Virginia Law: You'll Actually Enjoy Yourself
Written: Mar 25 '00 (Updated Mar 25 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good professors, easygoing students, relaxed atmosphere; plush new Hall of Justice™
Cons: Social scene sometimes a bit reminiscent of high school; classmates' career tracks can be heavily corporate
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| greggles's Full Review: University of Virginia |
Think law school for a second. What do you see? Stress and hassle, probably. It's natural when you're spending hours in the library, sweating through on-call days in lectures, and watching your entire career ride on some tests you take in just your first few months.
Well, Virginia Law's not like that at all. You study hard, no doubt — but at Virginia Law, the motto is "work hard, play hard." And that makes it all not just bearable, but actually pretty close to fun.
Students there are pretty easygoing, compared with their compatriots at Harvard or other schools where cutthroat competition is the order of the day. Taking a load of pressure off are the pervasive study groups, work up group outlines for just about every class at the school. When time comes for finals, those outlines are a blessing — anything you missed in class, you can almost always count on someone else having picked up.
Life outside the classroom? Remember two words: beer and softball. Thanks to the North Grounds Softball League, there's intramural sports going on almost any time there's good weather. Thursday kegs pop up when it's decent out, too; after a long week of classes, they're a great chance for everybody to relax. And in the winter, there's the law school's notorious Feb Club, when there's a party — literally — every single night.
The scene can get a bit cliquish sometimes, but the student body there is motley enough that you'll almost always find some like-minded folks to hang out with. There's plenty of organizations and journals to choose from, ranging from the political and charitable to the social, and virtually everyone at the law school winds up taking part in one or more groups before they graduate.
Law students don't live in close-knit dorms that always have other law students around, but that's okay. Like many law students, I lived out in west Albemarle County, where the mountains roll and the horses roam. What a wonderful life — if law school ever stressed you out, the view of the Blue Ridge on the way back almost always wiped your troubles away.
Other details—
Location: North Grounds, away from most of the rest of the University. The law school sits on a campus retooled to look like an ersatz-Jeffersonian village. It's no substitute for the authentic Lawn on Central Grounds, but as a focal point for the community, it's not bad -- the courtyards and lounges give more han enough room for people to relax. Classrooms and the library were renovated during the makeover, so almost everything about the law school is brand spanking new.
Faculty: Excellent. A few come and go every couple of years to get back to city life, but there always remains an excellent balance of towering intellects and great lecturers. Some professors leave something to be desired, of course, but most are pretty engaging, and some are even friendly.
Admissions: Tough, but easier if you get Virginia residency. A common gambit is to go to Washington, and work on the Hill or somewhere else up there for a couple of years while you live in Arlington or Alexandria to gain in-state status. LSAT scores for admitted students average in the high 160s. Tuition and fees are higher for out-of-state students as well, so that provides extra incentive to try to live in Virginia for a while [if you're not going straight from college].
Career Options: The school is bolstering its commitment to public service, but the emphasis of the placement process is still largely corporate. Most folks go to law firms in big cities, especially New York, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. While the administration has made strides toward giving the more public-minded students more options and more people to reach out to, those on the non-firm track can feel a little isolated, and loan forgiveness could be better.
There you have it. I almost went to Stanford Law, but count my years as a Law 'Hoo as some of the best years of my life. If you're thinking about Virginia Law, I strongly recommend it.
[For more information, check: http://www.law.virginia.edu/]
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
greggles
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Member: Greg Greene
Location: Chicago, Ill.
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 10 members
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