UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[anon sequitur]

Hello, UVA website says that 1Ls "5-9 hours" electives with other "9" required courses(Con, Property, LRW) for the Spring. Does it mean that students SHOULD take at least "2" electives?

Nope, for exactly the reasons you note, 14 is the minimum for 1L spring. You can take 12 per semester starting 2L (though you need to average 13-14 to get enough credits to graduate).

[5ky]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

[thesealocust]

Can anyone comment on whether Nelson (for civ pro) or Coughlin (for crim law) want you to mention case names on the final?

It's not really important, but you shouldn't ignore it. In civ pro there's no getting around it for some things. Neither are sticklers for using/naming cases or anything though.

[Br3v]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

Any drawback to taking a 4 credit "substantive" course (like corps or Evidence) and a short course as far as OCI?

[5ky]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

Any drawback to taking a 4 credit "substantive" course (like corps or Evidence) and a short course as far as OCI?

Doubtful. If you do poorly first semester, though, it is likely in your best interest to try to take above the bare minimum of credits in an effort to pull your GPA up

[PepperJack]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

Any drawback to taking a 4 credit "substantive" course (like corps or Evidence) and a short course as far as OCI?

This is probably the smartest move because you will have only 3 finals, and could save evidence for the last day. I also am uncertain taking less after doing poorly would be smart. Wouldn't you want to go all in at that point?

[blink]

Is there really no nightlife on a Sunday night? The corner is dead!

[5ky]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

Any drawback to taking a 4 credit "substantive" course (like corps or Evidence) and a short course as far as OCI?

This is probably the smartest move because you will have only 3 finals, and could save evidence for the last day. I also am uncertain taking less after doing poorly would be smart. Wouldn't you want to go all in at that point?

That's what I said, if you did poorly you shouldn't take the bare minimum.

Also, there's some question of whether you will actually do better with only 3 exams or not. You have to really ask yourself if you will use the extra time to study for your other classes, or use it as time to relax.

[PepperJack]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

Any drawback to taking a 4 credit "substantive" course (like corps or Evidence) and a short course as far as OCI?

This is probably the smartest move because you will have only 3 finals, and could save evidence for the last day. I also am uncertain taking less after doing poorly would be smart. Wouldn't you want to go all in at that point?

That's what I said, if you did poorly you shouldn't take the bare minimum.

Also, there's some question of whether you will actually do better with only 3 exams or not. You have to really ask yourself if you will use the extra time to study for your other classes, or use it as time to relax.

Only the methamphetamine dealers in the Central Virginia area could answer that.

[Br3v]

It's also 5-7 credits, so you really have to take a minimum of 2 electives (although you could do a 4 credit course and a 1 credit short course), and can't take more than 2 (unless you got creative and took a short course, which I don't know why you would if you already had 2 other electives)

Any drawback to taking a 4 credit "substantive" course (like corps or Evidence) and a short course as far as OCI?

Doubtful. If you do poorly first semester, though, it is likely in your best interest to try to take above the bare minimum of credits in an effort to pull your GPA up

Ok, so you don't think it will be a factor if (holding gpa constant) I took 5 elective credits 1L spring compared to 7? How many do most ppl take?

[thesealocust]

There's no standard and it really doesn't matter. Workload varies by a lot of factors which are more important than credit hours, especially if the variance is only two - pick a pair of classes that sound good and don't worry about the number of credits.

[5ky]

Yeah, I don't think # of credits matters. I took 5 because I had done well first semester and wanted to protect my GPA as much as I could.

The downside of taking only 5 elective credits is that you have to make those up somewhere else, which is a pain. I consistently felt like I was behind in terms of credits, and had to take a number of short courses/J terms, which I disliked. They are relatively easy credits, but I could have done without them.

[North]

So, considering the recent changes to the curve and assuming median grades 1L fall, would it be a good strategic decision to take a course packed with LR kids (like Legislation with Nelson)? The curve moves up to match the average GPA of the incoming students, right?

90% sure the answer is no herp derpington don't do that, but thought I'd ask anyway. Picking classes without having any grades to base decisions on kind of sucks.

