(203) Admissions Blog

Can I Get Some Fries with That Shakespeare?

Sue — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:46:00 GMT

Thursday night is date night. It’s a tradition that my husband and I started in 2009, shortly after I signed my life away to began working for a big law firm, as a way for us to make sure we spent some quality time together at least once a week. Now that I’m working in higher education, we admittedly don’t have the same need for a designated date night, but if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

For our most recent date night, we decided to do something pretty unconventional for us and take in a play at the Yale Repertory Theatre – specifically, a production of Hamlet directed by James Bundy and starring Yale College and School of Drama alum Paul Giamatti. Neither of us is particularly big on theater (I suspect that for my husband, it has something to do with all of the cringeworthy plays and musicals that his high school students have made him attend over the years…), but we do like to try new things and we’re both fans of Shakespeare, so we were pretty excited about our first Yale Rep experience.

Of course, dinner and a show go together like YLS and “virtual grades,” so we figured, what more appropriate way to whet our appetites for Shakespeare than with a meal at Shake Shack? The bard and the burger. A winning recipe for date night, to be sure.

And so our evening began with a visit to Louis’ Lunch’s newest competitor, the ever-popular burger-fry-and-shake chain conceived by NYC restaurateur Danny Meyer. For those of you who may not be familiar with Shake Shack, it’s a restaurant that is known as much for its food as for its commitment to the environment. Shake Shack prides itself on using beef that is all-natural, hormone- and antibiotic-free, vegetarian fed, humanely raised, and source-verified. Other ingredients are locally sourced from artisanal producers whenever possible. Each Shake Shack restaurant is built from recycled and sustainable materials (e.g., the wooden walls of the New Haven Shack are made from the Yale Bowl’s old bleacher seats) and uses LED lighting and energy efficient kitchen equipment. To further reduce its footprint, Shake Shack offsets its electric usage through wind power and Renewable Energy Certificates, reuses its cooking oil to produce clean energy, and composts its food.

I should note – though this is a bit of a tangent – that one of the most interesting panel discussions I attended at the Law School this year featured Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti. The panel, which was presented by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Yale Environmental Law Association, and the Yale Sustainable Food Project, was called “Health, Safety and Sustainability in the Modern Food System.” Like every event at YLS, it was accompanied by free food – in this case, it was – what else? – burgers and milkshakes from Shake Shack.

On this particular visit to the Shack, my husband and I kept it simple and ordered a hamburger (me), a double ShackBurger (him), and a black and white milkshake (to share). I won’t go into an in-depth review of our meal, but here’s an interesting attempt to compare Shake Shack to other burger favorites In-N-Out and Five Guys.

Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my burger, which was griddle-smashed (but still juicy) and seared to perfection in the signature Shake Shack way. Just look at that deep brown, all-over crust!

My husband’s burger was also juicy and cooked well, though he felt that with the double cheeseburger, there was just too much meat and that a single probably had the right ratio of beef to bun (proving once again that wives know better!).

The black and white shake, which I thought was going to be a half chocolate/half vanilla shake but tasted more like a vanilla shake with chocolate syrup, was creamy not icy and had just the right thickness. But a bit pricey at $5, if you ask me.

To cap off the meal, we ordered one of the three “concretes” (frozen custard blended with tasty mix-ins) that Shake Shack specifically customized for its New Haven location. The Elm City Coffee Break is a heavenly combination of vanilla custard, coffee cake marshmallow sauce, and pecan shortbread. We did have to do some additional mixing of our own to evenly distribute the sauce and the shortbread, which had mostly collected in a pool in the center of the custard, but it was worth the effort. The concrete had a great cinnamon flavor and really tasted like what you’d think coffee cake would taste like if it were reincarnated as a frozen custard. As an added bonus, we had the satisfaction of knowing that 5% of sales from the Elm City Coffee Break concrete go toward Solar Youth, a non-profit that empowers youth through environmental exploration, leadership, and community service.

With Act I of date night already a success, we continued on to Act II, which took place at the University Theatre on York Street.

Given that this is not the first 203 Blog entry on the Yale Repertory Theatre, I won’t say too much about the theatre itself and its illustrious history. I will say that my husband and I were not the only ones who were interested in catching this particular production of Hamlet, which sold out its entire run from March 15 to April 13. (And if the traffic on the Wall regarding Hamlet tickets was any indication, almost every YLS student saw the play as well!)

I’ll leave the formal theatrical review to the pros, but for us, Bundy’s Hamlet – a modern adaptation of the 400-year-old play – was intriguing and entertaining. When Hamlet delivers his famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, he is wearing blue boxer shorts, a long plaid bathrobe, and argyle socks with house slippers – all part of his plan to put on an “antic disposition.” He later trades in these dowdy clothes for a tuxedo and red Converse high-top sneakers, as he attends the play intended to reveal his uncle Claudius’s murderous actions.

Although it was a little difficult to buy into a Hamlet who was almost as old as his mother and twice the age of his love interest, Giamatti’s impassioned acting and his creative – and often unexpected – injection of humor into Hamlet’s character made up for the dissonance. (When he first sees his best friend, Horatio, Hamlet expresses his exuberance by jumping into Horatio’s arms and wrapping his legs around Horatio’s waist!)

Again, we’re no theater buffs, but we enjoyed ourselves so much that by the end of the evening, my husband and I were wondering whether we might want to make date nights at the Yale Rep more of a regular thing. Yale University students get a discount on season passes, so think about getting yours for the 2013-14 season! Shake Shack meal (unfortunately) not included.

Basil Restaurant: A Pan-Asian Paradise

Sue — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:50:00 GMT

I’ll cut to the chase. Here’s what I love about the food at Basil Restaurant: it’s fast, it’s cheap, it’s tasty, and it’s diverse. For the law student on a budget, you really can’t ask for much more.

Basil is a relative newcomer to the well-established Asian food scene in New Haven, but it is, at least in my opinion, a welcome addition. Let’s be clear – we’re not talking about fine dining here. If you’re looking for a more upscale or gourmet place to enjoy Chinese, Japanese, Thai, or Malaysian cuisine, you should head to one of the pricier restaurants in the Have (e.g., Kudeta, Miso, and Bentara). But we’re also not talking about some greasy spoon with food that would only pass as edible when you’ve got $5 in your pocket and a bad case of the 2am munchies. Basil hits the sweet spot of providing an insanely wide array of perfectly delicious, fresh food at affordable prices in a clean and neat environment.

Let’s start with the menu, which shows why Basil is truly a Pan-Asian paradise with something for everyone. There are over 180 items on Basil’s menu, which spans the cuisines of China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Entrée categories range from stir-fried noodles and chow fun to yaki udon to Thai-style curries to noodle soups to a variety of specials and dishes served over rice. Almost everything can be made with your choice of noodle (chow fun, rice noodle, Cantonese noodle, lo mein, udon, wide egg noodle, or glass noodle), rice (white or brown), or protein (tofu, chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp), allowing for seemingly endless combinations. And most entrees are moderately priced between $4.50 and $7.95, with the average entrée coming in at around $6.50. Specials like the beef rendang casserole or the ½ roast duck are the priciest items on the menu and will set you back $13.95.

What I love most about Basil is the selection of appetizers – scallion pancake, steamed or pan-fried dumplings, pork shumai, turnip cake, vegetable spring rolls, chicken satay, and (my personal favorite!) roti canai, among others. Grab a few friends and order a few of these small plates, from $2.95 to $5.50, and you’ve got a great weekend dim sum experience.

And of course, to round out the menu, in addition to staples like Thai iced tea and coffee (also moderately priced at $1.95), Basil offers 23 different kinds of boba tea, from the milky to the fruity, at $2.95 each, with the option to add toppings such as yogurt popping boba, mixed fruit jelly, or coffee jelly for an extra $0.50.

On my most recent visit to Basil, I started off with the roast pork bun appetizer (a pair of buns for $3.25) and, given the name of the restaurant, I thought it only appropriate to order the basil chicken (with brown rice) for my entrée.

The food at Basil always comes out fast and piping hot, and this visit was no exception. My pork buns came out steaming hot in their little metal steam basket – too hot to handle, actually, and it took some serious willpower to wait for them to cool down enough for me to grab and open them up. Fortunately, it was worth the wait. The pork buns were white and plump and pillowy, with a slightly chewy exterior and a super soft and doughy interior. They were filled with a modest amount of sweet, tender, bbq roast pork – we’re not talking bursting at the seams with filling here, just the right amount to complement the bun (which had a great, almost buttery flavor) but not overshadow it. My kind of comfort food.

As I was savoring the last few bites of my first pork bun, a steaming plate of basil chicken with a mound of brown rice appeared before me. Thin slices of white meat chicken, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions – all nicely seared and caramelized – came together with sweet, minty Thai basil in a savory sauce. The ingredients were fresh, the vegetables weren’t cooked to death and still maintained their color and crispness, and the dish wasn’t greasy or drowning in sauce, as is often the case at cheap noodle houses.

With my entrée costing just $6.50, my total with tax came to a mere $10.37. And with Basil’s generous portions and my limited stomach capacity, I even had a decent amount left over for my next meal. WIN.

Some of the other appetizers I’d recommend at Basil are the roti canai (a must-order!) and the scallion pancake. Roti canai is a circular Indonesian/Malasian flatbread that is usually made with ghee (clarified butter), brushed with oil and then grilled on a flat top and served with a curry dipping sauce. Basil’s roti canai – the most affordable appetizer at $2.95 – is hot, flaky, and buttery, and the coconot curry sauce is mildly spicy with delicious, small chunks of potato. It’s so good, you’ll want to skip the sharing and have one all to yourself.

The scallion pancake ($3.50), served with a soy dipping sauce, is another cheap but very satisfying appetizer. Basil’s version is super crispy on the outside with layers of chewy goodness on the inside and a delicate onion flavor throughout.

