How many hours a day do you study?

[WGMarkazie]

I just wanted to impart a little wisdom on the 1Ls that visit this board.  The second year (atleast for me) was just slightly easier than the first.  However, the third was a great deal easier.  During my third year I pretty much spent 20 hours a week in class and studying.  So, if you make it past the first and second years, you have something to look forward to.

[jeffjoe]

Why don't we start with the third year and work toward the harder first year? Kinda gradual increase in the work load? 

[vw515]

I have been studying during my breaks between classes. I also study from 5:30 to 8 I did 7 hours on saturday with 15 min breaks every hour on the hour to socialize or smoke or just breath it seems to work I am comfortable plus I have my own time at home and I have Sunday it seems doable

[aryeal]

My study habits have changed since my first post in this thread.  I'm now up to about 2-3 hours on weeknights and anywhere from 4-6 Saturday and Sunday.  Of course, this ebbs and flows.  Although it doesn't "ebb" much  .  More often than not, I actually spend more time.

[dtonsing]

Generally speaking, law students are rather bright individuals.  Many law students can “get by” or even do “well” with a minimal amount of studying (“minimal” being a relative term). 

However, if you view law school as the beginning of your career as a lawyer, are you willing to settle for “getting by?”  I encourage students to perform at their personal best levels, preparing for the days when they will be representing clients whose freedom, lives, fortunes and families may well be at stake.  Start practicing now to be the kind of lawyer you would hire if you needed a lawyer. 

So how does this translate into time spent studying?  Devote as much time to law now as you will when you enter the professional practice.  A light week for an attorney is in the neighborhood of sixty hours.

Consider this:  14 hours in class; 42 hours outside of class (3 hours for every class hour). That adds up to 56 hours – one-third of the 168 hours we all have in each week.  If you sleep as much as 8 hours each night (7 X 8 = 56), that leaves you with 56 hours to attend to your personal health and well being, to socialize, to shop, to wash the car, shampoo the puppy and do all those other things that make life worthwhile.

If you spend substantially more time than this, you run the risk of burning out, ruining your health, giving in to the stresses we all (lawyers and law students) face, and – therefore – doing less than your personal best. 

If you spend substantially less time than this, you probably won’t be attending to all the essential elements of high-level study and exam prep: reading, briefing, attending every class, taking notes, transforming your notes, creating course summaries (“outlines”), developing flow charts, and answering practice hypotheticals in writing.

For an in-depth discussion of how much time to spend studying, and how to use that time most efficiently, go to your law library and find the September issue of Student Lawyer, the ABA Law Student Division publication.  The cover article I wrote covers this whole topic, and provides a step-by-step method for allocating your time.  There you will find a sample of how a student can determine precisely how much time to spend studying each day.

If you have further questions about this, feel free to e-mail me.

[Matthew_24_24]

Geez, lol.

I'm 4th year undergrad...I study 6 hours on weekdays and 10-12 on weekends.

Studying that little sounds impossible lol.

Matt

[TaxProf]

While doing all the reading that you should do takes a fair amount of time (together with class you should probably be in the 45 to 60 hour per week range), I strongly believe that it isn't putting in more time that leads to better performance. It is HOW you study that matters (reading actively and regularly reintegrating your knowledge with updated outlines, etc).

[Wild Jack Maverick]

Generally speaking, law students are rather bright individuals.  Many law students can “get by” or even do “well” with a minimal amount of studying (“minimal” being a relative term). 

However, if you view law school as the beginning of your career as a lawyer, are you willing to settle for “getting by?”  I encourage students to perform at their personal best levels, preparing for the days when they will be representing clients whose freedom, lives, fortunes and families may well be at stake.  Start practicing now to be the kind of lawyer you would hire if you needed a lawyer. 

So how does this translate into time spent studying?  Devote as much time to law now as you will when you enter the professional practice.  A light week for an attorney is in the neighborhood of sixty hours.

Consider this:  14 hours in class; 42 hours outside of class (3 hours for every class hour). That adds up to 56 hours – one-third of the 168 hours we all have in each week.  If you sleep as much as 8 hours each night (7 X 8 = 56), that leaves you with 56 hours to attend to your personal health and well being, to socialize, to shop, to wash the car, shampoo the puppy and do all those other things that make life worthwhile.

If you spend substantially more time than this, you run the risk of burning out, ruining your health, giving in to the stresses we all (lawyers and law students) face, and – therefore – doing less than your personal best. 

If you spend substantially less time than this, you probably won’t be attending to all the essential elements of high-level study and exam prep: reading, briefing, attending every class, taking notes, transforming your notes, creating course summaries (“outlines”), developing flow charts, and answering practice hypotheticals in writing.

For an in-depth discussion of how much time to spend studying, and how to use that time most efficiently, go to your law library and find the September issue of Student Lawyer, the ABA Law Student Division publication.  The cover article I wrote covers this whole topic, and provides a step-by-step method for allocating your time.  There you will find a sample of how a student can determine precisely how much time to spend studying each day.

If you have further questions about this, feel free to e-mail me.

I really love this guy.

[dft]

Yea - me too (I'm assuming you're serious).  In fact, I just bought his book on Amazon - it was pretty inexpensive too.

Generally speaking, law students are rather bright individuals.  Many law students can “get by” or even do “well” with a minimal amount of studying (“minimal” being a relative term). 

However, if you view law school as the beginning of your career as a lawyer, are you willing to settle for “getting by?”  I encourage students to perform at their personal best levels, preparing for the days when they will be representing clients whose freedom, lives, fortunes and families may well be at stake.  Start practicing now to be the kind of lawyer you would hire if you needed a lawyer. 

So how does this translate into time spent studying?  Devote as much time to law now as you will when you enter the professional practice.  A light week for an attorney is in the neighborhood of sixty hours.

Consider this:  14 hours in class; 42 hours outside of class (3 hours for every class hour). That adds up to 56 hours – one-third of the 168 hours we all have in each week.  If you sleep as much as 8 hours each night (7 X 8 = 56), that leaves you with 56 hours to attend to your personal health and well being, to socialize, to shop, to wash the car, shampoo the puppy and do all those other things that make life worthwhile.

If you spend substantially more time than this, you run the risk of burning out, ruining your health, giving in to the stresses we all (lawyers and law students) face, and – therefore – doing less than your personal best. 

If you spend substantially less time than this, you probably won’t be attending to all the essential elements of high-level study and exam prep: reading, briefing, attending every class, taking notes, transforming your notes, creating course summaries (“outlines”), developing flow charts, and answering practice hypotheticals in writing.

For an in-depth discussion of how much time to spend studying, and how to use that time most efficiently, go to your law library and find the September issue of Student Lawyer, the ABA Law Student Division publication.  The cover article I wrote covers this whole topic, and provides a step-by-step method for allocating your time.  There you will find a sample of how a student can determine precisely how much time to spend studying each day.

If you have further questions about this, feel free to e-mail me.

I really love this guy.

[Wild Jack Maverick]

Of course.

Yea - me too (I'm assuming you're serious).  In fact, I just bought his book on Amazon - it was pretty inexpensive too.

 I encourage students to perform at their personal best levels, preparing for the days when they will be representing clients whose freedom, lives, fortunes and families may well be at stake.  Start practicing now to be the kind of lawyer you would hire if you needed a lawyer. 

I really love this guy.