Get residency the 2nd and 3rd years.

I don't think it's that easy, unless you are a research assistant.

http://www.registrar.uiowa.edu/residency/

This sounds great guys, never heard of Zipcar but I was reading and it sounds great.

Is a bicycle an option? I cycle alot with my road bike and woulnd't be adverse to going 3-5 miles or more depending on conditions. Couldn't do it in winter though I suppose. Maybe it's viable for the summer months at least.

Thanks for all the input thus far, it's been a major help.

Definitely, but the winters here are not as bad as people think.  Summers are hot and humid (though, not as bad as Houston).

Thanks for the advice!  The GPA cutoff for the scholarship is class rank of 50%.

While I wouldn't mind living in Iowa for 3-5 years, I doubt I would want to practice there after a clerkship.  The T3 (Texas Tech) has a slightly higher regional appeal to me. (I'd prefer to end  up in Dallas/Ft.Worth, Austin, San Antonio, San Francisco, Minneapolis/St.Paul, Chicago, or DC).

I guess I should have also asked... is Iowa a significantly less regional school than Texas Tech?

Do judges typically hire students from their own schools, and I imagine Iowa has more judges as alumni than Tech?  I assume judges are a lot less picky than BIGLAW when it comes to ranking. True?  I'm also under the impression that geography / location of the law school matters less for clerkships than it does for firm jobs.  True? 

As far as a clerkship goes, I'm very open geographically.  I wouldn't mind living outside one of my desired practice areas.  I assume clerking anywhere will open up more doors anyway.  True?

Thanks!