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April 28, 2005
rejected @ yale
as a junior in high school, i suffered from what my sister termed to be "behavioral problems." i threw a pen at my gorgeous, ex-model french teacher (later, i would destroy her in arm wrestling). i failed that class, chemistry, and english. my parents cursed at me and threatened to throw me out of the house. so, i decided, it was time to go to college. i applied to two schools: carnegie mellon and caltech. ding! ding!
carnegie mellon was the school that i had wanted to attend for awhile because it housed the top computer science program in the country. i decided that i would attend their summer program, show them how smart i was, and then they would have to accept me on the spot. while i was there, i pulled top grades in my physics and computer science courses, so i applied again. they interviewed me, then told me that if some people withdrew before classes began, they would consider me. during the first week of september, i received a letter. ding!
so during the fall of my senior year, applying to college again, my parents wanted me to give carnegie mellon another go. no, i said, i can't apply again, having been rejected twice—i've got too much pride. they tried to offer me financial incentives. i laughed.
fast-forward to the present: my parents begged me to apply to yale. they offered financial incentives. i said, mom, i've got no chance of getting in, plus it's not really my idea of true love, anyway. she said, your sister has a friend who goes there and you're smarter than she is! i said, duh mom! but it's not about who's smarter!!
Posted by foxes in rejections at 09:08 PM | riffraff (47) | trackback (878)
April 25, 2005
a dream of you and me together
heidi makes a post regarding umich vs uva. coincidentally, foxes gets this question all of the time:
Michigan was pretty impressed with my training regimen, so they gave me $8664 in grants (training is expensive). Virginia, however, noted my intellect and shoved $9000 in merit scholarship money my way.... hmmm. It's like the exact same thing in the end, except with my in-state tuition at UVA, I'll have to take out approx $8000 more in loans per year if I go to UMich. What would foxes do?
surely with our powers combined, we can come up with the proper course of action. naw, i'm not a planeteer—i just crush a lot. we can achieve it, we can achieve it, come a little bit closer baby, get it on, get it on, 'cause tonight is the night when two become one! foxes, my beautiful people, unite!!
Posted by foxes in ask foxlanders at 08:51 AM | riffraff (195) | trackback (2179)
April 23, 2005
the tedford wives
held @ san francisco
i'm sitting here, watching aaron rodgers all nervous on draft day, living the slipping down life, and i get to thinking, "wait, that's me!" i'm sending this out to the terrell davises, the curtis martins, the tom bradys of the world. foxes, foxboro? it's no coincidence, baby!
a poster on xoxo cites the following from grutter v. bollinger. who's that spittin'? i'm like, it's me!
Moreover, while grade-point average and test scores may play a significant role in the admissions process, they do not infallibly predict law school performance, let alone career contributions. For example, at Columbia Law School, two years in a row, the top student in the graduating class had been admitted from the wait list. In another year, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review was admitted from the wait list. In yet a third year, a student admitted to Columbia from the wait list the day before classes began was later selected by a Justice of this Court as a law clerk.
update: rodgers accepts the admissions offer from green bay. the commentator suggests that rodgers should enter camp with a chip on his shoulder; after all, he didn't get into chicago. nonetheless, at green bay, rodgers can study under prof. favre at the most historically illustrious institution in the nfl. its recent decline notwithstanding, rodgers should find every opportunity to succeed among green bay's friendly and collegial students, throwing footballs in the hallowed gothic edifice that is lambeau field.
Posted by foxes in misc at 03:24 PM | riffraff (177) | trackback (730)
mailbag, 4/23/2005
hey Foxes,
This is Milkpan, a friend of j-dawg's and euphrates's. I'm not sure if they've mentioned me to you. But j-dawg's said that they've speculated about what would happen if we ever met; either we'd be bosom buddies, or we'd hate each other. Personally, I'm hoping it's the latter. I've never had an arch-nemesis, and I'm kind of curious.
Anyway, I got on Chicago's waitlist for this year, with a guarantee for next fall. I'm strongly considering it. I mentioned this to j-dawg, who said that you'd hate me, be jealous, or something along those lines. I laughed evilly (as best as one can over IM) and said "I hope so!", because I still wanted an arch-nemesis. But then I started to think about how much I wanted to go to certain schools, but wasn't, and then I felt bad. And then I noticed that your lsn profile was updated to say that Chicago was now a waitlist.
