Taking Classes Across the Midway

The Law School encourages law students to take classes across the Midway, and all law students can receive up to 12 credits toward the 105 credits required to graduate from the Law School by taking classes in other departments throughout the University.  Although those grades appear on your Law School transcripts, the grades do not count toward your Law School GPA.   If you are interested in taking a class across the Midway, please review Section 3.7 of the Student Handbook.

Should you take classes across the Midway?

In the words of students who have taken classes across the Midway:

  • "Absolutely do not hesitate.  The educational opportunities across the midway are diverse and exceptional.  It behooves any interested and intellectually cultivated student of law to expand their horizons by taking full advantage of the wonderful subjects they have at their disposal." 
  • "I would encourage students who are getting into a business related law field to take classes across the midway.  It was a nice break from case reading and I definitely learned a lot that will be applicable to my career." 
  • "I thought it was a great experience to round out my law school education and interact with other graduate students with very different perspectives."
  • "Definitely do it.  When else will you get a chance to study subjects outside the law?"
  • “Highly encourage.  The Law School is great.  But it is only a small part of an equally great University.  Take advantage.”
  • “Don't wait until your third year.  Take advantage of it at an early stage, because there are probably several classes outside of the law school that would be enjoyable to take.”
  • “I would recommend it, especially languages or business classes--at least, if you are interested in corporate work or commercial litigation.  It gets you out of the legal sphere and better able to read and interpret materials important in dealmaking, evidence management, and fostering client relationships.”
  • “It is fun to take a class outside the law school, and I would recommend it to anyone.”
  • “It gave incredible context to some of my law school classes.”
  • “If a law student is interested in the business side of the law, which includes die-hard litigators, they should take basic business school classes like Competitive Strategy.  It gives insight into how businesses behave in the real world, what motivates them, and where the law fits in.  Great idea.”
  • "I would encourage other students to take more classes at Booth."  

Requirements:

If you are contemplating taking classes across the Midway, please keep in mind the following requirements:

  • The course must be substantive and bear a relation to your future legal practice or to the study of law in general.
  • You must complete an approved petition and receive permission before enrolling in any class outside the Law School.
  • The course must be graduate level, although exceptions are occasionally made for undergraduate foreign languages that you have not previously studied or that you test into.
  • If you are a graduating student in your final quarter at the Law School, please keep in mind that the Law School is not on the same academic calendar as the rest of the University, therefore you must explain the Law School’s grading deadlines to the faculty member and the faculty member must agree, in writing, to provide a final grade or a provisional pass (if taking a class at Booth) by the University deadline for submission of grades for graduating students.
  • The class may not have substantial overlap with any class taken at the Law School.

Steps to take to register for a non-Booth class across the Midway:

  • Go to the University of Chicago Class Schedules and Registration interface (https://classes.uchicago.edu/) and click on the Advanced Search link.
  • Choose a department from the list and click the SEARCH button.
  • Review the list of classes offered by the department and select a graduate level class that you would like to take. 
  • Email the instructor of the class in which you seek to enroll.  You will need the professor’s approval to register, and you should establish with the professor whether you will be taking the class pass/fail or for a letter grade.
  • Complete the online petition to take a non-Law School class for credit.  The petition is available at: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/students/petitions/nonlawcourse
  • After your petition is submitted, you will receive either an approval or denial from the Dean of Students or the Office of the Registrar via email.
  • If the petition is approved, the Assistant Registrar will enroll you and notify you once that process is complete.

Petitions may be submitted through the end of the first week of class.  Petitions submitted thereafter will not be considered.

Steps to take to register for a Booth class:

If you are interested in taking a class at the Chicago Booth School of Business (Booth), please follow the Booth registration instructions for Law School students at https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/taking-courses-at-booth/law-school-students.  Information displayed via Booth pages is maintained by Booth staff and updated as per Booth’s schedule.

Students taking a Booth course who would like to elect Pass/Fail grading are required to complete the Pass/Fail Request form in the Booth Dean of Students’ Office (typically by the Friday of the fourth week of the quarter). After this deadline, no changes can be made to a Pass/Fail request.  If you intend to take a Booth course Pass/Fail, make certain that it is permitted, as some professors do not allow the Pass/Fail option.

Please Note: Booth has changed its process for how it delivers and how students pay for course materials.  In the past, students purchased course materials (e.g., text books and custom course packs) at Barnes and Noble or at other booksellers.  Beginning in Autumn 2013, cases, articles, and simulations for Booth courses will be delivered electronically on Canvas.  To cover the costs of these materials, students registered in Booth courses will be charged a course book fee of $25 per course.  The expense will be added to a student's tuition bill.  The course book fee replaces the custom course pack; students may also be required to purchase text books. 

Questions about taking classes across the Midway?

