UChi Students & Alumni Taking Questions Forum

[Flash]

Just read: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? ... id=1958366

Any thoughts? Are the descriptions remotely accurate? Unloads pretty heavily on Levmore (aka "Not Silent"). He seems honest, but also a little kooky...

I read the Chicago section. The Property professor is easily identifiable, and I'm guessing I know the Contracts professor too.

Summary of my thoughts compared to his:
I know most people's first names. I call them by their first name. I hear people say "pass" all the time--some professors even encourage using it. Some professors can be jerks, but that's the nature of the beast. The vast majority of them aren't. Most professors do wear suits. I'm on the Scalia side of saying that you should take all the black letter law classes you can and pass on some of these law & philosophy classes (but obviously some people are interested in otherwise the law school wouldn't keep offering them). We do have off MLK Day. Professors are readily available and will take you out to lunch if you ask them. There is definitely an anxious culture in Chicago (as a 1L), but I doubt it's much different than most any other big school. 1L is a much different beast than any other class year.

The only place where 1L could possibly not be anxious is Yale and possibly Stanford.

[Xifeng]

Is it too early to go into coasting mode?

If so, I'm pretty screwed.

I made a disapproving look at the computer at this.

[Flash]

Is it too early to go into coasting mode?

If so, I'm pretty screwed.

I made a disapproving look at the computer at this.

[Flash]

Is there a scanner anywhere in The Law School?

[Transferthrowaway]

Is there a scanner anywhere in The Law School?

Not sure if you're looking for right now, but I think the copy machine in the reserve room can scan and send to an e-mail.

[AntipodeanPhil]

Just read: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? ... id=1958366

Any thoughts? Are the descriptions remotely accurate? Unloads pretty heavily on Levmore (aka "Not Silent"). He seems honest, but also a little kooky...

For those who couldn’t be bothered to read this, here’s the summary:

Peter Huang’s mother writes a paper about raising a high-achieving child, so he decides to “respond” by writing a paper in which he attacks every law school he perceives to have slighted him.

Penn denied him tenure, so he publicizes the various tricks they (and every other school, presumably) used to improve their ranking.

Virginia didn’t offer him an on-campus interview, so he trashes their students.

Chicago purportedly misled him about the nature of a one-year position, and – while studying at Chicago – professors publicly embarrassed him by asking questions he couldn’t answer about the readings, so he attacks the class offerings, the professors, and the weather.

An illustrative example: during one of the classes he taught at Virginia, he explains to his students that, in one respect, studying the law is like flossing or doing your laundry. The student newspaper then quotes him out of context – as saying “law school is like doing laundry and flossing,” without the part about how. Huang is so deeply upset about this that he feels the need to point it out in a paper a decade or so later.

The upshot: even by law school standards, this guy has to be one of the most bitter, highly-strung, petty, and puerile individuals around. Although, I can see how being denied tenure would account for a lot of that.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Any thoughts on choosing a 1L elective? Our choices are

Comparative Legal Institutions (Ginsburg)
Emotion, Reason, and Law (Nussbaum)
International Trade Law (Bradford)
Jurisprudence I (Leiter)
Labor Law (Weinrib)
Legislation and Statutory Interpretation (Huq)

If I were a 1L, I'd go back and take Huq's class (although I did really enjoy my elective). It seems to be very useful, and Huq is a good teacher. He has a reputation for being a demanding teacher, and I think this is deserved, but he's also probably the most polite professor you will find. And he's not unfairly demanding, either.

[whenwin]

Can anyone tell me, based on previous years, what the ASW schedule is like? Also, would I still get the travel reimbursement if I didn't stay til the end of the program?

ETA: Nvm

[Bildungsroman]

Also, would I still get the travel reimbursement if I didn't stay til the end of the program?

This is the kind of thing you should ask admissions, but I seriously doubt they'll reimburse you if you come late and leave early.

[UChicagoStudent]

U of C 3L here! I haven't visited TLS in a very long time, but I would love to give back to TLS a bit. Ask some questions and I'll see if I can answer them for you.

[Doorkeeper]

I know that Chicago Law lets students take 4 classes outside of the law school during their 3 years, but I was wondering if there was any flexibility in this to allow students with perhaps more interdisciplinary interests (i.e. law and philosophy), to possibly appeal to be allowed to take more? Or is there perhaps some mechanism so that classes can be double-counted for a semester, even if they normally aren't, if a law school student shows an interest for taking that class?

[Helmholtz]

I know that Chicago Law lets students take 4 classes outside of the law school during their 3 years, but I was wondering if there was any flexibility in this to allow students with perhaps more interdisciplinary interests (i.e. law and philosophy), to possibly appeal to be allowed to take more? Or is there perhaps some mechanism so that classes can be double-counted for a semester, even if they normally aren't, if a law school student shows an interest for taking that class?

