Chicago-Kent College of Law-Fall 2012- Tips and Information
By Chontelle Climo
Flights:
 Do not book your flights based on the course dates found on the ChicagoKent website, that is for JD students and the international class begins much
earlier, which you do not find out until a month or so before leaving.
Accommodation:
 In the information Chicago Kent Provides they recommend Taylor Lofts,
Canterbury Courts and Presidential Towers
 Taylor Lofts is student accommodation that only does a one year lease so you
would have to find someone to sub lease it.
 Presidential Towers (1min walk from the School) has numerous lease
options including a five month lease (the semester length) and provides
information for a furniture hire company (Cort Furniture). The building
complex includes a 24 hour supermarket, McDonalds, Thai Restaurant,
Indian Restaurant, dry cleaners, medical center and a gym complex. You can
also do all your applications etc. prior to even getting to the US so your
apartment is ready for you when you get here - you just have to sign the
lease, thus you would have to either arrive during business hours or stay in a
hotel the night. I stayed here and found it to be amazing, definitely utilised
Walmart and ate a lot in Greektown (easy to find a cheap pizza/ Gyros).
 Canterbury Court is located in the Gold Coast - about 30-40 minutes from
school on public transportation. The apartments are older, furnished studios
and are another student accommodation complex. The majority of the
European students in my class stayed here - the area is really great and it is
where all the restaurants/bars etc. are.
 Some students just arrived and stayed in a hotel for less than a week until
they found a private apartment (very easy to do and easy to find cheaper
options). There is the Crowne Plaza located 5 minuets from Chicago Kent and
it is a really nice hotel.
The view from Presidential Towers, Chicago
Insurance:
 You will need renters insurance here if you are renting an apartment, that is
easily obtainable from companies such as Praetorian Insurance (15p/month
for full coverage and cancel anytime) or State Farm Insurance which is also
very cheap and you can get these policies prior to leaving NZ.
 Health insurance is compulsory at Chicago-Kent whether or not you have
other insurance. You will be billed for an entire policy (one year worth)
which is $830. This is compulsory when you arrive here and you need a US
bank account to pay it online or a credit card, and then at the end of the
semester you get half of it refunded. So be prepared to pay it all at the start.
School:
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Do not look online prior to arriving to pre select courses - you do that when
you get here and you do not have the option of taking all of the courses.
You have the option of returning another semester later and completing the
LLM, and for this there are certain courses you have to take including
comparative law, which is not offered every semester. Only do this course if
you are planning to stay for the LLM or come back, otherwise you will find it
a waste of time. So take that into account when selecting your courses. You
will have to pay for the extra semester at a cost of around $25000 US.
You take between 12-15 credits (equiv. of 60-80 points). I took 12 and had
time to enjoy being in Chicago and travelled a lot.
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Take the Introduction to the American Legal system Course! It was so useful
and is done prior to the beginning of the semester as an intensive - it also
counts toward your credits.
Do not take legal writing - you will not need it, it is for those students who
are not native English speakers.
If you do not have a laptop you can borrow them from the school for the
majority of the semester and there are numerous labs.
The 9th Floor computer lab, Chicago Kent College of Law
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Every class will have necessary books - they are VERY expensive, so although
they say necessary some are not but those that are check the library and
check I-share (a network of all the libraries in the area). You can borrow
them for the entire semester - if they do not have it then rent it from Barnes
and Noble - not the school shop as it is much more expensive!
The 9th floor library, Chicago-Kent College of Law
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Make sure you get used to using Westlaw or Lexis - those are your options
here but they do have reps on call in the labs the majority of the time.
Also, make sure you check the referencing style the professor wants as there
are many different ones.
Get used to answering questions when asked in class as they will cold-call
people all the time. They do not have the lecture style classes we are used to
at Waikato University - they are much smaller discussion classes where you
will be assigned a lot of reading and then go over the materials in class.
Take the practical courses if you can - I took the Domestic Violence Practicum
and was able to work at the Cook Country Domestic Violence Court as a Legal
Advocate.