I couldn't help but wonder -- did you get the delayed admission waitlist? It seemed to be kind of popular as I mindlessly sifted through other profiles. You haven't written about it yet, and I feel especially bad for the hollowly mean thoughts I had earlier. So I thought I'd drop a line and ask.
Good luck. Maybe we'll cross paths at some point. I will be armed, and I suggest you do the same.
Posted by foxes in mailbag at 09:11 AM | riffraff (311) | trackback (904)
April 21, 2005
blue devil blue shields
i went down to durham for part of my spring break. i wasn't too enthused about duke, but i figured that visiting the law school would be a good excuse to use to hang out with my cousin, who was about to get married.
coincidentally, i checked the duke admitted student board before i flew down there. someone from my university had posted a message, saying that she was visiting on the same weekend as i was. i looked up her netid: she was the girlfriend of a friend of mine... we'll call him chris.
so on a monday, i was at duke. after i sat in on chemerinsky's con law course and went on a campus tour, i called chris to check out his itinerary. he said that, first, his girlfriend was going to meet with dean shields. then, they were going to tour the campus.
i thought, wait a second! i'm important, too! why aren't i meeting with dean shields?! so i went to the admissions office and spoke with the receptionist. she said she would see about fitting me in.
i went to chemerinsky's moot of his supreme court argument. i went back to the admissions office. the receptionist said, sure, go ahead and meet with dean shields.
his appearance intimidates, a bit, but he was jovial, to be sure. he obviously didn't know a thing about me (of course i didn't expect him to, but the previous week zearfoss had impressed me by citing an award that i had received). then, out of nowhere, i launched into my epic multi-part question, asking, "what are the real differences between law schools, i mean, like, where should i be looking; how would you pick a law school; because when i think about it, i think any school in the top whatever really has the resources with which i can construct the career of my choice, right? because why would i pick a law school because of its nice people when there are nice people everywhere... is it just the weather that doesn't persist? i mean, if i took the student body of chicago and transplated it to durham, would there be the same number of supreme court clerks? no? yes? what does that mean? ucla georgetown clerkships..."
dean shields looked a bit caught off guard. then, composing himself, he started, "well, that's difficult to answer—" (later, chris's girlfriend would tell me that in their meeting, dean shields made a crack about how he was fed up with graduates from our shared undergraduate institution.)
he spoke for maybe five minutes—not finishing his train of thought—before his secretary came in. he was late for his meeting with the dean. he apologized, straightened his slacks, and left.
Posted by foxes in visits at 10:05 PM | riffraff (38) | trackback (872)
¡viva colombia!
i forgot to relate the story of my fateful meeting with mr. todd rothman, assistant director of admissions at columbia law school. it all started on a sunny day in durham...
i was flying back into new york city the next day, so i figured that i would call nyu and columbia to see if it would be helpful for me to come by and chat. nyu said, no, please don't come by, but if you do, feel free to help yourself to a self-guided tour. columbia said, sure, drop by, and we can arrange someone to chat with you (to be fair, a waitlist decision had been rendered on my columbia application while i was still pending at nyu; i would later get rejected).
i showed up on campus an hour early, luggage in tow, as always. i called euphrates to go over some aspects of columbia that i could talk about. then, i got lost, asked euphrates where the admissions office was, couldn't find it, called him again to see if he was sure, and then i found it.
i walked into the office, and the receptionist was kind enough to listen to my story and asked me to sit out in the hallway. (during our conversation, he asked me to hold on while he took a phone call, which was from a perspective student. i heard him irritatingly say, "sorry, i can't give you your status over the phone", like he had said that very same thing over two-hundred times that day. i realized then that i was that kid, except in real life.)
after a short wait, a chipper fellow named todd greeted me. i shook his hand and introduced myself. he showed me to his office, opened the door, and then pointed for me to sit in a chair which sat a few feet back from his desk. he then sat several feet back from his own desk, creating an effect comparable to eating dinner during the middle ages.
i stared at him expecting him to say something. he stared at me, expecting me to say something. he crossed his legs. i coughed.
fifteen, long seconds of staring directly at each other passed before i chimed in with, "so... i'm really interested in columbia."
we chatted for a bit about columbia. i expressed my continued interest. he asked if i had any questions. i said, no, not really; then i asked, self-importantly, do you have any questions for me? he surpressed a snicker and then politely said that he had no idea who i was.
