UConn Class of 2013 Forum

[msfarley]

This is what is posted as pre-work for Pandya's Torts class...looks he wants us to read a 400 page book before the first class? Yikes. Did anyone get a TWEN sign on yet?

Welcome! The books for this course are:

(1) Marc A. Franklin et al., Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press 8th ed. 2006)
(2) Barry Werth, Damages: One Family's Legal Struggles in the World of Medicine (New York: Berkley Books 1999).

BEFORE our first class, please do the following:

(1) Register on the TWEN course website for this course.
(2) Read the course description and syllabus.
(3) Read the following: Franklin et al. (2006): 1-9, 17-30 {Hammontree v. Jenner plus notes 1, 2, 6, 9; Christensen v. Swenson plus all notes; Roessler v. Novak plus all notes}.
(4) Read Werth (1999) in its entirety. (It is 400 pages.)
(5) Complete the online quiz on Werth (1999). The quiz will be scheduled shortly. Details on how and when to take this quiz will be posted shortly on the course website. Quiz performance counts toward your final course grade.

[lallygag]

I was hoping some of you current students could share your thoughts on work-study.

how many hours per week do you tend to work? and do you find that this is manageable?

I worked close to part-time hours in undergrad and in the end this worked out fine. It was actually helpful in terms of time-management, but I feel like law school is on a completely different level and I'm just a bit apprehensive...

Thanks!

[emsko]

Hmm, I did not receive an email regarding the community service thing. We're only supposed to have our HuskyMail email addresses so far, right?

[cjr1298]

This is what is posted as pre-work for Pandya's Torts class...looks he wants us to read a 400 page book before the first class? Yikes. Did anyone get a TWEN sign on yet?

Welcome! The books for this course are:

(1) Marc A. Franklin et al., Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press 8th ed. 2006)
(2) Barry Werth, Damages: One Family's Legal Struggles in the World of Medicine (New York: Berkley Books 1999).

BEFORE our first class, please do the following:

(1) Register on the TWEN course website for this course.
(2) Read the course description and syllabus.
(3) Read the following: Franklin et al. (2006): 1-9, 17-30 {Hammontree v. Jenner plus notes 1, 2, 6, 9; Christensen v. Swenson plus all notes; Roessler v. Novak plus all notes}.
(4) Read Werth (1999) in its entirety. (It is 400 pages.)
(5) Complete the online quiz on Werth (1999). The quiz will be scheduled shortly. Details on how and when to take this quiz will be posted shortly on the course website. Quiz performance counts toward your final course grade.

No, I did not get a TWEN- the UCONN website claims we'll get them via US mail, but their last correspondence says we'll get remaining passwords and such at orientation. I'll probably just email to see what the deal is since I am also in this class as well as another (Dubois?) that actually requires TWEN registration to get the first assignment. I wouldn't worry too much about Werth, I ordered it and it looks a bit like beach reading- one family's experience with medical malpractice, "a page turner" that kind of thing . . .

[cjr1298]

Hmm, I did not receive an email regarding the community service thing. We're only supposed to have our HuskyMail email addresses so far, right?

I hope so because that's all I have- email deMeola, she sent the orientation email to my private email address.

[cjr1298]

Hmm, I did not receive an email regarding the community service thing. We're only supposed to have our HuskyMail email addresses so far, right?

link to community service preference:

--LinkRemoved--

[Burger in a can]

depends on how far you live from the school. I am a 5 min walk from campus, but i still drive most of the time. There is a bus system if you want go into downtown Hartford or West Hartford.

i see. im trying to figure out where to live that would give me the best access to grocery stores, bars. what do you think of living in downtown vs. west hartford? i see some places near blue back square, but it seems that area is a bit too far from the school to walk (especially in the winter). what are your thoughts? Thanks for your advice.

Blue Back Square is about two miles from school, which doesn't seem conveniently walkable to me, but maybe you're more hardcore. You'd also be paying a hefty premium to live there- the closer you get to Blue Back/Downtown West Hartford, the higher the rent. Living in downtown Hartford also seems like it would be expensive for being pretty inconvenient, although it's really nice there in a lot of spots. If you're solely on foot (pardon the pun!) you'll want to live in the West End. Hurry up- there are TONS of moving trucks unloading here this weekend, so imagine it's filling up and going to get tough to find a place the longer you wait...

