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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 10:41 pm
by BlueDevilSarah
ITA - Integrated Trial Advocacy

They're doing something kinda screwy with the course this year (the creation of three sections as opposed to just one big class of 90 people) so we'll see after the first round of bidding how things shake out!

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 10:47 pm
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:21 pm
by typodragon
yeah, that sounds like balls. for a program like that, they should just increase supply to meet whatever demand there is among the students.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:34 pm
by typodragon
there's some puzzle where you have to hide an item in one of three boxes and look for other peoples' items. it has some psychological reason for why people make selection in ordering between side and middle choices. i wonder if it would lead to some sort of advantage in such a selection game.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:40 pm
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:52 pm
by typodragon
hrm. the clearing price on trial advocacy the last 2 years was very low, either 1 or 2. presumably their plan by splitting the sections is to raise the clearing price on the section people would prefer and then let everyone else enroll in the other sections at price 1 or 2, if we assume gross demand will not increase over time. i'm a huge nerd and love auction theory, so feel free to ignore me if I get too worked up in my nerdiness. now i need to find a course with a higher clearing price.

edit: i am more confused. it says in the rules that you must bid distinct and different numbers of points for each class, which I take to mean that you can't bid all 1s, but must bid 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 if you're only bidding 5 classes. is this correct? further, it says that you must bid a greater amount for a co-requisite than you do for the course it is co-requisite for, but both evidence (ita) and trial advocacy (ita) are mutual co-requisites, and, given the previous rule, cannot be bid the same amount, so one must be bid in greater amount. is ITA an exception to these rules?

how many points do you get? it says here that elective non-biddable courses cost 25 points per credit, which sounds significant to me. it also says that after bidding is over that courses can be added for free if there are open spots. does this extend to non-biddable electives? or do clinicals and practicum always fill up, making it irrelevant?

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:35 pm
by TTT-LS
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:41 pm
by BlueDevilSarah
The three sections of ITA are still taught all together in the same room by the same professor. I think they've just made it three sections of 20 people so that they aren't forced to curve the class.

You have to bid distinct values so that if you over-bid credits (more than 17) or bid for two classes at the same time period, they know which one is a higher priority to you and can therefore enroll you in that class instead of the other.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:43 pm
by typodragon
Why don't they want to curve the class?

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:49 pm
by BlueDevilSarah
Curving guarantees that some people in the class will receive lower grades (B's and B-'s), even if everyone does a fantastic job in the course in general. If half of the class gets the equivalent of a 98% and the other half gets the equivalent of a 97%, then the people who had 97% will be below the mean, which really isn't fair and could be devastating to your career. I don't know that this is the exact reason they do this, but it seems reasonable.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:54 pm
by TTT-LS
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:23 pm
by typodragon
hrm. only 800. how does it work for 2nd semester 1Ls? I read that we can take 2 electives. do we get a miniscule number of points? does everyone take 2 electives or do some take 1 or none? it didn't look like there were a lot of choices that said 1Ls could take them. large law firms, business associations, civ pro 2, federal jurisdiction. maybe i missed some.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:50 pm
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:22 pm
by TTT-LS
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:02 pm
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:55 pm
by typodragon
are those two clinics the most sought after courses? or is it just because there are so few seats. they both look tremendously interesting and educational.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:53 pm
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:07 pm
by typodragon
i assume if people are bidding so much that there are a number of people who want to build their entire 3L schedule around a clinic like that. Are they able to increase class sizes for clinics if there are more people who want to take them than there are seats? it seems like it would be a bit unfair if you had 10 people all bid like 3500 and they only would take the first 8, but i don't know how inflexible the program may be because of their dependence on outside organizations.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:34 pm
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:37 am
by Arnaud
Hi all

I would like to have some informations after the first round that has just taken place. I find myself in a situation where I'm ninth on the waitinglist for the Negotiation course (with Lynn Cohn). I have several questions for you:

1) If I decide to cancel the course before the second round, can you confirm I will recover all of my points?

2) If I decide not to cancel the course and I am eventually not accepted, what happens with my points? Will they be permanently lost?

3) Do you know if the wait list is updated in real time? Thus, I could see if my place will not modified before cancelling it.

4) Finally, will I necessarily be obliged to bid in the second round? I mean, for Negotiation for example, will I necessarily have to increase my bid? Also, can I bid new courses that I did not bid in the first round?

Thank you in advance.

Arnaud

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:15 am
by Corsair
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Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:57 am
by NUbound
Incoming 1L's are simply assigned classes fall semester, correct? No bidding, etc is necessary?

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:05 am
by typodragon
NUbound wrote:Incoming 1L's are simply assigned classes fall semester, correct? No bidding, etc is necessary?
that's what it says.

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:08 am
by NUbound
Got nervous with all the talk around here...

Re: Northwestern '11

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:24 am
by typodragon
sorry about that. i'm a perpetual motion machine of questions. i've always loved fantasizing about different courses to take and the process for it all. it is a bit premature though. i do wish they'd tell us our sections.

how many courses do we take the first 2 semesters anyway? is legal writing something we take both semesters?