Iowa Class of 2014 Forum

[traehekat]

Congrats everyone on choosing Iowa! It's an awesome school and I really do think it attracts students who strike a perfect balance between very bright and also very down-to-earth. I'll try and answer some questions some of you have asked, and feel free to ask anything else about the school.

For starters I agree with pretty much everything hawkeye22 says, and he is going to know much more about University of Iowa in general. BTW, his grades are indeed very good, and I guarantee any of you would be incredibly happy to be in his position. In fact, he was one of the like, 2 or 3 people I was POSITIVE at the very beginning of the semester would do very well. So yeah, I think he knows what he is talking about. Anyway, here's my take on some general stuff...

Lifestyle
University of Iowa in general is your typical B10 campus - plenty of bars/restaurants/stores concentrated in pretty much one area. There are a lot of DIFFERENT bars and restaurants, too, so it is easy to find a spot where you will be comfortable. Like hawkeye22 said, it isn't exactly bit city living, but there is enough to do that you won't find it boring. Lots of people have this impression that if you go to Iowa you will be living in a cornfield. Stupid stereotype, IMO. There are a lot of good coffee places, too, if you are one of those people who likes to study in one of those. There are 4 or 5 Java Houses and Tierra in Coralville is pretty awesome.

Parking
Not as bad as other schools, as I imagine, but not great. You can get a parking pass in a lot that is near the law school, which costs some outrageous amount of money each year/semester (something like $600 for year? I don't know cause I didn't get it). You can also park in that same lot if you just pay the meter, which I do occasionally. The same lot is unenforced after 4:30 on weekdays and not at all on weekends, so you can park there for free then (which is nice because a lot of times I would get done with class, go home and eat, and then come back at 4:30 and work for a few hours). There is also plenty of other metered parking lots near the school.

Basically, if you want to drive to school, it isn't hard to do so, it just may get expensive.

Housing
I'm not familiar with the smaller places, or anywhere on the east side of the river, but there are quiet a few good places right off Benton St., including Seville, Carriage Hill, Benton Manor, and another right next to Benton Manor where I know quiet a few live (and is pretty nice). This is all on the west side of the river, and are all about a 15-20 minute walk to the law school. Seville is going to be ~$640/mo for a one bedroom, which isn't horrible but you can probably find cheaper. As far as timing, last year I leased one of the last one bedrooms at Seville in late April I think. Seville is a popular place to live for law students (as well as other grad students), but I imagine the timing is similar for other places.

Pet-friendly apartments are tough to find. Only place I know is Dolphin Lake Point Enclave (http://dolphinlakepoint.com/), but it is kind of far.

0L Prep
Indeed Iowa is very anti-gunner, and that is one of the great things about it. Doing 0L prep does not necessarily make you a gunner, however. I read GTM, LSC, and a little bit of PLS and Delaney, did the at-home version of LEEWS, and skimmed through the Torts E&E. I also read through most of the "how to succeed in law school" threads on here. Does this make me a gunner? Maybe, but not in the sense that I raise my hand all the time in class with nonsense hypotheticals, or waste time with policy discussions, or hog up time with the professor after every single lecture, or don't help out classmates with anything they may need. These are the things that annoy people. I highly doubt someone is annoyed with me because they hear I read a few books during the summer.

For those who do plan on doing some prep (and I suggest you do SOMETHING), I would suggest at a minimum reading through the threads on here on law school success. This was definitely the most useful thing I did. LSC is a fast read and a nice overview. GTM is a LITTLE overrated but I still think it was helpful. LEEWS is helpful but unnecessarily long. PLS is waste of time. Delaney didn't add much to the other stuff I read. Skimming the Torts E&E was probably a waste of time, as would be any substantive prep (meaning any prep where you are actually trying to learn the law), but it did end up being my highest grade so who knows if that made a difference (highly doubt it).

