How many hours/week do you spend on law school? Forum

[Ragged]

Didn't read the thread but, 86+??????? More than 12 hours a day????? Damn.

[Son of Cicero]

Hmm. Just hmm. Sounds like 1L will shorten my life by a few years.

The only major hazard is that you will start smoking with the expectation that you will be able to quit once the stress of 1L is over. 2L is worse, assuming you don't just take fluff electives (and if your school is like mine, you probably can't enroll in more than a handful of the easy upper divs until you take hard prereq. upper divs; in fact, taking these harder classes 2L year in preparation for an easy 3L year is perhaps the main reason 2L can be difficult). Maybe 3L year is the quitting year, before your post-grad job forces you back into the habit.

[icydash]

Hmm. Just hmm. Sounds like 1L will shorten my life by a few years.

The only major hazard is that you will start smoking with the expectation that you will be able to quit once the stress of 1L is over. 2L is worse, assuming you don't just take fluff electives (and if your school is like mine, you probably can't enroll in more than a handful of the easy upper divs until you take hard prereq. upper divs; in fact, taking these harder classes 2L year in preparation for an easy 3L year is perhaps the main reason 2L can be difficult). Maybe 3L year is the quitting year, before your post-grad job forces you back into the habit.

I've heard from everyone the exact opposite of this. The first year is the hardest by far according to everyone, and the second year is so/so but you get to take stuff your actually interested in, and 3L is boring as hell.

[Son of Cicero]

Dunno, seemed to be pretty common view among rising 3Ls I've discussed it with. And I've actually experienced 1L and 2L firsthand. IIRC, the most authoritative poster on this site (TTT-LS) concurs with this opinion.

None of the 1L classes present concepts that can't be understood with a decent amount of study time. When you start taking classes like Corporate Taxation, you aren't just trying to learn how to use various simple frameworks to conduct an analysis more quickly/thoroughly than everyone else. 2L year is when class material can actually become consistently difficult to understand and retain, even with a heavy time investment.

Plus, it's when you have a more important job search to stress over, along with some combination of moot court, journals, and time-consuming clinics. By the end of 2L, you are ashamed to remember the times you felt fatigue back when you were a mentally flabby 1L.

[Quine]

Seriously. Remind me to find a beautiful awesome woman who is supportive and will do my laundry.

Who said anything about beautiful?

[toolfan]

Dunno, seemed to be pretty common view among rising 3Ls I've discussed it with. And I've actually experienced 1L and 2L firsthand. IIRC, the most authoritative poster on this site (TTT-LS) concurs with this opinion.

None of the 1L classes present concepts that can't be understood with a decent amount of study time. When you start taking classes like Corporate Taxation, you aren't just trying to learn how to use various simple frameworks to conduct an analysis more quickly/thoroughly than everyone else. 2L year is when class material can actually become consistently difficult to understand and retain, even with a heavy time investment.

Plus, it's when you have a more important job search to stress over, along with some combination of moot court, journals, and time-consuming clinics. By the end of 2L, you are ashamed to remember the times you felt fatigue back when you were a mentally flabby 1L.

That's some picture you paint. I'm up for the challenge, but by no stretch will I be happy about it. Maybe I should learn to meditate or something.

[icydash]

The poll is a little deceiving in that people are just posting the amount of time they studied, not their class rank/percentage. It'd be cool if people could post both, so we could draw some kind of correlation between class rank and amount of time spent studying. I'm interested to see if it's actually as directly proportional as it seems, or if the people studying 86+ hours a week are just really inefficient studiers/test takers and hitting median.

[Paichka]

The poll is a little deceiving in that people are just posting the amount of time they studied, not their class rank/percentage. It'd be cool if people could post both, so we could draw some kind of correlation between class rank and amount of time spent studying. I'm interested to see if it's actually as directly proportional as it seems, or if the people studying 86+ hours a week are just really inefficient studiers/test takers and hitting median.

10-12 hours a day, including class, with time off for the gym. Top 5% or so.

[Cavalier]

lol, this is scary. I'm glad I never saw a thread like this before my 1L year began.

Personally I spent 40-50 hours per week, maybe a little more around finals. So far I'm happy with my grades.

[MrKappus]

I'm all for planning, and generally knowing what kind of time commitment you're getting yourself into. That said, I found it best not to look at it as a specific hourly undertaking. I just viewed it as my only reason for being. I mean, there was nothing else that I was tasked with, except for law school. If you view it that way, rather than a straight "I put in __ hours this week, so I did my job," you'll probably do pretty well.

[toolfan]

I'm all for planning, and generally knowing what kind of time commitment you're getting yourself into. That said, I found it best not to look at it as a specific hourly undertaking. I just viewed it as my only reason for being. I mean, there was nothing else that I was tasked with, except for law school. If you view it that way, rather than a straight "I put in __ hours this week, so I did my job," you'll probably do pretty well.

