Soon to be One L with a question...

[White Plains]

bump. Any more opinions?

I'm curious. What kind of music do you play?

I guess the short answer is indie rock, but that of course covers alot. We're somewhere between Pinback and late Fugazi.

[batoyreh]

ya, i'll just restate that i'm certain a person CAN do that at NYU (excepting finals time and a few other weeks throughout the year) no problem.  Whether you personally can do that only you know and you, unfortunately, can't know until you start and see how you're managing after a month.  Some feel overwhelmed and others wonder what to do with all their free time. (personally, i was the former the first semester and the latter the second semester).

[mynameismud]

are you guys kidding?  dude, don't listen to anyone that says you won't have a few hours a week to spare.  and do not quit your band, you will regret it.  i've played with a few different ones since starting school, and it was a great way to have fun and get the hell away from law students for awhile.  most law students are like lawyers - they're worthless pricks, and i don't know what i would have done if i hadn't had friends outside of school to do things like play music with.  you'll meet a few cool ones, and the rest you wouldn't want to even ride the elevator with. 


let me also repeat something i've said over and over on this board, at least on the few occasions that i've been bored enough to post here.  LAW SCHOOL IS A JOKE.  it's not hard.    i just found out that i aced two of my exams this past semester; funny thing is, i never went to those classes, and i never bought the textbook.  i don't even know who taught it.   i spent one week for each class researching the subject and making my own outlines, and i knew it cold when i walked into the test room.  i'm a full time student, but i only actually work 3 weeks a semester.  dont' listen to people who say you won't have time to spare, they're miserable and they want you to feel the same way they do.     

[antwan]

I totaly agree with what mynameismud is saying. I didnt work nearly as hard as even the average student in my section and i just finished in the top 10% of my entire class. I didnt even read cases except for the one class where my prof would use heavy socratic. I did attend most classes though which i do  think is important cause the profs will often throw you a hint about the exam. I would definetly recommend using the E & E's and Leews. If you just did those 2 things and and arent a moron youll outperform most. good luck

[DreamUnique]

Hi, it's difficult to predict how much time you'll actually need to spend doing law related stuff (studying, etc) outside of class, but I definitely agree that you need time to yourself outside of lawschool. I'm a 2L and during my first year, we were instructed not to work (or at least not more than 20hr/wk).

But here's my problem with that - about half of the people I knew in my 1L class (not me though) went out partying at least 2 or 3 nights a week and definitely on weekends. There were organization functions/clubs to join and etc. I'm sure this reached 20hrs/week occasionally, but no one gave it a second thought. Because of this, I went ahead and did whatever extracurricular activity I wanted to do as long as I was prepared for class the next day. So my advice? Just stay prepared for class, then your free time is yours to spend however you see fit.

HTH, 
Shan

[batoyreh]

while i agree with the last 3 posters that you will likely have time, i dont understand antwan's or mynameismud's reasoning.  they say that it was easy for them so it will be for you.  there is a curve and if they did extremely well (dont know if they went to nyu or not) then congrats to them, but 90% are not in their position.  so whether they just felt like using this as an excuse to talk about themselves or not, i would advise you don't pay much attention to such comments as they hardly constitute advice (i would similarly stay away from those who say it is impossible and to have a chance at the median you have to study at least 20 hours a week).

bottom line: time put into studying and methods used to study really do vary from person to person.

[jacy85]

You'll probably have time, with the exception of exams and legal writing deadlines.  HOWEVER, I'd keep your commitments at a minimum for at least first semester, maybe try to cut down your practices, and try to limit the number of gigs you play.

Until you receive your grades first semester, you really won't know if your study plan is working for you, or what/if you have to change anything.  My approach to first semester was I'd rather do less in terms of hobbies/social life overall and put more into studying so that I can figure out what the hell I need to do to succeed in law school.  Better safe than sorry.  It's easier to lighten up your load and study less but more effectively second semester when you know what works than struggling to figure out what went wrong and praying for better grades to make up for a lackluster first semester.