Paying for an actual class sounds incredibly stupid and I would never have considered it. It is probably outrageously expensive and will give you nothing you can't get from what is on TLS or a few books I mentioned.

tl;dr version: general prep=ok, substantive prep=almost definitely a waste of time, prep classes=definitely a waste of time/money, prep=not necessarily to do well

[tea_drinker]

traehekat, thanks for an awesome post man. Do you know if there is any bike rack near the school? And is there a lot of people bike to school (not during the winter of course) ?

[traehekat]

traehekat, thanks for an awesome post man. Do you know if there is any bike rack near the school? And is there a lot of people bike to school (not during the winter of course) ?

there is, although im not sure exactly where cause ive never used it. i dunno about a lot, but there are definitely a few people i know who bike to school when the weather is halfway decent.

[chrisbru]

I need a roommate...anyone interested? You can have both bedrooms on the lower level.
http://www.trulia.com/property/30456992 ... e-IA-52241

[thepcv]

traehekat, thanks for an awesome post man. Do you know if there is any bike rack near the school? And is there a lot of people bike to school (not during the winter of course) ?

there is, although im not sure exactly where cause ive never used it. i dunno about a lot, but there are definitely a few people i know who bike to school when the weather is halfway decent.

I bike to school on most days. There are bike racks at the front and back of the law school--so, it doesn't matter which direction you're coming from, there are plenty of places to put your bike. That goes for all of Iowa City, actually. Bike racks are all over the place through IC. It's really nice and convenient.

[chrisbru]

Anyone else have ASW take you from 98% sure about Iowa to about 110%?

[goodgrief]

Anyone else have ASW take you from 98% sure about Iowa to about 110%?

Except for the still waiting to hear from 2 more schools, absolutely. I got a bunch of warm fuzzy feelings from ASW and visting IC.

[chrisbru]

Anyone else have ASW take you from 98% sure about Iowa to about 110%?

Except for the still waiting to hear from 2 more schools, absolutely. I got a bunch of warm fuzzy feelings from ASW and visting IC.

Probably mostly the booze and women.

[typ3]

Anyone else have ASW take you from 98% sure about Iowa to about 110%?

Except for the still waiting to hear from 2 more schools, absolutely. I got a bunch of warm fuzzy feelings from ASW and visting IC.

Probably mostly the booze and women.

On a similar note. When is ticket sign up for season tickets next year? Also, who has a tailgating spot?

[chrisbru]

Anyone else have ASW take you from 98% sure about Iowa to about 110%?

Except for the still waiting to hear from 2 more schools, absolutely. I got a bunch of warm fuzzy feelings from ASW and visting IC.

Probably mostly the booze and women.

On a similar note. When is ticket sign up for season tickets next year? Also, who has a tailgating spot?

General ticketing started last week. I'm not positive on student tickets (if anyone knows, I'd LOVEEEE some insight.) I met a couple 1L's who have tailgating spots, and also an incoming 0L (current 1st year MBA at Iowa) who says he knows some people with good tailgates already set up. I'd be totally down to go in on a tailgate spot if any of you guys would want to... Does anyone know how much they are?

[chrisbru]

I feel like we should get more movement going ITT. We're probably the shortest T50 thread on TLS (I did not confirm this.)

That being said, what is everyone MOST excited for about being a Hawkeye this fall? Mine is twofold: Hawkeye Football and the awesome Big Ten college town that is Iowa City.

[typ3]

I feel like we should get more movement going ITT. We're probably the shortest T50 thread on TLS (I did not confirm this.)

That being said, what is everyone MOST excited for about being a Hawkeye this fall? Mine is twofold: Hawkeye Football and the awesome Big Ten college town that is Iowa City.

Definitely hitting up the new rec center. I thought my Big10 school's rec and facilities were awesome. Holy sh*t that thing is awesome. I plan on working out every since night at that place.

[typ3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGoNukQDpm0

Check dat out... It's innnnnnnsane

[traehekat]

I feel like we should get more movement going ITT. We're probably the shortest T50 thread on TLS (I did not confirm this.)

That being said, what is everyone MOST excited for about being a Hawkeye this fall? Mine is twofold: Hawkeye Football and the awesome Big Ten college town that is Iowa City.

