Legal Scholarship Network Legal Studies Research Paper: Fill & Download for Free

There’s an apocryphal story about Picasso. Allegedly, a woman saw him at a cafe table one day, recognized him, and asked him if he would sketch something for her quickly. He took a napkin, sketched for about five minutes, and handed it to her, saying, “That will cost you 10,000 francs.” The woman was appalled, and replied, “But it only took you five minutes!” Picasso replied, “Sure, but it took me thirty years to learn how to do that in five minutes.”There’s also a saying: if you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you see the cost of hiring an amateur.As other answers have pointed out, there is a metric crap ton of work and resources that goes into just becoming an attorney. It’s not just the massive, massive debt that most of us incurred going through undergraduate and then graduate school, and then taking the bar. It’s the lost years of opportunity for wage earning, as well. If I’d have gotten my electrician’s journeyman card rather than becoming a teacher and then later a lawyer, I’d probably be a solid $500,000 ahead of where I am right now.That’s not a joke.Let’s just assume that I would have averaged $50,000 a year over just the 7 years I would have lost going to undergrad and law school straight through. The range of income for a good electrician ranges from $37,000 to $77,000, so I’ll say $50k is somewhere in the middle, if I was good at it as an average. That works out to $350,000 over those 7 years where I wasn’t making money going to school.I got some good scholarships for undergrad and law school, and I came out on the low end of debt compared to some of my classmates. When it was all said and done, and after paying on my undergrad loans for 6 years before deferring them in law school, I ended up just slightly over $100,000 in debt. One of my classmates ended up over $350,000 in debt after going straight through undergrad and law school with few scholarships.That’s $450,000 I’ve lost compared to the electrician, right there. Plus interest, which you can bet will be probably add another several thousand dollars, if not tens of thousands. And I got off light.So, some of what I make is an attempt to recoup some of that lost wage opportunity. I’d like to at least break even before I retire. I figure with what the average attorney makes in my area, it’ll take me about 12 years of practice to come out ahead of where I would have as a teacher, if I do well. Given my electrician example, that’ll be closer to 18–20.So, if you think it’s because I’m greedy and look at you walking through my door as a boat payment, understand that. Depending on what vocation you’re in, there is a very real possibility that you have already made more money in your lifetime so far than I have.But I’ll admit to some degree of greed. I didn’t entirely get into the profession for altruistic reasons. I would like a nicer standard of living as an attorney than I had as a teacher, or as a blue collar worker. Sure. I’ll admit to that. I might not need an awesome hat, but affording a high-quality Stetson should be one of the perks of the years of misery I spent over a study carrel learning to do what I do.From a greedy capitalist standpoint, I don’t feel all that bad saying that I have specialized knowledge and professional skills that are in demand, and that justifies a certain premium if you want me to work for you. Attorneys are professionals with specialized knowledge and skills. And we charge what the market can bear as a result.If I charge too much, you’ll go down to Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe, and I don’t get you as a client, so there’s market forces at work there that keep me from getting extortionate. On top of that, there’s ethical rules that prohibit excessive fee arrangements, and the professional responsibility committee takes that fairly seriously. If you think you’re being overcharged, you can file a complaint.But depending on what area you need, you might have a pretty hard time finding another attorney who is capable, competent, and good enough at that area. My expertise on certain subject matters might give you a result that nobody else can deliver. If you want that, pay me what I’m worth.You might not think that those are legit reasons. Fair enough. Let’s get practical, then.You have no idea how expensive it is just to be a lawyer. Let me just give you the cold, hard practicality of running a legal practice.It’s not just renting office space, furnishing it and equipping it, and paying employees. There’s a substantial amount of overhead unique to the legal field.There’s bar association dues, local and state.These are several hundred to over a thousand a year, depending on jurisdiction and the individual sections that an attorney may be enrolled in. These sections are useful for resources, list-serves, networking, and more.Doing bankruptcy? You’ll need Federal bar admission, as well as state bar admission. Plan for at least another $100 a year.There’s the entry tests and application fees.The application fee for the bar exam and character and fitness evaluation can be over two grand in some states. The LSAT is $180. