Gavels and Gears

If you see the comments in my first outlines post you will see that some of my outlines are somewhat incomplete. This is because I was in the habit of attaching sections of my outline that I deemed less important to the end of the outline, as one page inserts. I did this because I wanted my actual outline printouts to have the most important stuff right up front.  So I’m posting the extra outlines for my torts class. If you wanna see any others please let me know and I will post them. Property, for example is one area where I had lots of inserts (but mostly only for statutory stuff).

Intentional Torts Outline — Chamallas

Torts Misc Outline – Chamallas

Torts Reproductive Rights Exam Outline

I received my admissions packet from Chicago Kent yesterday and enclosed was a letter informing me that I had been awarded a scholarship of $20K per year. So that means tuition at Chicago Kent will run me about $17k per year. Thats manageable.

Of course there’s a catch. Like most second tier schools they must resort to a little con-artistry to get students in their doors. You see, that scholarship may seem like a great deal but the problem is you must achieve a 3.25 GPA to see a dime of that money (you get to keep some if you get a 3.0). Maintaining a 3.25 shouldn’t be that bad, right? Not necessarily, because what they don’t tell you is that they set their curve around a 3.0. Half the class will get below a 3.0. I’d like to hope that I will rise to the top of the class but the simple fact is that grades in law school are something that cannot be predicted.

I don’t think that I will make a decision predicated on a fact that could potentially change. Ohio State’s tuition is 22k per year (for in state students) no matter what grades one earns at the end of the semester. I like that kind of security.

Its kind of sad that a second tier school has to give out scholarships just to have a cost remotely comparable to a great school like Ohio State. Thats not even considering that, price being equal, Ohio State is the way better value.

Chicago Kent is really going to have to step up the scholarship money if they want me to attend. At this point I don’t think that I would take anything less than full tuition.

I finally got a surprise. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of surprise I was hoping for. Boston University has officially rejected me. I expected to get in. Two weeks ago if I was asked which school in Boston was more likely to reject me I would have said Boston College. In a way I am happy because it means I will only have one school in Boston to chose from. On the other hand I felt like BU’s downtown location was a better fit for me.

I have been thinking more about Ohio State lately. Not to jinx myself but I think I will probably get into some better ranked schools. Despite this Ohio State is still one of my top choices. There are several reasons for this, many that I hope to detail now. Expect a “negatives” post to be forthcoming.

The biggest reason for me to consider Ohio State is that it is my undergraduate Alma mater. This provides me with two benefits. Number one is that I know for a fact that I will have a good experience there. I love Columbus and I love the campus culture. The second benefit is that it will not be as large of an adjustment compared to some other school. I already am very familiar with the campus and the surrounding area. I wont have to bother with distractions like figuring out where to study, where to go to buy books or where to live.

Another reason why Ohio State works for me is its cost. I know for a fact that I will get in state tuition for all three years. So that in and of itself is like receiving a $20k/semester scholarship. In addition, with my numbers I am assuming that I will get some sort of financial aid. Consider that I end up getting 5k/semester (less than what is indicated by LSN BTW) in financial aid. That would mean that my annual tuition would be less than 15k. Some law schools nearly three times that cost.

Speaking of low cost, Columbus is a great low cost urban city. There is not doubt in my mind that I want to study law in an urban environment. The problem with urban environments is that they can be expensive. The other areas I am considering – Boston, DC, Chicago, New York – are all extremely expensive while Columbus remains cheap in comparison. Yes, Columbus isn’t quite like Boston or DC but it satisfies all of my urban needs. My wife and I could probably even buy a place in the middle of the downtown. Increasing ones capital is always an effective strategy for long term wealth building.

The last big reason for choosing Ohio State is that it is in Ohio. I am originally from Ohio and would have no problem practicing law there upon graduation. My family (and my wife’s) is mostly located in Ohio. As my wife and I approach the inevitable expansion of our own family, being close to extended family is ever more important.

Where I will ultimately end up is such a complicated calculation. I am beginning to wonder if it would be better to get into more schools or less…

Here I sit in my cube at my not-so-great, not-so-difficult engineering job, bored out of my mind. With this, I begin my story. Really, it all began about three years ago but because of my great boredom I have now decided to start writing about it.

You see since the beginning of my junior year of engineering school I have aspired to become an intellectual property attorney. It began as a suggestion from my father; “maybe you should check out law?” And then grew into an outright passion. I read anything that pertained to law school, no matter the source. Soon I had a bag full of prep books and old LSAT’s. I studied hard for the LSAT and loved every minute of it. My efforts were rewarded with a 94^th percentile score. Being in the top 10% of test takers was great but I still wanted more. At the end of my senior year I took the LSAT again. The result was less than favorable and so I settled with being in the top 10%.

Since I could not go to law school right away I decided to get myself a job. Unlike many law school hopefuls, I actually had real career prospects upon graduation. Getting a well-paying job was actually quite easy for me. I soon found myself – where I find myself today – living in Virginia, near the beach.

I have been here for a year and three months. So far it had certainly been a learning experience and, despite my boredom, I do not regret my decision to work before school. It is quite common for me to hear “I learned more in my first six months [on the job] than I did in my entire four years at undergrad” and, generally, I agree. Though, I do see it as, perhaps a little extreme.