Indiana University-Bloomington 36 211 South Indiana Avenue Bloomington, IN 47405 Main (812) 855-7995 Registrar (812) 855-4809 Admissions (812) 855-4765 www.law.indiana.edu SOME BRIEF FACTS Indiana University’s campus has been designated as one of the five most beautiful in the country and the New York Times has listed Bloomington as one of the nation’s top-ten college towns. [1135] Bloomington lives up to its motto “close to everything—nearly perfect,” of course, this depends on your definition of “everything.” Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Louisville are all within reasonable driving distance.[1136] Indiana offers a number of outdoor recreational opportunities, and devoted fans of music and basketball will not be disappointed. Since its founding over 150 years ago, the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington has prepared students from all across the country and around the world for careers as lawyers in private practice, government, and business, and in academic fields.[1137] The Indiana School of Law focuses on providing students with a solid foundation of excellence in the critical skills of reading, listening, reasoning, writing, and speaking with precision, accuracy and persuasive power.[1138] The Indiana University School of Law is currently Number 36 on the annual U.S. News & World Report list of Tier One law schools and it offers a number of important specialty areas including some of the nation’s leading programs in environmental, communications and information, global and international law, a strong clinical program, several joint-degree programs, and opportunities for study abroad. The School of Law has an approximate entering class size of 200 students and a student-faculty ratio of 14:1.[1139] WHAT IT TAKES TO GET IN The following LSAT/GPA data pertains to the fall 2004 entering class: -Median LSAT: 163[1140]25th – 75th Percentile: 158 - 164[1141] -Median GPA: 3.47[1142]25th – 75th Percentile: 2.97 - 3.74[1143] -Approximate number of applications for one recent year: 2,724[1144] -Number accepted during one recent sample year: 952[1145] -Percentage accepted during one recent sample year: 34.9[1146] CLASS RANKING AND GRADES[1147] Indiana Law adheres to a standard 4.0 grading scale. Generally, the 50th percentile mark falls around a GPA average of 3.15.[1148] A+ 4.0 B+ 3.3 C+ 2.3 D+ 1.3 A 4.0 B 3.0 C 2.0 D 1.0 A- 3.7 B- 2.7 C- 1.7 F 0.0 CLASS RANK PERCENTILE TOP 10% TOP 25% TOP 33% TOP 50% TOP 75% MIN GRADE REQ FOR GRAD NALP*[1149] 3.46 3.31 3.25 3.15 N/A 2.3 * According to student surveys, Indiana University professors adhere to a strict curve with 3.0 set as the median. The only classes where 3.0 is not the required median are seminars, which some students claim can have medians of up to 3.5. Most students feel that grade inflation does not exist at all.[1150] HOW THE BEST ARE SEPARATED FROM THE REST[1151] Order of the Coif:Top 10% (20 students) Summa Cum Laude:2 students Magna cum laude:20 students Cum laude:60 students Dean’s List:180 students ACADEMIC AWARDS[1152] Name of Award Recipient Highest Grade Award Student with highest grade in all classes with more than 10 students.[1153] Scribes Awards Top first-years in Legal Writing sections. Merit Scholarships Merit-based. Order of the Barristers Excellence in advocacy. CALI Excellence for the Future Top grade in class; faculty choice. Sig Beck Award Writing award given to one second-year and one third-year based on an essay contest regarding commercial law.[1154] West Publisher’s Award Top GPA in each class. Vice President Scholar Top second-year student. JUMP Scholars For academic achievement. Moot Court Awards Merit-based. John Edwards University Fellowship Top Indiana University student. Chancellor’s scholarships Top merit. Student surveys indicated that the nationally recognized Order of the Coif award is the most prestigious and coveted award at the Law School.[1155] STUDENT JOURNALS[1156] Law Students have the chance to serve on one of the school’s three journals. Students can either grade on or write on to all three of the journals, with different criteria for each one. Student surveys indicated that the Indiana Law Journal is the most competitive and most prestigious with the Communications Law Journal second, and the International Law Journal was said to be the least reputed.[1157] All three journals have a note writing competition during second year as well.[1158] Indiana Law Journal[1159] Journal is published quarterly and is one of the nation’s oldest public university law reviews. The top 10% of the class (approximately 20 people) can automatically grade on, as long as it is their journal of choice. Additionally, students who have exceptional writing ability but are not in the top 10% may be asked to join based on their writing and Blue Book skills. Those students who write on do not have their grades factored in at all. However because of the automatic extension of membership to all those in the top 10%, the write-on spots are rare and highly competitive. