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Mine brief also feels painfully more difficult to research than last semesters. I'm having a helluva time even trying to figure out what I should be arguing.

our brief is a carryover of our major memo from last semester, but we switch sides. makes the research pretty damn straightforward, since we did the other side last semester. unfortunately, this semester i'm on the losing side, and this is the semester that we go to oral arguments, so in essence my entire section has been set up to publicly get our asses kicked.

I fucking hated K's when we first started, but now I'm finding it super interesting. Thank fucking god, I was afraid that one of the most useful 1L classes was going to be a pain in my ass.

My prof basically taught K's from "Acing Contracts". If your class is all Restatement/UCC that book is totally worth it.

keg411 wrote:My prof basically taught K's from "Acing Contracts". If your class is all Restatement/UCC that book is totally worth it.

Thanks, I look into it. I have another supplement that was recommended elsewhere on these boards that is pretty on point thus far as well. I figure with a 3.4 I need all the fucking help I can get. FFFFFUUUUU

Man, wow. My motivation has been rock-bottom for the past couple of days. Luckily, my professors this year are not absolutely insane with reading amounts and I can still have the assignments done and have enough time to crack open an E&E. But man... here I have this Settlement Letter and Settlement Agreement & Release which are pass fail, but I really lack the motivation to do it. The only thing on my mind is combing over my writing sample, cover letters, and resume for OCI (which I still have a crap shoot for anyway, and even better to note that there's only like 6 firms out of 19 that have services I actually want to do).

Melkaba wrote:Man, wow. My motivation has been rock-bottom for the past couple of days. Luckily, my professors this year are not absolutely insane with reading amounts and I can still have the assignments done and have enough time to crack open an E&E. But man... here I have this Settlement Letter and Settlement Agreement & Release which are pass fail, but I really lack the motivation to do it. The only thing on my mind is combing over my writing sample, cover letters, and resume for OCI (which I still have a crap shoot for anyway, and even better to note that there's only like 6 firms out of 19 that have services I actually want to do).

+1 to all of this. Especially the part about having less reading. My three classes combine for less reading each night than GDG's alone last semester.

Actually understanding Con Law somewhat well the past week. Once we started Congress' power under commerce/ necessary and proper I actually kinda see how the cases fit and haven't had trouble like I did with the legislative vs. executive BS.
Also, no job, no interview. Sending out 3 more apps tomorrow and starting to research batch #2 on friday (Batch #1 was about 50 apps). Starting to think like its actually possible to have good grades and land absolutely nothing for 1L.

BarbellDreams wrote:Actually understanding Con Law somewhat well the past week. Once we started Congress' power under commerce/ necessary and proper I actually kinda see how the cases fit and haven't had trouble like I did with the legislative vs. executive BS.
Also, no job, no interview. Sending out 3 more apps tomorrow and starting to research batch #2 on friday (Batch #1 was about 50 apps). Starting to think like its actually possible to have good grades and land absolutely nothing for 1L.

I can relate. When got my grades, I thought that the judges I applied to would be calling me non-stop. Yet from the looks of it, they were too busy hiring kids who either hadn't even gotten grades back, or who hadn't even come in for an interview . Lol, I guess its not too upsetting because I'm pretty sure OCI will be the complete opposite and we won't have this problem.

dakatz wrote:

BarbellDreams wrote:Actually understanding Con Law somewhat well the past week. Once we started Congress' power under commerce/ necessary and proper I actually kinda see how the cases fit and haven't had trouble like I did with the legislative vs. executive BS.
Also, no job, no interview. Sending out 3 more apps tomorrow and starting to research batch #2 on friday (Batch #1 was about 50 apps). Starting to think like its actually possible to have good grades and land absolutely nothing for 1L.

I can relate. When got my grades, I thought that the judges I applied to would be calling me non-stop. Yet from the looks of it, they were too busy hiring kids who either hadn't even gotten grades back, or who hadn't even come in for an interview . Lol, I guess its not too upsetting because I'm pretty sure OCI will be the complete opposite and we won't have this problem.

Yeah, every 2L I spoke with said judges just care about grades + writing sample. I thought they'd be calling me non-stop and was worried about having to take a judge I liked less over one I liked more. No need to worry, I have had zero calls and I know of people who were hired before grades or the writing sample every came back. My strategy was 3 batches: First is large/medium firms and federa/state supreme court Judges, second is DA offices and state judges, third is small law (1-10) and PD offices. If this list is exhausted and I have nothing I may need to look into non-profits or researching for a prof.