Please talk to the Registrar or the Dean of Students.

Example Classes

In recent academic years, law students took classes in more than a dozen departments across the Midway, including:

  • Anthropology:  Cultural Psychology 
  • Business:  Advanced Negotiations, Applied Regression Analysis, Behavioral Economics, Building the New Venture, Business Statistics, Cases in Financial Management, Clean Tech Lab, Commercializing Innovation: Tools to Research and Analyze Private Entities, Competitive Strategy, Corporate Governance, Corporation Finance, Economics and Policy in the Telecom Media and Technology Industries, Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity, Entrepreneurial Internship Seminar, Financial Accounting, Global Entrepreneurial Finance, Leadership: Effectiveness & Development, Macroeconomics, Managerial Decision-Making, Managing the Workplace, Marketing Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions Strategy, Microeconomics, New Venture and Small Enterprise Lab, Operations Management: Business Process Fundamentals, Real Estate Investments, Social Entrepreneurship Lab, Special Topics in Entrepreneurship: Developing a New Venture, Strategies and Processes of Negotiation, Taxes and Business Strategy, Strategy and Structure: Markets and Organizations, The Firm and the Non-Market Environment, Theories of Leadership      
  • Chinese:  Elementary Modern Chinese-1, Elementary Modern Chinese-2, Elementary Modern Chinese-3
  • Classics: Modern Greek
  • Computer Science/CSPP:  Algorithms, Databases, Intro to Computer Systems, Java Programming, Networks
  • Creative Writing:  Advanced Creative Nonfiction Workshop, Advanced Fiction Workshop, Beginning Creative Nonfiction Workshop, Beginning Fiction Writing, Intermediate Creative Nonfiction: Research for Nonfiction Writing, Intermediate Fiction Workshop, Thesis/Major Projects: Fiction
  • Crown Family School: Children Families & the Law, Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and Social Work Interface, Disability: Medical Ethical Psychological Issues, Health Services System, Loss Grief and Bereavement, Nonprofit Organizations and Advocacy for Social Change, Place Poverty & Social Policy, Social Intervention: Program/Policy, The US Health Care System, Urban Social Movements
  • Divinity School:  Advanced Study: Divinity, Arts of Ministry: Preaching, Arts of Ministry: Worship, Giving and Receiving, Early Modern Catholicism, Maimonides Eight Chapters and Commentary on Avot, Practice of Ministry 1, Song of Songs I, Studies in Hasidism: The Mystical Theology of R. Menahem Nah, Studies in Rabbinic Midrash: Leviticus Rabba
  • East Asian Languages & Civilization: Directed Translation
  • Economics:  Empirical Analysis-1, Empirical Analysis-2, Intro:  Mathematical Methods in Economics, Price Theory-1, Price Theory-2, Theory of Income-1, Theory of Income-2, Thesis Preparation: Economics
  • English: Academic/Professional Writing, Advanced Academic Writing, Composing Composition, Critical Videogame Studies, Multidisciplinary Study of American Culture, Pynchon/DeLillo and the Problem of America, Writing Persuasion
  • French:  Beginning Elementary French-1, Beginning Elementary French-2, Beginning Elementary French-3
  • Germanic Studies: Deutsch-Amerikanische Themen, Elementary German, Norwegian I, Norwegian II
  • History:  Historiography, Roots of Modern American City
  • Human Rights: Health & Human Rights, Human Rights: Alien & Citizen, Human Rights 2, Organizing for Human Rights Change, Sex Trafficking and Human Rights, The Practice of Human Rights
  • International Relations: Perspectives on International Relations
  • Linguistics:   Seminar: Phonology
  • Philosophy:  Elementary Logic, Intermediate Logic, Intro: Philosophy of Science, Libertarianism
  • Political Science:  Emergence of Capitalism, Global Justice, Political Economy of Corruption and Development, Politics of International Trade, Strategy, The Just War Tradition
  • Public Policy:  Cost-Benefit Analysis, Education Policy in an International Context, Firms Governments & Activists:  Business in the Non-Market Environment, Macroeconomics for Public Policy, Microeconomics I, Philanthropy and Public Policy,  Political Economy for Public Policy, Political Institution & Policy Process, Principles: Microeconomics, State and Local Public Finance, Statistics for Public Policy I, Statistics for Public Policy II
  • Sociology: Urban Structure and Process
  • Portuguese:  Elementary Portuguese 1, Elementary Portuguese 2
  • Spanish: Beginning Elementary Spanish I, Beginning Elementary Spanish-2, Beginning Elementary Spanish-3, Discurso Academico,  La Novela Histórica Del Presente, Language History Culture-1, Language, History, Culture for Heritage Speakers I, Language History Culture-2, Language History Culture 3, Literatura Hispanica: Textos Espanoles Contempraneos