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies[1160] Studies differs from most law journals in that it is facultyedited and employs peer review of articles. Its articles address the “intersections of global and domestic legal regimes, markets, politics, technologies and cultures.” This is the journal of choice for IU students seeking to practice international law or those with a general interest in the subject. Students gain admittance to this journal through a combination of writing and grades. Students in the top 25% of the class may elect to be on this Journal without having to submit to the writing contest, as long as they choose this Journal as their first preference. The second year writing contest plays a bigger role in deciding the remaining positions, although grades are a factor for everyone who chooses to apply. Federal Communications Law Journal[1161] Journal is the nation’s oldest and most widely circulated communications law journal and it is the official journal of the Federal Communications Bar Association. Students with an interest in communications law and who are in the top 10% of their class automatically qualify for this Journal. Due to the prestige of the journal within communications legal circles, positions are very coveted. The rest of the student staff is chosen through the writing competition, with a lesser consideration for their grades. MOOT COURT[1162] Although participation in moot court is not mandatory at Indiana University for first-year students, almost 75% of the second-year class participates in the intramural Shermon Minton Competition in the fall and spring; both require an oral and a written component. Top students from the intramural competition get to be on the Moot Court Board for the following year where they compete in extramural competitions. Since a large majority of the school chooses to participate, the competition is predictably fierce. The Law School puts a great deal of emphasis on this program making it one of the most successful at Indiana University.[1163] CLINICAL PROGRAMS The Community Legal Clinic provides greatly need assistance on a range of family law issues for the indigent of Monroe County, Indiana.[1164] In the Child Advocacy Clinic, students are appointed as guardians ad litem.[1165] Several non-client service opportunities allow second- and third-year students to work on real cases under the supervision of members of the faculty, practicing attorneys, or judges.[1166] Volunteers in the Protective Order Project work closely with a local shelter for battered women and their children. The Inmate Legal Assistance Project requires volunteers to travel to the federal prison in Terre Haute to meet directly with inmates to resolve their problems with the institution. Legal Services Organization Assistance Project provides legal aid to the indigent through the local office of the Legal Services Organization. Lastly, in the Environmental Law Research Group, students work directly with attorneys on environmental problems. ORGANIZATIONS[1167] The University of Indiana School of Law’s active student organizations include the American Bar Association, American Constitution Society, Amnesty International, Animal Legal Defense Fund (Student Chapter), Asian Pacific Islander American Law Student Association, Black Law Students Association, Business and Law Society, Christian Legal Society, Environmental Law Society, Federalist Society for Law and Public Studies, Feminist Law Forum, Inmate Legal Assistance Clinic, Intellectual Property Association, International Law Society, Latino Law Student Association, Law Drama Society, Law/SPEA Student Organization, Middle Eastern Law Student Association, Moot Court Board, Older & Wiser Law Students, OUTLAW (Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Law Caucus), Outreach for Legal Literacy, Phi Alpha Delta, Phi Delta Phi, Protective Order Project, Public Interest Law Foundation, Sports and Entertainment Law Society, Student Law Association and the Women’s Law Caucus. CENTERS AND PROGRAMS Protective Order Project Inmate Legal Assistance Project Legal Services Organization Assistance Project Outreach for Legal Literacy Environmental Law Research Group Tenant Assistance Project Pro Bono Project Public Interest Internship Program Number of firms interviewing on campus most years: 81[1168] Percentage of graduates employed at graduation: 86.4[1169] Percentage of graduates employed nine months after graduation: 98[1170] WHERE THE GRADS GO[1171] Percent of graduate employed by private firms: 55 Percent of graduates employed as judicial clerks: 10 Percent of graduates employed by the government: 14 Percent of graduates employed by a public interest organization: 3 Percent of graduates employed by private industry: 9 Percent of graduates employed in an academic position: 6 Some students surveyed felt that the above statistics were inaccurate and that students could not verify if this employment breakdown was actually representative of Indiana graduates; others indicated that the breakdown does not account for the large percentage of unemployed students.