[Lighthouse28]

This is what is posted as pre-work for Pandya's Torts class...looks he wants us to read a 400 page book before the first class? Yikes. Did anyone get a TWEN sign on yet?

Welcome! The books for this course are:

(1) Marc A. Franklin et al., Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press 8th ed. 2006)
(2) Barry Werth, Damages: One Family's Legal Struggles in the World of Medicine (New York: Berkley Books 1999).

BEFORE our first class, please do the following:

(1) Register on the TWEN course website for this course.
(2) Read the course description and syllabus.
(3) Read the following: Franklin et al. (2006): 1-9, 17-30 {Hammontree v. Jenner plus notes 1, 2, 6, 9; Christensen v. Swenson plus all notes; Roessler v. Novak plus all notes}.
(4) Read Werth (1999) in its entirety. (It is 400 pages.)
(5) Complete the online quiz on Werth (1999). The quiz will be scheduled shortly. Details on how and when to take this quiz will be posted shortly on the course website. Quiz performance counts toward your final course grade.

Oh dear God, I hope I don't have this professor. I think I am going to cry. I still have to pack and move...

[nycmba]

Does anyone know how the neighborhood immediately around the campus is? Roughly within a 5-block (1/4 mile) radius, that is.

I'm searching online for an apartment in that area. Thanks!

[nycmba]

Okay, so we have a few more folks added to the list.

Section A (Torts-MW 2:00-3:30PM)
Emac (Erin)
Lighthouse28
Burger in a can
Chisoxfan
Insertclevernamehere

Section B (Torts-W 10:30-12:00PM W 2:00-3:30PM)
Lallygag
NovaUGuconnPG

You can add me to section A!

I just finished taking the week-long Law Preview class in New York. We had access to some great professors. The Contracts class with Jody Kraus from UVA and the Con Law class with Martin Flaherty from Fordham were the highlights. I definitely feel better prepared for the classroom as I've been out of school for quite some time.

I was lucky enough to have UConn's own Alexandra Lahav for Civ Pro. She is excellent. If you have her you can relax--if only a little bit. She does employ the Socratic Method, but in a "softer" way. Being a 1L will be tough enough, so it was great to get a head start (and now only worry about my four other instructors).

[Burger in a can]

Does anyone know how the neighborhood immediately around the campus is? Roughly within a 5-block (1/4 mile) radius, that is.

I'm searching online for an apartment in that area. Thanks!

I answered this question for you via PM, but I will address it generally for everyone, at least in my limited experience and opinion.

The neighborhood around campus (known as the West End) is actually really, really nice. I've been living here all summer. Here are some specific tips:

-Anywhere west of Woodland Street and north of Farmington Avenue is beautiful and really pretty safe. (as in family-friendly, people happily walking dogs, neighborly hand waving, whistling mail carriers, etc.)
-If you must live south of Farmington Ave, do so west of South Whitney Street.
-Do not live in Clemens Place. (unless you're in to this kind of thing...)
-Apartment complexes in the West End in general seem a lot more gritty than apartments in houses (of which there are lots!)
-Just because it's in West Hartford doesn't mean it is nice, clean, or safe. West Hartford is a big town.
-Asylum Hill is also a pretty great neighborhood and I sort of wish I had paid more attention to apartment listings there when I was looking...
-Hartford in general is absolutely not as scary as its reputation implies. Stay out of the north side of the city (you'll never have any reason to go there anyway, unless maybe you have some urgent drug trafficking to do?) and you'll be totally fine!

Good luck!

[bonesinger]

I pretty much agree with the above assessment. I live on sherman street and its fairly nice. It can get a bit rough at night (there is a bar, noise, fire engine station always goes off at night), but I dont know anyone whose had any real problems like danger, gangs etc.. none of that stuff. Just be vigilant and you will be fine. West hartford isn't a place to live if you are going to walk to school. You should get a place on sherman st or fern, somewhere around there. I know a few people in clemens, they didn't complain much, as far as i know.

