So I’m shipping off to law school in three weeks and it never hurts to ask savvy people (like dopers) for their advice.
My biggest concern is about protecting my stuff. I’ll be living with strangers so that has to be taken into account.
Any other advice is also appreciated.
This doesn’t relate to safety and security, but my advice is to do as much as the on-campus stuff as you can. Never again in your life will you have access to so many free, cool, interesting seminars, speakers, exhibits, and the like, relatively close to you, where parking isn’t a problem, with so much freedom to schedule your free time. I don’t know which law school you’re going to or what kind of institution it is a part of (if any) but chances are there will be a lot of this stuff available no matter what.
I didn’t do enough of this in college and repeated the same in grad school. Now I’m kicking myself. I am affiliated with an institution still, and technically have access to it all, but I’m no longer living near campus and I have dinner/family/kid/general life obligations that mean I can’t just drop everything and drive to campus and hunt for parking to go hear someone speak or see some wacky art film. I really wasted some fabulous opportunities while I was a student!
My advice would be to not have any more valuables than you actually need. You’ll need a computer, but don’t get one any more high end than necessary. If you have expensive jewelry or gadgets, find somewhere else to keep them other than your dorm room. Don’t make yourself a flashy or attractive target, let someone else fill that role.
Are you actually sharing a room with someone or do you have a single room that locks? If the latter, you’re in a lot better shape, security-wise. If you do have to share a room, try to set the right tone with your roommate and ask to change if you wind up with someone who likes to leave the door open all the time and/or invite in a never-ending parade of strangers. If you have any influence on getting a room away from the doors and above the ground floor, that might make you a less likely target for some types of theives.
Lock your door. I was an RA and it always shocked me how many people left their door unlocked all of the time. Get a 3M sticky hook to put next to your door and get in the habit of hanging up your keys whenever you go into your room and grabbing them from your hook whenever you leave. Having to let the same people into their rooms over and over again makes for a cranky RA. Also, at most universities, there is no guarantee that there will be someone around to let you in in the middle of the day.
Make friends with your RA, or at least be friendly. Most RAs aren’t out to get you. Most are out to do the minimum amount of necessary work to earn a free dorm room. In the dorm I worked in, quite hour violations, leaving cooking food unattended, and leaving alcohol in visible places over breaks were the main ways that people got charged. If you do get charged, don’t get too pissy with your RA. Chances are your RA is thinking, “Damn, this sucks.” It’s a lot of extra work and very few people enjoy being the bad guy.
Get to know the people you’re living with. You don’t have to be best friends, but it’s helpful if you don’t hate each other so much that you can’t even stand going to the dining hall together. Also, for most people it is harder to steal from someone that you know. Keep in mind that they will be in the same boat as far as valuables. If they mess with your stuff, they might be worried about you messing with yours. I don’t think that you would, but that fear might keep them from screwing with your stuff.
Space permitting, you may want to get your own mini-fridge and microwave oven. That way you won’t have to put up with other people’s ideas of sharing and cleanliness (or they with yours, if you’re the slob).
Keep quiet. New law students are often really insecure about their academics and prone to stress over whether they’re studying enough. Someone who’s frequently playing loud music is going to be hated.
If you have a laptop they make laptop locks you can hook to your desk. My old college also offered engraving services for laptops and stuff. Even putting a sticker or other crap on it that makes it more noticeable might be good if you want to do that.
Don’t leave your door unlocked. Ever. Unless you’re in it. Make sure right away you tell your roommate that the door stays locked (and both of you remember your keys) at ALL TIMES that you’re gone! No “will you leave the door unlocked after you leave?” It’s not hard for an adult to bring keys with them. My freshman year roommate was always gone, and I brought my keys to the bathroom and shower with me.
If you go out of town, take most important valuables with you when possible (laptop, digital camera, etc). In college most people got their crap stolen when 1 or both roommates were gone.
If you’re REALLY worried about losing stuff, if you have lots of DVDs/CDs, maybe either: make a list of what you’ve got so you know when something is missing, or digitize the most important stuff and leave it at home?
