HBCU Law School
 

What has been your experience at a HBCU Law School?

There are only 4...and out of those 4...I can only speak for NCCU, and in my opinion, its a terrible school. They grade on a C curve (they curve all grades to a C which makes you very uncompetitive with your NC counterparts at Chapel Hill and Duke). Not only do they curve all your grades to a C (which is a 2.0 in the gpa calculation) if you get less than a 2.0, they kick you out. They normally lose about 25% of their 1st year class each year.

Willie Gary who is the highest paid black attorney does NOT donate money to the school...he gives millions to his undergrad Shaw..but not Central.

And although its a HBCU..they are letting in more and more non Af Am students...

I could go on and on about that hell hole..but I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy go to that law school.

The info I have is as of 2002...so if anything has changed..good for them..

Lovespell...I take it you attended? When did you graduate?

I am currently a prisoner there...much of what you have said is true. Except this year, about 25 students were other or white out of 145. They slowed down on that one.

I went to Howard and I loved it, as did most of my friends and classmates. As for the issues that were raised by others--abt 25% of the student body is "white or other", I'm not sure what the curve is because after 1st yr most profs are not bound by it, and mad employers came on campus for OCI including some of the biggest firms and most sought after organizations in the country. Feel free to email me if you want more specific information.

I go to Howard Law now and I would say it is a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The administration needs desperate help, there is a MAJOR lack of parking (first years don't even get to TRY to get a spot) and your scholarships don't increase with tuition increases. Also, it takes two weeks to get a transcript, whereas at my undergrad you could just walk in, pay and get one.

Now, with that said- the educational experience is pretty good. I liked my first year classes and the second year is pretty okay so far. If you do well you will have MAD INTERVIEWS (EVERYONE recruits at Howard), but that can be problematic because Howard, unlike almost any other law school, has an attendance policy. If you miss 25% of the classes for a particular course you are either dropped from it, if its before the withdraw deadline, or if its after you get an F. That is horrible when you consider that call-back interviews occur during the school day/work week. It basically punishes those at the top of their class and have a lot of interviews.

So, there is no reason not to go to Howard, just know what you are getting in to. I like my school and I would advise others to go there, but I want everyone to know what they are getting in to (I had no idea I couldn't even try to get a parking pass). You learn in a different way at Howard. You learn about policy and the ramifications of the law in the Black community- you just have to wade through a lot of bull crap to get to the great education part.

I go to a white law school. But I wanted to let Exquisite know that the parking situation is not HBCU specific. I am a 1L and I have to pay daily to park at the Civic Center across the street from the law school. Not to mention we arent even allowed to do the daily parking if they are having a special event. Sucks to be a 1L.

IMHO- your school at least is aware that you have a parking option. My school has made no effort to provide parking for the 1L's and the 2 and 3Ls who don't have parking passes.

They must park on the street. And in DC to park on the street in your neighborhood you must pay $340 dolllars a year. Also, if its not your neighborhood, you can't even do that and must move your car out of that specific neighborhood (its zoned) every two hours- or get a $30 dollar ticket. (And most law students can't afford to live near the school- its tres expensive.)

Can you imagine running in and out of class every two hours to move your car?

Also my real annoyance with Howard's parking situation is that our parking lot was built TWO years ago. They should have built a big enough lot...period. The school did not double in size in two years.

hey exquisite, i have a line sister who is a 2L at howard law. :)

Exquisite- yeah, that sounds pretty bad. I guess I can't complain then. NTIM but I know this 1L at Howard named Erin.

I am a 1L at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern U. and I like it. I went to a really competitive pred. white undergrad institution and I wanted the change. I think the differences so far in the types of school have been positive. Of course, there are the few irritations that I have had to endure, such as the financial aid officers being "less than helpful" and a few other administrative snaffoos that I don't recall having to deal with in undergrad, nevertheless, I am glad I made the choice to go here.

I absolutely LOVE all of my professors. Like Howard, I would presume, (and other HBCU law school, I just don't have much info on them) we have the best of the best of black legal scholars who not only have a lot to teach you from the techincal standpoint, but have a wealth of historical information to share as well. For example, one of the 1L professors, not my prof though, litigated alongside Thurgood Marshall for the young man who integrated Ole Miss ( I believe that was the school, forgive my misinformation)Anyway, there are quite a few well-known professors at my school and it is really exciting to be their student.

