Forget the pre-law preparation courses. If you really have $1000 you want to spend on stuff that's going to make you a better and happier law student, here's my first take at what would be involved in the $1000 Law Student Quality-of-Life Shopping Spree. E-mail me with other suggestions and I'll post a follow-up in a few days.
1. Down pillows. Comfortable pillows are so important. For a good night's sleep, for something to lie on while reading casebooks, as a little piece of luxury you can give yourself even in the smallest of dorm rooms. Personally, I have two awesome down pillows I got for $30 each at Bed, Bath and Beyond. But with this hypothetical $1000, I think good pillows are so crucial that I'd probably trade up. A quick Google search later, and I'm awfully impressed by the website over at DeWoolfson Down. Two pillows, $80 each. $160 down (pun unintended, which makes it even better), $840 to go.
2. Wireless networking. Seems cool. I don't have it, but I bet it would be cool to be able to do Internet stuff from anywhere in your dorm, or outside, or in the library without plugging in, or in classrooms.... Obviously some schools are probably more wired than others for this. Circuit City's web site surprises me how cheap it is to do this. Home wireless kit. On sale for $129. $289 down, $711 to go.
3. A subscription to a magazine that will give you a half hour a week of something completely frivolous and non-law to read. I prefer Entertainment Weekly, but pretty much anything except the Harvard Law Review will do. Probably about $30. $309 down, $691 to go.
4. Already running out of things. See, I need your help. Hmmm. How about a selection of pleasant study music. The 5 CDs that probably got the most play all of 1L year, in my CD player? (Apologies if my musical tastes run frighteningly close to those of your parents) James Taylor's Hourglass, Don Henley's Inside Job, Billy Joel's Cold Spring Harbor, Bruce Hornsby and the Range's Scenes from the Southside, and Marc Cohn's The Rainy Season. 5 of your favorites? $0 using your favorite file-sharing program, probably about $75 elsewhere. $616 to go.
5. TiVo. I have friends who have TiVo and love it. Why waste valuable study time with commercials? Why waste valuable study time programming a VCR? Why waste valuable TV-watching time sleeping? $249. And that monthly fee I guess, but we'll ignore that for now. $367 left.
OK, I'm out of stuff. Maybe I'm just cheap. Cheap enough that I can't even spend hypothetical money. I'll take the easy way out. 1 movie a week, you're probably at school 30 weeks, so $300 ($10 tickets in Boston and NY at least...). And use the remaining $67 to buy a cheap inkjet printer so you don't have to trudge to the library every time you want to print.
1. Down pillows. Comfortable pillows are so important. For a good night's sleep, for something to lie on while reading casebooks, as a little piece of luxury you can give yourself even in the smallest of dorm rooms. Personally, I have two awesome down pillows I got for $30 each at Bed, Bath and Beyond. But with this hypothetical $1000, I think good pillows are so crucial that I'd probably trade up. A quick Google search later, and I'm awfully impressed by the website over at DeWoolfson Down. Two pillows, $80 each. $160 down (pun unintended, which makes it even better), $840 to go.
2. Wireless networking. Seems cool. I don't have it, but I bet it would be cool to be able to do Internet stuff from anywhere in your dorm, or outside, or in the library without plugging in, or in classrooms.... Obviously some schools are probably more wired than others for this. Circuit City's web site surprises me how cheap it is to do this. Home wireless kit. On sale for $129. $289 down, $711 to go.
3. A subscription to a magazine that will give you a half hour a week of something completely frivolous and non-law to read. I prefer Entertainment Weekly, but pretty much anything except the Harvard Law Review will do. Probably about $30. $309 down, $691 to go.
4. Already running out of things. See, I need your help. Hmmm. How about a selection of pleasant study music. The 5 CDs that probably got the most play all of 1L year, in my CD player? (Apologies if my musical tastes run frighteningly close to those of your parents) James Taylor's Hourglass, Don Henley's Inside Job, Billy Joel's Cold Spring Harbor, Bruce Hornsby and the Range's Scenes from the Southside, and Marc Cohn's The Rainy Season. 5 of your favorites? $0 using your favorite file-sharing program, probably about $75 elsewhere. $616 to go.
5. TiVo. I have friends who have TiVo and love it. Why waste valuable study time with commercials? Why waste valuable study time programming a VCR? Why waste valuable TV-watching time sleeping? $249. And that monthly fee I guess, but we'll ignore that for now. $367 left.
OK, I'm out of stuff. Maybe I'm just cheap. Cheap enough that I can't even spend hypothetical money. I'll take the easy way out. 1 movie a week, you're probably at school 30 weeks, so $300 ($10 tickets in Boston and NY at least...). And use the remaining $67 to buy a cheap inkjet printer so you don't have to trudge to the library every time you want to print.
posted by Anonymous @ 8:07 PM
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