Most people I knew ended up being friends with their roommates and didn’t have problems with theft by their roommates. A BIG problem is people setting down their stuff in the dining hall, classrooms, hallways, and library. If you let your laptop or iPod or phone out of your sight, it’s your fault it got stolen. People should not steal but you also shouldn’t let people have an easy opportunity.
If you’re being smart with your belongings (as you should always anywhere) then you shouldn’t have a big problem.
Condoms
Seriously, though, get out and get involved in things you enjoy. Once you get into the daily grind of working, you’ll look back and marvel at how much free time you had. You don’t want to look back and think you sqandered that free time.
“free time” + “Law school” = snicker chuckle
(and before you accuse me of being an innocent, sheltered youth without work experience, I was a marketing professional for 7 years before going back to school.)
I would make no such accusation, and you could very well have more free time in law school, especially as a 3L, than in the working world. I certainly did.
For example, in my third year, I simply dropped everything on a whim and took off for Mardi Gras in New Orleans on a road trip from California. The whole thing took about a week. I would have a very hard time doing something like that now due to time and other constraints. The only consequence in law school was that I missed a few classes… no big deal.
Well, sure, eventually things lighten up, you can select a more advantageous schedule, etc. But most people’s recollection of law school is not of all the wondrous free time they had. I’m not over-involved either, and rather more efficient than my peers about schoolwork, but Journal is a huge time-suck, and I foolishly persist in doing my reading, not to mention working part-time, trying to find a job, and making time for my fiance.
1st semester 2L year was a hellish experience unparallelled in my working life.
Oh, god - yes, this was terrible beyond description. The OP should simply expect that this semester will be horrible, and plan accordingly. Why this semester? Well, if you’re on a journal, this is when you can expect your very first spading (editing) assignment.
You will suck at it.
You will learn to hate the bluebook, the author, your senior editors, the other spaders, and the smell of your journal office. You will have long, sleepless nights, followed by long, disorienting days.
It gets better, though. And I guess you could decide not to try out for journal at all - but most people are too obsessed with resume-building to resist. 
Ok, I will modify my suggestion slightly to say if you have free time, use it well.
Never having been a law student, I can’t speak to the free-time issue, but I do know a thing or two about protecting stuff in dorm rooms.
First, find out if you can get a renter’s policy while you live on campus. These are very cheap (generally ~100 or so a year, depending on what kind of coverages you get) This will pay off if anything of value is stolen. You can get such a policy from the agent who sold you your auto policy.
Second, get a small safe that you can keep in a closet. Use this for small valuables like your iPod (whenever you’re not using it, obviously), expensive software, prescription medication, financial information you don’t need to carry with you, and so forth.
I’ll also go along with the computer lock, locking your door, and making sure you don’t leave any opportunities for people to take your stuff. One of my friends from college and grad school has one of those drawstring backsacks or whatever they’re called. One of these, actually. It’s comfortable enough for him to carry around and he keeps his iPod, cell phone, keys, notebook, pen, and so forth. We call it his “murse” but it works for him. He knows where his stuff is and always has it.
Oh, yeah. Get in the habit of carrying a small notebook and pen with you. They’re just handy to have so you’re never without paper and something to write with.
Robin
Self-knowledge, balance and adaptability
Everyone goes into their programs with their own aptitudes, and everyone’s progams are somewhat different, so what may work for one person may not work for another.
For example, some folks enjoy dorm or frat life, while others prefer off-campus communities away from the student ghetto. Some folks thrive on group work, while others do better working on their own. Some folks do best by reading everything, while others do best while scanning for only the most significant informaton. Some folks learn better through lectures and textual analysis, while others learn better through hands-on clinics, moots and journals.
What works for one person may or may not work for another person. I suggest that if you know yourself you will have a better chance at finding your way through law school and into the profession. Self-knowledge will help you keep everything in balance, so that one aspect of your life does not impinge so seriously on other aspects that you start getting mired.