A lot of classes are cross-listed between graduate programs. So for these cross-listed courses offered this year, you wouldn't even need to fill a "non law class" spot:

Human Rights 1 (taught by a philosophy professor)
Law & Philosophy (taught by Nussbaum)
Contemporary Virtue Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Cicero's De Finibus and Hellenistic Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Topics in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy (co-taught by Leiter and a philosophy professor)
Emotion, Reason, and Law (taught by Nussbaum)

And then on top of those, you could take a couple courses almost completely consisting of philosophy grad students.

[Doorkeeper]

I know that Chicago Law lets students take 4 classes outside of the law school during their 3 years, but I was wondering if there was any flexibility in this to allow students with perhaps more interdisciplinary interests (i.e. law and philosophy), to possibly appeal to be allowed to take more? Or is there perhaps some mechanism so that classes can be double-counted for a semester, even if they normally aren't, if a law school student shows an interest for taking that class?

A lot of classes are cross-listed between graduate programs. So for these cross-listed courses offered this year, you wouldn't even need to fill a "non law class" spot:

Human Rights 1 (taught by a philosophy professor)
Law & Philosophy (taught by Nussbaum)
Contemporary Virtue Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Cicero's De Finibus and Hellenistic Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Topics in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy (co-taught by Leiter and a philosophy professor)
Emotion, Reason, and Law (taught by Nussbaum)

And then on top of those, you could take a couple courses almost completely consisting of philosophy grad students.

Oh, I know! I've looked through the coursebook and it's made me quite excited! I was just wondering whether it was in any way possible to push that 4 course maximum upwards even more. Perhaps an appeals process for the student to explain why X course that isn't cross-listed is important to his/her education?

[Helmholtz]

I know that Chicago Law lets students take 4 classes outside of the law school during their 3 years, but I was wondering if there was any flexibility in this to allow students with perhaps more interdisciplinary interests (i.e. law and philosophy), to possibly appeal to be allowed to take more? Or is there perhaps some mechanism so that classes can be double-counted for a semester, even if they normally aren't, if a law school student shows an interest for taking that class?

A lot of classes are cross-listed between graduate programs. So for these cross-listed courses offered this year, you wouldn't even need to fill a "non law class" spot:

Human Rights 1 (taught by a philosophy professor)
Law & Philosophy (taught by Nussbaum)
Contemporary Virtue Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Cicero's De Finibus and Hellenistic Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Topics in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy (co-taught by Leiter and a philosophy professor)
Emotion, Reason, and Law (taught by Nussbaum)

And then on top of those, you could take a couple courses almost completely consisting of philosophy grad students.

Oh, I know! I've looked through the coursebook and it's made me quite excited! I was just wondering whether it was in any way possible to push that 4 course maximum upwards even more. Perhaps an appeals process for the student to explain why X course that isn't cross-listed is important to his/her education?

I kind of doubt it, but maybe there is. Don't think I know anybody who has tried.

[Doorkeeper]

I know that Chicago Law lets students take 4 classes outside of the law school during their 3 years, but I was wondering if there was any flexibility in this to allow students with perhaps more interdisciplinary interests (i.e. law and philosophy), to possibly appeal to be allowed to take more? Or is there perhaps some mechanism so that classes can be double-counted for a semester, even if they normally aren't, if a law school student shows an interest for taking that class?

A lot of classes are cross-listed between graduate programs. So for these cross-listed courses offered this year, you wouldn't even need to fill a "non law class" spot:

Human Rights 1 (taught by a philosophy professor)
Law & Philosophy (taught by Nussbaum)
Contemporary Virtue Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Cicero's De Finibus and Hellenistic Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Topics in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy (co-taught by Leiter and a philosophy professor)
Emotion, Reason, and Law (taught by Nussbaum)

And then on top of those, you could take a couple courses almost completely consisting of philosophy grad students.

Oh, I know! I've looked through the coursebook and it's made me quite excited! I was just wondering whether it was in any way possible to push that 4 course maximum upwards even more. Perhaps an appeals process for the student to explain why X course that isn't cross-listed is important to his/her education?

I kind of doubt it, but maybe there is. Don't think I know anybody who has tried.

Thanks for the help! If any other Chicago students have an idea, please let me know!

I'm really hoping to take one to two philosophy/political science graduate class each semester I'm in law school, cross-listed or not (I realize the first two quarters this could not be the case), so I was just hoping to see how much flexibility there is in Chicago's 4 class limit.

