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I don't know if all of the differences I've experienced are an undergrad vs. law school thing, or whether it's more of a University of Alabama (big public school) vs. Vanderbilt (small private school) thing, but I honestly think I liked undergrad better.
Pro-Undergrad:
I tested out of most of my freshman-level undergrad classes (English, math, science, and foreign languages), and the ones I didn't test out of, I took as honors course, so my classes were small all the way through undergrad, much smaller than many of my law school classes have been.
Pro-Undergrad:
My classmates were friendlier, more interesting, and not as .... well, *studious* (not that studious is a bad thing, but I'm trying to think of a nicer way to say "engrossed in school to the point of being socially inadequate"). They smiled and chatted with everyone sitting near them before class started. Maybe that was just because they were southerners and I go to school with a bunch of Yankees now, but I don't like it.
Pro-Undergrad:
The social life is pretty much non-existent, unless you just want to get plastered every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, but without the friendly bonding that went along with binge drinking in undergrad.
Pro-Undergrad:
Schedules were easier to manipulate in undergrad because most courses were offered more than once per year and more than one section was opened per semester.
Pro-Law:
I do like the work better in law school. It's kind of rough being so completely immersed in legal academia (which is, I have observed from my summer associate experiences, not particularly similar to the actual practice of law), but at least it's all stuff I enjoy, and my only required class after the first year is Professional Responsibility. Electives are good, and I like them.
Pro-Law:
I'm also pretty pleased with the final-grade-based-on-the-final-exam thing. I would much rather have a whole semester to put my thoughts together and then have my knowledge of the subject be based on how well I can put it all together, rather than having little BS mini-tests throughout the semester, when I know I haven't really learned enough to know what the devil I'm talking about. Plus, not having to take a test until the end of the semester allows me to be a lot more relaxed through the first 14 weeks. I know some people just stay all anal and uptight all semester long, but I'd rather procrastinate on the outlines until after classes are over, spend the two weeks of finals constantly on the verge of tears, and then have it all over and done with. After all, the worst grade I'll get is a C, and that's still a passin' grade in my book.
Pro-Undergrad:
On that note, I definitely do not like the grading system of law school in the slightest. Maybe I would like it better if I had gone to a less strenuous school, but at Vanderbilt, I'm competing against people who are so much smarter than me, it's not even funny. I'm actually okay with that. They want to work in D.C. and N.Y.C., and I don't even like to venture north of Birmingham when I can help it. So, I'm not really competing against them in the real world. But it SUCKS BUTT that I get stuck with B+'s as the best grades I can possibly get, even when I work my tail off and know that I know this material well enough to avoid a malpractice suit in any courtroom in the country (and maybe even win a few cases), just because I'm being graded on a ridiculously strict curve against the indomitable Doogie Housers of the legal world. I figure, if I know enough to do pretty well in the real world, give me a B. But if I know enough to do really well in the real world, damn it, give me an A!
Anyway, this has turned into an "I hate law school" vent, and I really didn't mean for it to (even though we do have lockers in the basement, and a prom every spring). Suffice it to say that I liked undergrad a lot better, and that ain't just because my law school is above the Alabama line.
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