On the entrée side, my husband, a spice fanatic, has enjoyed the curry tofu noodle soup ($5.95) – a deep cauldron of spicy red broth infused with lemongrass and overflowing with chunks of fried tofu, bok choy, broccoli, and your choice of noodles (his preference: glass noodle).

For those with a less adventurous palate, try the shredded pork yaki udon ($6.95) – a heaping skillet of thick udon noodles stir-fried with thin slices of lean pork, cabbage, carrot, and scallions in a light sauce that’s slightly sweet and salty.

So when you and your law school crew are craving Asian but can’t decide on Chinese, Japanese, Thai, or Malaysian, or if you’re just looking for a super quick, hot, and tasty meal between classes, head to Basil just a few blocks from the Law School. Your wallet (and your palate) will thank you!

Paint the Town Red (or Green, or Blue...)

Sue — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:47:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, I mentioned (with great trepidation) that Asha and I would be taking a BYOB painting class together. Well, we did it. And it was pretty freaking awesome.

Here's the backstory: this past fall, Asha found a Groupon deal for a three-hour BYOB art class at Art Plus Studio (f.k.a. “Art with a Twist”), conveniently located just four and a half blocks from the Law School. Seeing as how I am (1) a teetotaler and (2) a terrible artist, I couldn't imagine anything more up my alley. Well, it turned out to be one of the coolest and most fun things I've ever done in New Haven, and I can't wait to go again.

Art Plus Studio is run by an absolutely lovely woman named Bella Zadore (even her name is lovely, isn't it?). Bella is a professionally trained artist from Brazil who came to the U.S. eleven years ago. She worked for many years as a free-lance artist specializing in city murals with a particular focus on cartoon art. Her murals can be found across Connecticut, in cities like New Haven, West Haven, and Hartford.

Just a few months ago, in May 2012, Bella opened Art Plus Studio as a way to share and combine two of her great loves: painting and wine. The idea developed after Bella began organizing get-togethers with her friends where they would all paint (with the help of step-by-step instructions from Bella) while sharing food and wine. Soon Bella's friends were asking her why she wasn't doing the same for more people. So Bella got together with daily deal companies Groupon and Living Social and soon found herself with 800 interested customers – among them, two adventurous admissions officers from Yale Law School.

Here's how it works: Art Plus Studio offers evening BYOB painting classes for adults several nights a week. Classes for kids and families are offered occasionally on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Each class has a featured painting that participants will try to replicate (with their own personal spin, of course), so check out the monthly calendar and select your class based on which piece of art you'd like to paint and take home. There's a wide array of subjects to choose from, including monuments, scenes from nature, and famous pieces by the likes of Monet, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, and Dali. The calendar also includes some fun theme sessions like Girls Night Out (where the featured painting is of something ridiculously girly, like six-inch hot pink stilettos), Couples & BFFs Face-to-Face Picasso-Style Portrait Painting, Paint a Picture of Your Pet, and Unleash Your Warhol (where the featured painting is – what else? – a can of Campbell's tomato soup).

Here's the featured painting from the session that Asha and I attended. It's aptly called “Tree and Birds”:

Without a daily deal voucher, classes cost $35/person for a 2.5-hour session (longer sessions are available at an additional charge) that includes all necessary supplies: a canvas, an easel, acrylic paint, brushes of various shapes and sizes, aprons, and hair dryers. Our Groupon included an 11”x14” canvas, with the option to upsize to a 16”x20” for $5 more. As you can see in the photos at the end of this post, Asha chose the latter while I stuck with the former.

Absolutely no painting experience is required (it's true!) because the instructor will guide you step-by-step through everything you need to do to reproduce the featured artwork – right down to telling you which brush to use for each component of the painting. All you have to do is show up in some frumpy clothes with your favorite beverage (adult or otherwise) and snacks. It also helps to set some low standards for yourself – though perhaps the BYOB part is supposed to take care of that . . . .

The painting stations are set up in clusters of four, so you can sit together with your friends. Asha and I chose to sit next to, rather than across from, each other so we could keep an eye on each other's progress and provide moral support as needed. We put on our aprons, spread our drinks and snacks out on the table, and we were ready to go.

Step one: Paint the entire canvas blue using the largest brush and a mix of blue and white paint. Simple, right? Well, as Asha and I both found out, covering an entire canvas in a single color is not as easy as it sounds. What a workout! I found myself wishing I had done a few more pushups and bicep curls the day before.

Step two: Paint three straight bands of equal width across the bottom of the canvas to create the ground. Check. This is where being an anal-retentive-risk-averse-perfectionist lawyer really pays off. Asha and I both received praise for how straight and uniform our lines were. Shoutout to my Tiger Mom for teaching me well!

Step three: Using (eek!) black paint, draw the tree trunk in the center of the canvas, a little wider at the base and narrower towards the top, and then add individual branches of different sizes radiating from the trunk. This is where being an anal-retentive-risk-averse-perfectionist lawyer is a liability. Black paint? This class just got real. Both Asha and I were terrified to put our brushes to the canvas, afraid of making a mistake and screwing up our entire paintings with one errant brush stroke. The only thing that compelled me to dive in with the black paint was the fear of falling behind in the class. (Go figure!)

Step four: Paint three different kinds of flowers – each demonstrated by Rebecca, our instructor – all around the tree branches using whatever colors we liked. Time for everyone to unleash their creativity. Or in my case, continue to paint conservatively with total fear of failure.

Step five: Connect the flowers to the branches with brush strokes that become narrower closer to the flowers. This I could handle.

Step six: Paint three birds – again, demonstrated in great detail by Rebecca – standing around the tree. I'm actually pretty happy with how my birds turned out. All props go to Rebecca for breaking it down into very manageable steps (i.e., first make a circle, then attach a football-shape to it, then add a smaller football in a different color on top, etc.).

Step seven: Add leaves around the tree wherever we thought they'd look good. I kind of went to town with these, but I felt like my tree needed them.

Step eight: Sign our masterpieces with a Sharpie and then walk around and check out everyone else's interpretation of “Tree and Birds.” This was the coolest part of the evening – seeing so many different renditions of the same painting. Here's what Asha and I ultimately created:

We had an absolute blast, and now I have a new piece of art hanging in my office to remind me that spring is on its way.

Art Plus Studio is a great place to spend an evening or a weekend afternoon with your friends, small group, significant other, or (for YLS students with children) family. Asha and I found the painting class to be incredibly relaxing and therapeutic (once we let go of our unachievable standards), so sign up for a class to de-stress from the YLS exam period or to take a break from the SAW that's been driving you crazy.

And while you're at the studio, make sure to check out the funny way they identify the ladies' and men's restrooms. I'd post the pictures that I took, but they're not the most blog-appropriate . . . . More incentive for you to try out a class and support a fantastic new local business!

I Get By With a Little Help from My Friends (in the Financial Aid Office)

craigj — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:46:00 GMT

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few years (feel free to write your personal statement about the experience if you have), you have probably read at least one of the several hundred articles, op-eds, and blog posts written about the implosion of the legal job market and law school "scam." In case you have managed to miss the weekly proclamations of lawmagedon in The New York Times, the gist of most of these pieces is that choosing to go to law school is a financial decision akin to using your checking account and credit card to secure that princely inheritance waiting for you at a bank in Nigeria.

Those of us in the Admissions Office do not believe the end is nigh for the prospects of lawyers entering the job market, particularly our graduates; we wouldn't be in this line of work if we did. However, the realities of the current legal job market have served to underscore the magnitude of the financial impact of attending law school and highlighted the importance of being a savvy financial aid consumer. After three years and $100,000+ in non-dischargeable debt, you do not want to find yourself in a position where you regret your decision to attend law school.

Key to helping our prospective students, current students, and alumni understand and cope with the financial realities of attending law school is the YLS Financial Aid Office. When the Office isn't busy handing out piles of free money through our need-based scholarships, summer public interest funding, and loan repayment assistance, their time is spent addressing the distinct needs and questions of these three groups.

Prospective Students

Is this scholarship offer from another school as good as it appears to be? Should I be afraid to take on all of this debt? How do I apply for loans? How much is this $3,000 laptop going to cost me in the end?

With the proliferation of full-tuition merit scholarships and "loan-free" financial aid policies at top undergraduate schools, many prospective YLS students are encountering educational loans for the first time. Our Financial Aid Office educates prospective students on the general loan process and loan terminology. The Office also helps prospective students understand their YLS aid offers and gives them guidance and advice on how to compare their YLS offers to offers they may have at other schools. If a prospective student decides to come to YLS, our Financial Aid Office walks students through the financial aid process step-by-step, helps them understand the different types of loan products available, and advises them on how much money they should be borrowing to meet their needs in the coming academic year.

Current Students

I'm getting bombarded with offers from lenders, what are my best options? Can you help me budget? Can I borrow more money? How do I repay my loans if I decided to clerk?

Given YLS's relatively small size, the Financial Aid Office has the ability to work with current students on a very individualized basis to develop both short-term (living on a budget while in school) and long-term (multiyear loan repayment) plans. Resources offered to current students include assistance with applying for outside scholarships, advice on budgeting and making the most of loan and scholarship dollars, and help calculating what impact summer employment and other life events may have on their financial aid packages.

This academic year, the Financial Aid Office introduced a popular Financial Literacy Lunch Series. The Series includes interactive workshops on a variety of financial management topics presented by experts in the field. Programs targeted at first- and second-year students focus on effective budgeting, strategies to minimize loan borrowing, and the benefits of maintaining good credit. Workshops for third-year students assist with their transition from YLS with sessions focused on choosing the right federal loan repayment plan specific to their needs, effective participation in our own loan repayment program, COAP, and an overview of "real world" finances (retirement, insurance, investment options).

