The law school employs a typical priority registration model. With such a model, more opportunities are created for students the further they progress through the program.
If interested in experiences like clinics and externships, it is wise to make sure that in the semesters leading up to the externship or clinic, all prerequisite courses are taken as well as other courses that you are interested in taking that might help you make the most of your clinic or externship experience.
The American Bar Association requires that a certain percentage of course offerings at accredited law schools be classified as seminar courses. Seminar courses are those courses with an enrollment of 20 or fewer students. These are often difficult to access until late in the program because of the small number of students allowed in these courses. Even then, securing enrollment in these courses is quite competitive. It is unlikely you will be able to register for a large number of seminar courses over the course of the program.
While the law school makes no guarantee about access to specific classes, it is important when registering that students go onto the Wait List for courses they are truly interested in taking. The law school’s ability to gauge current and future demand for courses is hindered if students over-populate the Wait List by wait-listing for courses they might be interested in taking.
Finally, it is a good practice to develop a complete list of required courses, bar courses you plan to take, and other electives you are considering taking while enrolled at Mitchell Hamline. This makes it is easier to plan a schedule when courses you want to take in the coming semester are either offered at times that do not work for you, fill prior to your registration time, or conflict with other courses. If you go into registration without such a list, and instead only have a list of the four or five courses you want to take in the coming semester, you may feel as though you do not have many choices and you run the risk of choosing a course that is not a part of your overall plan.
Got to Module V. Considerations and Tips When Planning your 2L Registration