How hard is law school?

[byebyeny]

 Like many other 0Ls out there, Ive heard million times that law school is hard. I would really like to know HOW HARD law school really is. Is it really something that you have to put so much effort into so that you will be mentally/physically drained everyday? Is it really that much different than UG?
To briefly introduce myself, I recently graduated with Cum Laude(3.5 GPA). During my UG years, I was one of those kids who would 'get by' by not studying all that much during the weekdays (maybe couple hours per day, or less) and study intensely for like 3~4 days before an exam and somehow pull an A. I was really into video gaming/playing sports that I spent most of my time being involved in those activities with my friends.(and yea, also partying occasionally) Now I understand the amount of material covered by law school each day is so much more than UG one so you can't afford to procristinate so much, but isn't studying 2~3 hours a day enough for any type of studying? I mean, I can't imagine myself studying for like the entire day (as many law school related books tell us) I think I can focus well for like 2 to 3 hours but any more than that would be superflous and not effective at all. Having said all that, I am by no means an ignorant/unmotivated kid, I am interested in learning about the law and society as well as any academic subject (except maybe math). I am willing to work hard but also realize there is a limit as to how hard I would do so. So my question is, can I still be a video game addict while in law school? Can I still spend 3~4 hours playing basketball after classes or am I just bound to fail if I live like how I did during my UG years?I would appreciate any input from current law students/graduates. Thanks a lot in advance.   

[new2law]

I am not starting untill January myself, but from what the others have told me it depends on your school and how hard you are willing to study. I'll relate it to a real life event that I know more on since I lived it myself.

Army Basic Training. Some think its hard, others think that it is a cakewalk. I think both are liers. I found it hard but I didnt think that it was as end of the world as others would lie and scare people to think that it was. Basicly, expect it to be somewhere in the middle of the extremes that people tell you. Afterall why would they let you in if they didnt think that you had at least a fighting chance?

[NYCFed]

I heard it goes to 11

[M_Cool]

I think you will probably develop more of a work ethic in law school.  If you don't, you won't like the law very much.  It requires a lot of hours.

[Matthies]

Your work ethic will necessarily increase.  Mine did, in spades.

For what it's worth, I know a kid who kicked a World of Warcraft addiction (I don't play video games, so I don't know how hard this was, but I hear it's difficult).  He basically said that when you show up, you quickly realize how much is at stake, and you get your priorities in order.

I took 4 chacrters to 70 in WoW during law school. You can still find time for WoW if you work smart and not work long. Plus class time is a good time to work auction houses

[Aluhks]

am I just bound to fail if I live like how I did during my UG years?[/b]

Yes.

To elaborate:

You will not have time for 3-4 hours of basketball after classes. You cannot continue to be a video game addict. Until you graduate, your job is to be a law school addict.

Initially you should expect to spend an average of about 2 hours/day for each class. So, if you have 3 classes the next day, that's 6 hours studying plus the actual class time. This is a rough estimate, and will likely go down as you get faster/better at reading cases, but be ready. As the end the semester approaches and you get serious about practice exams and outlining, you will probably spend significantly more time studying.

If you can, the best way to minimize study time is to be intensely focused and treat school like a 9-5 job. That is, 9-5 do absolutely nothing other than study and go to class. I was terrible at this and ended up studying until late into the night 5-6 days per week, but the people who are better at it can get their reading done and still have more free time than I did.

[Matthies]

am I just bound to fail if I live like how I did during my UG years?[/b]

Yes.

To elaborate:

You will not have time for 3-4 hours of basketball after classes. You cannot continue to be a video game addict. Until you graduate, your job is to be a law school addict.

There should be a big caveat with this: for some people its true, for others its not. Seriously I played WoW all through law school (with some breaks, and not at finals) I have a PS3 in the living room and another one in the master bedroom. I’m playing Fallout 3 between bar study sessions.

I took between 10-12 credits every semester for 4 years while working either PT or FT as a law clerk and running my own small business. I graduated within the top 13 people in my class (ranks for this year not out yet). Some people can do it, you just have to be a good time manager. But there are other things I could not do, or did not do, for the sake of school, like not taking more than 1 weeks vacation (i.e. that included no school work in that time) in five years.

People can still have lives outside of law school, you just have to decide what you want to give up, for me I would rather have most weekends off then 6 weeks away from home a year. I was willing to give up watching network TV, get a tivo and not go out to as much so, and get up by 5:30 AM every morning so I could continue my game playing because that was a hobby and stress reliever that I really enjoyed. I’m sure there are things you did not give up, that I would consider a luxury, for me giving up games was just not an option.

[byebyeny]

am I just bound to fail if I live like how I did during my UG years?[/b]

Yes.

To elaborate:

You will not have time for 3-4 hours of basketball after classes. You cannot continue to be a video game addict. Until you graduate, your job is to be a law school addict.

There should be a big caveat with this: for some people its true, for others its not. Seriously I played WoW all through law school (with some breaks, and not at finals) I have a PS3 in the living room and another one in the master bedroom. I’m playing Fallout 3 between bar study sessions.

I took between 10-12 credits every semester for 4 years while working either PT or FT as a law clerk and running my own small business. I graduated within the top 13 people in my class (ranks for this year not out yet). Some people can do it, you just have to be a good time manager. But there are other things I could not do, or did not do, for the sake of school, like not taking more than 1 weeks vacation (i.e. that included no school work in that time) in five years.

People can still have lives outside of law school, you just have to decide what you want to give up, for me I would rather have most weekends off then 6 weeks away from home a year. I was willing to give up watching network TV, get a tivo and not go out to as much so, and get up by 5:30 AM every morning so I could continue my game playing because that was a hobby and stress reliever that I really enjoyed. I’m sure there are things you did not give up, that I would consider a luxury, for me giving up games was just not an option.

Good to meet some fellow gamers here 
It's kinda same for me. I mean, I played video games all my life. At times, I would not go to parties or hang out with people for weeks, but I would always play video games and play basketball everyday. Like you said, its just not an option for me to give that up. I mean, I get so much stress doing other things (especially school work/social pressure etc) and gaming or exercising is what gives me the necessary time to forget about things. I guess I no longer can play 5 hours of WOW per day. (I'm also a hardcore Starcraft player. I'm sad law school is gonna overlap with the release of SC2  ) Anyways, Thanks a lot guys.

[Talk Is Cheap]

It's f-ing hard.

You'll have to get there and experience it for yourself.

[Stallion]

It seemed like there are a lot of people in my class who spend all day "studying" because they feel like they are supposed to.  There are definitely really hard days and even weeks.  Finals time is pretty intense.  However, there are also days when the reading isn't that bad.  If you don't waste a lot of time when you're studying, you should have extra time every day.  I'd say that 3-4 hours daily isn't out of the question.  The hard part can be emotional.  It's tough to be spending 3-4 hours not studying when you know that your classmates are studying.