Third-year students can also take advantage of comprehensive exit counseling sessions offered by the Financial Aid Office. In these sessions students' entire loan portfolios are reviewed, their projected loan payments under the various federal repayment plans are compared, and their estimated COAP support is graphed over a ten-year eligibility period. Third-year students can also take advantage of a complimentary consultation with a financial planner to discuss their broader fiscal strategies beyond their loan repayment.

Alumni

Can I re-enroll in COAP? I'm thinking about changing careers; what does this mean for my loans? How can I save for retirement, have children, and still repay my loans? Does this new federal repayment program make sense for me?

Our students' access to the resources of the Financial Aid Office doesn't end at their commencement ceremonies. Because of YLS's commitment to supporting our graduates' career paths through COAP, the Office naturally keeps in close contact with our alumni through COAP's ten-year eligibility period. Additionally, graduates are encouraged take advantage of the advice and support offered by our Financial Aid Office to discuss the effects of changes in life and financial circumstances on their loans.

Law school still makes sense for a lot people and our students have weathered the legal employment hellscape especially well. You just need to understand fully the financial responsibility you're taking on and equip yourself with the tools to navigate the financial realities of being a law student and lawyer. You can survive the lawpocalypse with a little help from your friends in the YLS Financial Aid Office.

Hungry with a Chance of Meatballs

Sue — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:23:00 GMT

A few months ago, I stumbled upon – and blogged about – Sababa, a recently-opened falafel/shawarma shop in the mix-and-match style of Chipotle. Well, there’s another new kid on the block that lets you pick and choose how you want your entrée, what you want in it, and how you want to top it.

New Haven Meatball House's website advertises, “Four types of balls, four types of sauces, and three ways to eat them.” It’s that simple. Choose your meatball (beef, pork, chicken, or vegetable); choose your sauce (traditional tomato, creamy parmesan, spinach pesto, or mushroom); then decide whether you want your meatballs served over a starch (black garlic mashed potatoes, spaghetti, rigatoni, or mac & cheese), as a slider on a brioche bun, or as a full-size brioche sandwich topped with your choice of melted cheese.

Less than four blocks from the Law School, NHMH has only been open since August of last year, but it has already created a buzz among local diners. I’d heard that it can be hard to get a table at the Meatball House, so I decided to go with the hubby shortly after New Year’s, when “the Have” would probably be a little more deserted. Our plan worked – we arrived at around 7pm on a Thursday night and were seated right away.

The restaurant, though small, had a warm and inviting décor with glowing sconces and candles and tones of red, orange, and brown (which you can’t see in the photo because I had to use my flash). It looked to me like there was table seating for about thirty people and bar seating for about sixteen.

In addition to the regular menu, the Meatball House offers a number of specials every night, including a special meatball. On the night that we went, the specials included a bacon cheddar ball ($7), an appetizer of a New York-style pretzel with warm IPA cheese sauce for dipping ($3.50), three different kinds of pizzas ($8.50 each), and a side of mini shepherd’s pie with mashed potatoes and melted cheddar cheese ($4).

We decided to order off the regular menu to get a sense of NHMH’s everyday fare and ultimately settled on four beef balls with mushroom sauce over black garlic mashed potatoes ($10), one brioche slider with a chicken ball and creamy parmesan sauce ($3), one brioche slider with a veggie ball and spinach pesto ($3), and a side order of Tuscan kale ($4), which came highly recommended by our server.

The beef balls, a mixture of beef and sweet Italian sausage, came covered in melted parmesan and were moist on the inside (thanks to the addition of ricotta cheese) with a nice outside crust. The mushroom sauce was earthy but not too creamy or heavy, and I enjoyed the mashed potatoes, which still had small chunks of potato to provide a little texture. I was, however, disappointed that I couldn’t detect any garlic flavor – just butter – in the black garlic mashed potatoes. The balls came with a garlic butter crostini which, as my husband noted, added a completely necessary crunchy element and saved the dish from being essentially mush on top of mush on top of mush. (Note to the Management: We definitely could have gone for another piece of crostini!) Overall, I think we picked a pretty good combination – the flavors were very harmonious and the dish was hearty and comforting. It reminded us of classic comfort foods like beef stroganoff or Salisbury steak with gravy and mashed potatoes.

Next up: the sliders. We started with the vegetable ball slider, served piping hot on a super soft brioche bun with melted cheese and a big dollop of verdant spinach pesto. If you order the pesto sauce with anything, make sure you like garlic because it totally packs a garlicky punch. The veggie ball was delicious and had a great nutty flavor and texture thanks to ingredients like lentils and chickpeas. Sadly, I think the delicate flavor of the ball was overpowered by the strong pine nut and garlic flavors in the pesto – next time, I might choose to pair the veggie ball with something more subtle, like the creamy parmesan or tomato sauce.

The chicken ball slider was surprisingly light – I expected the creamy parmesan sauce to be heavy (like a thick alfredo sauce), but it was just the opposite. The sauce was velvety and much thinner and looser than I expected; it oozed and flowed freely over the meatball and out of the bun. I also expected it to be very salty, as parmesan sauces often are, but I was surprised again to find that it was well-balanced and not over-the-top aggressively salty. The sauce was a great complement to the chicken meatball, which was also light and delicately seasoned. My palate isn’t the best, but I could taste ground chicken, minced onion, parsley, and parmesan in the crumbly (and not too densely packed) meatball.

Finally, there was the kale – one of the most popular side dishes at NHMH. Sautéed in sherry wine with lots (and lots and lots and lots) of garlic, toasted pine nuts, and golden raisins, the Tuscan kale came out bright green and perfectly cooked (i.e., tender but not limp and mushy). My favorite part of the dish was the balance between the slightly bitter greens and the sweet raisins and the overall marriage of salty, sweet, and sour. Definitely a great side, but maybe one to stay away from if you’re on a date . . . unless you buy into the Rachael Ray philosophy that two garlic eaters “cancel each other out.” (I don't.)

Although we were too stuffed to order dessert, we loved that the mix-and-match concept of NHMH carries over to the final course in the form of customizable ice cream cookie sandwiches ($4). Next time – and there most certainly will be a next time – I’ll be sure to try a few other slider combinations (at just $3 each they’re a great value) and save room for a chocolate-chip-cookie-and-espresso-ice-cream sandwich.

Snooki and Deena would approve.

Bad Idea Jeans: C&F Drive-Bys

asha — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:22:00 GMT

I find it astonishing that I have to address Character & Fitness issues every year, but despite having written here and here about being completely candid in your application, every year I come across applications that provoke me to shut the door of the admissions office and have a private Donkey Kong moment with my staff (they don't judge).

What's been bugging me lately is the very cavalier attitude some students appear to have toward their character and fitness addenda. I'm talking about stuff like (and this is an actual one), "I was arrested for possession of a controlled substance while crossing the U.S. border in 2010. I went to court and received three months' probation."

And that's it.

I suppose the person writing this expects my reaction to be something like, "Oh, OK. Thanks for letting me know." Typically, though, I stare at a statement like this and wonder if it's worth even asking the applicant for more details or whether I should assume that someone who lacks the judgment to know that phrases like "controlled substance," "at the border," and "arrested" ought to be explained more fully is probably not going to make a very good lawyer.

To give you guys the benefit of the doubt, though, I'll offer up some basic guildelines on how to write a C&F addendum. A C&F Bootcamp, if you will. Here we go:

1. State All the Relevant Facts. Here's a little tip about law school. On your first day, you or one of your classmates will be cold-called by a professor. The first words that are almost guaranteed to come out of his/her mouth are, "Please state the facts of this case." You are then expected to provide a narrative that explains what facts and circumstances gave rise to the particular issue the court happens to be considering in that case. So, if you answer "Yes" to either of our C&F questions, here's a chance for you to practice doing this. Think of it as a story. Who, What, Where, When, How (we'll get to the Why in a second). A few pointers:

*If you were arrested and charged with a crime, you should state specifically what you were charged with. It's helpful if you can indicate whether it was a misdemeanor or a felony.

*Depending on the particular issue in question, you'll need to mention certain details. For example, if you are discussing a drug violation, it's important to note 1) the type of drug involved and 2) the quantity. (I'm a former federal agent. I'm familiar with the amounts that would make it unlikely that you planned to use it all for your personal consumption.) Similarly, depending on the kind of issue you are dealing with, YOU should make a judgment about what facts an admissions committee might consider relevant to your candidacy, even if those facts don't put you in the most awesome light possible. This is about candor, not about making yourself look good. In fact, an honest, forthcoming statement of what happened reflects much more favorably upon you than vaguely-worded statements that just make you look hinky. (And in general, if you don't fill in the blanks, I will, and I will assume the worst scenario possible.)

*Dates are important. Proximity in time is a big factor in evaluating your C&F issue. I.e., doing something really, really dumb ten years ago is usually more exusable than doing something just sorta dumb ten months or ten weeks before you applied to law school. For this reason, please indicate the month, day, and year when your incident took place, rather than saying "when I was in college" or "a long time ago." If the incident occurred soooo long ago that you don't remember the actual date and have no record of it, you may use the legalese, "on or about [estimate month/year]...." (and then note that you have no record or recollection of the precise date so you don't look like a tool).

2. Describe the Disposition of the Charge. Again, this is like practicing for law school, where you'll have to know the procedural posture of a case. That means you have to be able to describe the journey the case took and where it ended up. If you have a criminal infraction, you'll need to indicate whether you went before a judge and how your charge was ultimately adjudicated. This includes if you pleaded no contest or if whatever sentence you received has since been expunged: both of these scenarios would still fall under the purview of our question. If it's an academic violation, you must describe any disciplinary proceedings of which you were a part even if you were not ultimately sanctioned. To emphasize that last part, even if your college tells you that there will be "no record" of the disciplinary proceedings/actions against you in your student file after you graduate, our question asks whether you have ever been the subject of disciplinary proceedings. Therefore, unless you can reverse history by flying backwards around the earth really fast, you MUST answer "Yes" to our question. (Yes, I am looking at you, Yale College. Sorry.)

