able to course one's way through the year without spending money on earmuffs and whatnot.

If you were to get offered a full ride, or a significant enough of money for attending law school on the East coast, or even Mid-west... would you? Or would you rather pay (for some of those) instate tuition, or in full because of the location?

I'm very interested that all of you guys who responded to this discussion gave a similar response. It's super intriguing for me to hear from people & their opinions/reasons!

It would depend if I felt as if either 1) I could see myself living there potentially for the rest of my life or 2) felt like the LS/Alumni was good enough to come back to Cali. I wouldn't want to put myself in a situation that may prevent me from being able to attain a job in Cali afterwards, should I want to return. I'm waitlisted at Northwestern currently but idk in comparison to UCI... just because I know the quality of life that I would have in a very different, very cold environment. Also, I have $$ at UCI so that helps lol

If I can't picture myself there being happy long term, I'm not going to do it.. regardless of the rank.

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YES YES YES

FWIW, I visited UCI yesterday and LOVED it. Such an awesome atmosphere.

I live on campus at UCI (in a PhD program though). Lemme know if you have any questions about the student or the area!

Whats the best housing for the quality and price? Palo verde?

Palo Verde and Verano are the best options, including off campus options too. They're pretty equal, depends more on the apartment type in the community. When you apply for housing you can apply with specific room types in both communities at the same time, so you can put you preferences down by price if you'd like.

They're on average the same quality, although PV is more variable (some not so good, others very nice) than Verano.

Zot zot!

Do you know if it’s true that there are pretty much no one bedrooms available in Palo Verde and Verano?? I’m bringing my cat so I’m super pumped those two allow you to bring them!! ?

Woah who said that??

Financial aid (unless I misinterpreted?). She said there’s a shortage in housing overall.

Ugh how are they going to follow up with their promise to guarantee housing

I have no idea lol. On the plus side, she did communicate that the housing app is a "best fit" approach, not a first come first serve. I was really happy to hear that since I'm tryyyyying to hold out for two others schools to decide what's up w my app haha

I would be cautious to rely on the ranking jump for Pepperdine.. I just found this on Reddit :neutral:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/8501vo/pepperdine_law_ranking/

I am born/raised So Cal and have done a lot of traveling to the East coast for sports. For me, I couldn't honestly be okay with living long term in an area that gets pretty cold. Maybe it's because of the way I was raised or because I'm a weather wimp... but anything below like 60 is too cold for me.

The qualities of So Cal that I love are specific things that I don't feel comfortable sacrificing... neighborhoods, weather, atmosphere, nature (I love mountains and running on trails). That being said, from the vast number of attorneys I've spoken with, it's way easier going to LS in California and going out of state to practice than vice versa.

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6 days a week of running at zero stupid early (run and done prior to waking the family up to start their day). I’ve found that if I don’t get a run in early, it is the first thing to get skipped. My wife doesn’t like it when I don’t workout regularly because I turn into a grump. ETA: My wife’s only condition for me going to LS is that I continue to workout / run.

How do you avoid shin splints? I admire your consistency with running. The most I could ever run was 2.7 miles lol

I had absolutely terrible shin splints when I first started running Cross Country in high school. The primary reason for this was because I had bad running form. Once I got the CORRECT orthotics and shoes (the other running shoe store put me in a really supportive shoe when I needed the opposite) my shin splints went away. Also, spelling out the alphabet with your toes helps build up that muscle. I used to do that in class a bunch. They also sell those compression shin sleeves but idk how much those actually help since I never have personally used them.

When I visited UCI I wore black jeans, blazer, ballet flats and was by far the most dressed up. The guys wore just t-shirts and shorts (or jeans) w/ tennis shoes and there was a girl in short shorts and a normal t-shirt lol.

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Looks like all of 7Sage is going to UCI. :B

They're very high on my list! It'll depend on if UT accepts my scholarship appeal letter. We can all be friiiieeeends.

Except me because they haven't sent me a decision yet! :'(

Positive thinking!!

I run long distance in the AM before class right now and do heavy weights once during the weekend so I’ll probably do my best to continue that!

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fellow 1L chiming in with some advice to 0l's. Once you're in law school, be sure to constantly talk about your LSAT score and how you're on a scholarship.

wait - is this sarcasm?

I'm sure it was sarcasm lol. As another fellow 1L, I have not heard one person state their LSAT score since I've been in law school. Ever.

AMAZING

7sage Comprehensive Consulting Package is 100% an amazing choice! Speaking from someone who used it :) > @ said:

I got a respectable scholarship at a school I would not have gotten into without @

I also 100% second this as it pertains to my own cycle!

I think it could be a beneficial use of time between taking the test and waiting for the results! I know although I had all of the materials completed, I wished I had completed all of the applications ahead of time. I would recommend prepping the applications for schools that would accept your average LSAT leading up to the test. That seems like a pretty safe bet. And also, HIGHLY recommend the 7sage LSAT Comprehensive Admissions Consulting!!