UChi Students & Alumni Taking Questions Forum

[RodneyRuxin]

Any I-GO users that live around the Regents area? I am thinking of ditching our car and switching to I-GO, but I just wanted to make sure that these things are relatively available before doing so. If anyone here has used I-GO, have you ever had issues with there being no I-GO cars near Regents to borrow, or has there pretty much always been a car there to use?

Also, would you recommend I-GO over things like Zipcar (and if not, why?).

I used I-Go all through law school, and there were plenty of cars available around Regent's. I think are some in the Regent's parking lot, two in a lot like a block over, two more at Blackstone and 51st, and two in the Treasure Island lot. You can reserve them online, and there was always one available nearby when I needed it; sometimes I had to take a larger car that cost a bit more if I waited too long to reserve it. Usually each location has a smaller car and a larger one, like an SUV or pickup truck. I took a car out maybe twice a month to get groceries, etc.

I had Zipcar in New York and the cars were always disgusting, like filthy and out of gas, so I tried I-Go when I moved to Chi. Some of the I-Go cars had their share of dog hair in the backseat, but no fast food remnants or bad smells like the Zipcars.

I'm coming out of TLS retirement to defend zipcar. I've used zipcars in Chicago and in my old college town, and I've never had any issues. They're always clean and relatively full of gas (usually 1/2 tank at least). I-GO is probably no different, and it may be more convenient given that you can use your CTA plus card thing for both, but zipcar is great and there are tons of options within a short walk of regents (some right next door, even).

I'll come out of TLS retirement to confirm I've been in a zipcar with Danny Mothers and had no issues.

[20141023]

.

[beepboopbeep]

You'll also, eventually, be able to use compatible mobile phones to pay for rides on CTA and Pace.

Knowing the CTA, don't hold your breath.

[Crowing]

I eBayed a couple of books but the rest aren't available atm except from sellers like B&N aka destroying the point of using eBay in the first place.

What's this bookserv thing about for buying textbooks from other students?

ETA: Would also love recs on salons, Hyde Park or anywhere else in Chicago

[2014]

I eBayed a couple of books but the rest aren't available atm except from sellers like B&N aka destroying the point of using eBay in the first place.

What's this bookserv thing about for buying textbooks from other students?

ETA: Would also love recs on salons, Hyde Park or anywhere else in Chicago

Bookserv is a good idea, you can get books quicker, cheaper, and can inspect them before buying.

Also are you a M or F, that effects my answer to #2.

[Jaqen]

So the flood of bookserv emails has begun and I've noticed that lots of people list multiple supplements for each course. I think I would like to have a supplement handy, but I don't know about buying so many. Is there a consensus best for each subject or something?

Also, I've got McAdams for Elements, Hubbard for CivPro, Penalver for Property, and Henderson for Torts. Any instructor-specific tips, re: supplements or otherwise?

[beepboopbeep]

Hmm, I haven't gotten any bookserv spam yet. Anyone else?

Seconding requests for prof scoops. Strauss for Elements, Buss for CivPro, Strahilevitz for Property, Levmore for Torts. Any advice would be appreciated! The more the better.

[20141023]

.

[Jaqen]

Hmm, I haven't gotten any bookserv spam yet. Anyone else?

Apparently you have to sign up for it. https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/info/bookserv

(Please find out the answers and let me know. )

Yessir.

[Xifeng]

Strauss and McAdams are amazing, they're two of my favorite professors ever. And Elements is a great class so enjoy it while it lasts.

Buss is fantastic, she's one of the nicest professors at the law school. But don't cross her because she's also tough as nails.

Strahilevitz is so, SO nice. He also has a great way of cold-calling that'll help reduce anxieties your first quarter (he'll be talking to Mr. X about a case and will say "So after Mr. X and I finish talking about A v. B, we're going to bring in Ms. Y to talk about C v. D" so you know what's coming). He may be my favorite 1L professor. He also has great five-minute recaps of the previous day's class.

Levmore is brilliant but terrifying. Don't think you're smarter than him or be too snide or he will destroy you (and your classmates will be very entertained). He usually cold calls by going down the row. He's so smart and entertaining, but his exams are a terrifying nightmare (I still don't really know what happened).

As for supplements, I'd talk to your big sibs or whoever about specific supplements, or go to the academic counselors if they've used supplements. YMMV.

[PopTorts13]

Strauss and McAdams are amazing, they're two of my favorite professors ever. And Elements is a great class so enjoy it while it lasts.

Buss is fantastic, she's one of the nicest professors at the law school. But don't cross her because she's also tough as nails.

Strahilevitz is so, SO nice. He also has a great way of cold-calling that'll help reduce anxieties your first quarter (he'll be talking to Mr. X about a case and will say "So after Mr. X and I finish talking about A v. B, we're going to bring in Ms. Y to talk about C v. D" so you know what's coming). He may be my favorite 1L professor. He also has great five-minute recaps of the previous day's class.

Levmore is brilliant but terrifying. Don't think you're smarter than him or be too snide or he will destroy you (and your classmates will be very entertained). He usually cold calls by going down the row. He's so smart and entertaining, but his exams are a terrifying nightmare (I still don't really know what happened).

As for supplements, I'd talk to your big sibs or whoever about specific supplements, or go to the academic counselors if they've used supplements. YMMV.

Thanks! Quick question, do we have the same professors second and third quarter for classes that we have first...ex. If we have Levmore for Torts now will we continue to have him through out the year, moreover taking his final?

I am/was excited to have Levmore and now am a bit intimidated before stepping foot in his class. Any 2L or 3Ls with good advice for handling Levmore's classes and exams?? THANKS!

[Dany]

Sometimes one professor teaches both quarters, and sometimes professors will split the class. If you have two professors for a class, the exam will be split into two halves, with each professor writing and grading their half of the exam.