3. Take Responsibility for Your Actions. Here's where we get to the "Why" of your C&F addendum. What you need to do here is reflect on what happened and demonstrate an understanding of why what you did was wrong. Again, you'll need to use your judgment in terms of how much to say. Accepting responsibility for something like a DUI or plagiarism is probably going to require a longer mea culpa than something like being arrested for public urination (really, what more is there to say on that than it was gross and inappropriate)? A few notes on responsibility:

*You may have had personal circumstances that you feel were relevant to the incident. If so, you can include these so that the admissions committee can consider the "totality of the circumstances" surrounding your C&F issue. You should be careful, though, to make clear that you are offering up this personal context as an explanation, not as an excuse.

*You should explain how you have learned from the incident so that the admissions committee can be confident that you are not going to repeat the behavior again. "Learning from the incident" does not mean writing about how scary jail is, or how terrible you felt telling your parents, or how worried you were about whether you would get into law school. (Focusing on how bad it was for YOU makes you look narcissistic and like you don't really get it.) Rather, it means showing an objective and critical self-awareness of your own behavior, why you made the choices you did, and how you have changed and matured in such a way that, given the same or similar situation in the future, you would not make the same (poor) choices again.

I hope that this guide helps you to write a complete C&F addendum. If you're worried that your addendum will be too long, don't be. I love popcorn. I'm happy to pop a bag and curl up on the couch with my cat to read everything you need to say. And despite my former profession (or perhaps because of it), I'm actually inclined to be quite forgiving...as long as you tell it to me straight.

The Art of Holiday Shopping

Sue — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:53:00 GMT

Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, and for those who don’t know me, the proof will be in the pudding when Asha and I take a BYOB painting class next month and I post the pictures of my finished product <preemptive cringe>. But just because a four-year-old would beat me in a drawing contest doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate real artistic skills when I see them.

There was plenty to appreciate when I stopped by the 44th Annual Celebration of American Crafts, an event showcasing and selling “fine, contemporary crafts” by roughly 300 artists from across the country. Held in a two-story gallery in downtown New Haven, the Celebration is an annual fundraiser in support of Creative Arts Workshop (CAW), a non-profit community art school. Best of all, the event runs from October 27 to December 24, so it’s perfectly timed to coincide with the holiday shopping period.

When I arrived at the gallery, I spent the first fifteen or so minutes just perusing the various displays – which included jewelry, ceramics, colorful blown glass, wood carvings, housewares, clothing, winter accessories, handbags, wallets, toys, and locally made furniture – on my own.

While there were many conventionally beautiful and well-made pieces (like those pictured above), there were also some wacky standouts – like this necklace made out of a combination of soda tabs, Thai beer bottle caps, and creepy cat buttons:

I’d swear that those cat images came from the ornamental plates in Dolores Umbridge’s office. Some of the other unconventional/fun items were this intricate duck necklace:

these funky felt coasters:

this set of metal figurines (I guess they’re the perfect gift for the optometrist in everyone’s life?):

these mounted hamster heads (which I was told one shopper bought and placed as a trophy above her cat’s bed):

and my personal favorite, Smokey the Ottoman (I would SO buy this if I had money to burn):

After walking around the gallery aimlessly, I figured it was about time that I educated myself about these crafts, so I grabbed a few minutes with Susan Smith, Executive Director of CAW. Susan was kind enough to give me some background on the event as well as a brief guided tour of the exhibition.

The 280 artists represented at this year’s Celebration were either invited or “juried.” Many were discovered at national craft shows attended by representatives of CAW in search of talent. CAW also receives submissions from its own instructors and students, who are subject to the same selection process as the juried artists. Many of the artists are invited back from year to year (the Celebration turns over about a third of its artists), and the focus of the exhibition may change depending on the strengths and trends that CAW sees in the world of craft (not to be confused with the World of Warcraft). This year, fashion, jewelry, and ceramics were particularly strong and were prominently and abundantly featured in the Celebration.

Susan also informed me that, of all things, felt is becoming very popular now. That’s right. Felt. That stuff you cut up and glued googly eyes and pom poms to in elementary school. So that explained all of the felt coasters (which I actually came very close to buying), felt jewelry, felt scarves, and felt sweaters that I saw at the Celebration. Another big trend that was also on display was the recycling of old materials to make crafts – for example, the use of old sweaters to make festive wreaths and adorable stuffed animals:

The Celebration of American Crafts ended up being a lot of fun – part art exhibition, part holiday gift shopping adventure. There is something for everyone (from your favorite cat to your favorite cat lady) and a wide enough price range (from $6 toys to $35 handbags and scarves to $300+ ceramics) to satisfy every budget.

And the best part (in my opinion)? If you make a purchase at the Celebration, you can take the receipt to Katalina’s, just down the street from the CAW, and get a free sweet treat! So check out the Celebration of American Crafts to enjoy a free art show, get your holiday shopping done, support a great cause, and refuel with a tasty cupcake. After all, calories don’t count around the holidays, right?

$24 in 24 Hrs – New Haven

Sue — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:41:00 GMT

I love food and I love Chicago (my hometown), so I thought it might be fun to do a little tribute to fellow foodie and proud Chicagoan Jeff Mauro, who not only has established himself as the Sandwich King of Food Network, but who also debuted a show this fall called “$24 in 24 Hrs.”

As you can probably gather from its title, “$24 in 24” places Jeff in a different city in America each week and challenges him to find breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack all for just $24. Is it possible to pull this off in the Elm City? I took to the streets of downtown New Haven to find out.

First, the rules:

Three square meals, plus a snack, for no more than $24;
The food must begood, not just cheap; and
Local establishments only – no big, national chains (sorry, Shake Shack).

I started my day at Orangeside Luncheonette (about 6 blocks from the Law School) to try one of their famous square donuts (or “squonuts,” as my husband calls them). Squonuts are the brain child of Orangeside owner Tony Poleshek, who began selling them in January 2011. Since then, they have become his trademark. Tony’s old-fashioned donuts are made fresh every day, by hand, and are shaped to reflect New Haven’s grid-like city plan—in particular, the downtown neighborhood known as the Ninth Square (where many YLS students live). The unique square shape also produces less waste compared to traditional round donuts, which require excess trimmings to be re-rolled and re-cut in a process that produces tougher “second-generation” donuts.

At just $1.50 apiece (tax included!) these fluffy, 4-inch squonuts are a bargain. They come in a variety of flavors that change on a daily basis – everything from old-fashioned cake, classic glazed, and boston cream, to decadent “Turtle” and “Mounds,” to the ever-popular almond butter crunch. For my inaugural visit to Orangeside, I chose one raised (i.e., yeast-based) and one cake-style donut. For the former, a vanilla frosted; for the latter, almond butter crunch. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, so I also ordered a hot chocolate for $1.50, the same price you’d pay for a cup of joe. Total bill for breakfast:$4.50.

I sat down to enjoy my first meal of the day. The hot chocolate was unremarkable – nothing more than a packet of Swiss Miss and some H20 – but that was fine with me because I had come here with a singular mission:cherchez les donuts. And boy were theymagnifique. The base of the vanilla frosted donut was a super soft pillow of dough, light as a feather, airy and tender, and not the least bit oily or greasy. The layer of frosting and sprinkles added a punch of sweetness to the delicately flavored dough. The almond butter crunch donut was a completely different, but equally satisfying, taste experience. It had a denser and more crumbly cake base that was complemented by a caramel drizzle and sprinklings of crunchy brittled almonds. My advice: if you’re not a huge fan of sweets or just want a lighter breakfast, go for the glazed or frosted yeast-based squonuts; the cake-based, candy-bar-inspired varieties should be reserved for those with a serious sweet tooth or who want something a little more substantial. In my case, ordering one of each was the right call.

Next up: Lunch. Every day, YLS students are presented with a variety of cheap but tasty alternatives to the dining hall fare. I debated going with one of the many $5-6 options from the food trucks and carts in the area or from the nearby noodle shops, but rather than go with an old standby, I decided to try something new. And because I’m giving a nod to the Sandwich King this week, a falafel sandwich from Sababa seemed like the perfect choice.

Sababa opened up on Whitney Avenue, a mere 4 blocks from YLS, just 9 months ago. The menu is simple but innovative, and the restaurant concept is reminiscent of Chipotle or Roti – choose your entrée type (pita sandwich or platter), choose your filling (falafel, chicken shawarma, or beef-lamb-and-turkey shawarma), and choose your toppings (from an extensive and very exciting list). The toppings are what really distinguish Sababa from the other casual Middle Eastern eateries in New Haven. There are more than two dozen different house-made options and no limit to the number of toppings you can add (well, I suppose the reality is that at some point you might run out of room in your pita or on your platter, but I refuse to face that reality). Sababa offers everything from the traditional hummus, tahini, and tabouli, to the more interesting Moroccan carrot salad, fried long hot peppers, pickled mango, and even chimmichurri sauce.

For only $4.50, I was able to load my falafel sandwich with Sababa’s classic hummus, fried cauliflower, sweet potato & mushroom salad, chopped Israeli salad, cabbage slaw, tahini, and chimmichurri sauce. I also treated myself to a fountain soda for $1 (free refills!), bringing my total – including tax – to a mere$5.85. The sandwich was not only an amazing value, it was seriously yummy. The pita bread (I chose whole wheat) was soft and fresh, the falafel had a perfectly crisp exterior and was well-seasoned, and the toppings added all different kinds of texture and flavor. The hummus was smooth, creamy, and thick. The slaw was crunchy and provided a bite of acidity to balance the buttery sweet potato salad. And I could easily have eaten a whole bowl of just the fried cauliflower – they were tender and slightly lemony. With the incredible variety of ingredients in my sandwich, no two bites were the same, and even the bites that didn’t have any falafel in them were delicious.