Posted by foxes in visits at 02:59 PM | riffraff (33) | trackback (801)
April 20, 2005
tramp v. vamp
How does University of Texas' number one ranking "of the colleges with the
best-looking girls" affect your decision-making process?
http://www.playboy.com/on-campus/features/topten/index.html
-B
well b, i've let texas's april 15th deposit deadline come and go uneventfully, so perhaps i should give an explanation.
back in the day, i mentioned that i asked texas whether they would support my visit to texas's prospective students day. they wrote back saying: "Unfortunately, we do not have the means to subsidize your visit to the Law School." later on, at georgetown's admitted students event, i met a guy from houston who told me that he was deciding between georgetown and texas. i asked him, "will you be going to texas's weekend?" he said, yes, he would be. then i had a premonition and i was all like, "wait, are they paying for your flight?!" yup, he replied.
heidi was pretty on-target when she wrote that "it's a lot harder to leave a community than it is to pick a law school" when explaining michigan's high yield by way of community building. basically, michigan had been courting me since the first week of january. there had been a good deal of flirting and they even let me touch their naughty bits. i knew the goods.
texas, on the other hand, had one person email me, one person send me a postcard, and one person call me, all within a two week period prior to the deposit deadline. the phone call was particularly galling—texas was the only school foolish enough to recruit me using a boy. plus, it sounded like he was playing video games in the background.
yeah sure, texas has the best looking girls, but really, i couldn't go there without lookin' under the hood! stop bein' all uptight—put the top down and show me what's really good! i like to test drive my metaphors before i take 'em off the lot, 'naw what i mean?
Posted by foxes in ask foxlanders at 05:21 PM | riffraff (172) | trackback (765)
i look like tom cruise on vanilla sky
michigan law put up pictures* from its admitted students weekend. of course, i am far too hideous to be included in the photo gallery, but i know someone who isn't...
*password required
Posted by foxes in visits at 11:49 AM | riffraff (223) | trackback (1317)
April 19, 2005
do not become a lawyer
gotham and i went to the michigan alumni reception in nyc at simpson thacher. honestly, as swanky as it was, it also was a bit depressing. sure, the appetizers were great: i ate a bit of everything, with the best bites from the spicy sausage and olive kabob thingy. but the company? meh.
however, it is appropriate that i do mention sausages, because the scene resembled what some might refer to as a sausage fest. i did speak to one lady michigan grad, though, who had recently quit big firm work so that she could spend more time with her children. "life is pretty great now, huh?" i said. her relieved smile revealed too much.
of course, the few women there were sprinkled throughout the mass of male lawyers, mostly blessed with intelligence and charm, unfortunately uniformly cursed with premature hair loss. i spoke with one law firm muck-a-muck who told me flat out, "i came here to share one thing: do not become a lawyer. but if you must, go to michigan."
Posted by foxes in events at 03:58 PM | riffraff (222) | trackback (1001)
April 18, 2005
confessions of a corporate paralegal
i must say i was surprised that foxes would ask me to guest blog. afterall, he didn't ask me to recap the duke trip and he knows that i'm not funny. i think maybe someone told him that i had been working all weekend (approx. 33 billable hours thankyouverymuch) at my law firm and might have some choice things to say about paralegaling before going to law school.
i decided to be a paralegal for two reasons: (1) i wasn't sure why i wanted to go to law school and i knew that most people have to work in a large law firm to pay off their loans and (2) i had worked for three summers for the federal government and wanted to change to a job that had free sushi and paid well. my firm (herinafter referred to as "Firm X") lured me in with promises of a "friendly and collegial" work environment (pre-1Ls, do these words sound familiar?) and paid overtime.
for the first few months, i was in heaven. i worked fairly late and gorged myself on spicy tuna roll. i was doing a lot of photocopying-- but that is what a liberal arts degree is good for, right? then Firm X started getting busier. weekends were indistinguishable from weekdays and the receptionist's "happy friday!" greeting as i walked in the door on what should have been my last work day of the week was met with stony silence. i stopped making dinner plans. in my free time i bought expensive things because i "deserved" them. my refrigerator looked like i belonged on "cribs" -- all fluids and no real food because real food would go bad before i could eat it. the $30 steak that i billed to the client didn't taste so good in its metal to-go container while i shoveled it into my mouth over my computer. i took two vacation days total in my first year of work.