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam is $125. Want to be licensed in another state? You’ll need to do at a minimum another character and fitness evaluation. Just plan on dropping $500-$1500 for this.There’s malpractice insurance.Probably a few hundred to few thousand a year, depending on area of practice, location, how many clients are served, how many attorneys in the office, etc.There’s practice management software, including conflict checkers and time management software, which are essential to making sure you don’t have a conflict that leads to malpractice.A Clio subscription (a popular practice management software package) can run anywhere from about forty bucks a month to north of $100 a month depending on what you need. So, figure around $500-$1,000 a year.There’s the subscription to legal databases like Westlaw or Lexis.Lexis and Westlaw used to charge by the search, by the document, and more. Their pricing was so convoluted that you’d need a chart next to you before looking up anything to figure out what it will cost you, and by extension, the client. A single document can run you as much as $25 to look at and $5 just to search for it.In law school, every legal database gives you everything for free to hook you on all the features. Then when you get into the field, you find out it costs you a fortune. One guy that was about 7–8 years in front of me in school didn’t realize that, and while interning for a local firm, racked up a thirty-four thousand dollar research bill for one client without realizing it. Yeah, he was fired.Thankfully, we’re moving towards subscription-based models instead now. Buuuuuut…The cheapest modern Westlaw subscription is $75 a month, for the barest-bones plan that doesn’t include administrative codes and a lot of other features that makes it all but useless. More likely, you’re going to need to spring for the $200 a month mid-tier option.Lexis now has monthly subscription models like Westlaw, also starting at $75 a month, but again, covering so little that you’re guaranteed to need at least the mid-tier option that’s $125 a month. If you want to search for related federal law and cases outside of the state where you’re subscribed (which you really will), that goes up to $200/mo. Also, that’s only good if you buy a three year subscription.Using free or cheaper alternatives like FastCase, which might be included with bar dues, come with a corresponding cost of lack of features like search within broad search results, or indicators of whether the case law is still good, meaning twice as much work to make sure that the research is solid. So, either you bill the client for that extra time, or you eat the loss of your time as unbillable.There’s CLEs, Continuing Legal Education.Credits can range from a couple bucks or free for some local association or alumni events to several hundred dollars for conferences or full day seminars. You can usually bank on a few thousand every other year for CLE credits, though.There’s the texts required to stay current or get competent in your field, such as desk references, benchbooks, the local jurisdiction practice series or equivalent, a subscription to the Federal Register if any regulatory practice is involved, a legal newspaper with recent case opinions, and more.Can you get away without these? Possibly. But you’ll be constantly behind your opposing counsel and you’ll find yourself getting grilled by the judge about some precedent or rule that just came out and you didn’t hear about it. The basic CLE handbooks and deskbooks have been indispensable in my experience. Worth every penny of the hundreds or thousands of dollars that they cost over time, but still an up-front cost that ain’t cheap.Again, just assume that getting competent and staying current in the field with texts is a solid couple thousand a year.There’s how much you actually work, how much of that is billable, and then how much of that you actually collect.A 90% collection rate is considered outstanding. That honestly baffled me when I started. Like, I knew clients didn’t pay sometimes, but how many of them don’t is much higher than I expected. So, you’re literally just writing off at least a portion of the money you’ve actually earned as a total loss.There are ways to try to avoid this, things like rolling retainers, making expectations really clear, frequent billing cycles with very detailed notes, but in the end, if the client doesn’t pay, you’re probably screwed.Never sue your clients for unpaid bills. You can, and you’ll probably win, but a) collecting on the judgment is difficult, and b) it’s a great way to piss off the community and a sure-fire way to dry up business. Not worth it.Paying for e-filing and subscriptions to the local court access.Depending on the jurisdiction, this can be anywhere from free to $100 a month.Also, it’s usually mandatory, because many jurisdictions now do literally everything by e-filing and simply won’t accept paper submissions.Driving. Good God. So. Much. Driving.I have a friend who works collections for a firm. She put on over 60,000 miles on a company car over the last year, driving all over the state.Another works in criminal defense over a relatively limited area serving a metro, and still put over 30,000 miles on his car last year because particularly criminal clients are usually people who get themselves into trouble all over the goddamned place and since you represent them, you end up having to drive 200 miles across the state.Even if you limit your areas of practice to