75 replies to this topic

[fisherman888]

I prefer a 15 min bus ride than 15 min walk

Which bus route stop at the Campus?

Thanks again

[jmcazabon]

fisherman888, on 11 May 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:

I prefer a 15 min bus ride than 15 min walk

Which bus route stop at the Campus?

Thanks again

Fisherman888, you will have to get to know the good ol' transitway in ottawa. From there you could probably live at blair station (out in gloucester) or billingings bridge (south, near carleton) and get to school in about 15/20 minutes by bus. Take a look at an OCtranspo map, there's a few bus routes on their (97, 98, 95, 96) that run the transitway, super fast, and stop at both campus and laurier station (both on UO campus). That'll give you a good jumping off point of where you can look for apartments and such, because 15min by bus will depend on which bus you're taking. That said, the vast majority of bus routes stop directly at campus since it's part of the transitway.

Oh also, another suggestion if you're deadset on taking the bus in rather than upaboveit's suggestion. Stay east (or south) of UO campus so that way you don't have to cross downtown on the transitway, that'll certainly eat up transit time, especially at rush hour. This sort of sucks because hintonburg/westboro are nice little neighbourhoods, but they're on the west side. The buses to chinatown/little italy are pretty weak after they changed scheduling last year also. Not sure if fixed.

That said, I have to agree with Upaboveit, Elgin st area/centretown, pretty cool and a good compromise if you find sandy hill too studenty and the sommerset st. footbridge over the canal really helps.

Edited by jmcazabon, 11 May 2012 - 12:16 PM.

[fisherman888]

Thanks

[Therumpshaker]

Re: Jobs in 1L:

There are research assistant positions posted right from the start but I didn't hear of anyone getting a job until the December recruit for the Law and Tech assistantships [you'll get an email about this]. I have heard that some profs take on volunteer 1L RAs in the first term but not confirmed. If you are looking to build an early relationship with a prof, be active in your small group class (torts or crim) and you can also be strategic when picking your elective in second term. I purposely picked a prof I did well with in first term and had a great reference letter by the end of the year. (made sure to work my butt off in those classes too!) Also, all of my profs were great with being available to meet with students so this is a great way to build a relationship in time for the RA recruit.

post -1L work in Ottawa:
There is a IP law recruit early in October for about 4 or 5 Ottawa firms for summer work following your first year. They are strictly looking for hard science backgrounds. Amazing opportunity if you can get it; i only got 2 interviews . You'll get an email about it.

Profs: 1L only:

Kerr (contracts): brilliant and entertaining. He is genuine in his concern for students. No slides in class, exam was fair, partial socratic (i.e. not gonna to embarrass you, but will challenge you), no previous exams available to study from.

Uteck (contracts): not sure if she'll be back next year. Love her to bits. No slides, lecture only- sometimes seems like she is reciting the lecture from memory, write down everything she says. I found that more useful than textbook explanations. Exams are fair - i heard she's a hard marker though.

De Beer (property) the most entertaining prof I had - he's a showman! Also fair exam and all exams with answer keys are posted on his website. Works from slides with key ideas. You can go check out his old exams and slide on his website. Don't get intimidated by how demanding he appears to be in his marking guide. I was freaked but did awesome in the class - he's fair.

Chandler(Torts) - Very smart and respectful prof. Sticks to the syllabus, lectures on time, covers all the topics, respects her students and is great at what she does. She does a lot of interesting research and it is fun to discuss it in class. Exams are fair and old ones are posted.

MacNeil (crim): the toughest exam I wrote. High volume and VERY detail oriented. This is the exam where you wish you could write 10x faster. She doesn't have old exams to post but she will post sample questions. Sometimes there is an answer key - when you read it you'll see what i mean by "detail oriented" - her key for a 2 page fact pattern was TWELVE pages long. haha!

Dodek: (Public Law): lots of people think that he is tough and a hard marker - he is, BUT he provides detailed instructions/answer keys for the assignments and exams so if you follow his directions to the letter, you are golden. If you study and DO his old exams - you will do well on his final. He makes a very dry topic as entertaining as he can and turned out to be one of my most favourite profs. He's got a lot of different interests so it's good to talk to him about all sorts of topics.

Cairns-Way (Constitutional): I didn't read a single page. Used an old summary. Got a B. Thats all you need to know. (she's sometimes socratic but overall interesting and knows her stuff)

[jimbob1234]

A general piece of advice, which i wish i knew when i started first year: its always a good idea to refer to the 'Irwin Law' books if you are confused in class. I don't think they are available for all the first year courses, but some of the major ones like, torts, con law, and a few others that i am presently forgetting, these books a really helpful. They basically 'dumbed' things down a lot and really helped me, and a few other people i know, grasp the concepts.

