Harvard Law School Visit - Day 2, Part 1
Monday morning, I decide to sleep in and skip the 9:15 panel (Financial Aid, Career Resources, or Clinical Programs). Instead, I hit the continental breakfast around 10:00, where I talk to a few other admits and a couple students. Highlight of the morning: when I’m told, basically, that my computer science degree will come in handy for using Microsoft Word to take notes in class. Yeah, and your English Literature Ph.D. will be good ’cause you can read and stuff. And the math majors can add up their financial aid packages, and the religion majors can pray for good grades, and… okay, I’m just being a jerk now.
After breakfast, I wander a little more and then head to Professor Meltzer’s Criminal Law class. It’s a solid class, and Professor Meltzer seems like a good teacher, but I get a little antsy before the 85 minutes are up.
Next is lunch. As I walk in, I notice that Professor Dershowitz’s table is completely full. The schmoozing starts already? People must have ran to get their seats. Note to Harvard: stadium seating next year? I sit down with Alexa Shabecoff, the school’s public interest guru. Seriously, Dean Kagan called her a god during the Q&A on Sunday. For my confused ass, she recommends a one-on-one interview/counseling session to help figure out what I want to do. Ms. Shabecoff is quite knowledgeable and convinces me that Harvard does provide a lot of assistance to the public interest-oriented law students.
Eventually, Dean Kagan gets up and talks about how the student body is what really makes Harvard special. She names off a list of important people that were in her graduating class, mentions (for the billionth time this weekend) that half the Supreme Court went to Harvard, and something something blah something else. I’m really tired of listening to people talk by this point. It’s a good thing this is my last school visit.
The mock class with Professor Heather Gerken is really, really good. I had read the case and thought it was interesting, but somewhat clear-cut. Professor Gerken quickly shows us how the decision isn’t as easy as it seemed and how it could lead to all sorts of unintended and counter-intuitive consequences. Cool stuff. I leave impressed.
The Constitutional/Public Law talk turns out to be a waste of time, I skip the last financial aid panel, and Admit Weekend sputters to an end.
[I was actually planning on writing more tonight, but it just isn’t gonna happen. Sorry. I’ll give you pictures tomorrow. Pinkie swear.]