NYU: Electives and Career Path Forum

[cahesu]

Does the elective taken in the spring affect career prospects?

Has your choice of elective ever come up positively or negatively in an interview, beyond the simple ("tell me more about Class X") kind of question?

[nealric]

Does the elective taken in the spring affect career prospects?

Has your choice of elective ever come up positively or negatively in an interview, beyond the simple ("tell me more about Class X") kind of question?

Not at NYU, but most schools do spring electives, and nobody really cares which one you do. Take what interests you.

[spondee]

It won't matter. If you know what you want to do, then take the class that leads in that direction - eg, Corps if you wanna do transactional firm work, or Property if you wanna do IP. Employers won't care, but it'll free you up to take more classes along that line of interest as a 2L/3L. If you don't know, take whichever class interests you most - or, even better, has the best professor. Or if you have no preference at all, take Property and get it out of the way.

[RVP11]

Does the elective taken in the spring affect career prospects?

Has your choice of elective ever come up positively or negatively in an interview, beyond the simple ("tell me more about Class X") kind of question?

I had over 100 screening interviews and callback interviews and not a single person mentioned my elective choices.

[nealric]

I had over 100 screening interviews and callback interviews

I assume you are counting callbacks as multiple interviews. Even so,

[Anonymous User]

I would get Con Law or Property out of the way. I took one of the other electives and am annoyed that I have to fit the 2 requires courses into my schedule this year. It would have make scheduling a lot easier if I had just gotten one of the requirements out of the way as a 1L.

[Renzo]

I would get Con Law or Property out of the way. I took one of the other electives and am annoyed that I have to fit the 2 requires courses into my schedule this year. It would have make scheduling a lot easier if I had just gotten one of the requirements out of the way as a 1L.

This is good advice, but incomplete.

I'd say:

1) if you have any interest whatsoever in tax or trusts & estates, take tax. Many of the tax classes are prerequisite-heavy, so you'll open up a whole world by having it out of the way.

2) If there's something specific you really, really want to do your 1L summer, and think a class might help you prove your interest (i.e. Int'l law if you want to work at the Hague), take that class.

3) If none of the above apply, bang out one of the required classes.

[edcrane]

There's also a strategic element to this choice. Con law is a very different type of class than corporations or tax. If you have a good reason to believe that you're better at one type of class than another, it's reasonable to factor this into your decision.

[sophie316]

There's also a strategic element to this choice. Con law is a very different type of class than corporations or tax. If you have a good reason to believe that you're better at one type of class than another, it's reasonable to factor this into your decision.

Agreed. Property is probably going to be the most like your other 1L classes, I would guess. International law was more like a poli sci survey course than a law school class. BUT I do think that if you think you might want to do 'international law' you should take it. It made me realize that it is not the path for me and I'm glad I realized that as a 1L.

[underdawg]

property has nothing to do with IP law lol

none of the electives are so wacky that they are going to raise any eyebrows. just don't be one of those "i want to be an international lawyer and this is a viable career path for me out of law school" idiots. also, isn't one of those int'l law profs a notoriously bad teacher?

this is all assuming you are asking about any of these courses raising eyebrows at a OCI interview. not that it matters too much since you'll have your 2L year, but if you're hoping/planning to do biglaw, corporations is a must in my opinion. and yes, for lit too. in fact, i took it and still have no effing idea what transactional lawyers do, at least day-to-day (because i assume they're not cooking up poison pills and shit all the time)

[180orbust]

If there's a class for which you have some sort of background or experience, and you believe there is a good chance that you should be able to get a good grade, then take that class. Getting a good grade in your 1L spring semester is the most important thing you can do for your "career path."