They don’t skimp on anything at Sababa (the 6 napkins I had to use are proof of that), and I left feeling as stuffed as the pita I had just consumed. At the moment, Sababa is only open for lunch on weekdays, but don’t let the limited hours stop you from experiencing what may be the best deal on falafel (or perhaps any sandwich) in the city. Play around with all of the different combinations – according to my-husband-the-math-teacher (thanks, honey!), there are 805,306,368 ways to build your perfect meal. That means that if you ate at Sababa once every weekday, it would take you over 3 million years to try every combination. So get started, time’s a-wasting!

No day of eating is complete without an afternoon snack, and a few hours after my savory smorgasbord at Sababa, I was in the mood for a sweet treat. So I ventured to Katalina’s, an adorable bakery and coffee shop on Whitney Avenue, just half a block from Sababa. Katalina’s has been open since October 2011 and is a dessert lover’s paradise, selling all manner of cupcakes – including several vegan and gluten-free options – cookies, brownies, bars, and other baked goods. Rachael, the incredibly friendly girl behind the counter, informed me that Katalina’s is also the only place in New Haven that carries Stumptown coffee (again, I’m not much of a coffee drinker, so the significance of this tidbit is unfortunately lost on me, but I hope it means something good to some of you!).

I perused the confections behind Katalina’s glass case and was faced with a difficult decision. Rachael’s favorites were the Vanilla Cupcake with Fig Filling and Pear Frosting, the Nutella Cupcake with Fresh Banana Frosting, and the “Yale Bulldog” – a chocolate cupcake with cayenne pepper, raspberry filling, and Nutella frosting. I was tempted by the Boston Cream and “Hostess” cupcakes as well as the Funny Bone – a chocolate cake filled with peanut butter and topped with chocolate ganache and crumbled peanut butter cups. After much deliberation, I settled on a chocolate cupcake with ganache filling and peanut butter frosting, garnished with a wedge of peanut butter cup (basically, a reverse Funny Bone!).

Now, I have to confess that I’m generally not much of a frosting person. Typically, I slice off about half the frosting before attacking any cupcake to get the “right” ratio of frosting to cake. And that’s just what I did this time around. I was worried that Katalina’s frosting wouldn’t pack enough of a peanut butter punch, but there was no shortage of PB flavor here. By itself, the frosting was very sweet, but eaten together with the rich chocolate cake and dark chocolate ganache, it was the perfect balance. I also liked the fact that the frosting was airy and silky, not thick, goopy, or grainy as some frostings are wont to be. All in all, a delightful pick-me-up at a very reasonable$2.65(including tax).

With exactly $11.00 left in my budget, I decided to splurge a little on dinner. Just 3 blocks from the Law School is Rubamba, a tiny restaurant that serves gourmet Latin American cuisine. The dining room, though small (it seats about 20), has lots of personality thanks to a wall of hot sauce bottles. At Rubamba, Chef Ernesto Garcia serves up the flavors of Mexico and South America in the form of burritos, tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, and arepas. The arepas – grilled corncakes that are a staple of Colombian and Venezuelan cuisine – are the most popular menu item at Rubamba. They’re topped with melted mozzarella cheese and your choice of chicken, steak, pulled pork, shrimp, fish, or portabello mushroom, and served with rice and gandules (a Puerto Rican favorite) and sweet plantains (a nod to Caribbean cuisine).

Everything on the menu looked great, but Rubamba is known for its arepas, so I went with the pollo arepa and, because the weather was unusually warm for fall, opted to carry out rather than dine in. When the dish came out, it was colorful and beautifully plated. The arepa itself was thick and nicely seared on both sides, topped with chunks of tender adobo marinated grilled chicken breast and finished with guacamole, pico de gallo, scallions, a drizzle of sour cream, and sprinkling of cilantro. On the side was a heaping pile of rice and gandules (similar to green lentils) and four pieces of plantain. Finding a quiet bench on the New Haven Green, I dug into my meal and enjoyed a perfect bite, combining the sweet corncake, mild and salty melted cheese, spiced chicken, tangy tomatoes and onions, buttery guacamole, and cool sour cream. The dish had great textures as well, from the creamy arepa mixture, the snap of the fresh corn kernels, and the bite of the onions. The rice and gandules complemented the arepa nicely, and the plantains were meaty and perfectly caramelized.

The pollo arepa set me back a total of$10.10($9.50 plus tax), and the dish was actually large enough for me to make two meals out of it. Ah, the advantages of being a small person! (But see Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas.) Next time I’m going to try the pescado (tilapia) arepa – Chef Ernesto’s favorite dish on the menu. You can also get the same fare at a lower price from one of Rubamba’s two food carts, one by the Law School and one by the Med School. And on a hot day, be sure to try one of Rubamba’s specialty iced beverages, like the Horchata, a rice milk drink that is creamy and lightly sweet with a hint of cinnamon.

So how did I do? Let’s review. I grabbed two donuts and a hot chocolate at Orangeside Luncheonette for $4.50. A falafel sandwich and soda at Sababa cost me $5.85. My afternoon snack came in the form of a $2.65 cupcake from Katalina’s. And I went big for dinner and got a pollo arepa from Rubamba for $10.10. That brings my total to$23.10. So there you go – proof positive that you can find a variety of tasty and affordable eats in New Haven and, more importantly, within a 6-block radius of Yale Law School.

That concludes the New Haven Edition of $24 in 24 Hrs. I’m so stuffed from today’s challenge that it’s given me an idea for a follow-up: 24 Lbs. in 24 Hrs. Hey, with Thanksgiving coming up, it just might happen. Tune in next time to see how I do….

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

An American Idol in New Haven

Sue — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:34:00 GMT

Finally – karaoke (or “noraebang” as we call it in Korean) has come to New Haven in a major way. I am a huge fan of karaoke, particularly the private, box-style karaoke that is typically offered by Asian establishments. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out about the Aug. 25 grand opening of Karaoke Heroes, the first dedicated karaoke bar in all of Connecticut, right in downtown New Haven.

While there are other bars and restaurants on or near the Yale campus that occasionally host individual karaoke nights or special events, such as Anna Liffey's or Gryphon’s Pub at GPSCY, there has been no place for those of us with more frequent karaoke kravings to go. Until now.

Enter Karaoke Heroes, delivering on the promise of all karaoke, all the time. Started by a Yale alum (MBA ’12) who used to be a bankruptcy attorney at a big law firm, Karaoke Heroes – with its superhero theme – offers both American-style public karaoke and Asian-style private karaoke. The main area, which includes the bar and a small elevated stage for those who want a larger audience, is decorated with colorful comic book panels specially created for Karaoke Heroes by a Marvel Comics illustrator. Singers who prefer to embarrass themselves only in front of their friends can, at the rate of $8 per hour per person, reserve one of three swanky, soundproofed, private rooms that can accommodate from 6 to 30 people (perfect for your next small group outing). And everyone can enjoy being served by waitstaff dressed as caped crusaders.

The extensive song list at Karaoke Heroes should satisfy almost every musical taste. It includes more than 5,500 songs and encompasses artists from ACDC to Sinatra, Coldplay to Kanye, and Paris Hilton (did I really just refer to her as an “artist”?) to Color Me Badd (does anyone else remember them?). What’s more, because Karaoke Heroes is modeled after noraebangs in large cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, the private rooms also offer songs in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Spanish. That means that we can all unleash our inner PSY.

Karaoke Heroes is open from 5pm until 1am or later, and there’s no cover to get in. So you can just drop by after your Torts lecture, a meeting with your clinic client, or your journal sourcecite and unwind with a quick drink and few songs before heading home. No surprise that within just a few months of opening, Karaoke Heroes has become a popular nighttime destination for the YLS crowd and has already been the site of many a bar review.

To kick off their grand opening, Karaoke Heroes held a karaoke contest on the New Haven Green, offering a $1000 cash prize to the best performer. I headed over to soak in the good, the bad, and the ugly (and there were plenty of each) and to see a performance by everyone’s favorite failed American Idol contestant, William Hung, who was also serving as a guest judge. It was a beautiful day to be out on the Green, and a decent crowd had gathered by the time I arrived, with many spectators sitting in their own lawn chairs or sprawled out on the grass.

After about an hour of tryouts, in which contestants gave their best 1-minute performance to pre-qualify for the contest, the competition began. It still amazes me that contestants in a singing competition invariably choose a song that is impossible for anyone but the original vocalist to sing. You know what I’m talking about. Rolling in the Deep by Adele. I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Anything by Mariah Carey. Isn’t the point to pick a song that will highlight your vocal skills and range rather than expose every flaw and weakness? Needless to say, the performances ran the gamut and actually included some truly stellar numbers by some very talented singers. One woman (who went on to win the contest) delivered the most spot-on rendition of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, complete with gold jacket, white glove, and moonwalking.

About halfway through the competition, William Hung took the stage. Of course the same question was on everyone’s mind – would he perform She Bangs? Building up the audience’s anticipation, Hung instead belted out his rendition of Barry Manilow’s It’s a Miracle as people got up from their seats to dance in front of the stage. I have to admit, it really wasn’t a bad performance. Sure, he’s no Barry Manilow, but he actually hit all of the notes – which I can’t say was true of everyone who sang that day. Hung then announced that he would be performing another song “that everyone might recognize.” Cue the Ricky Martin and cheers from the crowd.

Hung’s performance and accompanying gestures (dance moves?) were just as we had seen them during his American Idol audition. The most adorable thing about Hung’s guest appearance was that he brought his mother to the event. Just before he took to the microphone, she repositioned her lawn chair so that she had a clear view of the center of the stage and then proceeded proudly to videotape both of his performances in their entirety. With the conclusion of the karaoke contest and the crowning of the champion, Karaoke Heroes was officially opened for business.

So whether you’re the next William Hung or the next Adele, New Haven now has a place for you to work your singing chops six days a week. And who knows? The next American Idol could be your law school classmate! (Or it could be this guy....)