[Burger in a can]

I pretty much agree with the above assessment. I live on sherman street and its fairly nice. It can get a bit rough at night (there is a bar, noise, fire engine station always goes off at night), but I dont know anyone whose had any real problems like danger, gangs etc.. none of that stuff. Just be vigilant and you will be fine. West hartford isn't a place to live if you are going to walk to school. You should get a place on sherman st or fern, somewhere around there. I know a few people in clemens, they didn't complain much, as far as i know.

I admit that my appraisal of Clemens Place is based solely on online reviews- I've only seen the outside and don't know anyone who lives there. It might be a totally awesome place to live, and I revoke my rude remark. Thanks for your continued input, btw!

[Lighthouse28]

Does anyone know if the health insurance cost of $1598 is for ONE semester or the whole year ? That's quite expensive And it seems that one HAS TO have health insurance while in school ? They don't give the option of not having insurance ?? Anyone know of any cheaper alternatives ? What are you all doing ??

[Burger in a can]

Does anyone know if the health insurance cost of $1598 is for ONE semester or the whole year ? That's quite expensive And it seems that one HAS TO have health insurance while in school ? They don't give the option of not having insurance ?? Anyone know of any cheaper alternatives ? What are you all doing ??

I'd like to know more about this too. I don't know much about health insurance (haven't had it for years!) but this does seem pretty expensive for what seems like extremely basic coverage...

[lallygag]

$1598 is for the whole year. UConn actually has two other insurance plans which you can enroll in, but they're more expensive, like $2,000+.

"The University of Connecticut requires all law students to maintain health insurance coverage." If you already have your own though you can waive Uconn's health insurance fee. It seems like you can do this up until Sept. 15th but you just have to show them proof of your plan "providing equal or better coverage."

I'm just sucking it up and going with it. But then again I'm being lazy and don't want to research alternatives...

All the info: --LinkRemoved--

[cjr1298]

The last time I paid for individual health insurance, also very basic, was about six or seven years ago, and I paid $160 a month. Now we have a health savings account, and we pay $1500 a month (all in excellent health). In other words, it sounds like a good deal!!

[Drew82abndiv]

As for Pandya...he will be your most intimidating professor of 1L year. Bottom line, he really doesn't like 1Ls but he's cool after you're done with the class. The Damages book is a pretty good book, especially if you're into medmal (as I am) so read it, you will probably like it. You will also have a quiz on the book via TWEN, he will give you a certain amount of time to complete it that will demand that you have read it or at LEAST skimmed it.

Don't let him fool ya, his bark is worse than his bite but he is pretty intense when he calls on you. He goes in alphabetical order though so it's not that bad and his final exam is take home. You will also not get to intentional torts during the semester.

Any questions, let me know.

Drew

[Lighthouse28]

I'm just sucking it up and going with it. But then again I'm being lazy and don't want to research alternatives...

All the info: --LinkRemoved--

I'm also too lazy to find an alternative, which is why I was hoping someone else here had one and would save me some work lol So if no one does, I'll just stick with the school one.

Burger, I also went years without insurance and did fine without it ! Sucks that it's mandatory. I went to grad school and it wasn't required then. Odd.

[RidiculouslyObvious]

Has anyone heard from their mentor yet?

[Lighthouse28]

Has anyone heard from their mentor yet?

Nope.

[RidiculouslyObvious]

I know this might have been addressed earlier in this thread, but I can't find it. Do any current/former UConn Law students know whether it is possible to get scholarship awards for our second and third years? Thanks.

[bonesinger]

I received a scholarship for the first year, however since I will be instate next year, that scholarship is now moot. But, the school constantly emails us on new competitions and scholarships, so go ahead and apply for them, be proactive about. Some firms in the Hartford area like to give out small scholarships as well.

EDIT: health insurance covers both semesters. There is a dental plan as well with CIGNA, I didn't sign up but I think I will.

[registeredpatriot]

found a place on whitney near fern street....anyone living around there?

[chisoxfan]

So I took a visit to the bookstore and was wondering if people are planning on doing all of their book shopping in the bookstore or online? In undergrad I bought my books used online and that worked for the most part. Do any current/past students have comments to offer on this subject?

Also, I got an email from UConn today telling me that I need to send in my immunization form. I know that this has been discussed previously, but I'm just wondering if there are people here who still haven't done it? I'm having difficulties getting my my records since I don't have a primary care physician at the moment to complete the form. Was anyone else in this position?