The lobby, Chicago-Kent College of Law (L and R)
Bank:
 It is a really good idea to get an account here as soon as possible; there are
both the Chase bank and the Citibank right next to Chicago-Kent. Both of
these allow foreign students to get accounts. You will just need proof of your
foreign address so bring a recent letter with you (less than two months old)
and you will need confirmation of being a student at Chicago-Kent. You can
use your ID but you don’t get that until a month after you get here. You can
also just get a letter from the school - they are always more than happy to
help.
 Until you get that, the best thing I found was the Air New Zealand Onesmart
Card - you can load your NZ dallers on there (each time it is a $1 transaction
fee) and transfer it to US dollars (free of charge) whenever - it is accepted
everywhere and there are no monthly or withdrawal fees. The card is free to
acquire - search the web for a coupon code.
Gym:
 You have to pay for the gym at the Illinois Institute of Technology (the main
campus - Chicago Kent is the law school of IIT) when you get here so do not
join a gym unless you are prepared to pay for both. There is the FFC right
next to school in the Presidential Towers building but it is expensive.
The FFC Gym, Chicago
Transportation:
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You will get charged compulsorily also for the U-Pass ($100). This is a card
you use for all transportation in the city for unlimited times. It includes the
buses and the trains and the only thing it excludes is the metra, so if you are
planning on living in the suburbs you will have to pay extra for those trains.
You get the U-Pass pretty soon after arriving so don’t purchase a 30-day
unlimited pass when you arrive just purchase the 1, 3 or 7 as needed (you
pay a set fee for that amount of time and get to use it on unlimited rides).
When you arrive, the train from the airport is the Blue Line - it will take you
downtown to wherever you need to go.
Public Transport, Chicago (L) and an elevated train stop, Chicago (R)
Souvenirs:
 The CVS that is right next to Chicago-Kent has a huge array of souvenirs at
very low prices, including t-shirts for $4 and hoodies for $8 - the souvenir
shops on the Magnificent Mile are much, much more expensive.
Travel:
Massachusetts State House, Boston
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While you are here you should take the opportunity to travel as flights from
Chicago to Europe or within the US are much cheaper than from New
Zealand. Also, the school is right next to Union Station where you can get a
bus/train to pretty much anywhere - always check flights however, as these
can be as low as $29 to get to New York with Spirit Airlines!
Union Station, Chicago
Times Square, New York (L) and the Massachusetts State House, Boston (R)
Reflection Pool and Lincoln Memorial, Washington (L) and the White House,
Washington (R)
View of New York from the ‘Top of the Rock’, New York (L) and the view of
Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge (R)
Luggage
 Bring clothing to match the seasons here: the summers are extremely hot and
the winters extremely cold with snow. In the winter with the salt on the
roads you need to have rain boots (exactly like gumboots but more
fashionable) or snow boots (rain boots with fur on the inside and a lot of
tread) as the salt will destroy any leather shoes. These things are not
expensive and easily purchasable from walmart.com or any number of
websites.
Cellphones
 Your cellphone will work here if it is unlocked, the cheapest network is T
Mobile - they have month to month plans for $50 which is unlimited calling,
texting and data or for as cheap as $15 for unlimited texting only. The
cellphones they have here are also much cheaper than in New Zealand so if
you are in the market for a new one get it here! Internet is very usefulespecially to use Google maps to get around.
Coffee
 American coffee (drip coffee) is coffee-flavored water - it is not nice and
difficult to get used to. To get the usual cappuccino/latte/long black (called a
half Americano here) you have to either go to Starbucks (on the opposite side
of the street to the Chicago-Kent entrance) or close to school is Specialty café
which does cappuccino/latte. After a little walk you will find Le Columbe in
the west loop - they do incredible coffee - all organic etc. For a cheap
latte/cappuccino Dunkin Donuts (Also opposite school) is do-able (their
small is only $1).
Central Park, New York (L) and the ‘Top of the Rock’, New York (R)