a couple of of types and counties, you’ll be going to hearings constantly all over the place. Judges hate phone appearance requests or other teleconferencing requests and will usually deny them absent some extenuating criteria or a statute that requires it.You can try to get courts to schedule stuff on the same day so you’re not running to three different counties in one day, but don’t count on it. Maybe if you’re a rural public defender who has a duty week or day.The bare-bones overhead of running a practice, if I did everything as cheaply as possible, and before I actually pay myself, is tens of thousands of dollars. Just to keep the lights on. Nothing else. That’s for a solo practice where I don’t hire anyone else to do anything.So, just on a practical end, attorneys have to ask you for enough money to cover all that, or we can’t stay afloat. We have to figure out how much is enough to afford to pay for all of that and still eat.I do understand and am sympathetic to the fact that the legal system pretty much only works for those who have enough money to effectively navigate it. It is brutal to poor people. And it’s especially brutal to people who exist in the gap between being poor enough to qualify for legal aid such as a public defender and still not having enough income to actually pay for even a cheap attorney.Wealth inequality and increasing concentration of people who are juuuuuuuuust above the arbitrary poverty line are leading to a greater and greater crisis when it comes to navigating the legal system.Believe me, this is something that gets discussed a lot in the profession. We want there to be access to counsel for more just results. It damages the legitimacy of the institution when it only works for those who can afford it. We take that seriously.Some people are starting to add in different fee arrangements, such as “low-bono” work or sliding scales based on ability to pay, or limited scope representation in conjunction with legal clinics that help some people do DIY procedures for fairly standard stuff. There’s a big push for expanded access to and knowledge of alternative dispute resolution processes that are cheaper, faster, and sometimes produce better results.But there’s just a degree of reality to what we do and what it takes to do it, and that’s why we charge what we do.Thanks for the A2A.

Samvida is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Arts (AB) in Molecular Biology at Princeton University and her key area of focus is laboratory science. At the university, she has worked on multiple projects such as tracking the growth of fly embryos, enumerating the differences between cancerous and non-cancerous cells, and creating visualizations of viral infection.She has also worked as a research assistant at Professor of Molecular Biology Ileana Cristea’s lab, applying her computational skills to study viral infection and host-pathogen interactions. Teaching and research being her passions, Samvida hopes to become a professor and work in India. Edex caught up with the young science enthusiast to know more about her future plans and about her internship experiences which helped her become a Rhodes Scholar.Could you tell us more about the process of becoming a Rhodes scholar and how you prepared for it?There are a few components to a Rhodes Scholarship application, most important among them is a personal statement and recommendation letters. The application also requires six letters of recommendation, of which some are academic and some are character references that attest to the applicant's non-academic interests and abilities. Following the written application, students are shortlisted for a technical interview with a panel of experts in their broad academic field. Candidates are then selected for the final interview, which is a 20 to 25-minute conversation with 8 to 10 highly accomplished panelists from a diverse range of careers. This is not a technical interview, but rather a chance for the applicant to demonstrate that they can hold and defend informed opinions on a variety of topics.I would say there is no preparation specifically required for the Rhodes Scholarship — in general, all the scholars have done very well academically throughout their undergraduate careers, so it is, of course, helpful to have good grades in college and to maintain a general awareness of national and global issues of importance. While writing the essay and in preparing for the interviews, I found it helpful to reflect on how the Rhodes Scholarship would change the trajectory of my career and life, and how I could use this platform to make a difference in the world.At Oxford, you would be taking up computational biology. Could you tell us more about the course?I am applying for an MSc by Research in Biochemistry at Oxford, which is normally a two-year degree. Students in this degree are assigned to a specific lab and supervisor to conduct independent research in any of a wide range of biological fields such as cell biology, drug discovery, host-pathogen interactions, and so on. Computational biology is one of the techniques that I will be using to study questions of interest in biology. Unlike taught degrees, there are no official classes to attend or written examinations to complete a research degree. Rather, progress is assessed on a research report and plan at the end of the first