Parking is the same here, but most of us have figured out a few tricks to getting around it, like getting to campus at the crack of dawn! :rolleyes:

So, even with it's drawbacks, the good definitely outweighs the bad...not to mention the FINEST intelligent black men I get to see and work with everyday!!:p

Re: HBCU Law School
 

Thanks for asking this question. I have been searching the internet and various law school discussion boards trying to obtain information on Howard Law from a student perspective.


Information is power.:) Especially since I am still trying to decide which law schools to apply. For those that are currently attending or recent graduates, what factors did you consider when selecting a law school? I am trying to make sure that I have all my bases covered. Thanks in advance for the information.

:cool:

This is a good topic because right now, I'm attending a PWI but I've been looking into HBCUs, primarily NCCU and Howard for law school. I'm currently leaning towards Howard but I have 2 more semesters to decide.

Exquisite5
 

My best friend went to NCCU Law and had pretty much the opposite experience. Other than your typical HBCU experience, she really liked lawschool..

NCCU's policies are a bit off the wall. The 2.0 curve hurts not only the students who get kicked out, but those who remain. Recruiters don't come to our school like Howard because we don't have really have a reputation, as we are touted as the school of second chance.

The funny part is, the education that NCCU provides is first-rate - put me in a room with some folks from Duke and Carolina and I PROMISE they don't know half the mess they teach us....isn't that ironic?

The thing that made me mad was when I got to school last year, we were told oh by the way, we're moving after the fall semester. They have a remodeling project that is supposed to last until next year. HOwever, they failed to inform the incoming students that it was happening, and we were all surprised. Now, we spend our time downtown at the NC Mutual builing in about 1/3 of the space.

Central in state is $4K. You can't beat that. I would say, if you come here be prepared to work and don't be afraid to ask questions. I think most students here get sidetracked because they don't work or they try to use the same work ethic they used in college...that just doesn't work.

No ma'm.... but i have very close friends that attend the school..and they tell any and everyone NOT to go to that school and give thorough reasons why...

I'm sorry to learn of stuff about NCCU. I attended grad school there but in another dept. Let me ask this, in my program many of the professors teach from an afrocentric view. Is this the same at NCCU or other black schools.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Love_Spell_6
I could go on and on about that hell hole..but I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy go to that law school.

Lovespell...I take it you attended? When did you graduate?

No ma'm....


*smirk* :rolleyes:

FAMU's Psychology Department, of which I am a product has a reputation of being very afrocentric, even militant. I loved it. I'm glad I went there. Of course, I can only speak affirmatively for FAMU because I actually attended the school. ;)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SKEEphistAKAte

Quote:

Originally posted by Love_Spell_6 I could go on and on about that hell hole..but I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy go to that law school. Lovespell...I take it you attended? When did you graduate? No ma'm.... *smirk* :rolleyes:

was that necessary?? you're already in my fan club so calm down..:rolleyes:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SKEEphistAKAte

Quote:

Originally posted by Love_Spell_6 I could go on and on about that hell hole..but I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy go to that law school. Lovespell...I take it you attended? When did you graduate? No ma'm.... *smirk* :rolleyes:

CTFU. Soror, thanks for saying what everyone else was thinking.

Delusions of grandeur:

The noun "delusions of grandeur" has 1 sense in WordNet.

Def.: a delusion (common in paranoia) that you are much greater and more powerful and influential than you really are

:rolleyes:

Can we talk about the topic at hand?
 

it amazes me how you "ladies" bamboozled and skeephisticate manage to find threads i post in and start posting abot ME instead of the topic. You all really need to step off whatever Love Spell fetish ya have and stick to the topic in the thread.

Whats it like to be you? must suck LOL. Anyway, I'll not address you "ladies" anymore because your obsession with me is a bit amusing..i'll just sit back and laugh at ya;)

Re: Can we talk about the topic at hand?
 

*peeking head around corner* I could have sworn the letters on this door read Alpha Kappa Alpha. Did we really have to go far to find your post? You make it far too easy. Please note that I didn't post to you or specifically about you. I simply CTFU at my Soror's comment. Well, it WAS hilarious and everyone else WAS thinking the same thing. But yes, back to the topic at hand....