Definitely hitting up the new rec center. I thought my Big10 school's rec and facilities were awesome. Holy sh*t that thing is awesome. I plan on working out every since night at that place.

what b10 if you dont mind me asking? i went to illinois and we just had a new rec center put in and it was amazing, and thus i was actually pretty underwhelmed by the new one here at iowa (although its still nice, prolly better than most schools). the layout just kind of sucks (they didn't have a lot of space so they had to build "up") and there aren't enough free weight racks, imo.

[typ3]

I feel like we should get more movement going ITT. We're probably the shortest T50 thread on TLS (I did not confirm this.)

That being said, what is everyone MOST excited for about being a Hawkeye this fall? Mine is twofold: Hawkeye Football and the awesome Big Ten college town that is Iowa City.

Definitely hitting up the new rec center. I thought my Big10 school's rec and facilities were awesome. Holy sh*t that thing is awesome. I plan on working out every since night at that place.

what b10 if you dont mind me asking? i went to illinois and we just had a new rec center put in and it was amazing, and thus i was actually pretty underwhelmed by the new one here at iowa (although its still nice, prolly better than most schools). the layout just kind of sucks (they didn't have a lot of space so they had to build "up") and there aren't enough free weight racks, imo.

I haven't seen it in person.. I was just impressed by the climbing wall and promotional material. I guess my old school didn't have a lazy river and leisure pool.

[traehekat]

haha fair enough, a lot of us current 1Ls were all pretty jacked up about it last summer too, actually. the climbing wall is pretty cool and like i said its a nice facility, but the only thing i have to compare it to is illinois' which was nuts.

aight, ill stop depressing you all and let you return to your last bit of excitement and rays of hope before you become dead inside.

[typ3]

haha fair enough, a lot of us current 1Ls were all pretty jacked up about it last summer too, actually. the climbing wall is pretty cool and like i said its a nice facility, but the only thing i have to compare it to is illinois' which was nuts.

aight, ill stop depressing you all and let you return to your last bit of excitement and rays of hope before you become dead inside.

I guess any rec facility is fine. I went to a TTT public high school and the workout facilities / weight rooms / gym were pretty dismal.

Not everyone here gets to attend Glenbrook North.

[chrisbru]

I posted this in both FB groups, and am now putting it in both TLS forums:

FOOTBALL TICKETS FOR INCOMING 1L's: Alright, to make this easy... Tickets are available on April 5th to students. Go to HawkeyeSports.com to set up a student account prior to that date. You'll need your student ID to set up an account. To get this, log onto ISIS – in the tab “My UIowa," click on “My University ID." If you get an error when you input your student ID, email tickets@hawkeyesports.com with your student ID #, and tell them you are an incoming student trying to set up an account. They'll get your ID activated, and then you can go in and create your account!

[JOThompson]

Congrats everyone on choosing Iowa! It's an awesome school and I really do think it attracts students who strike a perfect balance between very bright and also very down-to-earth. I'll try and answer some questions some of you have asked, and feel free to ask anything else about the school.

For starters I agree with pretty much everything hawkeye22 says, and he is going to know much more about University of Iowa in general. BTW, his grades are indeed very good, and I guarantee any of you would be incredibly happy to be in his position. In fact, he was one of the like, 2 or 3 people I was POSITIVE at the very beginning of the semester would do very well. So yeah, I think he knows what he is talking about. Anyway, here's my take on some general stuff...

Great post. This is the sort of information that would've been super valuable for me last cycle.

[chrisbru]

This thread has been sleeping for a while... Anyone still around?

[typ3]

This thread has been sleeping for a while... Anyone still around?

Just you and me Chris.

[chrisbru]

This thread has been sleeping for a while... Anyone still around?

Just you and me Chris.

Damn. Where is everybody?

Probably out partying like a good Hawkeye should. Stupid work...

[smiller1]

I'm here to resuscitate this thread. Live, I say! LIVE!

[chrisbru]

I'm here to resuscitate this thread. Live, I say! LIVE!

Oh, really? Maybe you should join Typ3 and I in the battle that's been raging for weeks... When you were nowhere to be found.

[tea_drinker]

del