1L Questions About How Law School Really Works...

[gordonma]

So as I sit and realize my first year of law school, pretty much the first year of the rest of my life, will begin in a month and 5 days, the excitement is befuddled with anxiety. I am a good student, intelligent, and have a strong work ethic, but I feel completely unprepared for law school. Maybe unprepared isn’t the right word, lets say... clueless.

In Undergrad (which I am coming straight from) I breezed through my classes. I never had an in-depth study habit... I read what I needed to read when I needed to read it, and maintained good grades. I feel at a loss now, as I prepare for law school...

Pretty much what I am asking in this thread (now that I rambled too much already) is how exactly to handle law school. I know I can do it, I just don’t know how it all works... how the sprockets of the machine work and what gears to turn and follow... How does it all work? You go to class... you read the assigned cases... you outline them... and then you move on? Then come final time you re-study all the material and take a 3 hour long hypothetical examination? Is that the basic jist of it? Is it a mere barrage of rules, situations and hypotheticals thrown at you... and the real task of law school is being able to interpret, analyze, and remember the aforesaid? What are the points of study groups? To bolster the understanding of topics and rules? To study? 

I’m sorry I can’t word the question in a cognizant form, I am just so curious as to what I have in store for me, for I believe it will be COMPLETELY different then undergrad. I’ve seen the countless threads on this board about study habits, i.e. how many hours to devote per class, what’s a good schedule, what materials are best.... but the one thread and topic I am in search of... is how law school all works. How is work assigned? What are the procedures followed? Pretty much how does law school work... from a student’s point of view... what is the Blueprint of a first year of law school?

I am sorry for the drawn-out topic and forgive me if I've carried on... but any help, insight, or advice into this would help me greatly.

Please, anyone, feel free to chime in and I would be happy to elaborate if necessary...

Thanks again everyone!

-mike

[raider1218]

Why do you want to go to law school?  Why didn't you sit in on a few classes if you are this worried?

[toomuchhype]

Why do you want to go to law school?  Why didn't you sit in on a few classes if you are this worried?

Law school classes seemed along the same lines as ug classes except, (yep, you guessed it) they dealt with the law.  A prof lectures and asks ?s to the class.  Nothing too groundbreaking occurs in actual classes.

gordonma, dont fret over ls.  Your classmates probably feel just as anxious as you.  Just develope a plan of how to succeed in ls and stick to it.  Too many books and 0ls tell scarey stories about 1L.  Nonetheless, if youre really that anxious and nerve-wrecked, pick up law school confidential.  Itll provide some general answers to your ?s.

[Monarch heels]

Hey gordonmam,

Thanks for your post- you asked some good questions.  I don't have answers to any of them since I'm a 1L, too, but I've wondered about many of the same things you mentioned.

[tacojohn]

Law school classes seemed along the same lines as ug classes except, (yep, you guessed it) they dealt with the law.  A prof lectures and asks ?s to the class.  Nothing too groundbreaking occurs in actual classes.

Class is different since you will be expected to be prepared in class.  In UG, the only time you really got called out for being unprepared was when the whole class was unprepared.  In law school, if you are unprepared, you're taking a big risk, that you'll be called out.  Yeah, class is class, but more is expected of you in law school classes.

[cyberrev]

i didnt feel that lw school confidential went far enough, i would have appreciated a copy of a case and an example of their book brief; when i read it i had no idea what a freakin' 'holding' was or how to identify it.  i also think their note taking strategy could have been fleshed out a little.

here is a good resource as well:  http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/profiles/glesnerfines/letter.htm


there is a danger of reading too many 'how to succeed' books because they all give you their own methods.  you will have to customize for what works for you in any event.

someone wiser than i who is a current student has said 'success in law school is not about intellegence, it's about discipline' which i think is a good point

[Autumn]

I'm just happy I don't have to be in lab 7:30 am- 6:30 pm like I did in undergrad.

But I am really clueless and scared about law school, nonetheless.

[cyberrev]

I'm just happy I don't have to be in lab 7:30 am- 6:30 pm like I did in undergrad.

But I am really clueless and scared about law school, nonetheless.

it appears that my earliest class is at 830 mon and wed.  my latest class gets out at either 2 or 3, depending on the section.  fridays i'm done by 11, i believe.

your shades look hot with those pouty lips, btw

[CousinRico]

Oh man, I love reading a post like this one.  Classic example of someone who breezed through undergrad with an easy major, and now finally realizes he needs to do some actual independent thinking in school.  You should have chosen engineering as a major, it forces you to think deeply and examine all the possible scenarios.  I did engineering, and I have no question about my capabilities of succeeding this fall.  I imagine for me LS will actually be easier than undergrad.  Good luck my man, you are in for a wake up call.  Who knows, hopefully before the end of your first year, you'll learn how to think on your own rather than regurgitating facts from a text book and getting that easy A. 

[danger]

sweet speculation