i know this is a horrible story, but my experience at Firm X has taught me so much. much more than photocopying, i've actually done all the non-legal work that a first-year associate would do. i've been pretty lucky. except for a few crazy-ass attorneys, most of the people i've worked for are awesome. demanding and stressed-out, but awesome. i showed them that i wanted to do as much substantive work as possible and they let me. i've edited transaction documents, talked to clients and assisted with SEC filings. part of my reasoning for going to law school is that i've gained so much responsibility as a paralegal, i might as well be an attorney so i can continue to move up. i've also learned that this sector of the law is interesting to me, not simply a means to an end (no debt), but good in and of itself. kant would be proud.
more importantly, i've gotten a taste of a first-year associate lifestyle. i watch my associates juggle new babies/old parents/significant others and work. i know that after law school i will face these same issues and i've really benefited from watching the different ways my attorneys deal with them. most people think it is the long hours that get to you, but its the unpredictability. if you make dinner plans, you'll probably have to break them. if you plan a vacation, you'll worry every single second until you get on that plane that it will get cancelled and while you are on vacation you'll either be working or worried that work is going to call.
i've made every single mistake that a first-year associate would make. at some point, you have to make dinner reservations and plan vacations and just know that everything is "subject to workload". (the whole thing gets a lot more complicated when children are involved though and i'm not going go pretend i understand what it is like to tell your child "i'm sorry i missed your school play, but mommy was working".) you need to put down that purse and back away, pay off your student loan debt instead. after you establish a good reputation at a firm, you need to know when to go home instead of staying late to work on something "just in case". try to cook on the weekends if you aren't working.
i really recommend paralegaling for anyone that isn't certain about working at a large law firm, but who may have to do it to pay off their student loan debt. i'm still not entirely sure what i will do with my law degree, but i now know that working for a corporate law firm isn't so bad and i not-so-secretly kind of like it.
Posted by foxes in guest blogger: adverseeffect at 02:40 PM | riffraff (214) | trackback (1573)
haters wanna hate, bloggers wanna blog, i don't want none of the above
it's coming down to decision time, so quite naturally, pre-law crazies are congragating at foxes' doorstep. foxes generously decrees, "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Hi Foxes,
I've enjoyed reading your entertaining blog and keeping up to date on the intimate details of Foxes' law school application process. I myself am faced with the difficult decision of where to attend law school; it has come down to Penn and Georgetown. What are your thoughts on these two schools?
I was at the Georgetown open house a couple of weeks ago. I spotted you after the faculty panel (nice luggage, by the way) but I was going to take a tour of the campus so I didn't have time to say hello.
Good luck with your pending apps.
~Etoile
etoile, i must first start off by saying that you've honestly creeped me out. i showed your message to euphrates who replied, "that one was pretty freaky, but then again what if it was a pretty girl?" so, first things first: are you a pretty girl?
now then. in regards to the matter of penn versus georgetown. i guess i can only really speak to my experiences at georgetown, because i didn't visit penn, nor did i have any particular interest in the school. i can say, however, that they rejected me, which gives you an indication of their level of intelligence.
ok georgetown. perhaps my impressions can be summed up in a little story... after the faculty panel and getting unknowingly stalked, i went to the lunch. after that, i went on the tour of the campus. at the top of gewirz, i looked out and saw the capitol building. in awe, i was.
before i set out to do more exploring of the surrounding area, i decided to drop into the williams law library to check my email. (later, i would see the capitol up close, plus visit the supreme court, the mall, and the ikea. inspirational furniture, indeed.) while writing a message to my sister, i felt my lunch beginning to resurface. i left my computer terminal, and wound up a circular staircase before finding a restroom. inside, the first toilet i approached was filled with murky yellow water and several brown turds.
Posted by foxes in ask foxlanders at 10:43 AM | riffraff (230) | trackback (959)
April 14, 2005
when it rains, some people use umbrellas; i use my big head
at georgetown's open house, they gave away little gift bags. i arrived late, so i went upstairs to get mine straight from some assistant director of admissions (or something) lady. when i looked inside of the bag, there was a swank georgetown law cap. finally, i said, not something completely useless like a mug. she laughed as i opened the box at the bottom of the bag: a georgetown mug.
after i arrived back home, i excitedly tried on my new piece of headgear. unfortunately, the cap was too small to fit my big head. i tossed it into the pile with the michigan bookmark and the duke lens cloth.