[UpAboveIt715]

jimbob1234, on 13 May 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

A general piece of advice, which i wish i knew when i started first year: its always a good idea to refer to the 'Irwin Law' books if you are confused in class. I don't think they are available for all the first year courses, but some of the major ones like, torts, con law, and a few others that i am presently forgetting, these books a really helpful. They basically 'dumbed' things down a lot and really helped me, and a few other people i know, grasp the concepts.

I skipped all of Con I, read through an old summary + Irwin's Charter book and got a B.

I went to all of my Torts classes, yet spent the entire time on Facebook. I got an old summary + read the Irwin Torts book and got an A-.

The only Irwin book I found to be a bit confusing was the contracts one because it was just so big. However, for the other classes, they were golden.

(BTW, skipping is not a good idea. Grades wise, I feel I did okay. However, I don't know the material as well as my peers and I feel that if I went to class I'd know my stuff better and probably have gotten even better grades. So, don't skip . . . but buy all of the Irwin you can).

[UpAboveIt715]

And, just consider this in mind. All star professors attract a class full of all start students which make the curve deadly. DO NOT take a semester full of all star professors. I find that garbage professors generally just give everyone a B while great professors like a distribution. Distributions are great if you are an all star; however, you are going to have to work your ass off for that B+/A. However, if you end up taking 1-2 classes with horrible professors that'll give you a B just for writing your name on the exam, that frees up time to study hard on classes with harder curves.

The above is not an exact science. And, there are professors who suck and make hard. Just *consider* what I wrote about when selecting courses.

Also, seminars are marked to a B+ curve while lectures are marked to a B curve.

So, you should probably take some of those as well.

[jimbob1234]

UpAboveIt715, on 14 May 2012 - 10:05 AM, said:

I skipped all of Con I, read through an old summary + Irwin's Charter book and got a B.

I went to all of my Torts classes, yet spent the entire time on Facebook. I got an old summary + read the Irwin Torts book and got an A-.

The only Irwin book I found to be a bit confusing was the contracts one because it was just so big. However, for the other classes, they were golden.

(BTW, skipping is not a good idea. Grades wise, I feel I did okay. However, I don't know the material as well as my peers and I feel that if I went to class I'd know my stuff better and probably have gotten even better grades. So, don't skip . . . but buy all of the Irwin you can).

YES.. this is key.. even if you are not prepared for a class .. i.e. haven't done the readings / a too far behind in the readings/ have no idea what the topic of the day is etc... whatever you do .. and i can't' stress this enough... do not skip class. Quite literally, its the difference between doing 'well' and doing 'ok'. That being said, exceptions are always there.

[ExplorerL1]

UpAboveIt715, on 14 May 2012 - 10:05 AM, said:

I skipped all of Con I, read through an old summary + Irwin's Charter book and got a B.

I went to all of my Torts classes, yet spent the entire time on Facebook. I got an old summary + read the Irwin Torts book and got an A-.

The only Irwin book I found to be a bit confusing was the contracts one because it was just so big. However, for the other classes, they were golden.

(BTW, skipping is not a good idea. Grades wise, I feel I did okay. However, I don't know the material as well as my peers and I feel that if I went to class I'd know my stuff better and probably have gotten even better grades. So, don't skip . . . but buy all of the Irwin you can).

Yeah, definitely don't skip unless there's a pressing reason that means you need to be elsewhere. I know how confused I was going to one or two Crim classes after I skipped AND did not read for those days. Not the best plan.
As for Irwin law, it definitely makes things clearer. Most profs will not spend their time explaining what certain terms mean e.g. promisory estoppel in Contracts class...someone finally raised their hand after two lectures of confusion and asked "Can you please define it?".
I know that the most current Irwin Law Torts text is available online on the Brian Dickinson library website (you'll have to do a search and it'll take you to a specific page) for free. I only read the Torts one, but others might be avilable through the library, online, for free, as well.

[morena]

Should we purchase an Irwin book for each class in 1L then?

[kf203]

morena, on 15 May 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

Should we purchase an Irwin book for each class in 1L then?

I have never heard of this Irwin book thing...and I just finished 3L. I'd say whatever book the prof assigns will probably do you just fine. Then again..maybe I just totally missed something huge that could have helped me a lot. I don't know. But personally, I wouldn't rush out and buy extra books. You'll be spending enough money on books as it is.