203 Redux

asha — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:51:00 GMT

I've been increasingly getting writer's block when sitting down to write for the blog, and realized recently that it might be because we've been blogging now for FIVE YEARS and have already covered a lot of ground. Going back and reading some of my old posts, I noticed that I've gotten more ranty (rantier?) as time has passed, which I attribute to the fact that I went from having 0 to 2 children in that same time period. Anyway, rantiness aside, many of my older posts cover some of the questions we consistently get during our recruiting visits, so I thought it was worth a recap post highlighting some of the more pertinent ones to this time of year.

Of course as you prepare your Yale Law School applications you should review the P.S. Boot Camp series, which highlights some of the the things that are -- and are not -- typically successful in our admissions process. I also wrote an older post on personal statements generally, as well as one on common pitfalls in writing the 250-word essay. This post about how to format your application also ought to cover many of your questions. Finally, I've been told by applicants and admitted students that my posts about diversity and diversity statements were very helpful.

One of my favorite posts which I don't think gets a lot of traffic, but offers some insight into how different schools evaluate law school applications, is this collaborative effort between Yale and several peer schools to answer some frqeuently asked questions. The post takes you to appropriate areas of those schools' websites/blogs, so you can get a sense of how to tailor your application to specific schools.

As my reading load increases and the days start getting shorter (between November and March -- so pretty much most of admissions season), I get inspired to write my Bad Idea Jeans posts, which offer some honest advice, like the importance of proper punctuation and keeping your crazy under control in your application.

Finally, I would like to especially draw your attention to the posts about character and fitness, like this one and this one. (DO NOT LIE IN YOUR APPLICATION. Thx.)

I hope (notice I did not say "hopefully"!) that this will give you some entertaining, if not informative, reading to keep you occupied until you decide to submit your Yale Law School application. Good luck -- we're as anxious to start filling the Class of 2016 as you are!

To Market, To Market

Sue — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:21:00 GMT

As of last week, summer has officially drawn to a close (commence weeping).

When I reminisce about summer, one of the things I appreciate the most is the reappearance of farmers’ markets offering fresh, locally grown produce at affordable prices. I have to admit, I never visited farmers’ markets when I was a law student at Yale, mostly because my diet consisted of (1) sandwiches from the dining hall, (2) frozen dinners, (3) free food from all of the journal/student organization/just-an-excuse-for-free-food meetings at the law school, and (4) food at The Table left over from said meetings. [Law Tip of the Day: If you want to sound like an attorney, just start using phrases like “said ______ ,” “on or about,” and “pursuant to."] But as I’ve spent more time over the last few years learning and practicing the fabulous art of cooking, I’ve gained quite an appreciation for beautiful, fresh produce. Luckily, there are a variety of farmers’ markets within walking distance of the law school, and now that I’m back in New Haven, I certainly intend to make the most of them.

The closest market to the Sterling Law Building is just next door at the Beinecke Plaza, site of the architecturally stunning Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Beineckeis one of the great gems of the university (and probably worthy of its own blog post, so I won’t go into great detail about it here). From mid-June to late-August, Yale Dining hosts the “Uncommon Market” in front of Commons, one of Yale University’s student dining halls. The market is held on Fridays from 12pm to 1:30pm and offers – to the Yale community only – produce grown in and around New England, as well as a variety of baked goods.

I stopped by the market during my lunch hour and was pleased to see a vibrant selection of fresh fruit (think peaches, plums, strawberries, blueberries, and cherries) and vegetables (including baby bok choy, broccoli, eggplant, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet corn, and carnival cauliflower) along with an assortment of breads, pastries, and lemonade. Eager to get my shopping on, I grabbed a basket and quickly filled it with ripe nectarines (3 for $1), a bag of plump cherries ($3.50), crisp green beans ($1.50 for a 1lb bag), and some yellow squash (2 for $1). The best find of the day was a gigantic bunch of fragrant basil that only cost $1 – perfect for a big batch ofhomemade pesto!

For an even greater selection of products, check out the CitySeed Farmers’ Market in historic Wooster Square. It’s a producer-only market featuring only locally (i.e., Connecticut) grown and sourced products, many of which are USDA certified organic. I headed down to the market on a Saturday morning, and even with my short legs, it only took about ten minutes to walk there from the New Haven Green. I was greeted by two long rows of tents selling everything from basic fruits and vegetables, to more exotic varieties – like kohlrabi – that I’ve only seen on Chopped, to fantastic cuts of beef, veal, lamb, and goat, to artisan cheeses, to sweet and savory pies, and even natural soaps and dog/cat treats.

At CitySeed, you can find familiar products – like apples, carrots, milk, sourdough bread, maple syrup, and even live lobsters (though by 10am they were sold out) – but you can also find ingredients you may never have used before – like marrow bones, offal, green zebra tomatoes, zucchini blossoms, gooseberries, and purslane. (Perfect for when your small group decides to hold its own Chopped competition!) If you’re looking for ideas on what to do with your produce, stop by the Fig Cooking School tentfor a cooking demonstration. When I stopped by, they were demonstrating a creamy corn chowder using some of the fresh sweet corn available at the market. If you’re not much of a cook, choose from a variety of prepared foods, including mushroom-spinach-goat-cheese quiche, shepherd’s pie, focaccia pizza bread, and curried red lentil soup, or order a black bean chipotle burger with pesto from the GMonkey food truck. A number of gluten free and vegan options are also available at the market.

The Wooster market runs on Saturdays, beginning at 9am and ending at 1pm, from May to December, so you can still take advantage of it when you return to New Haven from your summer in West Africa or at the Department of Justice or Wachtell. Vendors accept both cash and credit/debit as well as food stamps. CitySeed also holds a smaller market in downtown New Haven (about a ten-minute walk from the law school) on Wednesdays from June to November, and several other markets in the greater New Haven area.

So if you happen to find yourself (gasp!) without a free-food law school event to attend in the early summer or late fall, pick up some ingredients at one of the many farmers’ markets right at your fingertips and remember the advice of Julia Child: “You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.”

Bon Appétit!

Welcome back!

craigj — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:16:00 GMT

Greetings from New Haven! I hope all of you had relaxing and productive summers. School has started and our new class has settled in, which means it's time to kick off the admissions season.

The school year started in usual fashion with a weeklong orientation for new students. The orientation schedule was packed with lectures, cookouts, a cocktail reception, and a not-so-surprise visit by the Cupcake Truck. You can read more about Dean Post's welcome address to YLS's 201st class of students here.

The 203 students of the 1L class hail from 10 countries, 35 states, and 68 undergraduate institutions. They have lived and worked in 62 countries and read and speak 35 languages. 19% of the Class of 2015 joined us immediately after finishing their undergraduate studies, 42% have been out of college for one or two years, and the remaining 38% have three or more years of post-college experience. They hold 58 advanced degrees in subjects that range from Applied Microeconomic Analysis to Opera. Before joining us at YLS, the Class of 2015 pursued a variety of jobs, activities, and careers, including:

Microfinance instructor
Juggler
Published novelist
Au pair
Analysts for the DIA, FCC, Treasury, Center for Democracy and Technology, New Jersey Department of Education, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker
Shakespearian actor
Professional jazz saxophonist
Neuroscientist
Broadway production assistant
Professors of English, History, and Philosophy
Chemist
NYPD auxiliary police officer
Dog agility trainer
Economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers
Professional opera singer
Speechwriters for the NRDC and the British Parliament
Co-founder of a nationally-recognized nonprofit
Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Advocate for victims of rape
Airline ramp agent
Special Assistant to UN Ambassador Susan Rice
Amateur boxer
Advisor to the President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq
Itinerant fruit harvester
Student who spent 17 months traveling on a self-planned, self-guided, overland journey through 29 developing nations

Visit the class profile page for more facts about the Class of 2015.

Now that I've introduced you to the new class, I'd like to introduce you to our new Director of Recruitment, Sue Paik. Sue will be giving us the inside scoop on the best places to go and fun things to do in New Haven and Connecticut. Be on the lookout for the debut of "Sue in the City" in the next few weeks.

If you're interested in joining our 202th class, check out our recruiting schedule to see if we'll be visiting your area. In addition to our in-person visits, we'll be hosting several webinars for prospective applicants. We're finalizing dates and times for these and we'll update the recruiting schedule when we have more details. I also encourage you to drop by the Law School for a tour, starting in October, if you have the opportunity to visit New Haven.

You can also connect with the Admissions Office via Twitter and Facebook. For a true insider's perspective on the School, check out our Student Perspectives blog, which will have new posts beginning in October.

Finally, don't forget you can email 203blog@yale.edu with questions or ideas for future posts. We're excited to begin the admissions season and we welcome you back to (203)!

P.S. Boot Camp II: Outsmart, Outwrite, Outlast (a.k.a. The TFA Essay)

asha — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:39:00 GMT

OK, so I'm a year late with the promised second round of my P.S. Boot Camp, and frankly, much later into the summer than I had hoped to be in writing this. But I was gone to San Diego for a much-needed vacation, and San Diego isn't a place where one feels inclined to do work. In fact, as an aside, I just want to say this: I finally get the California thing. For many years, I've been exasperated with all of you West Coasters who whine and complain about the prospect of coming out East but at least now I see where you're coming from. I still wouldn't advise anyone to choose a law school based on the weather, but I will step up my New Haven sales pitch a bit. I'm thinking that "Well, we get earthquakes here, too" isn't quite going to cut it, so suggestions from die-hard East Coasters are welcome.

Anyway, my goal in the first P.S. Boot Camp was to give applicants a heads up on the most common mistakes and cliches I see in law school personal statements. It was really to help students make it out of the gate, so to speak. This summer I wanted to concentrate on some things I see in the more competitive applications: I wouldn't call them "mistakes," really -- these are essays that are generally well written and substantive, but fail to exploit their competitive edge, usually because the applicants writing them (understandably) lack knowledge and perspective about the rest of the applicant pool. So I'm going to give you guys a few insider tips.