Posted by foxes in visits at 10:42 AM | riffraff (282) | trackback (692)
April 13, 2005
la commedia è finita!
the surest predicator of failure must be success. foxes got fat and lazy from his stint on the top of the world—imbibed gluttony, partook his sweet-tooth—and it's been downhill ever since. so that's the reason for this site's precipitous decline, if you were wondering.
at one time, the greatness of this site could not have been overstated. of course, the mythology surrounding foxes is wholly fiction and wholly fact. his megalomania gave insight into the genius behind foxes at his core—his true self—while still drawing circles around his extant modesty. like most, foxes is both sinner and saint.
while foxes.bluespot.org will undoubtedly go down as the greatest pre-law weblog ever, its proprietor still feels the twinges of regret and failure typically reserved for the ruled class, not the ruling class. to wit, his perfectionism drove him mad near the apex of his magnum opus; what you see now are the leonids from his tempel-tuttle. and like his radiant-tailed friend, the fluorescence of foxes' ilk only comes around once every never.
i checked my infinity calendar, and this is it: the apotheosis of man's creative capability. in the words of walt whitman, if you want me again, look for me under the boot-soles of the blawg-o-sphere. that's right, they've co-opted my foot fungus.
in the end, foxes will be best remembered at his heights, rather than in the depths of his final days of depression and self-delusion. his unmatched heart, his sterling smile, his unbending will—that will be his legacy. eventually, of course, he would go on to accumulate the highest gpa in university of chicago law school history. but really, yes really, it all started right here. so discover foxes again for the first time.
Posted by foxes in personal at 11:17 PM | riffraff (112) | trackback (745)
April 12, 2005
rejected @ nyu
i was a bit surprised to receive the big ding! from nyu law. i am hoping that this is not an indication of dissatisfaction toward my fall semester grades, which are a bit strange. if that's the case, it may not bode well for my other holdouts (chicago, columbia).
i must admit, though, that nyu's letterhead seriously impresses. the torch recalls a bit of classicism mixed with a touch of muscular randian modernity, successfully disassociating nyu quite plainly from prior mental connections with theo huxtable. but it doesn't matter anyway—i would've chosen hillman over nyu in a heartbeat.
Posted by foxes in rejections at 06:08 PM | riffraff (125) | trackback (944)
April 11, 2005
i'm a slave 4 u-va
Hey,
Don't know if you've visited UVA... I'm deciding between UMich and UVA, and just visited both schools' preview weekends (UMich 31st, UVA 8th of April). Found the people at Michigan more... introverted. Maybe you had an opinion? I'm torn.
'Ren
well, stimpy, not only have i not visited virginia, i actually haven't been admitted! from their "frequently asked questions about the waiting list":
Is there anything I can do to enhance my chances?
Short of eliminating those who have accepted offers, probably not.
so stimpy, unfortunately, i can't make your decision for you, and i will also have to kill you. sowwwwie.
Posted by foxes in ask foxlanders at 05:47 PM | riffraff (112) | trackback (1267)
michigan admitted students weekend pt 8
the faculty panel at 2:30 disappointed, a bit. i sat there, white knuckled, waiting for don herzog to say "fabulous" so that i could break out in applause. unfortunately, he ignored his friends and supporters by limiting himself to only a few words during the entire discussion.
the panelists were supposed to only talk for about four minutes each, but it seemed like they all just went on forever. in the end, there wasn't even enough time to answer all of the questions from the audience. i mean, we got all of this about how the professors are accessible and personable, but then they just drown us out with their yadda yadda yadda.
prof. bridget mccormack sat on the faculty panel. i recognized her from hot professor contests on xoxo. from a distance, she impressed with her regal manner and convincing rhetoric. in the hallway afterwards, i would ask her to sign my chest using only her fingernails. i've been picking at the bloody scabs ever since!
Posted by foxes in visits at 05:02 PM | riffraff (307) | trackback (706)
April 08, 2005
michigan admitted students weekend pt 7
adverseeffect writes:
btw, finish your michigan posts. i have yet to see a post regarding my stunning beauty and i really think all 3 of your readers (me and brian included) need to know about that.
first off... 3 readers?! you gotta be kidding me. foxes maintains a huge legion of fans (look below for one of the more famous ones, mr. queer eye). no no no, little missy, you've got it all wrong. but i'll let it slide, this time, because...