Professor,
What dept were you in? THe law school has a lot of white professors...and many of the black professors in my opinion try to put their "blackness" on the back burner..except for one lady.

I could've sworn I posted in this thread prior to pointing out LoveSpell's idiocy. :rolleyes: Not to mention the fact that I am, in fact, currently a Law Student---naw, those things couldn't be factors, I just follow lovespell around threads to pick on her. :rolleyes: Sounds like delusion with a splash of paranoia to me. But I only have a degree in Psychology what do I know?

NuQueen: I considered the location of the school, it's US News ranking (this was most important to me), cost of attendance, their reputation regionally and nationally (which goes back to USNews rankings), and I also searched the net for any information on the schools I was interested in. A good site is Law School Discussion .
You can email me if you have other questions. I'm a 1L so I am not far removed from what you are experiencing.

Here is something else to consider.

While the US News rankings are popular, they don't really mean much. The ABA does "Real World Rankings." Those rank the school based on factors that actually matter (not a reputation ranking) such as prestige of employers that recruit on campus, scholarship rate, % bar passage and % of grads employed 6 months after graduation.

In that poll, Howard (where I am a 2L) ranks 27th though we are only in the third tier of US News' reputation poll.

I ask this, what is more important to you? Being able to get a job at a top firm, or what US News thinks?

For me, the answer was easy and that is why though the administration of Howard bugs me at times I didn't transfer after my first year. There is something to be said for learning the law in a way that strives to create the lawyers that are the "social engineers" that Charles Hamilton Houston spoke about and not those that the are "parasites." Additionally, I like that I pay nothing to go to Howard (over 50% of the students receive some form of scholarship) and am still getting tons of interviews with top firms.

A lot of people say that the USNews Rankings dont count, not you Exquisite, and that just simply is not true. If you are, like me, a student who would like to gain employment at a Top Firm making at least 6 figures, you either need to go to a Top USNews Ranked firm or graduate at the very top of your class. By definition there is a 90% chance that you will not graduate at what is considered the top of the class, so I say go to the highest ranked school you can get into. Many top firms ONLY recruit at those schools.
If Howard gets recruiters from top firms, great. Go for it. But don't listen to the "USNEWS rankings don't count" propaganda. Usually faculty from lower ranked schools say that.

I just wanted to quicly pop back in to make an additional comment about the rankings. I hear what you're saying, skee, about the need to attend a highly ranked school, but I wanted to say that my school is not necessarily a top ranked school but there are certainly a large number of top firms that recruit at our school for a host of reasons. I agree that simply wading your way through law school would not get you a good position, but that is true whereever you go. If you are a studious person, you learn what your professors are there to teach you and you develop and exercise that drive to get that job you want, you will get it. The competition out there in the legal field is fierce under any circumstances and only those who get done what they need to get done, focus in on their work, study and pass the BAR will make it. I know plenty of alumni from TMSL who are prominent judges, firm partners, elected officials, etc. who are doing quite well, their law school's rank did not stop them. I have just as much drive and ambition as the next law student and with regard to friends of mine who are also in law school at this time, and at higher ranked schools than mine, because I know them from undergrad, etc., I know my characteristics as a student will afford me more opportunities then them based on what I know about them and the way they function in school.

I just had to comment on that because I hear statements like these all the time and they simply aren't true IN ALL CASES. My undergraduate institution is one of the highest ranked institutions in America and there were students who came out with no jobs and no idea what to do and supposedly, going to this school would make us shoe-ins for whatever it was we wanted to do. It just wasn't true then and it isn't true in law school. It's about the individual drive, who you know, and how diligently you seek out opportunities available to you when it comes to your career success.

Phasad: I definitely agree with what you are saying. I di dnot mean to imply that if you go to a top tiered school that you are guaranteed a job at a top firm making big money. I just think that your chances are better if you do because MORE larger firms recruit there than anywhere else. I go to a tier 2 school and we have large firms recruit all of the time, but I know that we don't have as many large firms as say, a Harvard or a Yale, or any top 15 school for that matter.
The chances are better, by sheer mathematics, if you go to a higher tiered school.
And I definitely did not mean to say that top tiered schools are better. I love my school. My professors are cool, my classmates are cool, it is laidback, not one bit cutthroat..but I know that I may not have that experience at a school ranked higher on USNEWS. But would I trade in my seat at FSU for a seat at Duke or Harvard- hell yeah. I would be a fool if I didn't.
It just gets me when people say that USNEWS Rankings dont count. That is an outright lie. They do count. That doesn't mean you can't get a high paying job elsewhere. But in does count, and in my opinion it counts a whole lot- especially as far as your first job is concerned.

