Indiana University - Bloomington students taking questions Forum

[Spoonmanners]

You don't need that. You just need to have Windows. Some people have 7, some people have Vista.

I'm just going by the flyer I received, stating system requirements. If you think they're lying/confused, then whatever.

If they have upgraded requirements, they have yet to inform the current student body. Pretty sure I'm running Windows 95 and it works fine. (Or some older version I bought from the school for cheap). I just wouldn't purchase a computer based on the letter you were sent. Anything newer than the last 5 years will suit you just fine.

[danquayle]

Finally framed my law diploma. It actually does look almost identical to my namesake's, even though he is an IU-Indy alum... bastards.

[Spoonmanners]

Finally framed my law diploma. It actually does look almost identical to my namesake's, even though he is an IU-Indy alum... bastards.

I'm considering laminating mine and using it as a placemat for when I eat cereal. But I suppose I'm not very sentimental.

[NotoriousIIED]

Oddly enough, I can't find an email describing the curve, and now I'm a little concerned as to where I heard it.

3.3 is right around the 50% for 1st and 2nd year, but has moved up to 3.42-ish for the 3L's. 3.6 is in the top 10%, and yes, they statistically have to get B+'s.

If I can't find the grade distribution through email, I'll snap a photo at school. I think it's still up at school at this point, of course, in another month the new grade distribution will be out. And the 1L's will get their first grade distributions as well.

Edit: How in the sam hell did I not search "percentile"?

"(210 students)
Cumulative GPA Class standing
At least 3.86--top--1%
3.79 ---- 2%
3.76 ---- 3%
3.74 ---- 5%
3.63 ---- 10%
3.57 ---- 15%
3.52 ---- 20%
3.48 ---- 25%
3.44 ---- 30%
3.43 ---- 33%
3.39 ---- 40%
3.35 ---- 50%"

This is for the 2L's going into this most recent spring semester.

Do we think that this curve will hold for the folks that just completed 1L? Or will it get tougher/easier? I could be wrong on this but I thought the top 10% cutoff at the end of 1L year for the Class of 2012 was a 3.71, is that right? What do we think it will be for this year? 3.7? 3.64? Somewhere in between like a 3.67 or something?

[agentcom]

I'm just amazed that grades are already out. I have all my grades in and have had them for a couple weeks now. Definitely the fastest turn around time I've seen at IU. Anyone who's been following this thread for a while (or who's been a student for a while) knows that the delay in grade reporting is a frequent topic of complaint. Am I an exception or does everyone else have their grades already, too?

[NotoriousIIED]

I have all of mine.

As far as I know, Steele and Johnsen are the only ones that haven't posted yet.

Do we have any idea when they will release the rankings?

[kings84_wr]

Top 10 cut off last year for the class of 2012 was something like 3.65

[RMstratosphere]

For posterity's sake:

Class of 2013
(242 students)

3.88 -Top- 1%
3.82 -- 2%
3.78 -- 3%
3.73 -- 5%
3.64 -- 10%
3.62 -- 15%
3.53 -- 20%
3.50 -- 25%
3.46 -- 30%
3.44 -- 33%
3.40 -- 40%
3.32 -- 50%

[Verity]

What kind of grades are given alphabetically, and what are their numerical equivalences (e.g., do they give A-s, B+s, or both? what does each equate to in numbers? etc.)?

Also, how many classes do 1Ls take in the Fall and Spring, and are they all graded, or some pass/fail?

[Spoonmanners]

What kind of grades are given alphabetically, and what are their numerical equivalences (e.g., do they give A-s, B+s, or both? what does each equate to in numbers? etc.)?

Also, how many classes do 1Ls take in the Fall and Spring, and are they all graded, or some pass/fail?

Hope I don't miss anything:

The graded classes are Torts (4 credits) Contracts (4) Civil Procedure (4) Criminal Law (3) Constitutional Law (4) Property (4) and Legal Professions (for some reason, 4).