... it's true! adverseeffect does set her beauty on stun, when meeting with hot michigan admitted studs. i would say that she somewhat resembles christina aguilera in her goth phase. is that a compliment? sure! of course, it's just like me to stroke the asian half of her ego.
we all got up early at the ungodly hour of 7am and... ok this is getting way too boring. i will point out a few more things that i still can even remember, and that'll be that.
first off, the box lunch on the ann arbor bus tour tasted delicious. after the tour, a few other students said, "wasn't that lunch delicious?" a week later, at a georgetown law event, i happened to spot a student from the michigan weekend. i sat next to her and chatted her up. georgetown, in fact, had given us box lunches as well. the girl turns to me, swallows her food, then says, "wasn't that michigan box lunch delicious?"
oh yeah, and prof. sherman clark's mock class impressed. nothing more to say about him except that he's a stud like whoa.
the actual class, on the other hand, wasn't quite as convincing. i fell asleep, to be sure, but i was also pretty tired. a few prospective students did point out that the professor—prof. joan larsen—did not call on the female students as frequently as the male students. (i personally can't verify/deny this, because, i was, asleep.) later, i would meet one of the brave female students that did speak out in class while i was awake. she turned out to be the girlfriend of j., proprietor of the visible hand—quite the lucky man. she said that prof. larsen was calling on people who typically speak out in class, which, i guess, consists mostly of dopey guys. but, i really wouldn't know. i put my head back down and drifted off into la la land.
Posted by foxes in visits at 09:31 AM | riffraff (167) | trackback (731)
April 06, 2005
trying to catch a glimpse of foxes
in the comments, yashar writes:
Hey,
I really enjoy reading your blog but it would be nice to be able to put a face to the stories. Would you post a pic or send one to me?
yashar25@aol.com
Thanks,
Yashar
well yashar, it just happens to be your day. an insider writes:
dear roxes, i heard you were at this hott event and carson kressly from queer eye totally wanted to take your picture. you were hanging out with ashanti but took a minute to pose with him and a brown dude.
yes, it's all true! while in nyc over spring break, i hung out at mazda's hot night in the city where they, quite naturally, rolled out the red carpet treatment. at first, i had a great time schmoozing with ashanti and we made plans to meet up later that evening at columbia law school for some after-hours jurisprudence. unfortunately, my security staff couldn't stop a garrulous, overzealous fan from fawning over me the entire night. i love your work, you're a genius, you're beautiful, he said over and over. i did a double take; then i said, "aren't you the guy from queer eye?" i gave him a picture with his crazy-looking indian friend.
Posted by foxes in personal at 08:51 AM | riffraff (28) | trackback (983)
April 04, 2005
Tryin' to blind me with your blingin' bling, thought I told you love don't cost a thing
what's up faithful readers, this is gotham here. foxes has (stupidly) allowed me to write in with my impressions after visiting duke law this weekend, and so i apologize in advance. my first time blogging, you see. bear with me, yo. this might be long. deal with it.
so, adverseeffect and i traveled down south to the land of sweet tea and confederates for a visit to durham. i arrived at the prestigious la quinta resort on thursday night after a very bumpy ride on independence air. there is a reason you've never heard of them - don't fly with them. ever. it may seem cheap, but walk away.
the festivities started bright and early on friday morning (the coffee and treats in the duke cafe are top-notch, btw). we sat in on a con law class taught by duke law's equivalent of randy johnson, professor erwin chermerinsky. the class was kind of empty - and that was confirmed later by a student. at least we know that thursday nights are a good time at duke.
after this, we checked in and got some serious bling - DUKE LAW t-shirts and a water bottle similarly engraved. pretty nice. dennis shields knows how to impress.
the rest of the day was informative. a pro bono/public interest panel filled with current students was fantastic. an alumni panel that had the obligatory public interest graduate (showing that some students do, in fact, have a soul) was also good, and it included a duke law grad giving us advice via satellite from paris (i am not joking).
i also liked the faculty panel a lot -- they were great, and it is apparently very easy to be a prof's research assistant, something i'm looking forward to.
