How many of you are taking a law school prep class?

[rm5400]

It cracks me up that almost all the pre-laws on these boards claim that these courses are a waste of money and time.  Yet I have talked to about 4 current and graduating law students who have all said either they wished they took it or "yeah there was this person in my first year classes that took one and totally had a leg up".  Seems to me $1K is so little in the big picture.  I'll be at law preview up San Fran in July.

I've talked to many students who claim they're a waste of money too. Ask twenty different people, get twenty different answers. Perhaps the classes work for some people. Probably for a lot of people, they don't.

Fair enough....I not going to lie, my parents are gifting me with it so anything I get will be a bonus.

Lemme know how it goes, I'm interested. I've never taken any prep classes (like SAT, LSAT), but I've always done well. Maybe I could have done better with extra help. I think one of the greatest benefits of these classes is knowing exactly what to expect the first day of school.

Yeah, that first week or two is what I really want to understand.  It would be pretty bad if I felt lost after only the first two weeks of class. ALso the legal writing seminar is part of it too and that is something that would be harder to learn from a book.

Are you not going to Law school this year or are you just curious how it is? 

[Melinda]

I am going to Law Preview in LA in June.  Anyone else?  I got a big discount through work and figured I may as well take it.  Better to be safe than sorry I guess, although it does seem pretty cheesy.

[Erick]

Anyone hear of a program called barbri? I got there stuff through the mail. It's a five-day course.

What program do most people go with? Law Preview? How much does that set you back?

[tacojohn]

If I go to Indiana, I'll be doing the Summer Start, which begins in July and runs for about 5 weeks.  You take just crim law, so you get to learn how to read a case, create an outline, deal with the socratic method all without the pressure of taking 4 or 5 classes.  I'm positive it will be much more beneficial than a regular law school prep course.  A similar program helped me immensely in undergrad, and my tour guide at IU did the program and he said it was enourmously helpful.  The only thing is, if you screw it up, then you're start at a disadvantage rather than with a leg up.  But you'll know exactly what the reading is like, how class discussion works (although all profs are different), and most importantly, what an exam is like.  However, it is much more expensive (paying for 4 credit hours), loans and scholarships might not cover it, and you have to find housing for an extra month.

[rm5400]

Anyone hear of a program called barbri? I got there stuff through the mail. It's a five-day course.

What program do most people go with? Law Preview? How much does that set you back?

I think they're roughly the same.  I honestly went with Law Preview based on the website info.  The site showed all the big school professors and when I signed up and also phoned in later for an address issue they seemed really on top of it.  I guess I'm a sucker for exceptional service.  Furthermore, it seems like Law preview started the whole pre-law thing and then Barbri (the bar prep co.) said oh *&^% we're missing out and jumped in.  Since both recently started this (7-9 years ago I think), I thought the original might be better, but its probably negligible anyway.

[tacojohn]

Anyone hear of a program called barbri? I got there stuff through the mail. It's a five-day course.

What program do most people go with? Law Preview? How much does that set you back?

I think they're roughly the same.  I honestly went with Law Preview based on the website info.  The site showed all the big school professors and when I signed up and also phoned in later for an address issue they seemed really on top of it.  I guess I'm a sucker for exceptional service.  Furthermore, it seems like Law preview started the whole pre-law thing and then Barbri (the bar prep co.) said oh sh*t we're missing out and jumped in.  Since both recently started this (7-9 years ago I think), I thought the original might be better, but its probably negligible anyway.

I think the value of any law school prep course is much like the value that many people find in an LSAT prep course.  There isn't really information that you couldn't find anywhere else, but it gets you disciplined (since you had to attend a class in the summer when everyone else may have just been lounging around) and gets you back into a "school" mindset quicker.

[arual324]

I'm doing Law Preview in Chicago in July. Anyone else?

[Erick]

Is there anything else that a person can do to prepare himself for being a 1L over the summer. Perhaps something that will give him/her an advantage?

[midwest]

I was just catching up with a friend who finished 1L, so this is just one person's experience and opinion, but she did a 5 day Law Preview course and does not regret it.  She thought it was useful to have a little overview before beginning law school and recommends it, so hopefully those of you taking it this summer will feel the same way. 

Most of us subscribed to the philosophy of applying to a variety of schools, including safety schools, to ensure we would get in somewhere.  I know I don't regret the extra money I spent on that in retrospect, even though as it turned out I didn't need to.  This is probably the worst case scenario -- a little buyer's remorse in retrospect.  But it may be hard to pinpoint the little boost of confidence a prep course or an overview can give you.  And maybe while others are confused by what a tort is, you'll be able to focus on something more important or intricate.

[Erick]

I was just catching up with a friend who finished 1L, so this is just one person's experience and opinion, but she did a 5 day Law Preview course and does not regret it.  She thought it was useful to have a little overview before beginning law school and recommends it, so hopefully those of you taking it this summer will feel the same way. 

Most of us subscribed to the philosophy of applying to a variety of schools, including safety schools, to ensure we would get in somewhere.  I know I don't regret the extra money I spent on that in retrospect, even though as it turned out I didn't need to.  This is probably the worst case scenario -- a little buyer's remorse in retrospect.  But it may be hard to pinpoint the little boost of confidence a prep course or an overview can give you.  And maybe while others are confused by what a tort is, you'll be able to focus on something more important or intricate.

Which one did she take？