It's that time of year again. After Waddling Thunder posted his list of course selection priorities, I thought it was imperative that every first year student know the real deal.

Timing. Course selection should not only allow for sleeping in as late as possible, but also for the fewest days of class as possible. It is essential that you are at the law school for as few hours as you can be. After all, you have way more important things to do, like imbibing and sleeping. Don't make the mistake of signing up for those Friday morning classes!

Cost/Benefit Analysis. Be sure to pick the classes with the most bang for the buck. That is, the courses you select should be easy As. How ghastly would it be to get a B, darling? The horror!

Interesting Subject Matter. Stuff the doctrinal and code classes and take the really cool classes that are absolutely unrelated to anything you'll find in practice. Either you're going to learn everything from your bar review course or from your time as a new associate in a big firm, or you're just not going to need it.

Fellow Classmates. Make sure you don't take the classes that attract all the uber-tools. Of course, you'll never get away from them, but classes are better if they don't have the really annoying students that you have come to know and "love" during first year.

Price. Under pretense of being an uber-tool yourself, hunt down the professor and ask to see next year's syllabus. Look up the books on Amazon and make sure you won't be spending too much. It's not like you'll ever read them again anyways, and the resale market is in the can.


By following these simple rules you're sure to have an exciting and enjoyable second year!

My real advice? Content above all else. Interesting professors* can’t really add anything to dull content. Everything is just a gimmick if they’re selling you a boring class. However, a great class plus a great professor equals pure law school utopia. Choose wisely. Don’t listen to sagacious 2Ls and 3Ls that blather on about how you should take bar classes and that you'll be doomed if you don't take a tax class.

There is a vast chasm between interesting and good professors. Avoid ones that sing, dance, or do any sort of stupid human tricks.