you can't always get what you want

As summer begins to wind its way towards fall, thoughts turn back to school. This process is being moved along by what the little law school on the prairie likes to call "balloting".

Balloting is a complicated and onerous process to choose our classes. You start with a list of classes being offered, and full descriptions of each class, including who will be teaching. From that you develop a wish list of 10 to 16 classes that you would like to take. I unfortunately have a list of around 30.

Then you take these classes and look at the course schedule and start crossing off courses that conflict with each other. You then review the exam schedule and once again cross courses off that conflict, or that you don't like how the exam is scheduled compared to others. For example, back to back exams. Some people do course selection based on the exam schedule alone (all early to make for a longer christmas break, or evenly spaced to avoid stress).

You then need to look at mark distribution from previous years for those courses still on your list to see if they are overly hard or easy. This is also a factor when determining which prof you want teaching.

Still with me, good, cause we're not quite done. Finally, you have to review enrollment numbers for previous years. Because we ballot for classes, you need to rank those classes that fill up quickly (i.e. Evidence) higher than those that don't (Jurisprudence). Really, you need a degree in logistics to figure this all out.

I've been working on course selection for a while only to come to the same conclusion as the Rolling Stones, "you can't always get what you want". First, too many of my choices conflict. I can't take Family Law and Current Issue in Law Reform because they happen at the same time. You then need to start projecting course selection over the next two years.

Second, I need to find a balance between the courses I want to take and the courses I should take. I realize that if I take all the courses I want, I'll graduate with no marketable skills and be completely unprepared for articling. I'm drawn to the law school equivalents of "basketweaving", such as "Canadian Legal History" and "Law and Culture" while completely disinterested in useful course like "Tax 1" and "Civil Procedure".

So I will continue to plug away at balloting, probably right up to the deadline of July 30, when my selection becomes "locked in". Becuase if I really try, I might just find that I'll get what I need.