BarbellDreams wrote:

dakatz wrote:

BarbellDreams wrote:Actually understanding Con Law somewhat well the past week. Once we started Congress' power under commerce/ necessary and proper I actually kinda see how the cases fit and haven't had trouble like I did with the legislative vs. executive BS.
Also, no job, no interview. Sending out 3 more apps tomorrow and starting to research batch #2 on friday (Batch #1 was about 50 apps). Starting to think like its actually possible to have good grades and land absolutely nothing for 1L.

I can relate. When got my grades, I thought that the judges I applied to would be calling me non-stop. Yet from the looks of it, they were too busy hiring kids who either hadn't even gotten grades back, or who hadn't even come in for an interview . Lol, I guess its not too upsetting because I'm pretty sure OCI will be the complete opposite and we won't have this problem.

Yeah, every 2L I spoke with said judges just care about grades + writing sample. I thought they'd be calling me non-stop and was worried about having to take a judge I liked less over one I liked more. No need to worry, I have had zero calls and I know of people who were hired before grades or the writing sample every came back. My strategy was 3 batches: First is large/medium firms and federa/state supreme court Judges, second is DA offices and state judges, third is small law (1-10) and PD offices. If this list is exhausted and I have nothing I may need to look into non-profits or researching for a prof.

I've got a magistrate judge interview set up, as well as a state appellate court interview. They both called me a few days after grades went out. So I was like "let those floodgates open", but nothing since aside from a few people telling me the spots are already full. Though I did get some confirmations saying that they wait until March or so to get serious about hiring interns. So maybe the 100 or so I haven't heard a word from are just taking their sweet time.

Motivating myself for class/LRW/extracurriculars is damn near impossible when you're waiting on your last grade...there's a mental block that won't let me advance to the next semester when the last one is still TBD.

jesus it is impossible to pay attention during conlaw.

So after starting to talk to a few professors, I ended up 1-2 raw points (out of >100) in two classes away from being top 10% last semester instead of sitting around median. I need to figure out how to refine my approach enough to get away from this line of demarcation, but for now I'm just not sure whether to be encouraged or frustrated.

My first instinct is to do more work, knowing that I'm only a couple points away from being in great shape, but I know that it's certainly not the answer to my question.

GeePee wrote:So after starting to talk to a few professors, I ended up 1-2 raw points (out of >100) in two classes away from being top 10% last semester instead of sitting around median. I need to figure out how to refine my approach enough to get away from this line of demarcation, but for now I'm just not sure whether to be encouraged or frustrated.

My first instinct is to do more work, knowing that I'm only a couple points away from being in great shape, but I know that it's certainly not the answer to my question.

I wouldn't want to know how close I was to better grades.

existenz wrote:

GeePee wrote:So after starting to talk to a few professors, I ended up 1-2 raw points (out of >100) in two classes away from being top 10% last semester instead of sitting around median. I need to figure out how to refine my approach enough to get away from this line of demarcation, but for now I'm just not sure whether to be encouraged or frustrated.

My first instinct is to do more work, knowing that I'm only a couple points away from being in great shape, but I know that it's certainly not the answer to my question.

I wouldn't want to know how close I was to better grades.

+1

existenz wrote:

GeePee wrote:So after starting to talk to a few professors, I ended up 1-2 raw points (out of >100) in two classes away from being top 10% last semester instead of sitting around median. I need to figure out how to refine my approach enough to get away from this line of demarcation, but for now I'm just not sure whether to be encouraged or frustrated.

My first instinct is to do more work, knowing that I'm only a couple points away from being in great shape, but I know that it's certainly not the answer to my question.

I wouldn't want to know how close I was to better grades.

Me neither. My professors thought that this would make me feel better, but I was really just looking for advice. Both realized immediately that they didn't have to let me know this.

Things that are cruel: making us take Torts a semester after Crim.

zzzzzzzz...

existenz wrote:

GeePee wrote:So after starting to talk to a few professors, I ended up 1-2 raw points (out of >100) in two classes away from being top 10% last semester instead of sitting around median. I need to figure out how to refine my approach enough to get away from this line of demarcation, but for now I'm just not sure whether to be encouraged or frustrated.