In this post I am going to address the TFA Essay, meaning essays written by students who are applying to law school from Teach for America. The TFA Essay follows a fairly predictable model, to wit: bright, ambitious, public service-minded college graduate decides to do TFA to make a difference in the world. S/he spends hours and hours preparing the perfect lesson for the first day of school, only to find that the first day doesn't go anything as planned. Things go downhill from there. The problems are epitomized, usually, by one very troubled student, [insert name of student here (we'll refer to her as Tanya)], who is bearing the brunt of one or more inner city/rural social ills (surrounded by drugs/violence/gangs, single-parent family, poverty, etc.), is pratically illiterate/cannot do math, and a troublemaker in class, to boot. After a period of disillusionment and struggling to control the class, TFA applicant tosses original lesson plan out the window, works around the clock to connect with the students in new and original ways, and even makes a breakthrough with Tanya. The applicant's efforts are rewarded when the class, including Tanya, passes the state testing requirements, advancing three grade levels in reading/math. The students may or may not stand on their desks and recite "O Captain! My Captain!" The whole experience, while rewarding, makes the applicant realize that real change can only be effected at the policy level, and so s/he is applying to law school in order to enter the field of education policy.

I want to make clear, before going further, that I heart teachers (who doesn't?). In fact, I am a total sucker for good teacher stories, particularly ones that have me crying by the end -- favorite tear-jerkers include To Sir With Love (1967), Stand and Deliver (1988), and Lean on Me (1989) -- all of which, incidentally, follow the same TFA Essay narrative arc. (I realize as I write this that most of you were likely not alive when any of those films were made.) I confess that many of the TFA Essays I read leave me misty-eyed as well. This is not only because I feel terrible for Tanya, but because the TFA Essay usually has a lot to commend it. For one thing, it is, invariably, well written, which is not surprising since most of the students who go on to TFA are obviously academically accomplished. It is also -- and this is super important -- authentic. I never feel that the person who's writing the TFA Essay is anything but earnest and sincere, or is trying to pull one over on me. Which is partly why I get frustrated with these essays...I actually like these applicants.

The problem is that even though I like them, I don't get to know them. Let's call it an indictment of our failing public school system, but the fact is, everyone applying to law school from Teach for America pretty much has exactly the same experience and wants to go to law school for exactly the same reasons. What does this mean for you? Well, to put this into cold perspective, let's assume that about 300 applicants every year, or about 10% of our applicant pool, apply from TFA. And let's further assume that most of these applicants fall within the most competitive band of our pool in terms of writing, undergrad grades, good LSATs, leadership, and general overall Yaleability. If we're conservative and assume that at least 60% make the initial cut on these grounds (it's probably higher), the odds are that when you end up in the batch of 50 or so files being read by an individual faculty member whose job it is to rate and rank you, you're in there with an average of 9 other TFA applicants. Who all have the same essay as you.

This is Hunger Games time, people. I can coach you, train you, and give you all the insider tips I can, but once you're in the faculty arena, you're on your own. And if your essay is the same as 20% of the files you're competing with, the good-hearted but slightly overwhelmed and possibly confused faculty member may feel that s/he needs to triage the TFA applicants -- who could appear, to some extent, to be interchangeable in terms of interests and experience -- based on really relevant factors like the fact that you hiked the Appalachian Trail. Or didn't. Queue cannonball fire.

Now, you don't want to go insane and write an essay that "stands out" for all the wrong reasons, in violation of the Sandra Lee Rule. But you also don't want to inadvertently sabotage yourself by not bringing everything you have to the table. If I were an admissions consultant -- which, if I were less ethically-minded, would help me on the path to early retirement -- I might suggest the following strategies:

1. Start With Your Conclusion. Almost all the TFA Essays I read end up wrapping up the description of their experiences with a global statement about their interest in studying education policy, or how much they learned about education policy, or that they want to make education policy, etc. etc. If your essay does this, take a red pen, slash through everything you have written to that point, and make that the beginning of your essay. Think about it: as a TFA corps member, you've gotten a firsthand glimpse of how local, state, and national policies play out in practice. What did you see working? How do current policymakers overlook realities on the ground? Was there any course or theory you encountered in school that shaped how you approach these topics? How are your views on education shaped by your own educational experiences? Any one of these questions could be the basis for an essay that gives the reader a sense of how you think, and what you think about. And even if every single TFA applicant took this approach, they would still all be different.

2. Take It Outside the Classroom. It's highly likely that, in addition to the experiences you had teaching, you had some personal growth/reflections/self-teaching moments during your time as well. For example, one recent and memorable TFA essay (from an applicant who was admitted) involved an applicant who was assigned to TFA in a region of the country where he was minority. The essay described the applicant's process of having to confront and question many of the assumptions he previously held about this region, the interesting ways the applicant found of connecting with the community he was in, and how it shaped his perspective on a variety of personal issues. Before I get flooded with 300 essays on The Intersection of Personal Identity and Geography During TFA, let me emphasize that it wasn't the particular topic that made this essay compelling. Rather, it's an example of the Great Personal Statement, in which I was able to see the applicant's ability to reflect on his experiences, think critically about them, and come to some conclusions -- or additional questions -- about his place in the world. Once again, unique.

3. Give Yourself a Time Out on TFA. So at the risk of Wendy Kopp (go Tigers!) and a posse of TFA corp members showing up at my door wielding torches and pitchforks, I'm going to get really radical and suggest that you -- gasp! -- don't write about TFA at all. Remember that the Yale Law School application has a question (#6) which asks what you've been doing with yourself if you've been out of school for more than three months. Voila! You can take this opportunity to mention your experience with TFA, and then have a tabula rasa for your Personal Statement. What do you write about? Well, remember before TFA, when you had a life? Yeah, that. (NOTE: If you go this route, please do not insert your TFA Essay for Question 6. Keep it short, mention any pertinent facts about what you were teaching and where you were, just like on a job application. If you want to get a little more essay-y, you could try to take a nugget from your TFA experience and use it for your 250-word essay.)

So there you have it. Sorry if this post has you tearing up your personal statement and cursing at your computer screen (me). I'm just trying to help. In closing, I'll fast forward to the 90s and leave you with yet another teacher classic (bonus points if you know the name of the movie).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFK6H_CcuX8

Enjoy. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

The Straight Dope on COAP

asha — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:22:00 GMT

One of the hazards of allowing a thirty-something to blog is that you have to read posts that use phrases like "the straight dope." As we learned from my last post, however, sometimes the straight dope is exactly what you need to navigate the law school admissions process, and this time I am going to lay it out for you with regard to loan forgiveness programs.

To rewind a little bit, I mentioned in my last post the benefit of law schools adopting policies that are aligned with student interests. Recently, two Yale Law professors discussed this in an article in Slate, proposing that law schools ought to put "skin in the game" with regard to rising law school education costs. Loan forgiveness programs are one effort to do exactly that: by placing at least some of the burden of paying back student loans on themselves, law schools with such programs have to take into account the cost, as well as benefit, of raising the price of legal education. To this end, schools that offer loan forgiveness programs -- and particularly Yale, Harvard, and Stanford, which are the only law schools remaining in the country that operate on a purely need-based financial aid model -- ought to be commended (but usually aren't) for eschewing large, front-end, merit-based scholarships which are usually allocated on the basis of LSAT and GPA in favor of back-end grants allocated based on a student's actual earnings.

Loan forgiveness programs, of course, are not created equal. And unlike scholarship deadlines, understanding them is not always straightforward, since they involve many factors. In fact, it's very easy for a school to "hard sell" you on their program by cherry picking the one or two examples in which they look better than the others based on very specific situations and circumstances. But the story of a loan forgiveness program lies in the big picture: since most students don't know what their exact situation will be in three, five, or ten years, approaching a loan forgiveness program from a veil of ignorance point of view is usually your best bet.

To this end, when I guide students through how to meaningfully compare loan forgiveness programs, I make sure that they look at five critical factors taken together: 1) the amortization schedule used by the school; 2) the expected student contribution schedule; 3) the school's treatment of assets; 4) the length of eligibility; and 5) job coverage. Only by assessing all of these factors as a whole can you determine whether a particular loan forgiveness program will be a good fit for you. If any school tries to market its program by focusing almost exclusively on one factor -- like, say, its amortization schedule -- you should notice a strong, fishy smell wafting under your nose.

I say this because in recent years I've had many students coming to me -- usually after attending a peer school's admit program -- with major confusion about how Yale's program actually works, and in particular, about our amortization schedule (which is what I'll focus on in this post -- please see here for the full details on all of the other factors listed above). Yale uses a 15/5 amortization schedule, which means that for the first five years, we assume you are paying your loans on a 15 year repayment plan. For the second five years, we assume an accelerated 5 year repayment plan. At the end of 10 years, your loans would be paid off.

Why is this an issue? According to Harvard (which uses a straight 10-year amortization schedule):

Loan repayment assistance at some other schools is calculated on a longer repayment term, such as 15 years. By using an extended repayment term your benefits from the LRAP are smaller and you will make slower progress repaying your loans. In effect, it is like receiving assistance on 75% of your eligible loan debt instead of 100% of your eligible loan debt.

In other words, according to Harvard, the mere fact that "some other schools" are using a longer amortization schedule means that you will be getting less assistance from the school. Let's take a look at the actual numbers with this graph (based on an Yale's average debt of $107,000 at 7.9% interest):

Hmmm...if you pay attention to the light blue (Yale) and red (Harvard) bars on the graph, it turns out that in fact, at a certain income (in the graphed example it is $60K), you start getting less money from Harvard than you do from Yale, despite the fact that Harvard uses a more accelerated amortization schedule. In other words, even if you are, in fact, paying your loans back on a 10-year repayment schedule, there is a fixed income point after which Yale is actually financing a larger percentage of your loan than Harvard, in direct contravention to their claim.

