Columbia students taking questions Forum

[moonman157]

Thanks for the info about LPW! It's been the single biggest source of stress for me so far; actual assignments but no direction whatsoever as to how to do them.

[smaug_]

Thanks for the info about LPW! It's been the single biggest source of stress for me so far; actual assignments but no direction whatsoever as to how to do them.

They make more sense over time. You'll get the hang of it.

[ph5354a]

Anyone that had Merrill for Torts that would be willing to answer a few questions?

[MCFC]

So we got the 1L electives email this afternoon. Any thoughts on

Critical Legal Thought (Prof. Katherine Franke)
Empirical Analysis of Law (Prof. Jeffrey [homophobic language redacted])
Lawyering for Change (Prof. Susan Sturm)
Legislation and Regulation (Prof. Caitlin Halligan)
The United States and the International Legal System (Prof. Matthew Waxman)

Are the 2L classes with open spots a realistic option, or would it be too far over my head?

[smaug_]

So we got the 1L electives email this afternoon. Any thoughts on

Critical Legal Thought (Prof. Katherine Franke)
Empirical Analysis of Law (Prof. Jeffrey [homophobic language redacted])
Lawyering for Change (Prof. Susan Sturm)
Legislation and Regulation (Prof. Caitlin Halligan)
The United States and the International Legal System (Prof. Matthew Waxman)

Are the 2L classes with open spots a realistic option, or would it be too far over my head?

2L classes are probably the better options:

• 2Ls generally check out in the spring
  2Ls will checkout more on the whole
  2Ls still don't know anything
  Many of the 1L classes will be rough anyway
  "2L" classes will also have LLMs and 3Ls
  both get the more forgiving curve (I think)

I have no idea about [homophobic language redacted]. Franke is very well respected in her field but I've heard she's kinda hit-or-miss in terms of clicking with her teaching style. Legislation should be rewarding but very difficult (I'd stay away). Waxman's class was supposed to be good, but it attracted an annoying group of students last year (or so I heard.)

Not much of an idea about Sturm, but I think that "Lawyering for Change" might be the hidden winner in that list.

Which 2L classes are open?

ETA if corps is open again, lol just lol

[Tiago Splitter]

Waxman's class was supposed to be good, but it attracted an annoying group of students last year (or so I heard.)

Not much of an idea about Sturm, but I think that "Lawyering for Change" might be the hidden winner in that list.

Waxman's class does attract the PoliSci gunners, but it's a very light reading load and generally not very intense.

I had Sturm for Civ Pro and she's really nice.

[MCFC]

So we got the 1L electives email this afternoon. Any thoughts on

Critical Legal Thought (Prof. Katherine Franke)
Empirical Analysis of Law (Prof. Jeffrey [homophobic language redacted])
Lawyering for Change (Prof. Susan Sturm)
Legislation and Regulation (Prof. Caitlin Halligan)
The United States and the International Legal System (Prof. Matthew Waxman)

Are the 2L classes with open spots a realistic option, or would it be too far over my head?

*Reply*

Thanks for the feedback. 2L classes listed:

Administrative Law w/Strauss
Advanced Contracts w/Kraus
American Legal History w/Ponsa
Antitrust and Trade Regulation w/Wu
Corporations sec 2 w/Goldschmid
International Law w/Pozen
Japanese Law and Legal Institutions w/Milhaupt
Labor Law w/Barenberg
Law and Development w/Pistor

[smaug_]

Thanks for the feedback. 2L classes listed:

Administrative Law w/Strauss
Advanced Contracts w/Kraus
American Legal History w/Ponsa
Antitrust and Trade Regulation w/Wu
Corporations sec 2 w/Goldschmid
International Law w/Pozen
Japanese Law and Legal Institutions w/Milhaupt
Labor Law w/Barenberg
Law and Development w/Pistor

Run, don't walk, away from Admin with Strauss unless you really want to gun hard. I'm sure he's very good, but it'll probably be a very very tight curve.

I haven't heard many positive things about Kraus or Ponsa.

Wu is said to be amazing, but I don't know if he's done Antitrust before. I'd be wary.

Goldschmid is supposed to be OK but a little hard to follow.

International Law w/ Pozen might fill up quickly but is probably a very good choice if you have an interest in that stuff. I know it's required for one of the externships.

I've heard that Milhaupt is nice, but Japanese Law is obviously super niche.

Labor Law could be another very good choice.

I don't know enough about Pistor/that last class to comment.

I'd aim for Legislation, Lawyering for Change, International Law or Labor Law, especially the last three. They're more likely to hit the sweet spot of substantive, interesting and accessible.