I understand what you are saying and it is a popular view. It is why the only non-top 15 school I would go to is Howard and I am a person who had a scholarship to the University of Houston Law Center, the number one health law school in the nation (I had an interest in health law at the time).

Howard is not the same as other non-top 15 schools. Point blank, when employers want Black attorneys, they come to Howard. Period. Wachtel, Kravath, Paul Weiss, they all recruit here...HARD. Period. They see the value in diversity (14% of all CEOs of Fortune 500 companie are AfAm as opposed to 4% ten years ago and they want AfAm attorneys) and come to Howard to get it. Yes, they want people in the top 10%, but I feel that no matter where you go you should work your butt off to get there...I did and its definitely do-able. Law school is three years, I think all law students should got into those three years with a guerilla mindset, suck it up and do what it takes. I mean its only three years and in all honestly, its really on the first year that matters. Speaking from experiene, if you rock your first year- no matter where you go- you will get a summer associate position as 1L and as long as you don't screw up during your summer, you've pretty much got a job when you graduate. Work hard to be in the top of your class- its definitely doable, choosing to relyg on your school's name, imho, opinion is the lazy way out.

Again, I stress Howard is different. Firms recruit here that recruit at NO OTHER third tier schools, but hey- that's why I was smart and came here:D (and why I put it with the administration and parking:mad: ).

Ok, cool! :) Can't really argue with these points, I agree.

Good luck with your first year!! I'm off to study crim law ;)

I don't know how to post a quote, but Exquisite said:

<<Howard is not the same as other non-top 15 schools. Point blank, when employers want Black attorneys, they come to Howard. Period. Wachtel, Kravath, Paul Weiss, they all recruit here...HARD. Period.>>

AMEN!!! HUSL has hundreds of employers on during OCI and all year round. Doing what? Looking for brown folks! When I was there some of the white students were upset b/c they felt that they weren't getting their "fair share" of interviews. Oh, well, brown folks deal with it every day.

In my class and the class behind me HUSL had people going to each of the top 15 law firms as well as the DOJ Honors Pgm and what was at that time "NAPIL" Fellows. That's in addition to the majority of the "general population" (non-top 20%) that had jobs at gov't agencies, smaller firms and the PD.

The combination of being a Black law school, being in DC, and having a great academic program, make Howard different--in a good way!

I'm not saying that rankings aren't important, but sometimes there are more important factors--both personal and professional.

I'm a biglaw lawyer and a law school admissions consultant, and this is 100% right. Howard gets attention that no other HBCU law school gets and that no other school outside the top 15 gets. USNews still matters, and there's a great deal more grade pressure placed on Howard students vs. say UVA students who are aiming for the same jobs, but the way major firms treat Howard place it in a unique category.

I've heard the things you all are saying about Howard before. I can definitely see how that would be the case. And I agree with whoever said Howard is the only school below Tier 2 that I would even remotely consider.

The quote button is on the bottom right of each post, next to the edit button. You can quote the entire thing or delete anything that you don't want to address/emphasize.

Now, since I don't have first hand knowledge of the law school mentioned, nor did I actually go to law school--HBCU or otherwise--and since I have no desire to go to law school, I'll get out of this thread! ;)

Thanks, I really appreciate the info. I will probably have some questions for you over the weekend. I am going to a Law Fair tomorrow. I am pretty excited. :D

Mini hi-jack


THANKS ECLIPSE!!!

HBCU Law School
 

I know this is way off the subject of what the tread is about, but I'm in the process of applying to law school........Southern University to be exact, and I'm having a hard time writing my personal statement. I was wondering if their are any law school students are lawyers that would mind reading me statement and give me some tips........letting me know if I'm on the right track or or not.:D

Missjeff: you can email it to me. Make sure it is no more than 2 pages.