Your living arrangements will have a big impact on your law school experience. Roommates who understand the pressures of the first year can be great support. But gaining perspective from a roommate who works in another field can also help maintain sanity.
Think of your studying style when considering your housing options. Will watching peers study create stress? If your 9-to-5 roommates go to happy hour after work, will you be able to resist? Could you put up with your mother to save a bundle on expenses by living at home? A living arrangement that lets you balance studying with a social life is crucial to .
Get Out of the Dorms During Finals
After my Contracts exam, I was horrified to hear students discussing the answers in the dorm elevators. When plugging my ears and humming didn't drown out the sound, I got out and walked up the 10 flights. It was the only time I absolutely hated living in the dorms. - MELISSA MORGAN, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL
During finals, living on-campus can be a blessing. There are people around at any hour to discuss First Amendment rights and due process.
During finals, living on-campus can be a curse. You'll eat, sleep, and breathe law in December, and you'll need a break from the dorms, even if it means studying at the Star bucks down the block. Listening to students discuss exam answers by the mailboxes or in the dining hall can be painful to your psyche and confidence. Take breaks. Read People magazine. Catch a Jackie Chan flick. And remember that there is a world outside the dorms and the law library.
Think About Living At Home
If you can stomach your mom's meat loaf and neatness directives, consider living at home. The price is right. You'll have more space. You'll have clean clothes. And your parents aren't likely to discuss Civil Procedure over dinner.
Discuss boundaries with your parents if you choose to live at home. Explain the pressures of the first year. You are not in high school, and the days of curfew are gone, but you are living in their house and must respect their lifestyle. Living at home might entail more family obligations but may offer an easy way to save on rent while pretending to laugh at Uncle Marty's jokes.
Consider Living Off-Campus
The reason I decided to live with a friend from high school is because I figured that I would be in law school 24-7 studying. When I came home to relax and study, I didn't want a roommate who would be stressed out and talk only about law school classes. I wanted someone who would be my link to the real world.
When law school has completely consumed your life, it is the lucky student who can leave campus housing for an apartment where roommates aren't pondering the latest Supreme Court decision. Living off-campus may be a great way to maintain sanity, especially for students who have been out of college for a while. You can choose your neighborhood, cook your own food, and room with an aspiring actor, yoga instructor, sous chef, or a friend-whomever you choose.
Since I grew up in New York, I had an active social life with family and friends before law school that I wanted to keep up. That's why I chose to take an apartment off campus when I enrolled in Fordham Law School. Living alone, you lose the campus feeling and you're not as much a, part of the academic environment, but it helps to keep the stress level down and gets you out of the artificial campus environment where everyone around you talks only about school. When you can step away from the classroom, you can get a better perspective on your school work. - AARON RUBIN, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL
If you live off-campus, you can treat law school as a job. You might stay at school from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. and then have a real life outside of school in the evenings and on weekends. But before signing a lease, ask the following questions:
- How far is the commute to school?
- Is the area safe?
- Are utilities included?
- Is there a bus stop/subway nearby?
- Is there ample parking?
- How are the laundry facilities?
- What type of financial/time commitment is required?
- Can you sublet in the summer?
- Is there a decent pizza place nearby that stays open until 3 A.M.?
Your roommates may seem more supportive of you if you are not in competition with them for those four A's your Torts professor will grant this term. But remember that if you are living with friends in the working world, they may not understand your law-induced emotional peaks and valleys as well as fellow students. Those who live off-campus are not only geographically removed from school, but distanced from the school community as well.
Remember That There Is No Perfect Housing Situation
As you choose your living arrangement, remember that even the best situation won't be perfect. Most lease and dorm commitments are only one year. You can always experiment with different options next year.