[thesealocust]

You won't be able to take most gunnery courses anyway (requires LR). Even if the curve floats with the GPA of the students in the class, that would indicate any bump to average grade awarded in the course will come with an exactly matching bump in competition for the grades, neh?

[PepperJack]

I think with the new system it's not a bad move to take classes with the LR types, and it's not hard to pull an A- in those (though if you need an A it'd be rough). I would take something you're interested in.

[Tom Joad]

So, considering the recent changes to the curve and assuming median grades 1L fall, would it be a good strategic decision to take a course packed with LR kids (like Legislation with Nelson)? The curve moves up to match the average GPA of the incoming students, right?

90% sure the answer is no herp derpington don't do that, but thought I'd ask anyway. Picking classes without having any grades to base decisions on kind of sucks.

I think using an above mean curve is discretionary. I would hope all profs do help the students out, but I can't read their minds.

[shibby]

Has anyone taken Consumer Law and/or a class with Hines? Thinking of enrolling for the spring. Thx in advance.

ALSO Antitrust with McGinnis? There is virtually nothing in course evals about him. Scurry.

[cfr1225]

Has anyone taken Consumer Law and/or a class with Hines? Thinking of enrolling for the spring. Thx in advance.

ALSO Antitrust with McGinnis? There is virtually nothing in course evals about him. Scurry.

I had a friend who took Consumer Law - he said it was pretty dry because it was pretty statute-heavy.

McGinnis is a visiting prof, so you'll probably be hard pressed to find much about him, since only people in his classes right now will have any insight.

[shibby]

Has anyone taken Consumer Law and/or a class with Hines? Thinking of enrolling for the spring. Thx in advance.

ALSO Antitrust with McGinnis? There is virtually nothing in course evals about him. Scurry.

I had a friend who took Consumer Law - he said it was pretty dry because it was pretty statute-heavy.

McGinnis is a visiting prof, so you'll probably be hard pressed to find much about him, since only people in his classes right now will have any insight.

Ok, thanks. Any chance someone here is in a McGinnis class?

[Mack12]

Any 2/3Ls have any thoughts on taking Jurisprudence with Barzun for 1L spring? I 've heard that its mainly comprised of law review kids and gunners, which isn't ideal. Any truth to this?

[desertlaw]

How portable is a UVA JD compared to similar tier T14s? I have some ties to a few secondary markets (PNW, Denver, Minneapolis, Houston, Milwaukee) — how does UVA compare to NU or Georgetown in cities outside of DC/NYC?

What about Chicago with no ties?

What about California with no ties?

From experience and anecdoates, in Secondary markets you listed (except Houston probably), if you have median or above grades, you'll probably be treated as someone in top 5-10% of local law school. If you have good grades, they will be skeptical that you really want to come back to that market instead of going NYC/DC.

California without ties is more difficult in some places (OC, SD) than others (LA/SF). But regardless, unless you have LR grades, you'll need a good, convincing reason that you want to be in California (but this is true with most markets anyways).

[daleearnhardt123]

Any 2/3Ls have any thoughts on taking Jurisprudence with Barzun for 1L spring? I 've heard that its mainly comprised of law review kids and gunners, which isn't ideal. Any truth to this?

Not even close

[shibby]

Any 2/3Ls have any thoughts on taking Jurisprudence with Barzun for 1L spring? I 've heard that its mainly comprised of law review kids and gunners, which isn't ideal. Any truth to this?

Not even close

So then, it is the opposite of gunner LR kids? How is Barzun?

[daleearnhardt123]

Any 2/3Ls have any thoughts on taking Jurisprudence with Barzun for 1L spring? I 've heard that its mainly comprised of law review kids and gunners, which isn't ideal. Any truth to this?

Not even close

So then, it is the opposite of gunner LR kids? How is Barzun?

LR classes are easily identifiable by professor, not necessarily subject matter (though there's a strong correlation between the two). Barzun is just not an LR prof (Nelson, Jeffries, Collins, Duffy, Prakash, Schauer...)

[shibby]

Cool, gracias! If any of you have taken Jurisprudence, did you find it philosophy-heavy to the point of zero comprehension. I can deal with a little bit of density but too much can make my head spin.