One of the things about Northeastern Law that is very different from other law schools is that Northeastern has the quarter system. This is also one of the selling points of Northeastern. Because of the quarter system, Northeastern has 4 co-op quarters and 4 academic quarters.

As a IL I never practically understood how short a quarter was. Now that its 1 1/2 weeks until finals, I definitely understand.

I think the academic quarter is especially short as a 2L because for many 2Ls the Fall quarter is the application season for Summer 2008. In September and October, there is OCI. (OCI is the online system that 2Ls and 3Ls use to apply for summer association positions and federal clerkships.) November is when some of the summer co-op employers and goverment programs are due.

So as you can see, the Fall academic quarter is a busy 11 weeks and now that it is 1 1/2 weeks until finals its even busier with creating outlines and taking practice exams!

So it may be understandable why this Halloween I plan on staying in and kicking back in front of the TV.

Posted by Laurinda at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry for being MIA for so long! However, now I am back and can catch you up with all the NUSL news and gossip.

Starting with...me.

After my co-op with State Street ended, I picked up a job with a solo practitioner in Medford. There I was able to work on writing motions and the discovery process. Soon after that, school started and I began only working part-time.

Now we are 3/4 of the way done with the fall quarter. It has gone by so quickly. I am definitely feeling the crunch now that it is nearing the end of October. There are only 3 weeks until Finals! I think my greatest adjustment coming back as a 2L was the quarter system. (Remember - NUSL 1Ls follow the traditional semester schedule.) Because the time is so truncated, it makes what you do with that time more precious.

I am taking Trusts & Estates, Corporations, Law of Financial Institutions, and Evidence this quarter. Three of them are in-class exams. Two of them are closed book. (Meaning no materials except the Rules book.) One of them (thankfully) is take home.

I don't think my co-op experience really affected the way I selected courses for this quarter. The only class that I did choose because of co-op was Law of Financial Institutions. I think for those who might have an interest in banking law, this is a good course because it is an introduction to what kind of practical knowledge will be needed. However, I think in the future, the way I select classes will be dependent on when they are scheduled (I have three classes on M and W, which I will never ever do again), what types of finals they will be (3 in-class is excessive), and of course what the class subjects will be.

However, enough about classes for today!

In successes for Asian-Americans in politics: Bobby Jindal is now Governor of Louisiana. (Click here for details.)

Although I am not familiar with his politics and NYT indicates that he is more on the conservative side, I still take this as a positive sign (along with Barack) that race is becoming less of an obstacle and that people will look more at the politician's platforms.

Posted by Northeastern University School of Law at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)