Law School Discussion

Hi all!

These is just a list of things I think one should be done before studying for the bar exam.

What others would you recommend?

1. Decide how are you going to study the bar exam. You have three options:

Study on your own ($)
Study with a bar prep course (mainly Barbri, Kaplan or Themis) ($$)
Study with a tutor ($$$)

2. Plan your meals. Since you are going to be dedicating long hours to studying, plan your meals in advance. For example, there are grocery stores that deliver groceries to your home.

3. Make hotel reservations. Although it is too soon to know where you are going to take the exam, you can book a hotel room in the closest hotels to the locations you have selected. You will have time to cancel the reservations later, once you know which location you ar going to take the bar exam.

4. Check your health. Because you want to avoid unpleasant surprises while studying for the bar, it is a good idea to pay a visit to the dentist and to the doctor to make sure you are in good health.

5. Check your legal matters. Make sure that you are not going to face any legal trouble. For example, check that your lease is not going to expire during the months you will be studying. Or if you are an immigrant, confirm that your visa will be valid while studying.

6. Make sure you can take the bar exam. Confirm that all required forms have been filed with your State Bar and that you are allowed to take the bar exam.

7. (Try to) Put your love life in order. Try not to fall in love or you will be too distracted. If you are planing on breaking up, break up before starting to study. In any case, make sure that your loved one understands that you are going to be really-really busy for 3 months.

8. Plan your bar exam vacations. Plan your vacations pre-bar exam, and plan your vacations post-bar exam. You are going to need both!!

9. Read about other people experiences about the bar exam. Now that you have the time, learn from what other students have experienced while studying for the bar exam. It will help you to understand better what you are going to face for the next three months.

10. Enjoy your last days as a law student or as a non-bar-student!! Try to get as much sleep as you can, have fun and do all the things you are not going to be able to do for a little while.

I am writing more advice and info on the bar exam in my blog (http://flashcards.barmaterials.com) and I would love to hear your opinion 

You are welcome, Jim.  I plan to sit for the exam in September of this year.  I really want to get that certification!

Thanks Angie!  BTW...name is Jim.  I will try to locate the 2000 pages, etc.  I think it would be a big help to me just to learn, even though I may not need it in school.  Wish you luck on the paralegal journey!

This school requires online attendance via a webcam.  If you can fit their schedule into your own, go for it.  I looked at this school.  It is very good. 

But, think about it.  If you have to spend time running your business  and taking care of your children on a daily basis, do you even have the time it would take to study the law at least 5 hours a night to that you can pass the FYLSE on the first try?

Hello vanceap3:

The title of the zip file is "2000+ Pages of Law School Outlines, Notes, Analysis."  It is on ebay.com and sells for $3.99.  I have it on my Kindle and I am glad I am able to study anywhere I go.  There are a few typo and grammatical mistakes in the notes.  But, overall the file does help me memorize the law.  I should pass the certified paralegal exam with this file. 

For the other poster regarding law school exams:  When I was at California Southern, I had to take the exams at a testing site.  They were similar to the exams I took while I was a first year student at Mercer University's School of Law (1987 to 1988).  Mid-Atlantic does not have mid term or final exams.  What Mid-Atlantic does have is a final project.  Before anyone receives a degree from this company, he or she has to complete a final project.  It can be anything from serving a term of internship under  an attorney to completing a thesis.  Mid Atlantic is administered by a company.  But so is DeVry University, ITT Tech, UMA Medical Academy, CTU, and hundreds of other schools distributed throughout the entire nation.  Many years ago, home schooling was looked down upon as well.  Now, it is an accepted form of education.

I didn't have enough money to complete Mercer, California Southern, or Mid Atlantic. I work as a security guard and I am divorced.   As a result, I have opted to go for being a certified paralegal.  I am getting experience by helping inmates with law issues by volunteering for the New Vision Organization. The only thing I [can] do is summarize court opinions for them.  Florida monitors the unauthorized practice of law vigorously.   I am a volunteer paralegal for that organization.

Quote from: Julie Fern on March 18, 2013, 03:20:47 PM

did we ever, um...you know?