[jimbob1234]

morena, on 15 May 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

Should we purchase an Irwin book for each class in 1L then?

as Explorer mentioned, these book are available for free online via the Brian Dickson Library. You are more than welcome to buy these books, but they are around 60 - 80 bucks and that can add up quickly. Also, you can borrow them from the library, if you are so inclined and don't like reading online.

[ExplorerL1]

morena, on 15 May 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

Should we purchase an Irwin book for each class in 1L then?

jimbob1234, on 15 May 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

as Explorer mentioned, these book are available for free online via the Brian Dickson Library. You are more than welcome to buy these books, but they are around 60 - 80 bucks and that can add up quickly. Also, you can borrow them from the library, if you are so inclined and don't like reading online.

You can get through 1L just fine without ever reading an Irwin law textbook. They are a nice resource to have if you are confused about certain concepts.
However, I do not recommend buying them unless they really aren't availble on the library website or at the library for free AND you are super confused.
Law texts are expensive, so I wouldn't buy books that are not listed on your prof's book list.

[UpAboveIt715]

While this is subjective and you'd be MORE than okay without doing this, I strongly suggest that if you are interested in getting ahead in any of your classes that you purchase and read:

The Law of Torts ( http://www.irwinlaw....rts-4th-edition )
Principles of Property Law by Bruce Ziff ( http://www.carswelld...aspx?DocId=6681 )

Yes, they are expensive.

Yes, you will not be required to read either of them during the year.

Yes, you should take some time to rest prior to 1L.

Yes, you won't be screwed by doing nothing prior to entering law school.

However, if you can get through at least 1 of those 2 books, you are going to be in a fantastic position prior to entering 1L. I chose the book for Property and Torts because, in my opinion, those were the two harder classes to grasp during the first month or so of law school.

If you read at least one of those two books, you are basically going to have one less class to worry about during the first months of law school. Those two books go over just about every single thing that you need to know for Property Law and Torts. Obviously you will still need to work on those two classes during the year, but not as much as you would if you went into the course fresh. This'll free up more time for you to focus on your other courses as well so you will be able to get some great grades all around.

Again, the above is just if you are a super keener and want to get ahead. IMO, the best thing you can do prior to entering law school is get a job and work as much as possible. Law school debt adds up FAST. However, if you don't have a job and won't be working for whatever reason, I can think of far worse things you could be doing with your time than reading the above books.

[jimbob1234]

UpAboveIt715, on 17 May 2012 - 12:31 PM, said:

While this is subjective and you'd be MORE than okay without doing this, I strongly suggest that if you are interested in getting ahead in any of your classes that you purchase and read:

The Law of Torts ( http://www.irwinlaw....rts-4th-edition )
Principles of Property Law by Bruce Ziff ( http://www.carswelld...aspx?DocId=6681 )

Yes, they are expensive.

Yes, you will not be required to read either of them during the year.

Yes, you should take some time to rest prior to 1L.

Yes, you won't be screwed by doing nothing prior to entering law school.

However, if you can get through at least 1 of those 2 books, you are going to be in a fantastic position prior to entering 1L. I chose the book for Property and Torts because, in my opinion, those were the two harder classes to grasp during the first month or so of law school.

If you read at least one of those two books, you are basically going to have one less class to worry about during the first months of law school. Those two books go over just about every single thing that you need to know for Property Law and Torts. Obviously you will still need to work on those two classes during the year, but not as much as you would if you went into the course fresh. This'll free up more time for you to focus on your other courses as well so you will be able to get some great grades all around.

Again, the above is just if you are a super keener and want to get ahead. IMO, the best thing you can do prior to entering law school is get a job and work as much as possible. Law school debt adds up FAST. However, if you don't have a job and won't be working for whatever reason, I can think of far worse things you could be doing with your time than reading the above books.

HAHA well done UPABOVEIT. I think between you and me, we have these guys scared. I am sure that is quite the opposite of what both of us intended.

I personally would not recommend reading these books before as your professors might not even cover ALL of it. But then again, if you've got tons of free time and have nothing better to do, you might as well crack these books open. I would highly recommend that you enjoy your summer, and the freedom that comes with it. Come September, life will be a whole lot different

[ExplorerL1]

Haha, I agree with jimbob on the scared bit.
I spent my summer before 1L working full-time and doing a lot of recreational reading (I attempted to read some of my favourites during 1L and I barely got through two chapters of one book).
It's an individual decision and reading a law text was not on my list of things to do!
Enjoy this summer and relax, law school is manageable - stay focused and manage your time wisely and you'll be fine .