Ungraded classes are Legal Writing, but they give out High Pass, Pass, and Low Pass, in order for you to give them some sort of effort. Haven't heard of anyone who has gotten a job or not gotten a job based on their LRW grade.

Graded classes give out A (4.0), A- (3.7), B+ (3.3), B (3.0), B- (2.7) and C+ (2.3). I don't think they give anything lower than a C+. B+ is the curve, and almost half the class will fit into the B+ grade. The majority of the rest will hit either A- or B, and usually only extreme cases are given A and B-/C+ (I want to say the standard is usually 10% fit between both grades for the curved courses).

There are a handful of ungraded courses you can take in 2nd/3rd year, which tend to curve out at about 3.7 anyways. There are some pass/fail classes you can take too, like the Moot Court class, externships, etc.

Fall you should take Torts, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Legal Writing. Spring should be Constitutional Law, Property, Legal Professions, and Legal Writing.

[jimchuck99]

It looks like Fall Starters can indicate a preference for their Torts professor. The options are Gjerdingen, Heidt, and Brown. Who would you all recommend?

[twairlines]

It looks like Fall Starters can indicate a preference for their Torts professor. The options are Gjerdingen, Heidt, and Brown. Who would you all recommend?

How did you find out these were our options?

[jimchuck99]

It looks like Fall Starters can indicate a preference for their Torts professor. The options are Gjerdingen, Heidt, and Brown. Who would you all recommend?

How did you find out these were our options?

By looking at the Fall 2011 Course List. I guess it could change.

http://apps.law.indiana.edu/degrees/cou ... selist.pdf

[twairlines]

thanks man,
I didn't even know that was posted. It'll give me something to look at. I too now am wondering since we get to say who we prefer would be the best choice. Gjerdingen is doing the summer class and he was the mock class teacher at ASD, he seemed very nice. Well here's to hoping someone posts with info about the other 2. Thx again for the course list.

[Verity]

It looks like Fall Starters can indicate a preference for their Torts professor. The options are Gjerdingen, Heidt, and Brown. Who would you all recommend?

Also interested.

[superflush]

It looks like Fall Starters can indicate a preference for their Torts professor. The options are Gjerdingen, Heidt, and Brown. Who would you all recommend?

Heidt

[Verity]

It looks like Fall Starters can indicate a preference for their Torts professor. The options are Gjerdingen, Heidt, and Brown. Who would you all recommend?

Heidt

Can you give us at least a caricature of each? Sorry to be greedy.

[superflush]

I don't know Brown, fwiw. He didn't teach Torts last year.

Most people either love or hate Heidt. Some people find him to be intense, but I think that the intensity is what makes the class great.

[Spoonmanners]

Can you give us at least a caricature of each? Sorry to be greedy.

Brown does not teach intentional torts. Intentional torts is also a major part of torts. I'm not sure how he gets away with it. I haven't had him, but I don't think I heard anything positive about him from those who took his torts class.

Heidt is extreme, and most seem to either love him or hate him. I believe all of his classes are work intensive, or at least way more than they need to be. I think he may have been the teacher who had his torts students write a memo, too, which is something you don't want to have to do (but I may be mixing him up with someone else). I know Kings was a big supporter of Heidt. Oh, I've also heard Heidt is not very friendly, especially to some people.

I had Donny G, and a lot of people seem to split with him too, but not to the extremes of Heidt. He doesn't cold call and kept class interesting. I liked him, and I think he will keep your terrible 1st semester less terrible than it has to be. That said, he has switched to not allowing outlines, which should be a crime against humanity. He may still have a four hour exam, too.

[Verity]

That said, he has switched to not allowing outlines, which should be a crime against humanity. He may still have a four hour exam, too.

Thanks. I'm just curious what you mean about outlines (during the test?), and a four-hour exam (is this shorter or longer than usual?).

[Spoonmanners]

That said, he has switched to not allowing outlines, which should be a crime against humanity. He may still have a four hour exam, too.

