Easiest classes for 2L first semester Forum

[CivProGunner12b]

What are the best classes to take 2L fall semester to have the easiest chance at a high GPA? I'll be transferring so this will be the most important semester in regard to OCI, and I'll be transitioning to a new school and new curve.

[dvlthndr]

Hard to know for certain without knowing the school.

Some schools have a more generous curve for seminar classes, and it’s pretty easy to do well if you put some effort into your papers. But employers might look at you funny if you totally avoid black-letter law.

The generic advice is to take classes you are interested in, since you will have an easier time sticking with the reading and focusing on the lectures. Also, avoid classes traditionally full of clerkship gunners (Admin, Fed Courts, Crim. Process classes, etc.)

[ExperssioUnius]

One approach might be to identify the professors who tend to attract the top students seeking clerkship recs as well as the courses that those professors typically teach. Then see if any of those classes are being offered by a a non all star professor.

Second, consider if your strength is rule-based courses or not. If so, take more of them.

Third, if you did well in Property, consider taking Trust & Estates. If you did well in Torts, maybe take Torts II. If you did well in Contracts, maybe take Remedies.

Fourth, I'll agree with the above that you should avoid Fed Courts and Admin. If you are planning on taking Fed Courts later and your school offers Civil Rights Lit or Federal Habeas, such might be a good class to take to set you up for Fed Courts. I'll disagree that you should avoid Criminal Procedure (assuming prior poster meant Crim Pro in the 4/5/6 Amendment context and not the less common course on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure). There is nothing particularly tricky about Crim Pro. and dedication to the class can result in a high grade even if there are strong students in the class.

Fifth, take what you're interested in. It helps to care about the topic you will learn about.

[QContinuum]

Some schools have a more generous curve for seminar classes, and it’s pretty easy to do well if you put some effort into your papers. But employers might look at you funny if you totally avoid black-letter law.

Yes, definitely don't do an all-seminar semester. It looks lazy and gimmicky, and the worst part is it might not even end up boosting your GPA as much as you think. Seminars can involve a ton of reading and writing, and especially since seminars tend to yield fewer credit hours than black-letter courses, you might end up needing to churn out 4 or 5 final papers, which would be a massive pain in the rear end. Also, not all seminar profs adhere to the "easy-A" grading model - there are some that will really screw students over.

Doing one seminar is fine and good, it helps to not have 4 final exams. But I'd say 2 seminars is the absolute max for seminars in a single semester. And in any case, I'd have at least one traditional black-letter course on there.

[Fireworks2016]

What are the best classes to take 2L fall semester to have the easiest chance at a high GPA? I'll be transferring so this will be the most important semester in regard to OCI, and I'll be transitioning to a new school and new curve.

This seems like an exercise in futility. There are too many factors to reliably predict which courses yield high GPAs. Just take courses you're interested in. Chances are that if you've done well in your first year, you'll do well in whichever courses you pick for the future too.

[B90]

What are the best classes to take 2L fall semester to have the easiest chance at a high GPA? I'll be transferring so this will be the most important semester in regard to OCI, and I'll be transitioning to a new school and new curve.

This seems like an exercise in futility. There are too many factors to reliably predict which courses yield high GPAs. Just take courses you're interested in. Chances are that if you've done well in your first year, you'll do well in whichever courses you pick for the future too.

"exercise in futility" = law school in general, particularly 2L. Not sure what your point is.
Identifying "easy classes" is more prof.-specific than class-specific. I agree with the above advice to take torts II if you did well in torts, etc. but only if you know/like the prof. and his/her style of teaching as well as writing and grading exams.

[jm2819]

What are the best classes to take 2L fall semester to have the easiest chance at a high GPA? I'll be transferring so this will be the most important semester in regard to OCI, and I'll be transitioning to a new school and new curve.

Just echoing what others said. Check if your school allows for higher curves based on smaller class sizes and take at least a couple of them. Besides that, I would probably take at least one black-letter law class. People of all rankings take a class like Evidence, T&E, Crim Pro, and Corps. So even if those classes are large classes, I think you should still expect to do well if you did well during 1L. Of course, if you know a person in your school who took a particular professor in a class, did well, and they can give you their materials, that should be at the top of your list.