[Xifeng]

You guys will get planners that have that information at some point during orientation.

ETA here it is



ETA though the planners may be wrong. I do not vouch for them. I just take pictures.

[Mal Reynolds]

Either my schedule is wrong online or it's wrong on that planner. LAW SCHOOL IS ALREADY MESSING WITH MY MIND

[2014]

I am/was excited to have Levmore and now am a bit intimidated before stepping foot in his class. Any 2L or 3Ls with good advice for handling Levmore's classes and exams?? THANKS!

Just enjoy it and be able to laugh at yourself on the 5 minutes of the one or two days per quarter you end up getting called on. To do well on his test you need to grasp law and econ and be able to consider incentive issues, but you will learn most of that if you internalize what he says in class. As long as you buy into "Levmore on torts" you will do fine. It's a good idea to talk to an upperclassmen about specifics leading up to that test, especially since you might be rusty on Levmore stuff by March when you take the final and have had 10 weeks of Henderson in between.

Reading is less important for his class than for others, though there's no reason not to still do all of the reading. You just don't need to memorize little details. Don't count on being able to use your notes as a crutch when he calls on you either, he wants eye contact the whole time, but the poor soul who is first to be called on will serve as an example for the class of that lol

I would encourage you to not sit on the end of a row if you are nervous about his cold calls though, those people go first or last, both of which have downsides. Sit in the middle and you will have some warning.

[Emma.]

I am/was excited to have Levmore and now am a bit intimidated before stepping foot in his class. Any 2L or 3Ls with good advice for handling Levmore's classes and exams?? THANKS!

Levmore is amazing. As far as "handling" his class, you just need to be prepared to enjoy the ride. And there isn't really any good advice for his exams. Those, you just try to survive.

[Jaqen]

I think they were originally going to go with 3 Elements instructors but downsized to 2 for whatever reason. Everything else looks right, for me at least.

I'm not excited about split exams. Looks like I'm gonna have a lot of them.

[skers]

Yeah, that first Levmore cold call is going to be an experience.

First off, it's really easy to start freaking out about exams, but the best thing you can do is chill. Don't be the dude taking practice exams for March finals in October. You're in fucking Chicago. Go to all the awful bars by Clark and Division. Hit up the Donut Vault. Go to Kingston Mines, Second City, the Art Institute, whatever.

Levmore really is just a phenomenal professor. The dude is hilarious and can make the class a lot of fun. Don't get freaked out if you don't have an econ background. There will be people with an MA from LSE who rattle off something and you might feel out of your depth. You'll be alright. My biggest exposure to econ pre-Uchi was a hungover Sunday viewing of Moneyball and I did just fine. Like 2014 said, you'll pick it up in class.

Henderson was another one of my favorite professors. Hilarious dude and he's a pretty straight shooter so you get a lot less of the hide the ball stuff. Dude also has a good perspective since he actually practiced. He uses powerpoint slides, so I'd recommend just listening instead of getting too bogged down in taking notes since you don't really need them. The Henderson-Levmore split is pretty great since their approaches really complement each other. I wouldn't bother with supplements since UChicago takes its own unique approach to torts, so they're kind of just wasted dollars.

Strauss is unbelievably chill and it's pretty much impossible to give a bad answer to a cold call since he will massage it into something insightful.

Like Henderson, Hubbard gives a unique perspective since he's actually practiced. He will definitely get more into the nitty, gritty details of cases, which is kind of obnoxious, so be ready for that unless you DGAF. Not much more to add on Buss other than echoing that she is super nice.

I can't really speak for Strahilevitz or Penalver (though pretty much everyone seemed to love Strahilevitz) other than that you should probably just all defer for a year so you can experience the Hammer.

[Crowing]

Using an older edition to save money in LS - bad idea?

[Mad Hatter]

Using an older edition to save money in LS - bad idea?

Yeah. I tried for crim at first, but trying to translate the assigned pages and always fearing that you missed some important squib case or note (and there were one or two) made it not worth it.

[skers]

Using an older edition to save money in LS - bad idea?

I used mostly older editions. Last year we had a bunch of brand new editions launch so we couldn't get used copies, so you're not quite in the same boat, but you'd still save cash. We had some overachievers who transposed the syllabus for the older editions, so I didn't really notice a difference aside from the case or two added in the new edition you had to track down on westlaw.

[badaboom61]

Using an older edition to save money in LS - bad idea?

I used mostly older editions. Last year we had a bunch of brand new editions launch so we couldn't get used copies, so you're not quite in the same boat, but you'd still save cash. We had some overachievers who transposed the syllabus for the older editions, so I didn't really notice a difference aside from the case or two added in the new edition you had to track down on westlaw.

Also consider that current edition used textbooks tend to hold their price until the next edition comes out. So the 7th edition of Contracts (or whatever) will probably sell for ~$100 or whatever on Amazon Marketplace until the 8th edition comes out, and you can often recoup a good portion of the cost this way as long as you don't get screwed by a new edition. Also use the bookserv, which is great for both sellers and buyers.

[HoratioHornblower]

I'm legitimately curious now. Have any 1Ls bought any of the books on bookserv yet?

[Dr. Gaius Baltar]

I apologize if anyone has already asked this several pages back, but are there any supplements that current 2Ls/3Ls found particularly useful during 1L year?

Thanks!

[Emma.]

I apologize if anyone has already asked this several pages back, but are there any supplements that current 2Ls/3Ls found particularly useful during 1L year?

Thanks!

Depends on the professor. But what's more important is that there is no reason for you to be thinking about supplements this early. Wait and see what the prof recommends or talk to upperclassmen who had the same profs once school is actually underway.