19 replies to this topic

[MachiavellianPencil]

Hey all,

Would anyone be able to share a sample/typical 1L schedule for western? I searched this forum and googled, but did not come up with anything.

Thanks!

[LikeThat12]

https://www.law.uwo....ame=CalendarYr1

[MachiavellianPencil]

Likethat, I was specifically asking about the timing/schedule of the classes. Would we going to be in class 9-4 every day, will there be fridays off, will there be any afternoons off, does it vary,etc.

[staffer]

MachiavellianPencil, on 04 February 2012 - 11:43 PM, said:

Likethat, I was specifically asking about the timing/schedule of the classes. Would we going to be in class 9-4 every day, will there be fridays off, will there be any afternoons off, does it vary,etc.

I'm an applicant, not a current student, but a cursory glance of the link above suggests you'll have 16 hours of class a week. Presumably, because there are several different sections of each course, not everyone will have the same schedule.

[visualpurple]

^ it's closer to 18 hours/week. Your schedule totally varies depending on your small group, and you don't find out your schedule until school starts. In 1L I remember having a lot of random 2 hour breaks in the day, and I also had Thursdays off in first semester.

[MachiavellianPencil]

Thanks, VisualPurple!

[muffins]

Are Friday's unspoken no class days like undergrad?

Edited by muffins, 05 February 2012 - 09:20 AM.

[TheQuietOne]

Current 1L here. You'll have the exact same schedule as about 19 other people, you're in every class with your small group as a 1L. 3-5 small groups are combined for most of your classes. One class is only your small group. One of them is with the entire 1L class.

- Everyone across all of Western Law has a lunch break/break period/open period from 12:30-2pm every single day where no classes take place at all. This is for guest speakers/mandatory meetings/club meetings/group work or study time. It really is a nice way to break up a day.

My sample fall schedule, September to December:
- 20 class hours (in theory...in practice it was usually 18 when Legal Research and Writing did not require a full-group lecture)
- I had classes before and after the open period on MTWT. Friday I had afternoon only
- One day of the week was a 9:30 start; three days began at 10:30
- Had one Tuesday evening class from 4-7. Otherwise I was done by 4pm each day

My sample spring schedule, February to April:
- 18 class hours
- Mornings 5 days per week, 3 of them at 9:30, 2 of them at 10:30
- Monday and Friday afternoons off.
- Latest class ends at 5pm

January term is a few optional classes, and completely research assignments (mostly individual, partnered for one week). January remains a one-month term in upper years with schedules that can fluctuate.

So in short answer, no, Fridays are not "respected" as an unspoken day off. Last semester I had one Friday afternoon class. This semester, all 1Ls have the same Legal Ethics class on Friday mornings at 9:30.

[MikeyC77]

Hey guys. Here's an example of the first semester from this year...

http://i44.tinypic.com/s1ujqv.jpg

[muffins]

So definitely full days on campus. This fits with my plan to treat LS like a job.

[johnalm]

Oh man, 2.5 hour classes? Are they brutual?

[muffins]

My whole undergrad was 3hr classes.mWhere did you go to school?

[LikeThat12]

Does Western do small group matching or is it completely arbitrary?

[johnalm]

muffins, on 06 February 2012 - 05:24 AM, said:

My whole undergrad was 3hr classes.mWhere did you go to school?

...not in a canoe?



no it was MWF one hour lectures. TF one and a half hour lectures. Night class, which I took some. were 3hours: and those were tiresome. a lot of information to digest . but its all good

[MikeyC77]

3 hour long classes obviously aren't the greatest, but can be interesting depending on the subject or prof. Also, most profs give breaks during class (some even for 1.5 hour-long classes).

I don't see why you couldn't request in advance to be put in the same group as a friend or what not (I don't know the school's policy on this), but it's not like you can hand-pick which group you're in or which class schedule you have.

[TheQuietOne]

I haven't heard any instance of anyone requesting or being matched in a small group in any way that's within the student's control. Certainly they would not honour requests for any individual professors.

Some small groups seem to have types of methods, but only in ways that match a small number similar students. For example, one small group has a few mature students with children. One small group has 4 of the Ivey HBA/JD students together. But for the most part, it will be completely random in how you are matched.

[johnalm]

Hey guys, I've been trying to find a picture of what it looks like inside a Western classroom (just to get a feel of the enviroment). I cant find anything on google lol (like Queens has a couple pictures on their homepage of students sitting in-side a classroom-so their is some idea their). I know its an odd request/question: but what is it like in Western?
Are they the small desks, or are they the long tables that stretch across the room

[visualpurple]

The majority of classrooms have long tiered rows of shallow tabletops, with swively seats attached to the desks. The biggest classroom can hold about 180 people, the rest can hold about 100.

There are also smaller seminar-style rooms that have movable tables and chairs - your small group and small upper year courses will be in these rooms.

The great thing about the law building is that every classroom seat has an electrical outlet.

[johnalm]

and is that 7 courses in a sem! I was doing 6 in engineering, and that was a mother load. Between weekly assignments/projects/ab reports/ midterms, and just keeping up with course material for each course- it was a handful.
I think I am going to have to brace myself for this law storm lol

[visualpurple]

johnalm, on 11 February 2012 - 12:58 PM, said:

and is that 7 courses in a sem! I was doing 6 in engineering, and that was a mother load. Between weekly assignments/projects/ab reports/ midterms, and just keeping up with course material for each course- it was a handful.
I think I am going to have to brace myself for this law storm lol

Fall-term LRWA isn't really a course in the traditional sense. There are no readings and only a handful of lectures (most of which I skipped). It has 3 assignments in the fall term (one of those is just a case brief though), and in January you do a memo, factum, and moot (this is all you do in January as a 1L - no other courses).