Importance of small group class selection?

[legalref]

How important is my small group class selection? i’m mostly interested in public law but when i do pick this section, it populates the rest of my schedule with professors that have unfavorable reviews on rate my professor. 
 

Whilst i know that rate my professor is not an accurate judge of character or profs, there’s a specific torts small group section that curates my schedule with professors who seem to be extremely helpful and kind according to their ratings. 
 

Should I go with my area of interest or play it safe and choose my section based on “helpful” professors? 

[scooter]

Personally I would go with whatever small group gives you the best overall selection of professors. Having a positive overall experience in first year far outweighs your experience in just one course.

Your small group selection isn't super important in terms of your areas of interest. It can help you get to know a professor in that field, but you're not missing out on too much if you go for another small group. You'll learn all the same stuff in large group pubcon and there will be lots of other opportunities for you to explore your interest in public law.

Also keep in mind that the division of subjects in first year is sort of artificial. In reality, public law overlaps with all of the topics covered in first year (torts, property, etc.) so those courses will all help you in figuring out what areas of public law you might be interested in

[Chewy]

40 minutes ago, scooter said:

Personally I would go with whatever small group gives you the best overall selection of professors. Having a positive overall experience in first year far outweighs your experience in just one course.

Your small group selection isn't super important in terms of your areas of interest. It can help you get to know a professor in that field, but you're not missing out on too much if you go for another small group. You'll learn all the same stuff in large group pubcon and there will be lots of other opportunities for you to explore your interest in public law.

Also keep in mind that the division of subjects in first year is sort of artificial. In reality, public law overlaps with all of the topics covered in first year (torts, property, etc.) so those courses will all help you in figuring out what areas of public law you might be interested in

Would you recommend the same if someone is more interested in criminal law yet there are schedules in the torts that fit better? 

[Debtful]

Keep in mind that you may not get your preferred small group schedule. Lots of people want specific profs so some people bite the bullet and pick based on group. 

 

[scooter]

9 hours ago, Chewy said:

Would you recommend the same if someone is more interested in criminal law yet there are schedules in the torts that fit better? 

Maybe I should elaborate a bit more on what happens in small group

• Slightly more class time per week
• 20 students in a class
• More discussion-based classes
• You do some research and writing assignments like short papers, which doesn't really happen in the other first-year courses
• Have a professor who knows you and who will help you adjust to law school (you can get to know your other profs too, but this guarantees at least one prof will know you)
• Get more feedback from your professor because there are more assignments
• Meet friends

Lots of people interested in criminal law will want to do the above in a criminal law small group, but it's not make or break for pursuing criminal law. There are lots of great crim profs who teach the large group crim sections, and criminal law in particular has a lot of events and programs for you to meet other students and local lawyers. I would say that of all the different practice areas, criminal law has the most mentorship opportunities available to students.

I don't really want to push people in one direction or another when it comes to picking a small group, you can decide for yourself based on your priorities. My main point is that it's not so important that you need to pick your main area of interest rather than focus on other factors like professors and scheduling.