HELP!! The Workload for First Year JD student Forum

[llylouis]

I wanna ask a stupid question...

How's the workload for a typical fresh year JD student?
I mean pages of readings, pages of writings, on a week base.....

thanks~~~

[thecilent]

I wanna ask a stupid question...

How's the workload for a typical fresh year JD student?
I mean pages of readings, pages of writings, on a week base.....

thanks~~~

5-10 page/night

[uzpakalis]

I wanna ask a stupid question...

How's the workload for a typical fresh year JD student?
I mean pages of readings, pages of writings, on a week base.....

thanks~~~

5-10 page/night

[awonderful]

Look at it this way. 40 hrs a week of reading and writing on top of actual lecture hours. You can get it done in 5, 6 or 7 days.

[FalafelWaffle]

I wanna ask a stupid question...

How's the workload for a typical fresh year JD student?
I mean pages of readings, pages of writings, on a week base.....

thanks~~~

You'll need about 8 days a week to get it all done

[traehekat]

Retake.

[MrPapagiorgio]

Retake.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=125
Four posts down.
Can we get some serious answers here?

[CKuleba]

Look at it this way. 40 hrs a week of reading and writing on top of actual lecture hours. You can get it done in 5, 6 or 7 days.

Pretty much on point. Don't necessarily go by the page # either. 15-20 pages a night on average (per class) sounds about right. Figure anywhere between 45-60 pages per week day. Its not like reading 45-60 pages in a book, takes anywhere from 3-4 minutes a page if you are highlighting / noting in the book. Then add about an hour per class period to brief everything (if you decide to do that - and you should).

I put in about a 9 hour/day average 7 days a week including classes during the week (not including breaks). I manage to go to the gym 5 days a week, but I don't go out on the weekends. Also, not sure if this is always the case, but my second semester is way more time consuming than my first so don't think it will be that much easier just because you 'know the ropes.' That could just be my semester. Don't take Civ Pro 2 if you have a choice such as Family Law for your 2nd semester elective.

[traehekat]

Retake.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=125
Four posts down.
Can we get some serious answers here?

The question is BARELY legitimate, so teeeechnically... (plus I have seen legit threads started by 0Ls locked in here just for the fact it was started by a 0L). It should strike OP that this is probably a question that has been asked a number of times before and a search would have been appropriate.

Serious answer:

It varies. Assigned reading it is typically going to be around 18-20 pages/per class, per day, but you will have professors that go at different paces. Personally I don't know how people get through exams without supplements, so when you factor those in the workload becomes quite a bit more if you are still doing all the assigned reading, and it is going to be a matter of personal preference how much supplemental reading you do (if any). Nonetheless, I don't spend nearly as much time studying during the week as most people do. I work a lot more on weekends, and I work a lot more overall during the last 4-5 weeks of the semester. No idea what it averages out to as far as hours go, however.

I've generally found the 1L workload to have been over-exaggerated. It really isn't that bad to just stay on top of the reading, read some supplemental stuff when you are a bit lost here and there, and kick it into another gear towards the end of the semester.

[thecilent]

Retake.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=125
Four posts down.
Can we get some serious answers here?

Srs?

Use search. Read success threads and articles. Stupid question is stupid

[Cupidity]

20 pages per night per class.

Legal Writing Consumes 10-12 hours per week.

Job applications are hell.

[romothesavior]

Your first semester:

August-September: Keep up with reading during the week, drink heavily on the weekends.

~Octoberish: AAAHH!!! CLOSED MEMO!!!!

October-Early November: Resume keeping up with readings, drink heavily on the weekends

Mid-November: SKJLFSKLAJFASDKFHSKJD OPEN MEMO! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Mid-November-Thanksgiving Break: Start with those outlines

Thanksgiving Break: Last taste of freedom

Early December: 12-14 hour study days, spending lots of time in the library, stressing a lot, not showering much, outlining/taking practice exams, and generally just having no fun

FINALS: Couldn't tell you because the PTSD has blocked it from my mind (save for the occasional sweat inducing, panic-stricken flashback)

Post Finals: 1) ZOMG I BOMBED THAT EXAM, followed by 2) ZOMG WHEN WILL MY LAZY &@*%&@ PROFESSOR GIVE US OUR GRADES

Januaryish: Oh, I guess I didn't do so bad after all.