My first instinct is to do more work, knowing that I'm only a couple points away from being in great shape, but I know that it's certainly not the answer to my question.

I wouldn't want to know how close I was to better grades.

i'd be curious. considering how little feedback i get my work, i'm starving for anything they want to tell me.

I feel like i'm taking 4-5 word pages of notes per class. this was something I slacked on last semester, and so i'm trying to shake things up. I might be overcompensating.

Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:I feel like i'm taking 4-5 word pages of notes per class. this was something I slacked on last semester, and so i'm trying to shake things up. I might be overcompensating.

I think something in my brain makes me just physically unable to take many notes. I have never been able to do it... not for class, not for meetings, not for anything. There have been times I have tried to force myself to take as many notes as I can, and I usually can't get more than a page at most.

I think the only time I ever write anything down is when it is a cause of action, elements, or a really important point. I find my self taking even fewer this semester because I realize they didn't help me much last semester. I guess my thoughts are... why take pages of notes on cases/court rationale that I 1) won't ever use because it won't help me on the exam and 2) even if I do use some of it, I won't be able to really understand why I wrote it down and why it is important. Instead I try to engage the professor/material and not get too caught up in notes, and I can always jog my memory with supplements later on. I figure supplements in April >>> my crappy notes in January.

But note taking is definitely one of those things that works differently for different people.

romothesavior wrote:

Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:I feel like i'm taking 4-5 word pages of notes per class. this was something I slacked on last semester, and so i'm trying to shake things up. I might be overcompensating.

I think something in my brain makes me just physically unable to take many notes. I have never been able to do it... not for class, not for meetings, not for anything. There have been times I have tried to force myself to take as many notes as I can, and I usually can't get more than a page at most.

I think the only time I ever write anything down is when it is a cause of action, elements, or a really important point. I find my self taking even fewer this semester because I realize they didn't help me much last semester. I guess my thoughts are... why take pages of notes on cases/court rationale that I 1) won't ever use because it won't help me on the exam and 2) even if I do use some of it, I won't be able to really understand why I wrote it down and why it is important. Instead I try to engage the professor/material and not get too caught up in notes, and I can always jog my memory with supplements later on. I figure supplements in April >>> my crappy notes in January.

But note taking is definitely one of those things that works differently for different people.

Yeah, it's definitely different for different people. I pretty much have the same grades as one kid in my study group, and he rarely writes anything down during class and I feel like I'm always writing. I typically take between 3 - 6 written pages of notes per 90 minute class. It helps me because I find it easier to remember rules and such with a bunch of context. I also like to take notes on hypos (the ones the prof poses), policy points, and whatever else the prof emphasizes. This helps me at the end of the semester because all of it put together gives me a pretty good look into the professor's mind (what he likes/dislikes, what he thinks is important/unimportant, whether he likes discussing policy and which points he finds most compelling, if he likes when people make arguments by analogy, any similarities across his hypos...) so I can tailor my exam to each prof. It sucks to go through it all when outlining, but I thought it was pretty helpful to have all that information in the end.

romothesavior wrote:

Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:I feel like i'm taking 4-5 word pages of notes per class. this was something I slacked on last semester, and so i'm trying to shake things up. I might be overcompensating.

I think something in my brain makes me just physically unable to take many notes. I have never been able to do it... not for class, not for meetings, not for anything. There have been times I have tried to force myself to take as many notes as I can, and I usually can't get more than a page at most.

I think the only time I ever write anything down is when it is a cause of action, elements, or a really important point. I find my self taking even fewer this semester because I realize they didn't help me much last semester. I guess my thoughts are... why take pages of notes on cases/court rationale that I 1) won't ever use because it won't help me on the exam and 2) even if I do use some of it, I won't be able to really understand why I wrote it down and why it is important. Instead I try to engage the professor/material and not get too caught up in notes, and I can always jog my memory with supplements later on. I figure supplements in April >>> my crappy notes in January.

But note taking is definitely one of those things that works differently for different people.

Yeah, I mean there is no credited response. Different things work for different people. But last semester having little/no notes and relying heavily on supplements did not at all reach the ends that I wanted, i'm just mixing it up now.

I want another snow day. 3-day week FTW.

...that is all...

almost a month into second semester time to get pumped!