Indiana University - Bloomington students taking questions Forum

[twairlines]

Do you think its necessary to have a car in bloomington if I plan to live relatively close to the law school?

This is the one thing that I need to know as well. I'm considering another lower ranked school due to its location and ease to get to. Living at this alternate school would also not be surrounded by undergrad as they don't live near the downtown. So, what I need to know is: 1. if I live close enough to the law school to walk is there an area of apartments that aren't bombarded with undergrad (because I don't want to depend on a bus if they don't run late at night) and 2.Even if it guarantees proximity to the law school, can I catch a bus to go to the local mart for groceries when needed?
Currently at my large undergrad there are many forms of public transportation, however there is no way I could ever get to a grocery store via PT, rather I catch a ride with a friend or I would have to walk a few miles..So I'm not going through all that again because it's a burden on myself.

thx for any input

[superflush]

Do you think its necessary to have a car in bloomington if I plan to live relatively close to the law school?

No

1. if I live close enough to the law school to walk is there an area of apartments that aren't bombarded with undergrad (because I don't want to depend on a bus if they don't run late at night)

Yes

2.Even if it guarantees proximity to the law school, can I catch a bus to go to the local mart for groceries when needed?

Probably. You could also walk to grocery stores that are close.

[seriously????]

do any current students know of anybody that was offered or currently working for any kind of law, and is not an indiana native, nor have any ties to the midwest? if so, did this person have to rely on ties of their hometown or UG, or just finish top 5% of the class?
just asking, cuz I was going over the lists of placements for 09 on the IUB website, and it seems that all people working in Indy lived in Indiana their whole lives, and all the other private practice jobs went to the few overachievers in Chi, DC, NYC, where the rest of the private practice jobs were in tiny firms from hometowns.
i know I am the most pessimistic person towards IUB, but the more research I am doing keeps pointing towards the idea that IUB is thankful that they can say they get kids from all over the country, and that admission stats are going up, but in terms of career prospects, don't complain because you got a nice scholly, and if you aren't from Indiana call your parents and ask if anyone is hiring

[twairlines]

thanks superflush, appreciate your opinion

[LogosEther]

Re Car: Look several pages back, we talked about it a lot, earlier.

[rk90]

Anyone here taken a class with Gjerdingen? He's teaching summer start and it'd be nice to know a little about his teaching style, etc.

[Zapatero]

Anyone here taken a class with Gjerdingen? He's teaching summer start and it'd be nice to know a little about his teaching style, etc.

His teaching style is pretty difficult to explain. There isn't much theory involved, and he flies through material. Sometimes you'll cover five or six cases in a single class, and there's very little in-depth analysis. Your focus should be primarily on doctrine, and then on policy. You'll understand this after reading a few cases. He never once cold-called when I had him, but he apparently switches this up sometimes. Even so, you should be fine as long as you've read the material.

He insists that typing speed is not a factor on the exam, but from what I have seen this is just simply not true. I would seriously recommend some typing practice if you're not proficient.

As far as personality goes, he's a bit of a goofball, but he's one of the nicest guys you'll meet. He's very approachable and is a great professor for summer start. However, his class is completely different from any other that I've had.

[seriously????]

so just found out Indiana does not have a "LAW REVIEW"?!? Therefore, which of the three journals is considered the most prestigious? And this next question should be aimed at the school, but why the hell is there not a "LAW REVIEW"? That's what employers look for, and I highly doubt employers outside of bloomington and possibly indy know that it is nonexistant. Therefore, the best students aren't thought of as the best students? Top students need to have a footnote on their resumes with an explanation?

[kings84_wr]

so just found out Indiana does not have a "LAW REVIEW"?!? Therefore, which of the three journals is considered the most prestigious? And this next question should be aimed at the school, but why the hell is there not a "LAW REVIEW"? That's what employers look for, and I highly doubt employers outside of bloomington and possibly indy know that it is nonexistant. Therefore, the best students aren't thought of as the best students? Top students need to have a footnote on their resumes with an explanation?

Dude calm down ILJ is the top journal, its the same way at Yale, Duke, GULC, Emory, and Hastings just to name a few.

its pretty easy to show on a resume that its the equivalent of law review. every interview i had knew instantly that ILJ= Law review or top journal at the school. And honestly if you are on ILJ and interviewing with a firm that does not know what ILJ, odds are you won't be getting the job anyways.

