Psychological preparation for 1L

[Quintana]

but as for preparation, maybe a little self manipulation--

  Always good advice...

[scottyd1982]

SSRI is an antidepressant/anxiety med. a lot of people who enter strenuous academic environments end up needing them and the crap side effects when you start taking them are better dealt with before school starts. i wouldnt pop ritalin--doesnt work for most people.

Heh...Ritalin actually is an SSRI...increases seratonin levels. Thank God I paid attention in Psyc 101 

[LawSchoolHopeful2009]

getting in physical shape is key. you want to eat right, rest well etc. if you are unhealthy, you will need more sleep, will be less alert etc.

as for most rigorous academic experience? i know for a fact med school is hell on earth and i would assume a phd is tougher than ls as well.

FWIW, My sister is in med school and has friends in law school up with her at syracuse- she says med school is NOTHING compared to law school. She says she barely ever sees her law school friends (read, they hardly get out...meanwhile she goes out every weekend) and she's seen the work they do compared to her work and SHE feels sorry for them.

[ajstyles]

getting in physical shape is key. you want to eat right, rest well etc. if you are unhealthy, you will need more sleep, will be less alert etc.

as for most rigorous academic experience? i know for a fact med school is hell on earth and i would assume a phd is tougher than ls as well.

FWIW, My sister is in med school and has friends in law school up with her at syracuse- she says med school is NOTHING compared to law school. She says she barely ever sees her law school friends (read, they hardly get out...meanwhile she goes out every weekend) and she's seen the work they do compared to her work and SHE feels sorry for them.

Wait, what???

IMHO, law school is a cake walk compared to med school and a lot of PhD programs.  My sis is also in med school (funny huh?) and she says that it is literally hell on earth.  Of course LS isn't a joke.  BUT...it's law school, not rocket science.  I also don't think it is harder than the toughest majors @ my undergrad...comp sci, physics, engineering etc...

[p0six]

getting in physical shape is key. you want to eat right, rest well etc. if you are unhealthy, you will need more sleep, will be less alert etc.

as for most rigorous academic experience? i know for a fact med school is hell on earth and i would assume a phd is tougher than ls as well.

FWIW, My sister is in med school and has friends in law school up with her at syracuse- she says med school is NOTHING compared to law school. She says she barely ever sees her law school friends (read, they hardly get out...meanwhile she goes out every weekend) and she's seen the work they do compared to her work and SHE feels sorry for them.

Wait, what???

IMHO, law school is a cake walk compared to med school and a lot of PhD programs.  My sis is also in med school (funny huh?) and she says that it is literally hell on earth.  Of course LS isn't a joke.  BUT...it's law school, not rocket science.  I also don't think it is harder than the toughest majors @ my undergrad...comp sci, physics, engineering etc...

I didn't think engineering was all that tough.  Of course now that I look at my GPA...  damn maybe I should've tried harder.

[LawSchoolHopeful2009]

I guess I should clarify by saying that the comparison being made is the workload not the material. My sis has a lot more free time on her hand than law students. Comparing law and medicine material (or comp sci or physics) is like comparing apples and oranges. Doctors don't know anything about torts while lawyers don't know diddley about the human anatomy, so saying one group is smarter than the other is a bit much. I'm stressed more so of the impending rigors of law school and not so much by the material.

[Harper]

IMHO, law school is a cake walk compared to med school and a lot of PhD programs.  My sis is also in med school (funny huh?) and she says that it is literally hell on earth.  Of course LS isn't a joke.  BUT...it's law school, not rocket science.  I also don't think it is harder than the toughest majors @ my undergrad...comp sci, physics, engineering etc...

Yes, I've also heard that it's literally hell on earth.  My sister actually has Satan as her neurobiology professor.  I imagine that's a lot tougher than any law school course.    

[hoopster]

I really wonder how hard law school is going to be.  I expect the worst, but I sure hope it's not as bad as med school.  My brother is a doctor, and he studied like 18 hours a day his first year in med school.

[HippieLawChick]

From what I have read on boards and other places, it sounds like going to law school is like going to hell.

You know what?  It's difficult.  You will spend a lot of time studying, and the subject matter is complex and can be frustrating to learn.  You will get through it though (like all the tough stuff in your life so far) and you will be damn proud of yourself when it is all over.  You can't do anything to make it easy, but you can change your own attitude about it.  Thinking it will be "hell" will make it so.  Thinking it's a challenge that you can rise to will make it just that...challenging.

[dbgirl]

It's not just the studying that makes law school frustrating.
There are a lot of other things (e.g. job hunting, auditioning for moot court, journal, etc.) that can have quite an effect on your state of mind and, depending on how personally you take things, your ego.