Hi everyone,

I am going into my first year at Uottowa for the common law program.

I am having an incredibly difficult time navigating and figuring out the process to course selection. The website is unbelievably difficult and confusing, and the requirements that I can tell are mandatory are also proving challenging to grasp.

I see the following are the requirements for first year and the bottom three are the path I was interested in regarding group sizes.

JD (English) for students entering as of September 2025

• CML 1101 - Legal Foundations: Research, Strategy, Analysis (1 unit)
• CML 1102 - Contracts (5 units)
• CML 1307 - Law, Reconciliation & Decolonization (3 units)
• CML 1106 - Dispute Resolution and Professional Responsibility (3 units)
• CML 1108 - Property (5 units)
• CML 1203 - Criminal Law and Procedure (6 units) small group
• CML 1116 - Introduction to Public Law and Constitutional Law (5 units) large group
• CML 1107 - Torts (5 units) large group

I have no idea how I should be splitting these up between fall and winter terms. I know most of the courses have two parts, but I havent a clue how to split the remaining courses up such that it satisfies the requirements appropriately. Dont wanna overload in first term, for obvious reasons but also want to ensure compliance.

Also - should I be taking electives or is the first year purely mandatory courses?

ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED... Lol.

Truthfully - if you are going into 1L at Uottowa, and have finished course selection and want to share what youve taken, that would be awesome so I get a sense what I am doing wrong here.