To whom was this directed?

exactly. 

Holy *&^%. Court lives. Random post on Facebook prompted a brief return. Hope all is well with all. And holy hell. Jules is still here. How the hell are you, Jules?

julie good.  still many putzes vanquish.

you running governor yet?  still got statue of gump in bedroom?

drumming up any business yet?

To "CA Law Dean"

Thank you for entering this discussion.

Please defend your position that CBA law schools ate not a joke by presenting detailed employment statistics (not antidotal or individual examples) of the employment histories of graduates at your school and graduates of other CBA Law Schools. 

Please also identify the CBA Law School at which you claim to serve as Dean.

Thanks.

As a bay area attorney I think I can give you a little insight, but also realize that I or anyone else on this board is nothing more than an anonymous internet poster that knows nothing about you, your situation, or what is best for you so take my advice and anyone else's with a major grain of salt.

With that intro I think you have the most important equation of selecting a law school down, which is selecting the location. If you want to live in San Francisco or the Bay area then attend these schools I know plenty of successful grads from both Golden Gate and USF.

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW & THE REALITY OF LEGAL EDUCATION
One thing few 0L's realize is that what you learn at an ABA school is exactly the same. Whether you attend USF, Golden Gate, Stanford, Harvard, your first year will consist for Torts, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Property, Criminal Law, and Con Law. In these courses you will read Supreme Court cases and those justices do not write separate opinions for different schools you will read Pennoyer v. Neff for example in Civil Procedure a case from the 1800's and you will learn about Notice. In Torts you will read Palsgraf to learn proximate cause, Contracts Hadley v. Baxendale for contract remedies, etc etc.

You will have the opportunity for a few electives here and there, but those courses will make very little difference in your career. The location is what really matters and there are no shortage of human rights and other public interest legal jobs in the Bay Area which are open to both GGU & USF students. The Human Rights element means very little and you will realize law school is quite generalized you can't really specialize until you have been out in the legal world for a few years and you usually end up in something you never would have thought.

Keep your goal of Human Rights, but realize a schools' reputation for a specialty program means very little since at absolute most you could take 3-4 courses in the area. So there really is NO IDEAL program they are all the same particularly USF & Golden Gate they have many of the same professors.

SCHOLARSHIP CONDITIONS
Having a 30k a year scholarship from GGU is awesome and getting out with as little debt as possible is the ideal situation. However, you need to pay close attention to the conditions of these scholarships. Typically they will require you to maintain a 3.0 GPA. As an undergrad I imagine you achieved a 3.0 without trying, but law school is a whole different ball game. First off there is the curve typically only 35% of the class can have a 3.0 at the end of first year and you lose the scholarship for 2L & 3L this is common at law schools throughout America.

However, like 100% of law students you will think your special and will work really hard and easily finish in the top 35%, but at every ABA school students are smart, hard-working, and motivated, which means there is a 65% chance you will lose the scholarship.

I do not know the specific requirements of your GGU scholarship, but it is very important that you ask. If you have essentially a full ride and all you need to do is maintain good academic standing then GGU might be the way to go, but really grill them on the conditions.

Personal Feelings About School
I have been to both campuses multiple times and think they are both fine schools, but they give off a different vibe.  I personally like GGU a little more since it is in the heart of downtown and students tend to be friendlier, but USF is a beautiful campus and in far less crowded area of San Francisco. Many of the professors you have will be the same whether you attend GGU, Hastings, or USF the same people teach Sylvester for Contracts, Keane for Con Law, etc so again the academic quality will not be much different, but the administration, buildings, general feel are unique to each schools.

I highly recommend visiting both schools a few times and really seeing, which one feels right nobody knows better than yourself what suits you best so really listen to yourself. Do not listen to anonymous internet posters, or a for-profit, unregulated magazine offering an opinion like U.S. News.

Conclusion:
I know nothing about you or what the best decision is and no right answer will pop up. Both schools are ABA accredited and will allow you to sit for the bar exam and give you a solid education, but whether you succeed in the legal profession will be up to you.

If you have more detailed questions about either school feel free to PM me.