<p>I was thinking about taking an intro to geo, and intro to econ, and a freshamn seminar for my first semester. Any recommendations for a fourth class? I was lookign for more of a fun/easier class.</p>
<p>I suggest using the Amherst online course catalog in conjunction with ratemyprofessors.com to find interesting classes with fun/easy professors. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head, there were a few film-related classes in the English department that looked engaging and fun.</p>
<p>or check out this website: <a href="http://www.amherst.edu/%7Escrutiny%5B/url%5D">www.amherst.edu/~scrutiny</a></p>
<p>it has reviews of specific classes, a helpful resource.</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>A lot of freshmen take social organization of law with Sarat, which is supposed to be a fun class. There is a lot of reading, but not much written work. You might like that.</p>
<p>what does the class cover</p>
<p>From the Amherst College course catalog:
(Also Political Science 18.) Law in the United States is everywhere, ordering the most minute details of daily life while at the same time making life and death judgments. Our law is many things at once—majestic and ordinary, monstrous and merciful, concerned with morality, yet often righteously indifferent to moral argument. Powerful and important in social life, the law remains elusive and mysterious. This power and mystery is reflected in, and made possible by, a complex bureaucratic apparatus which translates words into deeds and rhetorical gestures into social practices. This course will examine that apparatus. It will describe how the problems and possibilities of social organization shape law as well as how the social organization of law responds to persons of different classes, races and genders. We will attend to the peculiar ways the American legal system deals with human suffering—with examples ranging from the legal treatment of persons living in poverty to the treatment of victims of sexual assault. How is law organized to cope with their pain? How are the actions of persons who inflict injuries on others defined in legal terms? Here we will examine cases on self-defense and capital punishment. Throughout, attention will be given to the practices of police, prosecutors, judges, and those who administer law’s complex bureaucratic apparatus. Limited to 100 students. First semester. Professor Sarat</p>
<p>Keep in mind, though, that with Sarat EVERYONE gets a B. This is because his tests are insanely difficult. He is a good lecturer if you can get around his personality, though.</p>
<p>A "B" is bad? Now THAT'S grade inflation.</p>
<p>Not according to some students. I remember one class where D told me the prof gave everyone who had a C- or lower an opportunity to re-do their papers, because there were only 2 above that! So, it depends. And remember, most of the kids who go to Amherst are stellar, so the grades shouldn't be really low.</p>
<p>Why? They are only being compared with other Amherst students. If everyone gets a "B" does it mean that no one excels? and that all the "B" students performed in equal merit? (that would be QUITE surprising)</p>
<p>If a student wants to go to a top law school, his or her gpa should be (at least) 3.80. For the student, even A- is not good enough. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>Yes, you are wrong. An A- average from Amherst will not keep someone out of anywhere.</p>
<p>25%-75% of Accepted Students GPA(2007)
HLS: 3.68-3.92
YLS: 3.79-3.75
SLS: 3.80-3.96</p>
<p>A- is 3.67, so you are under 25% range with A- average.</p>
<p>ccfaithful, I assume Yale is supposed to be 3.79-3.95?</p>
<p>Sorry, my bad.
Catfish, thank you for your correction.</p>
<p>I agree w/ unregistered. Remeber, the above quoted GPA range is for the middle half of the accepted class. If you have lower grades, you need to have mitigating reasons (e.g., above average load of "tougher" classes, etc.). So it all depends.</p>
<p>Amherst students' law school applications are routed through the Career Center (Dean Bekki Lee for law sch applicant), and she would be able to put each applicant's transcripts in perspective relative to others' in that year's AC applicant pool.</p>
<p>Link to prelaw page:
<a href="http://www.amherst.edu/%7Ecareers/gradstudy/law.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.amherst.edu/~careers/gradstudy/law.html</a></p>
<p>So, if you relied on the "easiest" classes to prop up your GPA, you'd have hella hard time getting into (a top 8-10) law school since your peers would edge you out. It's very transparent when you try to "game" the system by taking the easy courses. But I'm sure you'll get into a 2nd-tier place <em>somewhere</em> with decent LSAT numbers; just remember that you'll also be competing w/ other recent AC grads (doing paralegal work, i-banking, etc.).</p>
<p>The idea that 3.67 gpa from Amherst is good even for the top 1-3 law school is too optimistic. There might be many Amherst students who apply to the top law schools with better gpa's. Even though Amherst is regarded as an excellent college, an Amherst student with below 25 percentile gpa (or below 50 percentile gpa) of the gpa's of accepted students of a law school won't be accepted easily to the law school. In addition, many people say that higher gpa is much more important than difficulty of classes.</p>
<p>I think there is a gray area, ccfaithful. Obviously a 3.67 is not "great" GPA and perhaps optimistic to "expect" an admit into H/Y/SLS. (An Amherst transcript shows the GPA distribution for one's class, btw, so GPAs are shown in context of one's peer group.) </p>
<p>That said, the above stated ranges are for the middle half of the admits, yes? One should consider that an applicant with 3.67 can be expected to apply to Columbia, NYU and other top schools; such an applicant may also spend a year or two getting work exp. that will enhance his/her chances. </p>
<p>Hey, maybe my understanding is out of date and you are right. After all, my law school buds applied well over a decade ago. And we all know recent law school applicants are much, much smarter. ;-)</p>
<p>I never said someone with an A- average could "expect" admission. I said an A- average would not keep someone out of anywhere. And I stand by that statement.</p>