I see what you're saying. But I have several things that I'm attached to: law school, my dog, my relationship, myself/overall happiness

Though, you could say I would be happiest with a high GPA. And maybe my girlfriend should come before my dog. Or should she?

I just have a few things that will require my attention on a daily basis, myself included.

[yo!]

At this point, I think some of the people are choosing 86+ just to fuck with us.

[solidsnake]

At this point, I think some of the people are choosing 86+ just to fuck with us.

Not trying to scare you. I was 86+ and top 1%. Most of the people I know in the top 10% were 86+ as well (at least that's what they claimed). Some, however, were certainly not (at least that's what they claimed). And yet some, who were not in the top 10%, were (at least that's what they claimed). There are no sure things, only ways to minimize risk.

[MrKappus]

I'm all for planning, and generally knowing what kind of time commitment you're getting yourself into. That said, I found it best not to look at it as a specific hourly undertaking. I just viewed it as my only reason for being. I mean, there was nothing else that I was tasked with, except for law school. If you view it that way, rather than a straight "I put in __ hours this week, so I did my job," you'll probably do pretty well.

I see what you're saying. But I have several things that I'm attached to: law school, my dog, my relationship, myself/overall happiness

Though, you could say I would be happiest with a high GPA. And maybe my girlfriend should come before my dog. Or should she?

I just have a few things that will require my attention on a daily basis, myself included.

That's cool. You're entitled to your choices.

But in LS, there's a chance you'll get pwnd. By people like me. Just sayin'.

NB (edit): Statistically speaking, your dog stands a greater chance of being around in 5 years than your girlfriend.

[98234872348]

As a curious 0L, I'd like to get an idea of how many hours you all spend in class/studying. Do the majority of you try to treat it like a run-of-the-mill job (~40 hrs/week), or is it MUCH more than that. Thanks for indulging me; I think this will be interesting.

By the way: this is meant to be your typical/average week in the middle of the semester... NOT finals week or reading period.

I would just like to let you know this might be one of the most worthless threads ever stared on TLS. No one has a set amount of hours that guarantees them any success. If you are used to working extremely hard, continue doing so. If you think you can get by without working as hard, be my guest, I'd love to take your position in the class rank.

glhf noobs.

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Fall Semester, I studied probably 45 hours a week.
Spring Semester, I studied probably 20 hours a week.
(including class)

[icydash]

Fall Semester, I studied probably 45 hours a week.
Spring Semester, I studied probably 20 hours a week.
(including class)

And what's your class rank?

[bconly]

I would just like to let you know this might be one of the most worthless threads ever stared on TLS.

Thanks.

No one has a set amount of hours that guarantees them any success.

Read the original post again and please point out to me where I mentioned anything about success or grades.

I simply wanted to get an idea about what kind of hours other people are putting in.

glhf noobs.

Thanks again. Very helpful; a wonderful contribution.

[rando]

1L year - 80+ - Top 5%
2L year - 40-50 on law school - 15-20 on LR - Top 2% cumulative

[olanderp]

This thread scares the hell out of me. OK, so I already work Full-Time. Add on top of that Law School (Part Time). Ah, I was planning 2-3 hours of studying a day? There aren't any more hours left in the day past that. I usually sleep 8 hours - by the looks of it I'll have to lop off ~2 hours of it.

And there are people who are in the library the entire time I'm at work and are still studying the time I get home to study?

Should I be freaking out right now?????????

This thread is a major flame. I go to a t-10 and only the top 5% spend 86+ hours a week on law school. If you study such an insane number of hours a week and do not get top 5%, consider another career.

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Fall Semester, I studied probably 45 hours a week.
Spring Semester, I studied probably 20 hours a week.
(including class)

And what's your class rank?

top 10%

[icydash]

Fall Semester, I studied probably 45 hours a week.
Spring Semester, I studied probably 20 hours a week.
(including class)

And what's your class rank?

top 10%

You must be a law genius because I don't know anyone who studied less than 50 hrs/week and was in the top 25%.

[mallard]

You must be a law genius because I don't know anyone who studied less than 50 hrs/week and was in the top 25%.

LOL.

[Leeroy Jenkins]

top 10%

You must be a law genius because I don't know anyone who studied less than 50 hrs/week and was in the top 25%.

or im a flame?

[Tave]

I was doing some pro bono work first semester with fellow 1Ls, and our contact for the foundation we worked for asked our leader (a 2L) when we were planning on coming in, how long we were going to work for, etc...

His response was a very accurate description of the first year workload, IMO. He said "First year it's impossible to schedule things too far in advance. The work comes in waves. One week they'll be slammed and the next week they'll have plenty of free time. It's so unpredictable."


It gets better second semester, but it still varies a lot.