Posts Tagged ‘rigor’

Ok, so first off, I’ll address a few things brought up in the responses to my last post:

With respect to the rigor at Chicago, I can’t really speak to the rigor here as it relates to other top schools since I never went any place else and don’t really keep in close touch with anyone else at top schools, but it seems that the rigor comes into play most when talking about 2L and 3L years. I am fairly certain that 1L is tough, confusing, challenging, etc. across the board at most, if not all, top institutions and even probably at most “not-top” schools. But here, I think the rigor is most present and difficult to handle since Chicago is really known for being pretty …. heady, I’ll say. That is, the Law School takes a certain pride on developing lawyers for more than just the practice of law. It seems, instead, that theory is king at Chicago and that is probably best embodied by our unique “Elements” class.

Though I described this class earlier as what I thought would be akin to an Ethics course, so far it has been nothing like that. This class instead focuses on topics such as sociology, philosophy, economics (another staple of Chicago’s teaching regime), history, etc. and how they relate to the creation and enforcement of our legal system. Though some of our other classes introduced us to a particular field of the law with some theoretical discussions (such as a discussion on the justifications for punishment in Crim) Elements is entirely focused on the theories of justice — why do we adhere to the English common law system, what are the holes in the system, when is it appropriate to apply strict principles in law-making or decision-making and when is it better to apply malleable standards in this process, and the big question: WHY?

This class is by far the most frustrating for me and my more senior colleagues (2Ls, 3Ls, and the like) just write off this confusion by saying: “Yup. That’s the problem with Elements. You either you get it or you don’t.” I have a real problem with that statement and I just can’t accept that it’s that simple. But anyway, this is why Chicago is typically viewed as one of the more intellectually rigorous “top” schools — this emphasis on legal theory. But again, as for 2L and 3L years, I can’t speak to that yet.

Now, to focus on my classmates, I’m not sure why someone would think that this place is at all “unfriendly.” It’s a pretty small school so most everyone knows everyone else, which might not be the case at a larger place like NYU or Harvard (please don’t construe this last sentence as me bashing either of those schools because they are, obviously, both highly regarded institutions). Like most schools, we have Bar Review every Thursday and so far it’s been absolutely packed. Just about everyone I know makes it out and we all have a blast together. Moreover, Wine Mess every Friday provides more opportunities for socializing (i.e. boozing for cheap) in the Green Lounge. So not only are you having fun with all your classmates while getting a little saucy at school, but this event almost certainly bleeds over into a fun-filled night of going at in Lincoln Park or some other fun area of Chicago.

Overall, everyone here is really very friendly. Yes, there are a few gunners and yes, sometimes the Chicago “nerd” stereotype is pretty prevalent, but I would argue not overly much more so than at other top schools.

With regards to the less social (read: gunners) that is a topic for another day, but I would like to impart some …. counterintuitive? … thoughts about gunners when the time is right. I also have some thoughts to put down about our recently assigned memo. But for now, it’s Friday night and the feeling’s right (insert falsetto: Oh what a night!) so look to those topics some time in the near future.

As a last note, I’m sorry to see IvyLife go. But it sounds like this person made a very rational and calculated decision and that was: law school was simply not the right place for them at the time, which is fine. You will be sorely missed IvyLife, all the best.