Sai Kulkarni '23
Production Editor
Scheduling classes is hard. It’s tough enough to use the lottery system, for everyone from 1Ls to 3Ls. That’s without mentioning trying to use the SIS system to build a calendar. In short, it is yet another complex hurdle on your path to stumbling towards your J.D. and a job that will definitely fill the hole in your heart where your parents’ love should be. Everyone has a different strategy, depending on their goals, but the wide range of classes available provide a scheduling quagmire that not even Daemon Targaryen could cut his way out of.[1] But no need to stress. If there is one thing that I am good at, it is advocating for finding the easy way out of law school—I refer you to almost anything I have ever written for this paper. So, it’s time to provide you with an easy cheat sheet of how to sign up for classes throughout law school.[2]
The first time any of us signed up for classes in law school was for Spring of 1L. So, to our dear 1L readers, I want to tell you this: You have more energy to study than you ever will for the remainder of law school. I recommend you sign up for as many credits as you possibly can during this round of scheduling. Get yourself up to seventeen or eighteen credits because you are on such a study high—you need to take advantage of it. You will reap the benefits for the next two years. Imagine having nothing but twelve-credit semesters for the rest of law school. Maximizing credits in your first spring semester is the One Ring to rule law school—you can stunt on everyone else and take it easy in the years to come.[3] Pausing on the jokes for a second, it is important to note that having less credits in 2L and 3L will help you focus on other things. This strategy would work for gunners, as well. Clinics may be listed as four credits, but as anyone (myself included) who has done one can tell you, they should be worth more. Extracurriculars and journals will become more demanding as you achieve leadership positions. Much more than that, this is a high-stress career and educational experience. Giving yourself some grace, and planning to give yourself a break, are crucial to surviving long-term.
Which leads me to 2Ls. To all of you, I say: Chill. Calm down. By the time you begin the classes you are signing up for now, you will be halfway through law school. You have worked so hard so far, and you need to give yourself the grace I was just talking about. Sign up for classes with professors you like. Most importantly, sign up for classes you are interested in. Law school is meant to provide you with an intellectually stimulating experience. Most of you came here because you had a genuine desire to learn about something in the law. I know you are all worried about whether you are learning things that will be applicable at your job this summer, but don’t think about that too hard. Being a summer associate is about learning to be at the firm. You will learn most bar subjects while studying for the bar, even if you took those classes. The vast majority of your training for work at a firm will occur while you are at the firm. All of you are in the year of working yourself the hardest for clerkships or public interest jobs, or pushing yourself hard for extracurriculars. I know you can’t take it particularly easy on those fronts, because no one in my class did. Just learn to be kind to yourself most of all.
And now to my fellow 3L degenerates. I don’t even know why I am writing this section. Most of you have already signed up for classes for the last time. We all have our strategies finalized by this time. I prefer to take any class that sounds great, while prioritizing the class timings to my comfort. Many of you sign up exclusively to take classes with your friends, which is another valid approach. I don’t feel particularly equipped to give any advice to 3Ls, but I guess this is for future years as well, so I will say this: This year is the last we have before we go out into the real world. For almost all of us, this is it: no more school. If any 1L or 2L reads this section, I want you to keep all of this in mind. Do what makes you happy this last semester. Focus on making memories that last forever—they will likely be what fuels you in the darkest days of our intense professional lives to come.
So that’s it. I signed up for my classes a few days ago. It’s just now hitting me how close I am to the end of law school, and I wanted to share some thoughts during my usual late-night writing session. Take it with a grain of salt. All of these are 1 a.m. ramblings from a person who spent their Sunday watching fantasy shows instead of doing their readings. But choosing your classes in a way that provides comfort can give you the opportunity to do the same without any fear that you might fall too far behind your classmates.
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omk6cg@virginia.edu
[1] Did I write this entire article to put one single House of the Dragon reference in… no, why would you say that?
[2] As a quick note, I will not be commenting on any professors. Come watch Libel or read the professor quotes section of this paper for content like that.
[3] Reference number two! Can’t show my bias of weekly fantasy shows. That Rings of Power finale was great, despite what Pi Praveen ’23 has to say about it.