Which Class to Take (2L)? Forum

[sandwichday]

2L at T30 school, aiming to bring up GPA while still enjoying life as much as possible (I have an SA position for the summer, just trying not to blow it GPA-wise after poor showing fall semester). Trying to decide between

1) Law and philosophy seminar, limited to 5 law students so no curve (will include non-law students as well). Involves writing 20+ page research paper for final grade, heavy reading load but probably not hard to get an A or A-, would be surprised if anyone got out of there with lower than B+. Another thing to consider is that I am writing a note for my journal this semester and I really don't know if I'm going to feel like writing another massive paper as soon as I finish my note. Class participation also counts for part of grade in this class.

OR

2) Legal Research class, limited to 30 students so there will be a curve but it will be higher than normal law school curve. Supposedly an easy A, but there will definitely be B's given out in that class. No reading, series of weekly assignments that are supposed to be kind of a pain, take home final. I've heard that this class is really boring but if you can stay awake and do everything you're supposed to do, getting an A is very doable.

Thoughts? I'm concerned that "law and philosophy" looks goofy on my transcript but my primary concern is getting good grades.

[skw]

2L at T30 school, aiming to bring up GPA while still enjoying life as much as possible (I have an SA position for the summer, just trying not to blow it GPA-wise after poor showing fall semester). Trying to decide between

1) Law and philosophy seminar, limited to 5 law students so no curve (will include non-law students as well). Involves writing 20+ page research paper for final grade, heavy reading load but probably not hard to get an A or A-, would be surprised if anyone got out of there with lower than B+. Another thing to consider is that I am writing a note for my journal this semester and I really don't know if I'm going to feel like writing another massive paper as soon as I finish my note. Class participation also counts for part of grade in this class.

OR

2) Legal Research class, limited to 30 students so there will be a curve but it will be higher than normal law school curve. Supposedly an easy A, but there will definitely be B's given out in that class. No reading, series of weekly assignments that are supposed to be kind of a pain, take home final. I've heard that this class is really boring but if you can stay awake and do everything you're supposed to do, getting an A is very doable.

Thoughts? I'm concerned that "law and philosophy" looks goofy on my transcript but my primary concern is getting good grades.

I took both a Legal Philosophy class and Advanced Legal Research last semester. My Philosophy course required extensive and tedious reading -- vastly more than for any other law school course I have taken so far. We were not tested on the material since this was a writing course, but you really had to read it (sometimes twice) to keep up with class discussions. My final paper was likewise tedious (30 pages of blah, blah, blah). I felt I learned little and it was just a giant time suck. I would not take this course again or recommend it knowing what I know now. My Research course on the other hand was the same amount of credits as Philosophy (each 3), vastly less work, and infinitely more useful. This could be different at your school and with your respective professors, but my experience is that Legal Research is a much easier course with substantially less work than Philosophy.

[DCDuck]

The research class will be more useful in practice.

[Gorki]

2L at T30 school, aiming to bring up GPA while still enjoying life as much as possible (I have an SA position for the summer, just trying not to blow it GPA-wise after poor showing fall semester). Trying to decide between

1) Law and philosophy seminar, limited to 5 law students so no curve (will include non-law students as well). Involves writing 20+ page research paper for final grade, heavy reading load but probably not hard to get an A or A-, would be surprised if anyone got out of there with lower than B+. Another thing to consider is that I am writing a note for my journal this semester and I really don't know if I'm going to feel like writing another massive paper as soon as I finish my note. Class participation also counts for part of grade in this class.

OR

2) Legal Research class, limited to 30 students so there will be a curve but it will be higher than normal law school curve. Supposedly an easy A, but there will definitely be B's given out in that class. No reading, series of weekly assignments that are supposed to be kind of a pain, take home final. I've heard that this class is really boring but if you can stay awake and do everything you're supposed to do, getting an A is very doable.

Thoughts? I'm concerned that "law and philosophy" looks goofy on my transcript but my primary concern is getting good grades.

OP, just how sure are you the seminar will be an easy A? Like the above poster said, I have heard these can be notoriously time consuming or a total joke... I would personally avoid if it will be really time consuming, since if you are gonna do the hard work you may as well have a more "grown up" sounding class on your transcript. One of my 1L classes incorporated legal philosophy, but I did not really dig it. I guess I would suggest finding the courses reading list and seeing what areas will be discussed... If its entirely on one area, read an applicable Wiki page to see if it interests you... If not, take legal research course.