year.As part of your course, you would be interning under Ahmed Ahmed. Could you tell about your internship and how you think this experience will enhance your career?I had previously worked in Professor Ahmed's lab as a research intern. The Ahmed lab studies ovarian cancer, specifically the development, progress, and resistance of cancer to therapy. During my summer internship, I applied computational tools to validate a new RNA-sequencing technique developed in the lab. When I return next year, I hope to grow as both a wet-lab and computational biologist and learn more about cancer research. Moreover, I want to become a better communicator of science by giving presentations and talks and engaging with non-scientists on my research in the lab. I am confident that this experience will train me to be an independent researcher who is able to contribute to scientific dialogue and discussion around the world.As a graduate student at Princeton, what were your areas of focus and how has Princeton prepped you up for this scholarship?I am in my final year of an undergraduate program at Princeton, where I intend to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (AB) in Molecular Biology, with certificates in Computer Science and Quantitative and Computational Biology. My senior thesis research at Princeton is in the lab of Prof Ileana Cristea, studying the network of human and viral protein interaction during the course of human cytomegalovirus infection. Princeton's liberal arts curriculum combined with a strong research focus gave me an education that was both broad and deep. I have taken courses in subjects ranging from linguistics to politics to physics, while simultaneously exploring biology in depth in my classes and research.Source: https://www.edexlive.comUJS Kolkata 2019 graduate Mihika Poddar has been selected for the prestigious Rhodes scholarship to study in Oxford University.Poddar commented: “Looking at the profiles of previous Rhodes scholars had made me believe in the scholarship’s potential to equip them with the tools to make tangible social change. I cannot wait to begin my journey and hopefully follow their footsteps.”She added that she was looking at taking the BCL in Oxford, and would broadly want to work around issues of law and social justice.NUJS student juridical association (SJA) said in a press release:In her span of four years at NUJS, Mihika Poddar has served as the Associate Member of the NUJS Law Review. As one of the leading members of the NUJS Legal Aid Society, she has worked extensively on the Policy for Rights of Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons. She has also served as an active member of the NUJS Gender and Sexuality Forum (GSF). In her second year, she was also a semi-finalist at the Willem C. Vis (East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot 2015. Besides, she has authored several papers on law, society and public policy.Also selected for the Rhodes is former Kings College London University law student Shruti Iyer, though it is understood she is not currently pursuing law.Source: legallyindia.com

You said “Harvard” which is a broad question, since “Harvard” has 13 schools (depending on who’s counting), each of which would possibly have slightly different answers. So, I’ll provide a general Harvard answer (to include College, Law, Kennedy, Business, Medical, Theology, Design, etc. etc. etc.) and one to include Extension—a very different animal all together.HARVARD COLLEGE / LAW / MED/ GSAS / ETC.All of Harvard’s Schools - with the exception of Harvard Extension - is looking for a “package.” Remember that word, it’s important (or so I think). What is your overall package and how well have you presented it? You need to think in terms of telling a pertinent story, it needs to have a point… not just a bunch of random accomplishments. However, accomplishment is expected to even gain consideration. But everyone applying should already have that.Numbers. If you’re applying to Harvard College you want an excellent HS-GPA, SAT scores, etc. If you do not have these, I would strongly suggest you reconsider your goal for Harvard (not saying it couldn’t be done, just that you take a close look). If you’re applying to Harvard Law, you want excellent UG-GPA (3.75 or above keeps you competitive) as well as an excellent LSAT score (170 would be the lowest, and you should shoot for 175+). The same would be true for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences… you want very competitive GRE scores (in the 160s for both verbal and quantitative). Obviously MCAT would be relevant for Harvard Medical, etc. From what I’ve heard (as I’m not a Harvard Law alum) about the only school that you can ALMOST assume you’ll get an offer from, based solely on numbers, is Harvard Law. For example, I would assume that if you had a 3.95 UGGPA + 178 LSAT, you are ALMOST guaranteed an offer. I’ve heard this from several HLS alumni.Side note: It’s worth mentioning that where you got your GPA numbers from, does matter… attending University of State at (enter extension city here) might hurt a bit (excluding obviously well known places like UC Davis/Berkley, UC Illinois/Chicago, etc.). But I don’t think that would kill you if the rest of the package is extremely strong.Experience (non academic). If you’re applying to Harvard College you want to show that