Folks get knocked off their career paths through any number of reasons – burn out through stressful situations or through long hours, drug or alcohol misuse, undue family constraints, physically getting run down . . . any number of reasons. By consciously trying to keep everything in balance, the risks of getting sidetracked can be significantly reduced – and you will have a lot more an enjoyable experience along the way.
If you know yourself and are attentive to the importance of keeping everything in balance, then your best chance at maintaining balance is to be adaptable. Don’t be afraid to make changes that are appropriate to your situation. If you are square, you might need to round down your edges to fit into a round hole, or you might need to find a round hole rather than trying to change yourself – the point being that often there is no one answer, but if you are constantly learning from and adapting to your situation you have a better chance of finding balance.
And carry a towel.
Up here in Kanukistan, our legal bat capes usually come with one of those “murse” things: robe bag.
Make a daily routine.
Doesn’t matter what it is, make one.
Once exams start you’l need some structure to your day- it is easier to work around an already existing skeleton structure, rather than crowbar structure into a life of random sleep/sex/drink/study.
Get a lockable trunk/footlocker for your room. It’s easy to put your valuables into a big locked box with all your textbooks and winter clothes before you go out. If you have your stuff in a big box that takes two people to lift and is protected by a couple of padlocks, it doesn’t get stolen. Put the trunk at the end of your bed, throw a blanket and a couple of cushions on it and it’s a seat.
Take advantage of free or reduced price leisure activities on offer (gym, cinema, evening classes), and get yourself registered with the studen health service. You need to take care of your physical and emotional health.
COOK. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, but one saucepan, a knife, a wooden spoon and a bamboo steamer is plenty of equipment. Making some rice, chicken and veggies once in a blue moon is good for you. Bad, cheap convenience food will not help you to study.
Pardon me for ignorance, but at least in the 3 colleges I’ve been, graduate students are not housed with undergraduates (generally). If they are, they lodge them in the newer residence halls which look more like normal off-campus student housing (one bathroom per person or two, separate rooms, only kitchen and living room areas are common). They’re not going to put a graduate/professional in the dorms with the whiny kids… or even together.
The other on-campus graduate option is the “Family Housing”, which usually has a lot of minority graduate students (and their families). These are even more than regular off-campus apartments, although cheaper (for the most part) and with strict pet policies (I cannot live there because I own a dog). People that are not family are not housed together unless they request to share the rent with someone else, so you could live in one small apartment by yourself.
So… the whole graduate living on campus experience is much much different than undergraduate (and even that is changing, I lived on-campus for a year and I lived in one of the above mentioned residence halls).
So I would tell you… if you have lived with roomates before… do the same as you have been doing. If you do live in either graduate housing arrangement, your own room will have a different locker than the other roomates living on the apartment, so remember to lock your door when you leave the house, if you want to keep your stuff safe.
I can second a lot of the lock it up advice, especially the small safe!
I know that most people seem to like having te largest screens available on the tvs, but my honest advice is get the cute little 9 inch diagonal flatscreen and dvd combo, because you can very easily lock it in a footlocker when leaving the room. I know someone that had an old traveling trunk, the one that was set up sideways and turned into a small closet with drawers [like the huge version in Joe vs the Volcano, just normal footlocker sized.] They turned it into an entertainment center so all they did was swing both halves together and lock when they left the room for anything other than bathroom or downstairs to pick up delivery food=)
You might also consider something odd - I kept my room key and foot locker key on the same necklace as my diabetic medicalert tag. If it is always around your neck, you dont forget the keys … and you leave your door set on autolock.
if your dorm allows it, covert your standard twins into lofts,so you can put your desks and such under - saving floorspace is great. We each turned our beds into lofts, and the desks and chairs fit under it, and we had almost the same space as a quad room in a double. I also knew someone in our dorm who turned their beds into lofts and both put the side opening futon sofas in and had comfortable sitting spaces for discussion groups of like 10 people without people sitting on floors and desks. Very handy for classes that discussion study groups normally had tp meet in student lounges and libraries to have space … a dorm room is way more private=)