How is this possible? Well, even though Harvard assumes that you owe more in the first five years, its steeper student contribution curve means that they also expect you to contribute more. Since the asistance you actually receive is based on the combination of these two factors, not just on the former standing alone, focusing just on the different amortization schedules is a red herring, and frankly, factually misleading.

(NOTE: For the same reason, the difference in assistance in the first five years between Stanford and Yale -- the yellow and light blue bars -- gets smaller over time as well, though not as quickly since Stanford's student contribution schedule is higher than Yale's but not quite as high as Harvard's.)

If you pay attention to the dark blue lines, which represent Yale's assistance in the second five years, the plot thickens. Many students don't understand what advantage a 15/5 amortization schedule can offer a student. The graph shows this pretty clearly. By assuming an increase in the amount owed in the second five years, Yale's loan forgiveness plan effectively raises the income ceiling on being eligible for loan assistance. Say, for instance, you are in your fifth year at a government job, making $85K a year. At this point, you are already receiving more assistance from Yale than either Harvard or Stanford. And let's assume that you're expecting a 5-10% salary increase -- which would be typical if you were up for a grade or step increase, which is likely at that stage. Under Stanford and Harvard's flat amortization schedule, you'd be out of their programs, because you'd be expected to contribute more than you are expected to owe at the new salary. By contrast, Yale's program allows you to not only take the salary increase (in the graphed example, up to a salary of $105K) and remain eligible for the program, but receive even more assistance than you were previously, as well.

This is important because the five-year mark is usually a critical turning point in many graduates' careers. Often, at that point, graduates find that they have the experience to command a higher salary (even in a public interest or government job), the need to do so (because of additional family and financial responsibilities), or both. Even at the lowest salary levels, you'll see that Yale benefits graduates at the five year point by offering dramatically more loan assistance than both Harvard and Stanford.

Stanford and Harvard might point out that if you are in a very low paying job, and if you know you are planning to be in that job for only 2 to 3 years, their program will help you pay down more debt. As a straight mathematical matter, this could be true -- as I counseled admits at our admit program, if you know you will be in this very limited situation, perhaps these other programs might be better for you. But be careful. First, there should be another big "if" added to the above qualifications, which is IF your job qualifies for loan repayment at all. Unlike Yale, which looks at loan forgiveness elgibility solely on the basis of income (whether you are a prosecutor, a CEO of a nonprofit, or a concert pianist...all of which we have supported on our program), Harvard and Stanford require you to meet specific job parameters in order to be on the graph, so to speak, in the first place. It is, of course, easy to offer more money if you make that money accessible to only a small sliver of students.

Second, as noted above, Yale's average debt is $107,000. By contrast, Harvard's average debt, as noted on their website, is $125,000. (I could not find Stanford's average debt published anywhere.) Although the tuition among the three schools is similar, the cost of attending can vary, since a significant portion of the student budget -- and what you will be borrowing -- will be based upon your cost of living. Whatever you have to say about New Haven, it's cheaper than both Cambridge and Palo Alto. So even if you expect to get an additional $2-3K extra for a few years on the back end, look at your bottom line debt at all the schools and see if it's just making up for the fact that you're paying $15-20K more to go there in the first place. If so, then the "extra" money is just a wash. (Keep in mind that starting in the 2012-2013 academic year, subsidized federal loans are no longer available, so everything you borrow on the front end will accrue interest throughout your three years in school increasing your total debt even more.)

If amortization schedules, graphs, and math have left your eyes glazed over, I'll give you a shortcut to compare which program is the most comprehensive, accessible, and generous. Simply ask each school to answer the following questions:

1. How many graduates do you currently support with loan assistance? Yale: 398

2. How much money do you spend each year on loan forgiveness? Yale: $3.6 million

3. What is your average grant amount per year? Yale: $9,809

(Hint: Stanford is roughly the same size as Yale and Harvard is about 2.5 times larger.)

Good luck!

Speaking of Law School Scams...

asha — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:39:00 GMT

It's that time of the year again when we get inundated with emails from applicants letting us know that they have scholarship deadlines and that they "must" receive a decision from Yale or that they will be required to withdraw their application in order to accept the scholarship. I addressed this last year in the wake of a new rule promulgated by the Law School Admission Council, which specifically states that law schools may not require applicants to withdraw from schools from which they have not yet received a decision as a condition of accepting a scholarship or any other type of offer. I thought that this would clean things up in the world of sketchy admissions practices. Sadly, it looks like to the contrary, even more schools have joined the fray this year.

So let's cut to the chase. It is highly likely that the law school offering you a scholarship is a member of the Law School Admissions Council, and has agreed to follow its Statement of Good Admissions and Financial Aid Practices, and benefits from other law schools following those same practices. Therefore, if you are offered a scholarship and have not yet heard from Yale, you do not need to withdraw your application from Yale. Period. So, if you would take the money being offered to you if Yale was not an option, please follow these steps:

1. Accept your scholarship offer by the deadline, and if required, withdraw from any school that has already given you an offer of admission.

2. If you subsequently get into Yale, review our financial aid package and decide immediately whether you will accept. If you choose to accept, contact the law school that offered you the scholarship and explain that you just received an offer from a law school from which you had not heard when you accepted the scholarship, that you are choosing to deposit there, and that you want to withdraw.

3. If you are criticized, belittled, harassed, threatened, or made to feel bad in any way, ask the admissions/financial aid person with whom you are dealing at that school to give me a call. I'll take it from there.

The popular guilt-trip law schools use to rationalize their behavior is that allowing students time to hear from all law schools disadvantages other students who won't get a chance to receive the same scholarship if the first awardee turns it down after the deadline. Yeah -- save the drama for your mama. I've spoken with faculty who have served on the selection committees for some of these scholarships and who have assured me that these schools have A-lists, B-lists, C-lists, and D-lists of alternative candidates for the scholarships. And even if they didn't, are these schools really suggesting that out of the 600-1,500 students they accept each year, there isn't a single qualified applicant to whom they can offer the scholarship after April 2? Really?

Let's take a poll: Readers, how many of you would refuse to consider a scholarship of $150K if it were offered to you on, say, May 1?

*crickets chirping*

That's what I thought.

Before we get bogged down in "the rule" and whether law schools are technically complying with it, let's take a Yale Law School approach to LSAC's Statement of Good Admissions Practices and ask what the purpose of having such a statement is in the first place. Having read through the Statement pretty carefully, I believe that the purpose of the Statement is to encourage law schools to adopt best practices to ensure that their interests are aligned, to the maximum extent possible, with the interests of the applicants. This is especially important when talking about money, especially in today's legal market: with students going to law schools, taking on undischargeable debt (and people, even with a "full ride" you'll be taking on debt unless you have significant assets going in), and often graduating without a job or any way to pay it back, it is in applicants' collective interest to be able to consider the full range of law school choices open to them, compare financial aid packages, employment statistics, and loan repayment plans, and make an informed decision of the place that will be best suited to their interests and talents in both the short and long run. Allowing students to keep active applications from schools that have not yet rendered a decision furthers this goal by giving students a chance to actually evaluate -- and act upon -- all of their options. In short, the spirit of the Statement is to allow students to have -- as the LSAC puts it -- "an uncoerced choice among various law schools."

By contrast, policies that require students -- either explicitly or implicitly -- to prematurely withdraw from schools that have not yet given them a decision reduces the range of options available to applicants, including those that might be better for them individually. Such policies actually go one nefarious step further: they can hurt the students' chances at the schools they most want to attend. The way it works is this: School X tells students that they have to withdraw all of their applications in order to accept a scholarship. In a panic, and thinking that they can get a decision from another school earlier, students contact School Y to say they have just won a major scholarship that they are planning to accept unless they get favorable news. Basically, School X has just forced part of its applicant pool to "out" itself to other, probably more competitive, schools as students who have significant scholarship offers and will therefore be more difficult to recruit. What do you think that does to their chances of admission at School Y? It's not really a factor at Yale, since we have a decentralized (and very transparent) review process: we take the best applicants we can and let the chips fall where they may (and more than 80% of the time they fall in our favor). We also offer only need-based financial aid, so we don't negotiate with money. However, for a school that might be more concerned about its yield, or that offers merit aid and realizes that it will need to match or exceed the scholarship to land that student, outright rejecting the student might be a better option in light of the information the student volunteered up. Basically, the School Xs of the world are banking on the fact that you'll either do what they say and withdraw your outstanding applications, or that you'll shoot yourself in the foot trying to get a quick answer from their competitors.

I have no doubt that my counterparts at other schools will characterize my above advice as "unethical," suggesting that I am encouraging future law students to break promises. Whatever. I personally question the integrity of admission practices that exploit law applicants' fear, anxiety, and vulnerability and incentivize them to self-sabotage in the admissions process. It seems to me that law schools, as gateways to the profession, ought to be modeling professional responsibilty, honesty, and acting in the interests of their client -- in this case, YOU. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing unethical about my advice because there's nothing unethical about acting in accordance with the standards and policies a law school has voluntarily and publicly agreed to adhere to, policies that are in place to protect your interests. Don't let a law school bully you into believing otherwise.

You could, if you are very brave, stand up to the law school yourself. You could let the law school offering you the scholarship know that you are accepting the scholarship, but as per the LSAC's Statement, you will not withdraw your outstanding applications. Then smile sweetly and see what they do. Either they won't do anything, or they'll pull your scholarship. At that point, you should give David Segal from the New York Times a call, or maybe David Lat from Above the Law. Tell them what happened, and forward a copy of LSAC's Statement to them along with your email exchanges with the school (or your secretly recorded phone conversations -- according to The Berkman Center, one-party recordings are legal in New York, but not Illinois, FYI). And ask them to call me for a quote. I would looooooooove to see these scholarship shenanigans exposed on the front page of the Times, or in a legal blog. The Truth is never afraid of the light of day, my friends. Bring it.