Thanks. I'm just curious what you mean about outlines (during the test?), and a four-hour exam (is this shorter or longer than usual?).

Most all classes allow an outline. Mine are usually a conservative 20 pages, but they can easily be 30+. For oversimplification purposes, you will have 70-100 pages of class notes, or that is what people who take class notes tell me. If you DM me, I can send you an example or two. But the main point is that you will have to memorize a number of causes of action and their corresponding definitions, and that is forgetting about all corresponding case law and case notes. I would spend the beginning of my exams writing out the memorized sections.

4 hours is just way too damn long. Most exams will be 3. It is already bad enough, you don't need another hour of cold sweats to show you learned something about torts. Not sure if he has a shorter test now, but I believe I spent about 10-15 minutes on the last hour of the test (which was allotted an hour, but everyone I talked to had a similar experience). The majority of people say that Donny G's tests were based on how fast you could type, but I didn't type that much and I did well, FWIW. I think I had under 3,000 words for 4 hours, which really isn't much. I'm not too much on checking the word court, or vomiting information on the page for the sake of putting it there, but I believe I have bested that number on most 3 hour tests.

[jimchuck99]

That said, he has switched to not allowing outlines, which should be a crime against humanity. He may still have a four hour exam, too.

Thanks. I'm just curious what you mean about outlines (during the test?), and a four-hour exam (is this shorter or longer than usual?).

Most all classes allow an outline. Mine are usually a conservative 20 pages, but they can easily be 30+. For oversimplification purposes, you will have 70-100 pages of class notes, or that is what people who take class notes tell me. If you DM me, I can send you an example or two. But the main point is that you will have to memorize a number of causes of action and their corresponding definitions, and that is forgetting about all corresponding case law and case notes. I would spend the beginning of my exams writing out the memorized sections.

4 hours is just way too damn long. Most exams will be 3. It is already bad enough, you don't need another hour of cold sweats to show you learned something about torts. Not sure if he has a shorter test now, but I believe I spent about 10-15 minutes on the last hour of the test (which was allotted an hour, but everyone I talked to had a similar experience). The majority of people say that Donny G's tests were based on how fast you could type, but I didn't type that much and I did well, FWIW. I think I had under 3,000 words for 4 hours, which really isn't much. I'm not too much on checking the word court, or vomiting information on the page for the sake of putting it there, but I believe I have bested that number on most 3 hour tests.

So it sounds like you would prefer heidt.

[superflush]

Heidt is extreme, and most seem to either love him or hate him. I believe all of his classes are work intensive, or at least way more than they need to be. I think he may have been the teacher who had his torts students write a memo, too, which is something you don't want to have to do (but I may be mixing him up with someone else). I know Kings was a big supporter of Heidt. Oh, I've also heard Heidt is not very friendly, especially to some people.

I had Donny G, and a lot of people seem to split with him too, but not to the extremes of Heidt. He doesn't cold call and kept class interesting. I liked him, and I think he will keep your terrible 1st semester less terrible than it has to be. That said, he has switched to not allowing outlines, which should be a crime against humanity. He may still have a four hour exam, too.

We didn't write a memo in Heidt's class last here.
Heidt's test is completely closed-book. Gerdy's used to be open from what I hear, but he closed it down a few years ago.
Our Heidt exam was 3.5 hours, fwiw.

[gatorhoosier]

Re: Torts Prof

I suggest Gerdy unless you have a desire to punish yourself or become a professor.
I didn't like Heidt's class, but I will admit (and this is painful for to admit) it was one of the more useful classes during 1L.
My main objection is that 1L Fall is tough enough. There's no reason to make it tougher.

[superflush]

I suggest Gerdy unless you have a desire to punish yourself or become a professor.
I didn't like Heidt's class, but I will admit (and this is painful for to admit) it was one of the more useful classes during 1L.
My main objection is that 1L Fall is tough enough. There's no reason to make it tougher.

See, I'd say taking Heidt is worth it. It might be stressful for some people, but I really think it is worth it.