Second semester is about the same... but add the incredibly time-consuming job hunt and subtract most of your motivation that you had first semester.

[fatduck]

Once you get used to the weekly beatings it's not too bad.

[gator1]

Retake.

i know you were trying to be stupid and all but this is way funny! I was just thinking the same thing

[missinglink]

Your first semester:

August-September: Keep up with reading during the week, drink heavily on the weekends.

~Octoberish: AAAHH!!! CLOSED MEMO!!!!

October-Early November: Resume keeping up with readings, drink heavily on the weekends

Mid-November: SKJLFSKLAJFASDKFHSKJD OPEN MEMO! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Mid-November-Thanksgiving Break: Start with those outlines

Thanksgiving Break: Last taste of freedom

Early December: 12-14 hour study days, spending lots of time in the library, stressing a lot, not showering much, outlining/taking practice exams, and generally just having no fun

FINALS: Couldn't tell you because the PTSD has blocked it from my mind (save for the occasional sweat inducing, panic-stricken flashback)

Post Finals: 1) ZOMG I BOMBED THAT EXAM, followed by 2) ZOMG WHEN WILL MY LAZY &@*%&@ PROFESSOR GIVE US OUR GRADES

Januaryish: Oh, I guess I didn't do so bad after all.

Second semester is about the same... but add the incredibly time-consuming job hunt and subtract most of your motivation that you had first semester.

Wow, no joke, but that perfectly describes my law school experience so far.

[Cupidity]

Your first semester:

August-September: Keep up with reading during the week, drink heavily on the weekends.

~Octoberish: AAAHH!!! CLOSED MEMO!!!!

October-Early November: Resume keeping up with readings, drink heavily on the weekends

Mid-November: SKJLFSKLAJFASDKFHSKJD OPEN MEMO! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Mid-November-Thanksgiving Break: Start with those outlines

Thanksgiving Break: Last taste of freedom

Early December: 12-14 hour study days, spending lots of time in the library, stressing a lot, not showering much, outlining/taking practice exams, and generally just having no fun

FINALS: Couldn't tell you because the PTSD has blocked it from my mind (save for the occasional sweat inducing, panic-stricken flashback)

Post Finals: 1) ZOMG I BOMBED THAT EXAM, followed by 2) ZOMG WHEN WILL MY LAZY &@*%&@ PROFESSOR GIVE US OUR GRADES

Januaryish: Oh, I guess I didn't do so bad after all.

Second semester is about the same... but add the incredibly time-consuming job hunt and subtract most of your motivation that you had first semester.

Wow, no joke, but that perfectly describes my law school experience so far.

TITCR

[FalafelWaffle]

20 pages per night per class.

Legal Writing Consumes 10-12 hours per week.

Job applications are hell.

You're at BU right? Legal Writing is that bad? Damn...

[traehekat]

Your first semester:

August-September: Keep up with reading during the week, drink heavily on the weekends.

~Octoberish: AAAHH!!! CLOSED MEMO!!!!

October-Early November: Resume keeping up with readings, drink heavily on the weekends

Mid-November: SKJLFSKLAJFASDKFHSKJD OPEN MEMO! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Mid-November-Thanksgiving Break: Start with those outlines

Thanksgiving Break: Last taste of freedom

Early December: 12-14 hour study days, spending lots of time in the library, stressing a lot, not showering much, outlining/taking practice exams, and generally just having no fun

FINALS: Couldn't tell you because the PTSD has blocked it from my mind (save for the occasional sweat inducing, panic-stricken flashback)

Post Finals: 1) ZOMG I BOMBED THAT EXAM, followed by 2) ZOMG WHEN WILL MY LAZY &@*%&@ PROFESSOR GIVE US OUR GRADES

Januaryish: Oh, I guess I didn't do so bad after all.

Second semester is about the same... but add the incredibly time-consuming job hunt and subtract most of your motivation that you had first semester.

Wow, no joke, but that perfectly describes my law school experience so far.

TITCR

Yeah, pretty damn accurate, IMO.

20 pages per night per class.

Legal Writing Consumes 10-12 hours per week.

Job applications are hell.

You're at BU right? Legal Writing is that bad? Damn...

10-12 hours per week is a hell of a lot more time than I spend on legal writing, and ours is graded. I do have to add to my original response that legal writing DOES take up quite a bit of time when deadlines are approaching. It may just depend on how you spread it out, but it probably takes me I'd say around 27-30 hours to do a brief/memo, including research, organizing, planning, drafting, and redrafting time. It just so happens I end up doing all that in the last 3 or 4 days...

