How to successfully select your modules at University?

Hi everyone and welcome back to ELSA QMUL!

We are back today with a new series of articles – something we had never done before – to help fellow law students in their journey. These articles have been designed to touch upon topics which are generally important when you study law and which will help you get those amazing grades and extracurriculars!

This week we are focusing on Module Selection – and as it turns out, QMUL has opened the module selection for law students (no no, it was not on purpose ;)). So we hope that the tips from our Committee Members will help you decide, but do not hesitate to reach out in the comments to know more!

Viktoria, our President said that:

‘Last year, I was overwhelmed with the number of modules I could choose from at Queen Mary. To make my decision more accessible, I joined some of the module talks offered at my university. In these talks, the module conveners explained the goals and content of their modules and what topics they would focus on. Unfortunately, most of these sessions were NOT recorded, and I could not join all of them, although I think it is essential to watch them.?

So, all I was left with was a bunch of modules and a non-existing career plan. I asked my father for his opinion when showing him the module list, and he gave me excellent suggestions based on my interests. I am interested in politics, religious conflicts and experiencing something completely new. This is why I, and my father in that sense ;), decided to go for ASIA; a full year of ASIA:?

-???????Semester A: Law in Asia by Professor Prakash?

-???????Semester B: Chinese Law and Institutions by Professor Burnay?

I would recommend to choose something new and something that you might not be able to study EVER again. I chose Asian Law modules because I had never been interested in Asia, and I wanted to push myself to be exposed to something completely new. I grew up in Central Europe (civil law) and studied law (common law) in the UK. This means that I had never experienced anything related to the Asian legal system except through The Economist or other News Sources.?

University is literally about trying out something new because you will do something else anyways after graduation, most of the time. So PUSH yourself and try, try, try. There is so much stuff to learn out there, and you would waste your time on your university degree if you did not try to see the world from as many different angles as possible.? I felt odd when I told my friends that I chose these fairly ‘random’ modules because most of my friends chose something ‘corporate law’-related. If this is your passion, then amazing, go for it! But do not forget that if you know you want to specialize in a specific legal domain, you are allowed to explore other fields as well, and you should! 10/10 would choose Asian law and Chinese law again!?

Alexandra, our Director for Internal Management:

It depends on how much choice you have. If you can only choose a couple of modules, I would recommend you choose your electives to reflect your passions. If you have more choice, I recommend choosing equal amounts of credits of modules that:?

a) Help you work towards your long-term career goals,?

b) Help you explore your passions,?

c) Help you expand your areas of knowledge.

Mikto, our VP for Sponsorships:

‘When going into second year, the number of modules available for a person who just finished first year was overwhelming. As such, to make an informed decision I attended module talks and spoke with upperclassmen which could give me first-hand experience of how the module actually is. At the end, I realised which modules were for me and which weren’t and numbered all the modules from most favourite to least favourite. Since I am interested in Commercial law, all of my choices reflected my future career path!

Semester A & B: Competition Law

Do I think you have to choose a commercial law related module if you want to do Commercial law in the future? Not really, you can choose any module that interests you, even if it has nothing to do with your chosen career path. It does not disadvantage or advantage you either way so choose something you know will keep your attention and allow you to gain a good grade!’

Enzo (me), Director for Marketing:

‘I think that there are two ways of looking at this problem: you might want to specialise in an area of law such as Commercial Law or Public Law, or you might want to explore your options. When I was a fresher, I thought I would be a Human Rights Lawyer and I was?just different?from all my fellow students who wanted a corporate environment. Turns out, we’re not that different!

I chose my modules based on the areas I wanted to explore more in-depth, which would allow me in turn to see whether I was suited for this career path. In my opinion, if you do not enjoy your electives, you will not enjoy the career related to it! My second-year modules were:

Sem A: UK Human Rights Law

Sem B: Commercial and Consumer Law

As you can tell, this is pretty much two drastic choices, but it is one that made sense for me: Human Rights Law allowed me to see how we actually defend our basic rights in Courts, something which I did not like because I found it somewhat too frustrating. The module is really well taught at QMUL, and is really interesting, but something I am not so sure I want to pursue anymore. For my second module, I am still studying it but I so far love it – it is very heavy on legislation but it is very interesting to see how something such as our ’30-day right to return’ came to life and how it operate in real life.

I would personally recommend choosing something which will help you make a more informed decision as to your career path and which you will enjoy! I cannot stress this enough, some people choose modules because they think it will make them more employable, when in fact, it might not be and ultimately, they will have wasted a year learning something they hated. Choose wisely and choose what you love!’

That's it for us this week, we will be back soon! Please give us your feedback as to whether you enjoyed this new form of content but more importantly your questions down below!