you’ve been highly involved with your high school and municipal communities. Were you drum major? Even better, were you a tiny chick who played TUBA, and taught color guard, and served as drum major for two years in a row!? ;) (See how that’s memorable and interesting?) Where you a top notch athlete that spent weekends at poetry slams? Did you volunteer your time at your local hospital or spend time shadowing geriatric M.D.s on his/her nursing home rounds? Are you highly religious, and see a need to study the field of (fill in the blank) to better serve your religious community? I’m not saying you have to work in a soup kitchen in the poorest parts of Africa, but you do need a real-life experiential piece to your “package.” Make sure this experience some how ties in with your overall packages. Don't just list a bunch of random cool accomplishments - trust me, everyone applying to Harvard has that, too. Make yours pop.Experience (academic, if applicable). For graduate students, do you have experience that makes sense with your package? If you are wanting to go to Harvard Law, what is your undergrad degree in? Does it make sense? Criminal Justice is “generally” not impressive to law schools. Nor is legal studies. But even that has a caveat… e.g., are you an peace officer, or probation officer, with an established career in leadership and maybe research, with plans to stay in the same line of work? THEN it makes sense. Good general majors would be Psychology, Business (especially for corporate law), English (especially technical writing), Philosophy (especially logic-heavy), and of course, PolySci. But, if you have B.S. in Kinesiology, that does’t mean you aren’t a good candidate - it just needs to fit into your package. And you should be prepared to articulate how it does. Harvard especially loves diversity. So if you have an odd or unexpected degree, grad schools MAY look very favorably on that, if it makes sense. How many B.Arch.s do you think there are at Harvard Law? I would guess that a seasoned architect who wishes to move into a related field of law, would have a good story to tell. Or… an architect wishes to move from practice to policy would be a great candidate for the Kennedy School. If you are the student that shadowed a Geriatric Physician in nursing homes during HS, then completed a B.S. in Biology, only later to go into Social Work and earn a M.S.W. with a focus on the aging population/services - that is starting sound not only like a GOOD candidate to Harvard Medical, but an INTERESTING one, as well (especially with a good GPA for the BS and MSW, plus great MCAT scores). Just be prepared to defend your previous college experience in your overall package - or at best, talk about its seemingly unconventional nature, and TURN IT into something interesting and relevant.Cheer Leaders (LoRs). I think this is a more cheerful term than Letters of Recommendation (LoRs). These LoRs should really fit into and compliment your package. Don't choose random people that just happen to like you. Also, I love Granny too, but don't choose her. If you are the tiny tuba playing, flag tossing, drum major, then a great candidate for an LoR would be Fancy Musicologist, D.M.A. from the local university where you volunteered to help at a public band-camp for kids, sponsored by Blank University. See how that fits into your package? It helps tell your story. You can also use an LoR to introduce an unexpected aspect of your application that might add depth to your “package.” For example if you are applying to Harvard Graduate School for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (I say that only because it’s my field), then how about having your undergraduate advanced psych professor write an LoR, but in it have him/her discuss how you used your experience learning about psychology to teach a YWCA course on diversity and acceptance… especially if the faculty member you wish to do research with specializes in diversity as it is found in public programs? (Note about GSAS/Ed/Etc… you need to be applying to a particular faculty member’s interests for a reason, not just “because” you want a Ph.D. or Ed.D. at Harvard.)Written Personality. Harvard gets to pick whoever the hell they want, from the best of the best. You want the admissions team to like you, even fall in love with you …all without them getting to physically meet you. If you are not a gifted writer or communicator, then you should by all means seek coaching in this area. Your essays are your chance to tie everything together. Here is where you tell your story. And you must do so in an engaging (but not necessarily entertaining, that could bomb) way. In other words, no poem-essays. You have ALREADY shown them you have the numbers. You’re as competitive as just about anyone else applying. You have plenty of APPLICABLE experience to talk about from all your volunteer work, your extra curricular activities, your summer jobs, your previous career, etc. You have excellent APPLICABLE letters of recommendation that relate closely to the package you’re presenting. So now tell the admissions committee how it all comes together - and be charming. This is where you tie the bow. Be hella charming, but not douche-bag-ey or goofy. Work on your essays over and over. Don't just throw something down on paper at the last minute (unless your scores are perfect, and