Diana, 2L

I received my evaluations (aka-grades) last week and I successfully passed all my courses and performed well overall. Trust me, for a minute, I was really worried about my performance on the Civil Procedure exam, but I made it through. Reading my evaluations was an interesting experience and I am still grappling with the idea if I like evaluations over letter grades. Let me explain the evaluation process from my personal experience. The evaluations do include key words in the beginning paragraph that indicate what kind of letter grade a student would have received. For example, if you receive the keyword “outstanding�, it could be interpreted as an A+ grade, while the keyword “very good� would be interpreted as a B+. Depending on your professor, the evaluations also include at least a paragraph on a student's strengths and some professors may include some of the student's weaknesses. This evaluation will be viewed by future employers when applying for internships, fellowships and post-graduate positions. There is also another evaluation which is only viewed by the student which provides more detailed comments on the student's strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully, as I become more seasoned with this law school experience, I can articulate a more personal opinion about the no letter-grade policy. Nonetheless, not knowing who in your class is ranked in the top or bottom of the class sure feels good.

To end, I will offer some words of reflections. The journey called law school is not easy but it does prepare a future a lawyer to the vigor of the profession. So far, law school final exams were the most challenging test taking experience I have encountered thus far in my academic journey. I am assuming no other experience is comparable to the bar exam, but these law schools exams do test your ability of performing well under time constraints. In essence, law school exams test a student's ability to successfully write a concise, succinct argument to different legal doctrines within time conditions. Doing well under time constraints is one of the key skills that most law school students have to master in order to perform successfully in law school exams and finally the bar exam. Till next time all!

Posted by Diana at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sadly, my knowledge of Boston consists primarily of the Northeastern University campus. I chose to live in on-campus housing and it has many positive aspects such as: close proximity to campus, fully furnished apartment, security deposit is not required, and rent includes all the amenities (water, electricity and cable). But the negative aspect is being secluded within the Northeastern Campus. Due to the stringent law school schedule, I spend the majority of my time either at the law school or in my apartment. My surrounding world is the Northeastern Campus and nothing else. When people ask me how I like Boston, I really don't have an answer to that question because I haven't had the opportunity to venture out and get to know the Bostonian community. Nonetheless, I have been to many areas surrounding Boston such as, Cambridge, Jamaica Plains, Roxbury, and Dorchester but I still don't feel a sense of community. However, last night I finally got to experience a taste of the Bostonian tradition. One of my classmates invited me to her birthday dinner celebration at the second oldest restaurant in Boston known as Jake Wirth. Located in the heart of the theater district, Jacob Wirth is a German restaurant that has a Friday night tradition known as Mel Stiller’s Friday night singalongs. On Friday nights, Mel plays a piano and everyone in the restaurant gets the opportunity to sing songs from their seats. Don't worry if you don't know the lyrics of a song, the restaurant provides a booklet of all the song lyrics that Mel could possibly play on his piano. It’s a Beantown tradition, to say the least, and it was an enjoyable experience to sing with the restaurant patrons. The experience is similar to singing karaoke but instead of a karaoke machine, there is Mel playing the piano, and instead of singing on stage with a microphone, everyone in the restaurant sings from their seats as their eating and enjoying a drink. Nothing beats singing accompanied with good food, beer and friends. Thus, little by little I am stepping out of my comfort zone and getting to know the Boston area–thanks Nancy!

Posted by Diana at 6:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I arrived to Boston on Sunday night and was welcomed with snow. Nothing beats the New England weather!

This blog will be dedicated to all of my readers who are prospective law school students. I have several pieces of advice about what to look for when choosing what law school to attend. Please ask the law school what kind of academic support is offered for final exam preparation. At the CLEO seminar that I attended last weekend, I met many law school students whose law school did not offer any academic support for final exam preparation. For example, I met a law student whose law school did not allow the 1L's to access old final exams. This law student had to ask her friends, who attended other law schools, to email her their old final exams. A vital study method that develops the skills necessary to enhance your learning and preparation for final exams is to review a professor's old final exams. Having accessibility to old final exams grants the law student an opportunity to answer the question under time conditions and have the professor review your answer for feedback. Not having accessibility to a professor's old final exam is like running a marathon without ever running a lap. So please, make sure that the law school you choose to attend provides accessibility to old final exams.

Another question you should ask the law schools is if they provide teaching assistance(TA) to the 1L courses. TA's are a great source for help that is available throughout the semester to help you learn to read cases, take notes, outline courses and prepare for exams. I heavily relied on the Civil Procedure TA to assist me in clarifying certain legal concepts and in reviewing my answers from prior final exams. Finally, inquire if the law school provides any type of academic success program that offers academic counseling, skills workshops, and exam preparation materials. One of the reasons I choose Northeastern University School of Law was because it offered an academic success program(ASP). Personally, the assistance I received from ASP tremendously improved my test taking skills. So please, don't underestimate the importance of academic support services because it will improve your potential to acing your final exams.

Let me return to my readings. Till next time.

Posted by Diana at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)