the career services panel, however, sucked. big time. not only did dean elvin show up wearing suspenders (what up patrick bateman) but he then spewed off lots and lots of numbers about employment. bottom line: if you want to work in NYC, you can go to duke and get a super job. which is, incidentally, what i'd like to do but still - the guy was a little intense and didn't know answers to some questions. and he did a powerpoint presentation. interpret that as you wish.
dean bartlett's speech was kind of boring, to tell you the truth. evan caminker (from michigan) was much better, and he surfs. word.
after some confusion, there was a really nice reception outdoors with the faculty. duke law loses one point, however, for having an alcohol-free event. much easier to pretend that you understand what the profs are saying after a glass of red wine (or 3). they quickly gained one point because in place of booze, they woo-ed me with sweet tea. born and bred in the north, this is my vision of heaven.
that night, different student groups hosted dinners on and off campus. being the WASP that i am, i hit up the asian law students' dinner with adverseeffect and some other (non-asian) friends - it sounded the nicest, and the food was excellent. it did, however, take us 30 minutes to find the restaurant, which was located on the main highway in durham, filled with strip malls and shopping plazas. minus 10 points for duke. in fact, this was one of the dealbreakers for me. did not like durham.
after this, we went to the varsity ale house for a social event, hosted by the duke bar association. met some very cool current students, had a few drinks, and was ogled and stared at by the very colorful durham locals. maybe it was our nametags? don't know. all i know is, i'm not a fan of bars located in the middle of a shopping center parking lot.
i woke up on saturday and, despite certain things, was liking duke. the student forum killed that for me. personally, i felt like the students spent the entire time telling us how to avoid going crazy during the stressful 1L year. this, my friends, is not helpful information and i'll worry about that once i've picked a school. tell me why i should go to duke. they just didnt' sell me on the school. during the michigan weekend, the students were great - they talked about their specific interests and how they pursued those at mich - they all seemed like interesting people. i got the impression that duke students go through the motions for three years before getting a job and making bank. dennis shields gave the farewell speech, but it wasn't much of a speech.
we were sent away with these warm words from dean shields: "you have to put down a deposit by april 30th. even though you might still be waiting on harvard and yale, you might have to commit to duke while you wait." unlike michigan, where every administrator professed their undying love for the school, he seemed kind of bummed out.
verdict: i liked michigan better. the weather in durham was, as foxes told me, "blissful." however, i didn't see myself there, and i've been having dreams about walking around michigan's gorgeous law quad. i think i've made a decision. let's hope foxes makes the same one, eh?
Posted by foxes in guest reporter: gotham at 04:56 PM | riffraff (176) | trackback (1174)
April 01, 2005
dust yrself off and try again
Perhaps the inestimable Foxes does not know me well enough to realize that like Linus, I drag around a security blanket of dusty disappointment wherever I go. At least in my own landfill of the internet universe, I don't have to worry about making sense or being entertaining. So be forewarned, you faithful readers and do not fear. Foxes will return.
I hardly know where to begin. How can I even live up to the epic tales of family drama and woe, woven by foxes' sister herself, or the logic demanded by those of you who could ace such problems on the lsat with one shoe untied? That's right. I can't. I couldn't even come up with a cool moniker.
I will, in the next few days, attempt to come up with some life lessons I've learned from my law-students-to-be friends. Needless to say, I've acquired a wealthy knowledge of your schools of jurisprudence – and brad pitt – through good old lemonade times with foxes, euphrates, and a certain sir milkpan. It's time I put it to use.
Well, before I leave you drowning in the muddy waters of my own creation (overkill much?), I will tell a little bit about the enchanted eve when I accompanied foxes to an intimate reception with some graduates of blue devil law, put together to answer the questions of very important checked-box-other-than-white prospective students. I thought that my connection to my alma mater, its basketball and bbq, would be enough for me to retain a charmingly wide-eyed interest, even perhaps practice my new and improved conversational skills, in this gathering. Alas, the place being otherwise deserted allowed for the kind proprietors of the establishment to refill my drink multiple times without any bidding. So after about an hour or so of watching foxes work his seductive magic on these blue ladies, all of whom couldn't resist him when he called them "ma'am", I promptly fell tipsily asleep.
Maybe next time, there will be more boys. Maybe I'll go back to listening to loser music and learning some new vocabulary words. The night is still young.
Posted by foxes in guest blogger: j-dawg at 12:46 PM | riffraff (156) | trackback (669)