even then half-ass-ing it could be seen as insulting or arrogant). Be humble. If you have life experiences relevant to your package (and you should) talk about those IN CONTEXT… don’t just drone on about the time you went to India with your church group. Make it make sense.Also, don’t just re-hash what’s already going to be obvious from your transcripts. Use the real estate on your paper very wisely.And if all else fails, by all means consider a quick spritz of your favorite perfume on your application stationary (kidding, Legally Blonde reference).If you’re serious about Ivy League admissions, as a traditional student (ironic term since my advice is to be nontraditional statistically lol), I strongly suggest you read How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, by a Harvard Alum by Allen Cheng. He uses the well-rounded vs spike illustration, in lieu of my “intentional package” analogy. Allen’s article is incredibly thorough and a must-read.If none of that ^ appeals to you… read on...HARVARD UNIVERSITY EXTENSION SCHOOLI was looking into options for a masters degree, locally, in Texas. I was interested in both law and psychology. So was exploring, for example, U-Texas at Dallas’ M.A. in Con Law (which I was accepted to). At the same time I started interviewing and exploring Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs. Torn, I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I loved both law/business (my UG degree) and psychology (many of my electives).I stumbled on Harvard University’s Extension School… totally by accident. It offered me the chance to explore psychology courses and law courses, offered by some brilliant Harvard professors. It was exactly what I needed. I left Harvard with a new intentionality, curiosity, clarity, drive, motivation, excitement… that I didn’t have before.So, if someone asked me, personally, “what is the BEST WAY to get into Harvard,” my answer would be absolutely through the Extension School, taking ALL things into consideration, and putting less (but still some) emphasis on prestige.All (well, most) of the admissions rigor discussed above becomes irrelevant. Harvard Extension does not (usually) care who you are, or what you did, prior to your involvement at Harvard (assuming you have a bachelors degree if you want an ALM). They care whether or not you NOW have what it takes to earn an ALB (Bachelor of Liberal Arts) or ALM (Master of Liberal Arts). And this school, and only this school, affords students the opportunity to prove it without [too many] admissions hurdles.Don’t get me wrong, it is far from easy. In fact, I believe (though I have no proof or even anecdotal experience upon which to base this belief lol) that Harvard Extension is pressured by Harvard Proper to make the program incredibly difficult… for the sole purpose of severely limiting the amount of students who finally matriculate with an actual Harvard degree.For example, the thesis is like NOTHING I’d done or seen before. It’s more comparable to a small dissertation. In fact, the ALM thesis is more rigorous than dissertations at some schools (actually, having read many ALM theses and non-Harvard dissertations, I can say I know this to be factually true, in many cases at least). Of course, all of this is highly dependent on what you get your degree in, who your mentor is, who your advisor is, etc.As if avoiding the rat race of admissions isn’t reason enough (for me, it absolutely was, I just wanted to enjoy being at Harvard and learning from the best)… consider the cost. It’s about 1500 per undergraduate course, and 2500 per graduate course. This is HIGHLY competitive, and BLOWS Harvard Proper out of the water. I can honestly say that even if I did apply to the Graduate School (and I had semi-competitive GRE scores, a 3.9 UGPA, and fantastic applicable LoRs) I would have easily turned it down once I saw how much more affordable an ALM is compared to an AM. I simply never knew Harvard Extension ‘was a thing.’As an extension student you get the same professors [usually], the same libraries [less Harvard Law Library], the same benefits en totum, minus the house affiliation (Adams, Quincy, Lowell, Winthrop, etc.) and minus the massive debt (excluding the option of scholarships or full rides of course).My partner and I have discussed this A LOT: when/if our children want to go to college (as if it’s negotiable, right?) and they expect their dads to pay for it, there will only be one option: Harvard Extension. If they want to go somewhere else, they’ll need to earn it or have an excellent argument for it, over HES. There is NO other University program in this county (I believe) that offers the depth of richness and experience at such a reasonable cost, as Harvard Extension. The best library. The most beautiful campus (sorry Stanford & Yale). [Some of] the most accomplished and brilliant minds in the country. The latest and greatest research. The best alumni network in the U.S. The most open doors for graduate and post-graduate education. Oh, and the most amazing Winters (for a Texan at least).I can only think of one downside: There are only three conveniently located Starbucks around campus (Square, Church, & Broadway), and Dunks, on the other hand, is EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK in New England. Ugh. Yuck.Best of luck to anyone considering Harvard.-R.