yeah, the thing is that I have a friend going to the same school as me who's smarter than I am who has done more prep than I have. it keeps me up at night. I really need psychiatric help . . . I don't disagree with you about what "the reasonable person" would do in my situation . . .I'm just not that person.
Quote from: leostrauss on April 04, 2007, 06:07:49 PMyeah, the thing is that I have a friend going to the same school as me who's smarter than I am who has done more prep than I have. it keeps me up at night. I really need psychiatric help . . . I don't disagree with you about what "the reasonable person" would do in my situation . . .I'm just not that person.One point here. You need to get over this, "but he's done more work than me!!" thing. In law school, there are ALWAYS people who will have done more work, read ahead, read 20 supplements, spent more time on their memo/brief, revised their outline 20x more than you, etc. If that's how you gauge your worth in law school, you're going to a) have a mental break down, b) suffer serious health issues from lack of sleep, and c) be horribly disappointed when all of your hours of work don't result in better grades. There is a point where enough is enough. I know this from my own experience as well as from the experiences of many of my classmates.I really think if you're doing all of what you're saying you're doing, you're already getting an overview of what you'll be studying during 1L. You're familiar with supplements. Your learning potential study techniques. That is the sum total of what Law Preview will do for you. In fact, you've probably gone far beyond what law preview will give you, at least according to my understanding of what these courses teach.I'd save your money, and try to relax a bit before school starts. Law school is a marathon, not a sprint, but adding 50 extra miles on top of the 26 that everyone else is already running will just exhaust you and burn you out.
Quote from: Jacy85 on April 04, 2007, 04:53:57 PMYou could also spend $4.00 + media mail shipping for "Law School Confidential" and get both an overview of 1L courses, the 1L job search, and different opinions from both the author and students on study techniques that worked well.If you're really feeling ambitious, you can go to the library or a book store, see if they have the Examples and Explanations series for 1L courses (Contracts, Civil Procedure, Torts, Constitutional Law, Property, Criminal Law), and sit down with them. Read through the table of contents, maybe skim a few chapters here and there, and get a feel for the subjects and some of the terminology. That costs you nothing.Your money is better saved, since law school is expensive enough as it is without companies trying to take advantage of panicked students.And for the record, NONE of the students I know who did well at my school took a Law Preview course (doesn't mean there aren't any - I don't know for sure everyone who is in the top of my class, but those I do know, didn't take one - neither did I, for that matter).Any advantage you might get is very short-lived, as the learning curve is steep. Is $1000 worth it for a 3 or so week advantage? (and that's assuming it will take your classmates 3 weeks to get their own overview by reading through their syllabus, flipping through the table of contents of the casebook, and looking at supplements).I don't think that people about to make a 100K+ dollar investment ought to flinch at one thousand dollars if it can be of help to them. What people at the top of your class do is irrelevant. Perhaps if you had taken the course (or anyone else in your class) you'd be ahead of all of those lazy unprepared people (I exaggerate to make a point). The point is that without knowing every person in your class and whether they took the course or not, it's impossible to answer the OP's question about the effectiveness of the course. Also, your class is just one of many . . . not representative.The E & E idea is a great alternative. I'm reading them right now. They are pretty detailed, and I don't get a lot of what I'm reading cuz I'm going too fast, but still . . . if you're super ambitious (or anxious) this may be your ticket. I just think it's funny that people who obviously took preparation seriously their whole life, suddenly think it is irrational when approaching the most important part of establishing their career.
You could also spend $4.00 + media mail shipping for "Law School Confidential" and get both an overview of 1L courses, the 1L job search, and different opinions from both the author and students on study techniques that worked well.If you're really feeling ambitious, you can go to the library or a book store, see if they have the Examples and Explanations series for 1L courses (Contracts, Civil Procedure, Torts, Constitutional Law, Property, Criminal Law), and sit down with them. Read through the table of contents, maybe skim a few chapters here and there, and get a feel for the subjects and some of the terminology. That costs you nothing.Your money is better saved, since law school is expensive enough as it is without companies trying to take advantage of panicked students.And for the record, NONE of the students I know who did well at my school took a Law Preview course (doesn't mean there aren't any - I don't know for sure everyone who is in the top of my class, but those I do know, didn't take one - neither did I, for that matter).Any advantage you might get is very short-lived, as the learning curve is steep. Is $1000 worth it for a 3 or so week advantage? (and that's assuming it will take your classmates 3 weeks to get their own overview by reading through their syllabus, flipping through the table of contents of the casebook, and looking at supplements).
As to your argument that since you were smart enough to get in, you don't need to prepare, I would respond that because intelligence is innate, your argument could be pushed to birth . . . a little baby with the potential to do well in law school need not prepare . . . need not learn english, go to elementary school, etc . .. just plop them down at harvard and let their natural abilities take over. That's absurd!
Further, even if you're right, your argument holds true for EVERYONE who got into school X, but law school students are ranked and competitive with one another. Thus, just being good enough to get in and pass is not nearly sufficient for success.
Hough I don't currently attend law school,
there are many books out right now that contend that the latter is right and your position about law schools assuming we know nothing and leading us down a prim rose path to legal knowledge in a supporting and encouraging way is not.
I didn't do law preview, didn't read a single preparing for law school book, didn't buy any Nutshells, etc. and I still did great my first semester. I don't buy into the scare tactics that these companies use to squeeze more money out of freaked out law students. Your school assumes you did nothing and they start from that point. You got into law school, so presumably you are smart enough to figure things out without shelling out lots of money. One nice thing that our school did though was a pre-orientation over a weekend where they had other students come in and teach us how to brief a case, what to expect in class, etc. That was free though, and it was nice to meet some other students that way. But even people who did not attend did just fine.
Quote from: leostrauss on April 04, 2007, 01:23:37 PMAs to your argument that since you were smart enough to get in, you don't need to prepare, I would respond that because intelligence is innate, your argument could be pushed to birth . . . a little baby with the potential to do well in law school need not prepare . . . need not learn english, go to elementary school, etc . .. just plop them down at harvard and let their natural abilities take over. That's absurd! Nice strawmanQuoteFurther, even if you're right, your argument holds true for EVERYONE who got into school X, but law school students are ranked and competitive with one another. Thus, just being good enough to get in and pass is not nearly sufficient for success. Another strawmanQuoteHough I don't currently attend law school, Thats pretty obviousQuotethere are many books out right now that contend that the latter is right and your position about law schools assuming we know nothing and leading us down a prim rose path to legal knowledge in a supporting and encouraging way is not.Wow, another strawman. Since you're a 0L, I don't think you're in a position to be lecturing any student on this board about lawschool. You'd be a lot better served by closing your mouth, opening your ears, and maybe learning something from people who actually know what they're talking about.
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