Top Law Schools

Is Outline Depot a scam??

I'm ashamed to admit that I submitted an outline to them last week in hopes of getting a "credit” and download an outline for free. However, it says that my outline is still awaiting approval.... wtf does that mean? My outline was gold, I got an A in that class!

So I googled and it turns out Outline Depot is on rip off report.. twice. Has anyone ever used this site before and gotten their outline “approved?” Or should I start accepting the fact that I was swindled out of a good outline that they’re going to be profiting off of??


Here are the links:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Lawyers/Out ... -98yyy.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Internet-Se ... -3f6md.htm

I had a few outlines accepted before. More recently, I had a few rejected.

I think they are getting more selective now since they have reached the critical mass point where most popular classes at most schools have outlines available.

I wouldn't call it a scam though. I've occasionally paid the $10 to get an otherwise impossible to obtain outline and it was usually worth it.

Thanks a lot for the info. & wow they rejected your outlines? That's interesting.. the reason you gave makes sense though. I just hate the thought of spending $10 on an outline that may or may not be shitty - I guess I'll just stick to writing them myself..

Just a warning to anyone else that's feeling the pressure to buy an outline for a rapidly approaching final that you feel slightly unprepared for...

SO, three weeks later - my outlines are still "Awaiting Approval," but I have a final Weds so I cracked. I spent the $10 on an outline that looked really good from the preview, but guess what? It's only half done - it literally ends with the last 5 headings lacking the subheadings, etc - you know, the important stuff.. the stuff you can't get from the casebook table of contents. I only planned on using it as a guideline, so I'm not completely screwed, but really? a half done outline for $10?? So much for the increase in selectivity.

Guess I should've just listened to ripoff report..

Oh wow. That sucks.
I bought a couple off there over thanksgiving because I was having trouble visualizing how things should be organized.
Luckily both the ones I bought were great. But I guess I lucked out. Good thing I didn't try and submit one to get the credits or it would have been pointless.

I have always had good luck with them. I had an outline rejected once, but I think it was because I did not remove personal information from the file. Otherwise my outlines get accepted next day. I usually download outlines so I have something to compare my own work to.

Do they have ones for specific professors?

A'nold wrote:Do they have ones for specific professors?

yes.

i used them one time for a class with a visiting prof (otherwise wouldn't have had anything to go on), and it worked out fine.

i don't plan to submit any or to use them again. like anything, buyer beware. if you see an outline you need, it may be worth $10. i wouldn't bank on the free credit thing working out.

If there were one word I could use to describe outline depot it would be RIPOFF. These guys do literally nothing and make $10 for an old STUDENT outline. I could understand a few bucks, but $10 is like the price of a commercial supplement, and you have to pay that just to see the outline to determine whether it is crap (the preview usually cover the first day or two worth of material, which is often just a summary of text out of the book). I submitted around 15 outlines and they rejected every single one of them, and many of them were for professors that they didn't have any (or one) outline for and classes where I got the book award. Anyway, they really have no way of accurately assessing whether an outline is good or not since a good outline is one made by a student that actually paid attention in class and incorporated their class notes into the outline, which is not something they can determine at outlinedepot.

Ive downloaded a few and split the cost amongst my study group of 3. If you download three outlines, I think it comes out to like $26. So divide that by 3 people in the group, and its like $8.50 per person for 3 outlines. You arent guaranteed to get a good outline, but for ill gamble $10 or $20 knowing I have a shot at getting a really good outline. I only do it for classes where I cant get old outlines from other sources (i.e. visiting professor).
Summary-you spend $45K a year on tuition, upwards of $2K on books, if $20 can get you a chance at a solid outline, why not?

XxSpyKEx wrote:If there were one word I could use to describe outline depot it would be RIPOFF. These guys do literally nothing and make $10 for an old STUDENT outline. I could understand a few bucks, but $10 is like the price of a commercial supplement, and you have to pay that just to see the outline to determine whether it is crap (the preview usually cover the first day or two worth of material, which is often just a summary of text out of the book). I submitted around 15 outlines and they rejected every single one of them, and many of them were for professors that they didn't have any (or one) outline for and classes where I got the book award. Anyway, they really have no way of accurately assessing whether an outline is good or not since a good outline is one made by a student that actually paid attention in class and incorporated their class notes into the outline, which is not something they can determine at outlinedepot.

