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1. I heard online that the 320 batch strength leads to a bunch of diffrerent professors teaching the same subject to students, and because of subjectivity of grading, it can lead to skewed batch rankings. Do you think tat would be a problem?
2. the campus is only 23 acres and honestly thats feels tiny, when you were on campus did you feel like it was cramped or small?
3. with the addition of the 3 year llb course, with circa 400 students sitting for placements when im in my 4/5th year, how would that change my chances of being placed at a t1 firm
4. They had trimesters back when you were studying there too, but im hearing that nobody has time for anything else on campus and people are literally failing subjects and being held back because of how hard it is, is that something i need to be concered about
Campus isn't small per se, from.omw end to the other is about a km. It's just that much of the campus is under construction.
It would negatively impact your chances of number of students are high for placement.
You have so much to study in law school that it does take the life out of you. You can reach areas like MG Road in about 40 minutes by metro, but you'll not have time to do stuff.
23 acres campus is quite large. NALSAR and HNLU aside, most NLUs will have similar sized campus. NALSAR, otoh, is some 20 kms away from the city and students do not have the chance to engage with cultural activities/competitions/etc in the city. Opportunity of externships at firms/law offices, during the term that NLS provides will not be easy to manage at NALSAR.
The size of graduating cohort will be around 400 for the class of 2031 but the investment that NLS has made in careers office, clinics, externships will also expand the opportunities available for them.
Trimester system is demanding but that also prepares students better for the life after graduation.
What you have not referred to in your post and is the greatest USP of NLS is the difference in Faculty quality and curriculum. The academic exposure you will have at NLS, irrespective of sections, will be qualitatively superior to what you will have at NALSAR. The exodus of many faculty from NALSAR post departure of Prof. Mustafa is not something a University can quickly recover from.
NLS students don't get any physical externship opportunities given their highly demanding schedule, so incumbents should not be told that such things happen.
As for the marking disparity, that's still very real. If a teacher teaches one section and frames questions for 5 sections and also marks them on that question, then obviously there is going to be disparity, since only one section will be truly aware of his expectations. When all the teachers do the same, you may argue that the overall disparity also gets distributed, with every section suffering in the process, but it's not really a mathematical calculation. So disparity will remain. But bigger universities or TLCs also have had the same issue traditionally.
The faculty quality part is spot on. NLSIU is currently very much ahead of other universities in that regard. The only issue is that the faculty keep complaining about being overworked and unable to pursue their own research. Several people have even quit on those grounds. Not sure why, since NLSIU keeps recruiting regularly every year. Maybe the rate of expansion is too fast.
1. very true. grades are highly arbitrary (or in nls lingo- arbit) due to extreme sectional disparity. also, 'moderation' at nls is fucked. btw, 'moderation' is a mathematical formula that places students along the bell curve. the bell curve is quite steep, meaning that a few do very well, many do just well enough, and many more do poorly (for example. out of 200, 5-6 students will get an O, 10-15 will get an A+, 40-50 will get A, so on and so forth). so yes, batch rankings may be a problem, and you need to be willing to engage in relentless, ruthless competition with your batchmates if you want to come to NLS and have a good batch rank.
2. campus is tiny- there are no common/social spaces, 50% or more is under construction, and it is just one straight line (like someone else mentioned). the last is the biggest problem- you can literally walk from the start of the campus (gate zero) till its end (gate four) and see everything there is to see. there is no campus life whatsoever, cause everyone is too busy studying or abusing substances.
also- keep in mind that this is a campus meant for 400 people (5 batches of 80 each) and now currently has 1200+. so we are three times over maximum capacity (this has led to worsening living conditions for those lucky enough to be on campus. many have been provided accommodation outside campus as there is not enough space in the hostels). but i cant lie, the hostel life is amazing, very fun, and the community is super tight knit. but the tight knitedness of the community is also fading due to the above reasons.
all in all, i went to nalsar for trilaterals last year- so i have stayed on both campuses. NALSAR's campus and campus life is much much much better. not even comparable to NLS.
3. yes, it will make it more difficult. but those same students will be competing for ur jobs even if ur in nalsar so honestly this is a misplaced concern imo.
4. yes. not much personal time or time for a robust social life. you'll have friends ofc, but pls forget whatever fantastical college life you have otherwise imagined for yourself. most time will be spent in class, or studying. this is, of course, only if academics are a priority for you. many choose not to succumb to the academic pressure and study all the time (these are, unfortunately, the people who get backlogs or year losses). the bottomline is that within 3 months you are expected to do 4 courses (each course having enough syllabus for a 6 month semester, being taught in 2.5 months or less). these 4 courses each have class participation, term papers, mid terms, in-class assignments, end terms, and many other evaluation components that keep you occupied throughout the trimester. in addition to this, if you decide to do moot courts (you should) or other extracurriculars, there goes the rest of your time. so yes, the NLS trimester is a constant and unforgiving demand on your time.
based on the above considerations, and even generally, let me tell very unequivocally that you will have a better college life in NALSAR. The campus life is better, the community is better, the NALSAR campus itself is vast and beautiful. their hostels are also nice. there will be far lesser academic pressure, and you will still get similar opportunities with internships and moots.
but let me tell you something else as well- others on this thread have touched upon this, when they spoke about the superiority of the NLS faculty. which is- the quality of education you will receive in NLS is unparalleled within India (the only real competitor here being Jindal, because they can afford to pay the biggest scholars a lot of money). yes, the trimester system is hectic. yes, it is hard to have a good batch rank. yes, the academic rigour is stifling. but pressure makes diamonds, and that is the principal value that the NLS system provides. it moulds you into a competent and capable law student and future professional.
there is a palpable, not ostensible, difference between an NLS grad and a NALSAR grad. not because NLS students are better than NALSAR students, but rather because the NLS academic system is more effective at producing advocates capable of studying and synthesising large amounts of legal information under high pressure, within tight timelines. this does not mean that there are no NALSAR students that are WAY more competent than NLS students (surely there are), but rather that, on average, the NLS student is more competent than his counterparts from other NLUs.
so my advice to you being this- what makes NALSAR better than NLS is precisely what makes it worse (and vice versa). the decision that YOU have to make is what you value, both in the short term (next 5 years of college) and also long term (next 10-25 years). i honestly wish i had gone to NALSAR, cause I am someone who would thrive better in a chiller, calmer environment. the rigour of NLS has made me anxious and depressive. but at the same time, I have never felt smarter and sharper in my life. that being said, I would still choose going to NALSAR if i were given the choice again, simply because my values are different (i don't value success at all costs. i would rather have had a nice, chill 5 years of college)