[[citation_omitted]]

Thanks for the feedback. 2L classes listed:

Administrative Law w/Strauss
Advanced Contracts w/Kraus
American Legal History w/Ponsa
Antitrust and Trade Regulation w/Wu
Corporations sec 2 w/Goldschmid
International Law w/Pozen
Japanese Law and Legal Institutions w/Milhaupt
Labor Law w/Barenberg
Law and Development w/Pistor

Strauss takes too much shit from people around here. Had him for my 1L elective (Foundations of the Regulatory State), and he was a fantastic professor. He doesn't give any free passes in class, and you'd better do the reading, but he's amazing about giving feedback on papers and he's, like, THE GUY on reg/admin issues. He's always very receptive to people coming to his office hours and he seems like he genuinely cares that you learn about things that are just clearly really important to him.

[ph5354a]

Has anyone had Advanced Contracts w/ Kraus? I'm dreaming about something in-house for the summer, and it seems like his emphasis on commercial practicality (as stated in the course description) could serve me well.

[californiauser]

General consensus on how OCI went this year? Anyone know multiple people without acceptances/offers in hand?

[Roll Fizzlebeef]

Longshot, but NU student here. Our prof is teaching Immigration for the first time, and said she teaches it along the same lines as Prof. Ponsa. The classes use the same book, so I was wondering if anyone here has an outline for it or knows someone who would. I'll say lots of nice things about you and people here would forever sing your praise. Thanks!

[ph5354a]

When do spring schedules for 1Ls generally come out? Same time as elective assignments or after?

[Tiago Splitter]

When do spring schedules for 1Ls generally come out? Same time as elective assignments or after?

They came out over Winter Break last year.

[Pete Venkman]

General consensus on how OCI went this year? Anyone know multiple people without acceptances/offers in hand?

Only know one guy (above median, but not Stone) who struck out. Apparently there are others as well.

[ph5354a]

When do spring schedules for 1Ls generally come out? Same time as elective assignments or after?

They came out over Winter Break last year.

Thanks! Do sections generally stay the same for spring semester?

[Tiago Splitter]

When do spring schedules for 1Ls generally come out? Same time as elective assignments or after?

They came out over Winter Break last year.

Thanks! Do sections generally stay the same for spring semester?

No it will be mixed up

[bouleversement]

Can anyone speak to the merits of the Master en droit with Paris 1?

Has anyone applied? Been accepted? Enrolled? Graduated? Know someone who did any of these and thus might have some information apart from what can be found from the website?

I am looking for a frank assessment that I could not otherwise obtain by speaking with administrators. Someone might know that all the students in the program in recent years have regretted their decision. Or maybe that they cannot speak about the options afforded by the dual degree highly enough.

Thanks!

[helix23]

I'm sure it varies by professor, but is there a general time frame when grades usually come out? e.g. last week of break-second week of spring semester.

[otnemem]

I'm sure it varies by professor, but is there a general time frame when grades usually come out? e.g. last week of break-second week of spring semester.

If I recall correctly, roughly the first week of January through the third week of January is when most come out. I believe 1 or 2 classes didn't get grades until after class has started, but that's not supposed to happen (yet still fairly common).

[helix23]

I'm sure it varies by professor, but is there a general time frame when grades usually come out? e.g. last week of break-second week of spring semester.

If I recall correctly, roughly the first week of January through the third week of January is when most come out. I believe 1 or 2 classes didn't get grades until after class has started, but that's not supposed to happen (yet still fairly common).

thanks!

[jbagelboy]

I'm sure it varies by professor, but is there a general time frame when grades usually come out? e.g. last week of break-second week of spring semester.

If I recall correctly, roughly the first week of January through the third week of January is when most come out. I believe 1 or 2 classes didn't get grades until after class has started, but that's not supposed to happen (yet still fairly common).

thanks!

And so our watch begins.

Its like the LSAT all over!

[ph5354a]

I'm sure it varies by professor, but is there a general time frame when grades usually come out? e.g. last week of break-second week of spring semester.

If I recall correctly, roughly the first week of January through the third week of January is when most come out. I believe 1 or 2 classes didn't get grades until after class has started, but that's not supposed to happen (yet still fairly common).

thanks!

And so our watch begins.

Its like the LSAT all over!

Does LawNet turn grey the day that grades come out?

[Tiago Splitter]

Does LawNet turn grey the day that grades come out?

Close. You'll see the exam number appear sometime before the grades are posted. Sometimes grades show up minutes later, other times hours later. Exam number's last year for Rapa's class went up like two weeks before the grades, so that wait was awful.

[helix23]

Does LawNet turn grey the day that grades come out?

Close. You'll see the exam number appear sometime before the grades are posted. Sometimes grades show up minutes later, other times hours later. Exam number's last year for Rapa's class went up like two weeks before the grades, so that wait was awful.

Yeah that sounds crappy. There's gotta be some Terminator/LawNet jokes out there somewhere that I'm too lazy to make.

What's the protocol for determining where one's GPA stands in the class? Is there an official posting of class rank bands or does it just have to be figured out via word of mouth?