Add/Drop

So after my not-so-succesful experience with registering for classes last year, I am desperate to get into some courses during the add/drop period for Spring semester, which starts next week. I am currently registered for seven credit hours, three of which are a course that I would dearly love to drop, as it is taught by Professor Marian, and I'm not sure that I can stand another semester of her. But I can't possibly drop it unless I can not only replace it, but also find at least 5 (preferably 7 or 8) credit hours of other classes. And that's not going to be easy.

The courses offered next semester are truly less than inspiring. It's heavy on the Civil Procedure and technology end of things. And a lot of the courses are only two credit hours each. The three credit hour classes are almost all offered in the same couple of time blocks. And anything decent already has a waitlist a mile long.

Following the original registration and adjustment period, I am number 2 on the waitlist for Family Law. I desperately want this course. It is a pre-requisite for a myriad of other courses. It is also three credit hours. However, I don't know how likely it is that I'll actually get in. The professor teaching it is supposed to be the better of the two who normally teach the course. Half the law school wants to take it for the same reasons I do. And the fact is only 120 of the 450 or so students eligible for the course will be admitted.

I am also on the waitlist for a course called Alternative Dispute Resolution. It conflicts with Family Law, so I would drop it if I am added to Family Law. But I don't want to drop it if I don't get into Family Law. But you're automatically registered for the course if you're on the waitlist and enough people drop it for their number to turn up. So I could find myself in the position of being registered for both courses at the last minute of the add-drop period. And you are charged $5 each time you process an add-drop slip (because apparently $28,000 in tuition isn't enough to cover the two or three minutes that the registrar's office has to spend on processing my add-drop form). Seeing as I am very, very poor this year (blew all my money on that study-abroad nonsense), I don't want to spend a single dollar more than I have to for this crap.

Which leaves me with the task of finding ten credit hours of other courses, just in case I don't get into any of my waitlist courses. So far, I've decided to definitely register for Copyright Law, which has lots of spots left and is taught by a professor I immensely respect and like. The only other course that I'm really inspired by is Adoption Law.

Unfortunately for me, Adoption Law is a seminar course with limited enrollment AND has Family Law as a pre-requisite. I just so happen to have the professor teaching it for a class this semester. I approached her after class Wednesday and asked if she would consider making an exception to the pre-requisite. She asked me to either stop by her office on Thursday or write her an email explaining why I wanted her to do so. Last night, I sent her an email telling her about how I'm adopted myself and why that makes me interested in taking her course. She emailed me back this morning and told me that she is willing to waive the pre-requisite because she thinks that my personal experiences will enrich the class. Woo hoo! But wait, let's temper that excitement because the course is already full. Boooooo. She told me to register for it to get put on the waitlist and to come to the first class. If, after add-drop and scramble day, there are still no openings, she will see if there are other options available to me for taking the course.

I would also like to take Spanish For Lawyers. This course also has a waitlist, of course, so I can't really enroll in it. It is two credit hours, so it's not a big help in my quest for a full schedule. But it would be useful in my quest to do immigration law. And it would (I think) be fun. Y'all know how much I loves me foreign language classes. And it's not like I'm getting any credit for the Advanced Swedish courses I'm taking.

So that brings the total of courses where I'm hoping for someone (or two someones) to drop the course so that I can get in to THREE.

Best case scenario: I get into Spanish For Lawyers, Family Law and the Adoption Law seminar. That would give me fourteen credit hours total. If I drop Prof. Marian's class, that leaves me with eleven. I would like to have 15 credits minimum so that I can not have to kill myself next year to reach the 88 credit hour minimum to graduate. I have no other attractive options open to me. The unattractive options include Employment Law, and ummmmm... well, not much else, really. I'm at a complete loss.