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« on: July 12, 2006, 01:30:24 AM »
So as I sit and realize my first year of law school, pretty much the first year of the rest of my life, will begin in a month and 5 days, the excitement is befuddled with anxiety. I am a good student, intelligent, and have a strong work ethic, but I feel completely unprepared for law school. Maybe unprepared isn’t the right word, lets say... clueless.
In Undergrad (which I am coming straight from) I breezed through my classes. I never had an in-depth study habit... I read what I needed to read when I needed to read it, and maintained good grades. I feel at a loss now, as I prepare for law school...
Pretty much what I am asking in this thread (now that I rambled too much already) is how exactly to handle law school. I know I can do it, I just don’t know how it all works... how the sprockets of the machine work and what gears to turn and follow... How does it all work? You go to class... you read the assigned cases... you outline them... and then you move on? Then come final time you re-study all the material and take a 3 hour long hypothetical examination? Is that the basic jist of it? Is it a mere barrage of rules, situations and hypotheticals thrown at you... and the real task of law school is being able to interpret, analyze, and remember the aforesaid? What are the points of study groups? To bolster the understanding of topics and rules? To study?
I’m sorry I can’t word the question in a cognizant form, I am just so curious as to what I have in store for me, for I believe it will be COMPLETELY different then undergrad. I’ve seen the countless threads on this board about study habits, i.e. how many hours to devote per class, what’s a good schedule, what materials are best.... but the one thread and topic I am in search of... is how law school all works. How is work assigned? What are the procedures followed? Pretty much how does law school work... from a student’s point of view... what is the Blueprint of a first year of law school?
I am sorry for the drawn-out topic and forgive me if I've carried on... but any help, insight, or advice into this would help me greatly.
Please, anyone, feel free to chime in and I would be happy to elaborate if necessary...
Thanks again everyone!
-mike