Indiana University—Bloomington - School of Law

Students at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law enjoy “first-rate resources and education” at “an excellent value.” The law school boasts no fewer than nineteen clinical programs and projects including a community legal clinic, an entrepreneurship law clinic, and an inmate legal assistance project. Externship programs include the Semester Public Interest Program, which allows 3Ls to earn credit for public interest internships with government agencies and nonprofits in Washington, D.C. Students can study in Paris, Florence, Barcelona, Beijing, Auckland, and a host of other international cities, and they can apply for summer internships in Argentina, India, Brazil, China, Korea, Japan, and Thailand through the school’s Center on the Global Legal Profession. An unusual 1L course in the legal profession helps students discover their strengths while they explore career options. Several interesting dual-degree programs, including a three-year JD/MBA and a bevy of specialization programs in taxation, international and comparative law, and intellectual property round out IU’s “excellent” academic options.
The “extremely knowledgeable and accessible” faculty at IU “is really impressive.” “When you go to class, you get the sense that your professors want to be in the classroom, and that makes engaging yourself in the material much easier,” says a 2L. “There’s a nice balance between professors who try to scare the pants off of you and the ones who really encourage you to take risks and push yourself, even if you turn out to be wrong.” Even “boring” professors “really have a lot of important things to say.” Outside the classroom, professors “participate in the law school social events” and “will go to great lengths to help students publish, research, and get placed” in jobs.
IU’s administration “is genuinely concerned about students as individuals,” and its “helpful and nice” Financial Aid Office “is the best in the country.” Though in the past students have noted that “Career Services, while improving, has a long way to go,” the Office of Career and Professional Development has since created an alternative career series, alumni mentoring programs, and two alumni career service committees as well as expanded off campus interviews, hired new staff and hosted alumni-sponsored welcome-to-the-city events in key cities around the country. Many students tell us that the Career Services Office “does all it can to assist students in obtaining jobs.” “I think they’re great,” declares a 1L. “They’re not going to get a job for you, but they’ll do pretty much everything else.” “If you are near the top of the class,” “you’ll have the Indy firms drooling all over you,” and you won’t have a problem working at “any of the best firms in Chicago” “or even Washington, D.C.”
Everyone here agrees that the campus surrounding the law school is “beautiful.” Classrooms once described as “uncomfortable,” have been renovated. “The entire building has wireless Internet,” and “there are electrical outlets at each seat.” The gem of IU is the law library, which students claim is “without equal in the world, in part because of its staff.” “With large windows that look out on the forest in the middle of campus, it’s easy to forget that you’re in the middle of a Big Ten school.”

IU’s Midwestern location helps encourage a collegial attitude that frowns on aggressive competition.” Students “simply do not let the abstract, competitive nature of the grading system affect their outward nature or the way they see their classmates.” “If there is a more laid-back group of students at any law school in the country, I’d like to see it,” challenges a 2L. “Students find their groups and comfort zones relatively quickly.” Smaller class sizes “contribute to some minor drama at times,” but students “get to know each other better and have a closer relationship with the faculty.” “You can learn as much law as well here as at Harvard or Yale,” promises a 3L. “But you will pay less, will see people being nicer to each other, and don’t have to live in a grungy New England city.”
The law school is “settled into a big university” “far away from the real-world” in “one of the greatest college towns in America.” “The school is great for young undergraduates who appreciate a small-town environment.” “Moving from a city to the boonies is still taking some getting used to,” says one urbanite, “but the school offers some phenomenal cultural opportunities.” There are “at least thirty ethnically diverse restaurants within a three-minute walk from the law school.” Students here “work hard,” but “there is great balance between the social life and the academic life.” “The fitness and recreation facilities are superb,” and “There are law school teams for intramurals.” The Law and Drama Society “puts on a play in the school’s moot court room.” “The annual Women’s Law Caucus Auction” is a big hit, as is an annual basketball game in IU’s beloved Assembly Hall, which pits students against professors. Mostly, though, “the social environment is aimed at those who like to go out and party.” “We’re very social, very involved, and very fun,” boasts a 2L. “The school is the focal point around which life spins, but there’s always something to do, somewhere to go, someone to talk to.” “There are after-hours activities sponsored by the school or a student group almost each week, and if there’s nothing going on students will always congregate somewhere to have fun.”