Don’t sit in.

I’ve seen this happen way too much: an (over)eager local college student visits the law school and sits in on a 1L class.

Within twenty minutes, without fail, the college student is misery personified.

I’m in Corporations right now with one such undergrad sitting to my right.

Today’s topic is the basics of incorporation. The reading was dense. It consisted of definitions in paragraph form: Public v. Closely held corporations, articles of incorporation, director liability, etc, etc, etc.

So today’s class is straight-lecture. No cases, no jokes…it’s horribly boring if you haven’t read the material and don’t know what’s going on.

And judging by the amount of Gmail chat screens… today’s class isn’t that interesting even if you HAVE read the material.

I’ve seen some college students quit on their sit-ins halfway through. I think today’s victim is going to tough it out though.

This is partially the admissions office’s fault – if you’re going to let a prospective student sit in on a class you can’t arbitrarily shove them in Civil Procedure or Corps. A safer choice is a debate and case heavy course like Criminal Law, Torts, or Constitutional Law. (and even then, this is professor specific)

And undergrads: (all you 0L’s out there) Do not sit in on law school classes before you start law school. Save the confusion and boredom for orientation. There are no magical law school insights that come from sitting in on a single, random 1L class. Torts with Professor A is different than torts with Professor B.

Professor A is a sadist, Professor B is a dull lecturer. Professors C-E are amazing, but you’ll never know, because you sat in on Prof A or B’s class and didn’t apply.

My advice? Read blawgs, attend accepted students weekend (and talk to 1Ls), and if you are interested in your undergrad’s law school then drop by the law school during lunch and talk to some students. If you’re nice and don’t linger, you probably won’t get bit.