Edit to add: I only put i graded on to ILJ since obviously i never actually participated in it.

also I don't think there is a school out there that has both a "law journal" and a "law review". So whenever anyone sees "Indiana law journal" or "yale law journal" or "duke law journal" they know what it means

[rk90]

Anyone here taken a class with Gjerdingen? He's teaching summer start and it'd be nice to know a little about his teaching style, etc.

His teaching style is pretty difficult to explain. There isn't much theory involved, and he flies through material. Sometimes you'll cover five or six cases in a single class, and there's very little in-depth analysis. Your focus should be primarily on doctrine, and then on policy. You'll understand this after reading a few cases. He never once cold-called when I had him, but he apparently switches this up sometimes. Even so, you should be fine as long as you've read the material.

He insists that typing speed is not a factor on the exam, but from what I have seen this is just simply not true. I would seriously recommend some typing practice if you're not proficient.

As far as personality goes, he's a bit of a goofball, but he's one of the nicest guys you'll meet. He's very approachable and is a great professor for summer start. However, his class is completely different from any other that I've had.

Many thanks... Someone posted the link to his torts syl and he does come across as someone who's really into the subject and likes teaching. Won't be the only reason to take summer start but it helps if the prof actually wants to be there.

[kings84_wr]

There was more discussion of Gjerdy in the masses of this thread somewhere. I have absolutely no opinion on him, since i did not take his class, but it seems to be a hate him or love him type guy. I know a lot of people that raved about him and then some people who were not so into him.

However when it comes to fashion the guy is definitely an expert.

[superflush]

There was more discussion of Gjerdy in the masses of this thread somewhere. I have absolutely no opinion on him, since i did not take his class, but it seems to be a hate him or love him type guy. I know a lot of people that raved about him and then some people who were not so into him.
However when it comes to fashion the guy is definitely an expert.

I don't think he is as much of a hate him or live him type as Heidt.

[kings84_wr]

There was more discussion of Gjerdy in the masses of this thread somewhere. I have absolutely no opinion on him, since i did not take his class, but it seems to be a hate him or love him type guy. I know a lot of people that raved about him and then some people who were not so into him.
However when it comes to fashion the guy is definitely an expert.

I don't think he is as much of a hate him or live him type as Heidt.

haha Heidt is one of a kind for sure. I still get haunting recollections of his cold calls staring at his seating chart "uh uh um uh Mr. Kings84_wr, give us your brief"

[stlisforlovers]

How would you describe the professors in general?

[danquayle]

so just found out Indiana does not have a "LAW REVIEW"?!? Therefore, which of the three journals is considered the most prestigious? And this next question should be aimed at the school, but why the hell is there not a "LAW REVIEW"? That's what employers look for, and I highly doubt employers outside of bloomington and possibly indy know that it is nonexistant. Therefore, the best students aren't thought of as the best students? Top students need to have a footnote on their resumes with an explanation?

Dude calm down ILJ is the top journal, its the same way at Yale, Duke, GULC, Emory, and Hastings just to name a few.

its pretty easy to show on a resume that its the equivalent of law review. every interview i had knew instantly that ILJ= Law review or top journal at the school. And honestly if you are on ILJ and interviewing with a firm that does not know what ILJ, odds are you won't be getting the job anyways.

Edit to add: I only put i graded on to ILJ since obviously i never actually participated in it.

also I don't think there is a school out there that has both a "law journal" and a "law review". So whenever anyone sees "Indiana law journal" or "yale law journal" or "duke law journal" they know what it means

You know justadude is trolling hard, right?

[kings84_wr]

so just found out Indiana does not have a "LAW REVIEW"?!? Therefore, which of the three journals is considered the most prestigious? And this next question should be aimed at the school, but why the hell is there not a "LAW REVIEW"? That's what employers look for, and I highly doubt employers outside of bloomington and possibly indy know that it is nonexistant. Therefore, the best students aren't thought of as the best students? Top students need to have a footnote on their resumes with an explanation?

Dude calm down ILJ is the top journal, its the same way at Yale, Duke, GULC, Emory, and Hastings just to name a few.

its pretty easy to show on a resume that its the equivalent of law review. every interview i had knew instantly that ILJ= Law review or top journal at the school. And honestly if you are on ILJ and interviewing with a firm that does not know what ILJ, odds are you won't be getting the job anyways.

