Columbia students taking questions Forum

[smaug]

Might be a silly Q but when do we select courses for 2L year?

You enter the lottery in mid/late-June then wait while the registrar does fuck all. They'll get around to thinking about maybe, possibly, if time allows, giving out schedules right about the end of August.

pretty sure they do this intentionally so students can lie about what courses they're taking while interviewing

[RSN]

The university-level course list is already up, but it's incomplete: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb ... l2016.html

[Nebby]

To the rising 2Ls planning on writing a note: I recommend not taking a seminar in the fall. Writing a note and seminar paper at the same time was horrible.

Also, if you're writing a note you want published, then you're going to have to put in the work. I recommend treating it like a class. I set aside 4 hours every Monday to research starting in September, and it made the writing so much easier by putting in the work early.

[jbagelboy]

To the rising 2Ls planning on writing a note: I recommend not taking a seminar in the fall. Writing a note and seminar paper at the same time was horrible.

Also, if you're writing a note you want published, then you're going to have to put in the work. I recommend treating it like a class. I set aside 4 hours every Monday to research starting in September, and it made the writing so much easier by putting in the work early.

I think this is case by case: I would advise researching the evaluation method of a seminar before committing too it rather than ruling them out altogether. Just to illustrate another data point out there, not all seminars have extended papers--some are take-home exams, others just small assignments throughout the semester, and you can usually tell by glancing at the syllabus what the work product will be (for example, my fall 2L seminar was a take-home exam and very little reading). One other twist--if you take a seminar with a prof you trust, they may permit your seminar paper and note to be on the same subject, which might be technically a violation of some policy but I know several friends who got it approved and its a nice two for one.

Re: the note, I'd second nebby about the importance of putting in the work, but I think the most important element of publication is novelty/preemption: you can brute force hundreds of hours but still fail to publish if you don't meet that primary criteria. I spent much of the fall refining my topic and research and basically wrote the entire thing in late december and january, missing tons of fall deadlines along the way, but got published because I took the time to find an area that hadn't been fully explored--and a subject I was actually still interested in, hating your note is not a great sign-- instead of putting too much emphasis on what the note editors wanted when.

[wilt]

are tls clsers representative of clsers irl?

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

are tls clsers representative of clsers irl?

Our mental illnesses are slightly different than everyone else's.

[White Dwarf]

Thought I aced my Property exam... turns out it's my first B.

[ugg]

how screwed are we if our dean's certificate or immuno records are late? I've sent all my requests out but I'm not entirely convinced the organizations will respond in time.

[Bearlyalive]

how screwed are we if our dean's certificate or immuno records are late? I've sent all my requests out but I'm not entirely convinced the organizations will respond in time.

I'm going to lean on the side of not-at-all-screwed. I really doubt there is much any backlash for lagging behind on some of this bureaucratic crap. If you still feel nervous about it, I would just call the offices and let them know that you requested the cert/records some time ago, but are not sure that your school/doctor will send them in a timely manner. I really doubt they'll punish you for someone else being slow, and I'm sure this happens to many students every year.

ETA: totally thought I was responding to this in the Columbia waiters thread. Apologies for stepping on the toes of people much more qualified to answer this question

[GreenEggs]

how screwed are we if our dean's certificate or immuno records are late? I've sent all my requests out but I'm not entirely convinced the organizations will respond in time.

I'm going to lean on the side of not-at-all-screwed. I really doubt there is much any backlash for lagging behind on some of this bureaucratic crap. If you still feel nervous about it, I would just call the offices and let them know that you requested the cert/records some time ago, but are not sure that your school/doctor will send them in a timely manner. I really doubt they'll punish you for someone else being slow, and I'm sure this happens to many students every year.

Yeah don't worry about it at all

[jbagelboy]

are tls clsers representative of clsers irl?

my year the tls'ers were a pretty good cross-section of the class. the most glaring difference is that TLS is overwhelmingly male whereas the law school is pretty even/often more female.

[RSN]

Not to start bidding insanity too early... but can anyone post last year's first failed bid list? I've heard anecdotally it's going to be a lot different this year, but curious to get the previous one as a reference point.

[FascinatedWanderer]

Do pass fail classes (i.e. ones where you receive a CR) count for calculating back door Kent? Or are only graded classes considered?

[GoneSouth]

I know this has been answered on here, but I can't find it. Is an A+ calculated as 4.0 or 4.33 for Kent purposes?

[MCFC]

I know this has been answered on here, but I can't find it. Is an A+ calculated as 4.0 or 4.33 for Kent purposes?

4.0

[somethingElse]

Hey guys couple quick questions about housing if you don't mind:

Regarding furnished UAH apartments: Are pets (cats) still okay?

Also, has anyone had a 3 bedroom unit (according to the UAH website), yet their floorplan shows the unit as a 4 bedroom?

Ty ty!

[RSN]

I know this has been answered on here, but I can't find it. Is an A+ calculated as 4.0 or 4.33 for Kent purposes?

4.0

Wait really? I swear I've heard it's 4.33 from multiple people

[John_Luther1989]

It's only 4.0. Anyone saying otherwise is clueless, has never gotten one, and/or is lying. The "+" is just a little special award for being exceptionally good (although some professors, against policy, give it to the top exam in the class).

[RSN]

It's only 4.0. Anyone saying otherwise is clueless, has never gotten one, and/or is lying. The "+" is just a little special award for being exceptionally good (although some professors, against policy, give it to the top exam in the class).

I mean even if you get one, how would you know? Do they actually tell you your GPA at some point?

[RSN]

Unrelated -- course list is out for next semester. Any recommendations on what to take 2L Fall vs. later? My priorities to eventually get to are Evidence, Corps, Admin, and FedCourts. Thinking about getting Evidence and Corps out of the way this fall if possible, and wait on Admin for the Spring, along with a seminar, and then FedCourts in 3L. Beyond those, does anything else matter?

[John_Luther1989]

It's only 4.0. Anyone saying otherwise is clueless, has never gotten one, and/or is lying. The "+" is just a little special award for being exceptionally good (although some professors, against policy, give it to the top exam in the class).

I mean even if you get one, how would you know? Do they actually tell you your GPA at some point?

The difference between 4.33 and 4.0 in a class was the difference between Stone and not Stone for me 2L year. I'm intimately familiar with the GPA value (or lack thereof) of an A+

[lnick93]

Unrelated -- course list is out for next semester. Any recommendations on what to take 2L Fall vs. later? My priorities to eventually get to are Evidence, Corps, Admin, and FedCourts. Thinking about getting Evidence and Corps out of the way this fall if possible, and wait on Admin for the Spring, along with a seminar, and then FedCourts in 3L. Beyond those, does anything else matter?

Merrill is brilliant but boring. I would not recommend taking a course with him.

Edit: He is teaching Admin in the Fall.

[RSN]

Unrelated -- course list is out for next semester. Any recommendations on what to take 2L Fall vs. later? My priorities to eventually get to are Evidence, Corps, Admin, and FedCourts. Thinking about getting Evidence and Corps out of the way this fall if possible, and wait on Admin for the Spring, along with a seminar, and then FedCourts in 3L. Beyond those, does anything else matter?

Merrill is brilliant but boring. I would not recommend taking a course with him.

Edit: He is teaching Admin in the Fall.

Right, I'm gonna try to wait for Kessler in the spring

[stoopkid13]

Admin law with Merrill at 9am sounds like just about the worst thing in the world...

Eric Posner is visiting though? Since when was that a thing?

[ugg]

What would a typical 1L fall schedule look like in terms of time slots throughout the week?