[Haymarket]

A lot of classes are cross-listed between graduate programs. So for these cross-listed courses offered this year, you wouldn't even need to fill a "non law class" spot:

Human Rights 1 (taught by a philosophy professor)
Law & Philosophy (taught by Nussbaum)
Contemporary Virtue Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Cicero's De Finibus and Hellenistic Ethics (taught by Nussbaum)
Topics in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy (co-taught by Leiter and a philosophy professor)
Emotion, Reason, and Law (taught by Nussbaum)

And then on top of those, you could take a couple courses almost completely consisting of philosophy grad students.

Oh, I know! I've looked through the coursebook and it's made me quite excited! I was just wondering whether it was in any way possible to push that 4 course maximum upwards even more. Perhaps an appeals process for the student to explain why X course that isn't cross-listed is important to his/her education?

I kind of doubt it, but maybe there is. Don't think I know anybody who has tried.

Thanks for the help! If any other Chicago students have an idea, please let me know!

I'm really hoping to take one to two philosophy/political science graduate class each semester I'm in law school, cross-listed or not (I realize the first two quarters this could not be the case), so I was just hoping to see how much flexibility there is in Chicago's 4 class limit.

One or two each quarter? That, in my opinion, is far too much to be allowed and still qualify for a law degree. Wanting to do something like that is why dual JD/PhDs were created. Even given your opportunities with Law & _______ classes, I can tell you that you won't be able to take upwards of a third or half of your classes in philosophy outside the law school if you're supposed to be on a 3 year JD program.

[Doorkeeper]

One or two each quarter? That, in my opinion, is far too much to be allowed and still qualify for a law degree. Wanting to do something like that is why dual JD/PhDs were created. Even given your opportunities with Law & _______ classes, I can tell you that you won't be able to take upwards of a third or half of your classes in philosophy outside the law school if you're supposed to be on a 3 year JD program.

Well I've applied for JD/PhDs, but we'll see how those turn out. I'm not too confident about it.

Perhaps I'm a bit overly ambitious about my desire to take such classes outside of the first two quarters, but I'm really hoping to maximize the amount of such classes that is possible, which is why I'm wondering about the 4 course limit.

Edit- I meant to include the courses that are cross-listed in that amount too. Sorry for the ambiguity.

[AntipodeanPhil]

Could you guys comment on what you think of the OCI process at Chicago - what you liked or didn't like about it, how it compares to OCIs at other schools (from what you've heard), et cetera?

Obviously, OCI is a big deal, and I've recently come across some negative comments by UVA and Michigan students about their OCIs (because UVA uses preselects, and Michigan seems to have various problems in the details).

I know Chicago uses a pure lottery system with 50 bids, but that's about all I know. If anyone could better explain the process, that would be great also.

I just looked through the last ten pages of this thread and couldn't find any information.

[Dany]

Here's a short rundown: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p4190107 but I'm sure if you have other questions the 2Ls/3Ls can chime in with their thoughts!

[AntipodeanPhil]

Here's a short rundown: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p4190107 but I'm sure if you have other questions the 2Ls/3Ls can chime in with their thoughts!

Thanks! That explains the process nicely.

[lsatcrazy]

Thanks for asking that Phil, I was going to ask as well in light of the NLJ data.

[California Babe]

Thanks for asking that Phil, I was going to ask as well in light of the NLJ data.

If I understand correctly, the most recent NLJ data is always two years old, so it will be hard for current students to comment on OCI in a way that meaningfully relates to it.

[lsatcrazy]

Thanks for asking that Phil, I was going to ask as well in light of the NLJ data.

If I understand correctly, the most recent NLJ data is always two years old, so it will be hard for current students to comment on OCI in a way that meaningfully relates to it.

Oh I didn't mean the %ages, I just meant that the resulting convo in that thread has gotten me to research the OCI/bidding/lottery system of each school that I'm considering.

[seanPtheB]

Hey guys,

So I'm using padmapper.com (at the advice of a couple awesome UChi students) to look for apartments in the South Loop, but it's tough to tell exactly where I can look so that I can still easily catch public transportation to the law school campus. Can you guys give me some guidance on what exact area I should keep my search to so that getting to campus is still fairly easy by public transportation?

Thanks!

[Emma.]

Hey guys,

So I'm using padmapper.com (at the advice of a couple awesome UChi students) to look for apartments in the South Loop, but it's tough to tell exactly where I can look so that I can still easily catch public transportation to the law school campus. Can you guys give me some guidance on what exact area I should keep my search to so that getting to campus is still fairly easy by public transportation?

Thanks!

Ideally you want to be within walking distance of the #2 bus route.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=41.86 ... 13&start=0

http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_ct ... outeId=159