I actually had the same experience. I submitted all of my outlines actually after the 1st semester, and all of mine were rejected with the same response. When I inquired further, I received no response. I tried again after 2nd semester and was rejected again, despite CALI awards and whatnot. Furthermore, they did not have outlines for some of the classes/professors that I submitted (because a couple of professors were new), so I could not understand why they were rejected.

Basically, there is NO exchange system. The outline bank seems great, but I doubt they are really interested in adding any more outlines. Furthermore, the $10 dollars just does not seem to be worth it. In fact, I would say that I had much better success just simply asking upper classmen. Just find out who is on law review or working at some awesome firm, and ask them for advice + their outlines if they do not mind. Furthermore, I would recommend you just pay the 20 dollar club fee to get access to their outline banks instead (which likely contains a lot more outlines).

In the end, I did not buy any outlines from them. A few of my friends did and said that it was kind of a hit and miss. You might like ONE outline out of 5, so ultimately it is just not worth it in my opinion. One last bit is that there is no indication that these were outlines from students who did well, which worried me.

On the plus side, the previews of the outlines I looked at DID look pretty good. The outlines they have accepted in the past are definitely "neat" and organized" based on the previews.

Recently (in the last week) uploaded two outlines. Both were approved within 24 hours.

They rejected my outline within like 3 days for a class (contracts) that I booked/CALI'd both semesters. It might have been I broke my outline down to so little--~15 pages for a full year. I may break down and buy one for one of my profs this semester who came from another school.

Too bad they're questionable in dealing with people, this looks like a good resource. I'll probably roll the dice with it for one of my professors who is coming from another school

One of the worst things about this site is that they often lift free resources from a variety of places, then charge them due to their tendency to appear at the forefront of search listings for "outlines" and thus enable them to create a market for things that are actually free.

They also have been accused of IP violations, and also of rejecting outlines that magically appeared on the site despite the rejection. Just an FYI.

Tobias Funke wrote:Is Outline Depot a scam??

I'm ashamed to admit that I submitted an outline to them last week in hopes of getting a "credit” and download an outline for free. However, it says that my outline is still awaiting approval.... wtf does that mean? My outline was gold, I got an A in that class!

So I googled and it turns out Outline Depot is on rip off report.. twice. Has anyone ever used this site before and gotten their outline “approved?” Or should I start accepting the fact that I was swindled out of a good outline that they’re going to be profiting off of??


Here are the links:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Lawyers/Out ... -98yyy.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Internet-Se ... -3f6md.htm

Guys, seriously. Upperclassmen and journals have outlines. Talk to people. Make a new friend that's an upperclassman. He or she will know how to get you outlines. Promise.

nyulawguy wrote:One of the worst things about this site is that they often lift free resources from a variety of places, then charge them due to their tendency to appear at the forefront of search listings for "outlines" and thus enable them to create a market for things that are actually free.

They also have been accused of IP violations, and also of rejecting outlines that magically appeared on the site despite the rejection. Just an FYI.

That is completely false. OutlineDepot.com has never been accused of IP violations, and has NEVER "lifted" free resources and made them available for a fee. I worked there for a few years and I can attest to their practices. They are completely on the level, and if your uploaded outline was rejected, there was a good reason for that. Keep in mind that literally dozens of outlines are uploaded each day and they have to go through each one, comparing them against similar outlines already posted on their site. This takes time.

Tobias Funke wrote:
So I googled and it turns out Outline Depot is on rip off report.. twice.

Rip-off report doesn't require any facts. It's pretty much Yelp for crybabies. OutlineDepot.com doesn't, and hasn't ripped off anyone. Some people just feel entitled and have a lot of time on their hands.

Never had a problem. As far as submitting outlines and getting them accepted for credit, I imagine that they get the pick of the litter, so don't get too butt hurt over getting rejected. Just spend the $10 and pay for an outline.

Anybody willing to use one of their credits they no longer need for me? It’s now $20 for a read only download, which seems like a lot for a website that can’t even guarantee me a full outline beyond the 2 preview pages. I would really appreciate it!!!!

If you can buy them, then that means someone had to submit them. I've gotten a few to use. For two of my classes the outline was verbatim. The professor even used the same hypos.