Edit to add: I only put i graded on to ILJ since obviously i never actually participated in it.

also I don't think there is a school out there that has both a "law journal" and a "law review". So whenever anyone sees "Indiana law journal" or "yale law journal" or "duke law journal" they know what it means

You know justadude is trolling hard, right?

haha thats what i get for posting at 1 in the morning

[Sandro]

I will be visiting bloomington next week - any places(restaurants/bars/cool things) I need to check out ?

[vmiller]

I am still really on the fence about Summer Start. It seems from the more recent comments that this class is different from the majority of 1st year classes, and therefore won't be immensely helpful (other than having taken one law school exam).

Did anyone on this forum do summer start? Under what circumstances would you do/not do it?

My personal situation is that I am moving back to the States from Japan, and can't really decide if Summer Start is worth coming back really early for. I'm trying to gauge how valuable people think the program is. I guess, not so hypothetically, my question is: would you give up a month's salary and a nice beach vacation before law school for Summer Start? My thought is that coming into 1st semester feeling refreshed, ready, and with more money is pretty important as well. I'm afraid that moving across the world and starting law school in the summer is a rather stressful way to begin, and I have 3 years of stress to look forward to. Thoughts?

[seriously????]

do summer start. You can always go back there next summer, or the summer after that. Vacations are always available, but summer start at IUB Law is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

[danquayle]

do summer start. You can always go back there next summer, or the summer after that. Vacations are always available, but summer start at IUB Law is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Are you... serious?

Take the vacation. Clear your mind. Law school is going to be the next 3 years of your life. Vacations will be scarce for some time after you graduate, if you have the money.

You want to go into study as stress free as possible. I went to Japan right before my bar exam, had a great time, relieved some stress, came back and passed easily.

Summer start is just one class with Don Freakin' Gjerdingen. He's a good speaker and he'll get you pumped up for law school, but it's not like he's got some magic elixir. You can learn the torts he'll teach you in 2 weeks with a horn book.

I just don't get why so many of you seem to think summer start is some kind of golden opportunity. It's one of like 20 odd classes you'll take in law school. That's really it. Make your determination on whether to do it based upon the circumstances of your life, not the program.

I reiterate that I only think makes sense if you believe your circumstances require more refreshing than others. Summer start doesn't make much sense for the "traditional" law student. It's a non-factor.

[beidoun]

I am still really on the fence about Summer Start. It seems from the more recent comments that this class is different from the majority of 1st year classes, and therefore won't be immensely helpful (other than having taken one law school exam).

Did anyone on this forum do summer start? Under what circumstances would you do/not do it?

My personal situation is that I am moving back to the States from Japan, and can't really decide if Summer Start is worth coming back really early for. I'm trying to gauge how valuable people think the program is. I guess, not so hypothetically, my question is: would you give up a month's salary and a nice beach vacation before law school for Summer Start? My thought is that coming into 1st semester feeling refreshed, ready, and with more money is pretty important as well. I'm afraid that moving across the world and starting law school in the summer is a rather stressful way to begin, and I have 3 years of stress to look forward to. Thoughts?

I think its pretty clear from what you said that you shouldn't do summer start. The opportunity cost of doing summer start for you is high. You will lose out on one month pay and the cost of tuition for that one class.

[LogosEther]

My vote is no summer start, too. People who don't do summer start end up being just fine (myself included). Your success in the transition to law school is 100x more determined by having a positive attitude and working hard than by signing up for an early class.

[narkizopoint]

Summer start does help lighten the load for 2L and 3L years (especially if you work for credit your 1L summer). That is not to say the other advice is untrue, just throwing that out there.

[superflush]

Did anyone on this forum do summer start?

I didn't

Under what circumstances would you do/not do it?

If it was free and I wasn't under a significant time crunch, I would do it.

[RooksWS6]

After spending quite a bit of time researching the pros and cons of the program I decided to do Summer Start because, as others have said, it makes sense for me. I agree that it is something that could be beneficial or not depending on your situation. While I don't see it as a "golden opportunity," I do think it will be nice transition from undergrad. Given the relaxed schedule (the class meets from 10-12 Mon.-Fri.), I'm hoping it will allow me to get comfortable with the type of material and learn some "tricks of the trade" that will be helpful when I'm managing a full class load.

The added benefit of lightening up my load as a 2L or 3L combined with the fact that it's paid for make it worthwhile for me. That said if the opportunity presented itself for me to spend that month or whatever somewhere tropical or backpacking through Europe you can bet I would be doing that instead.