[FalafelWaffle]

Your first semester:

August-September: Keep up with reading during the week, drink heavily on the weekends.

~Octoberish: AAAHH!!! CLOSED MEMO!!!!

October-Early November: Resume keeping up with readings, drink heavily on the weekends

Mid-November: SKJLFSKLAJFASDKFHSKJD OPEN MEMO! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Mid-November-Thanksgiving Break: Start with those outlines

Thanksgiving Break: Last taste of freedom

Early December: 12-14 hour study days, spending lots of time in the library, stressing a lot, not showering much, outlining/taking practice exams, and generally just having no fun

FINALS: Couldn't tell you because the PTSD has blocked it from my mind (save for the occasional sweat inducing, panic-stricken flashback)

Post Finals: 1) ZOMG I BOMBED THAT EXAM, followed by 2) ZOMG WHEN WILL MY LAZY &@*%&@ PROFESSOR GIVE US OUR GRADES

Januaryish: Oh, I guess I didn't do so bad after all.

Second semester is about the same... but add the incredibly time-consuming job hunt and subtract most of your motivation that you had first semester.

How's the jerb search from WUSTL, romo? Still high on my list-might be hard to turn down $$ and a career in the plains...

[ec2xs]

I have about 40-50 pages a night. Roughly 75 pages on my worst day, 25 on my best. Occasionally I'll have about 100.

But everything is contextual. I can spend 2 hours on 20 pages of reading in my con law class, then blow through 20 pages of Criminal Law in about 45 minutes. One of our professors (one that I didn't have) assigned about 50-80 pages a night last semester but they just glossed over things. I guess the better response would be that I put in about 2-3 hours doing class work every day, then try to fit in outlining/homework assignments/other work after that.

[FalafelWaffle]

Your first semester:

August-September: Keep up with reading during the week, drink heavily on the weekends.

~Octoberish: AAAHH!!! CLOSED MEMO!!!!

October-Early November: Resume keeping up with readings, drink heavily on the weekends

Mid-November: SKJLFSKLAJFASDKFHSKJD OPEN MEMO! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Mid-November-Thanksgiving Break: Start with those outlines

Thanksgiving Break: Last taste of freedom

Early December: 12-14 hour study days, spending lots of time in the library, stressing a lot, not showering much, outlining/taking practice exams, and generally just having no fun

FINALS: Couldn't tell you because the PTSD has blocked it from my mind (save for the occasional sweat inducing, panic-stricken flashback)

Post Finals: 1) ZOMG I BOMBED THAT EXAM, followed by 2) ZOMG WHEN WILL MY LAZY &@*%&@ PROFESSOR GIVE US OUR GRADES

Januaryish: Oh, I guess I didn't do so bad after all.

Second semester is about the same... but add the incredibly time-consuming job hunt and subtract most of your motivation that you had first semester.

I've dug through lots of old WUSTL threads, but people always seem to talk about Chicago (fair enough) and the insular nature of the St. Louis market (Again, fair enough). How do grads fare in, say, KCMO, the twin cities, and Iowa-I would imagine these draw students as well. The employment breakdown on the website is sort of hard to parse.

[romothesavior]

How's the jerb search from WUSTL, romo? Still high on my list-might be hard to turn down $$ and a career in the plains...

I'm only a 1L, so I can't really speak to the 2L search. I've had 3 interviews so far with a few more planned over the next few weeks. I'm sure I'll land something unpaid, hopefully soon so I can be done with it. I don't want to hijack this thread, but if you have WUSTL questions, I'd be happy to answer them here: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 4&t=130775 (or PM me)

And to answer your other question, I don't think 10-12 hours per week is anywhere near what people at WUSTL put in. Even the most gunnerish gunner probably doesn't spend more than a couple hours on it outside of memo/brief week. Personally, I almost never read for that class, so unless I am working on a memo, I'm looking at 3 hours of class time between research/LP and another 2 hours or so for my weekly research and Bluebooking assignments

[Cupidity]

20 pages per night per class.

Legal Writing Consumes 10-12 hours per week.

Job applications are hell.

You're at BU right? Legal Writing is that bad? Damn...

BU's legal writing sections are organized alphabetically, and it just so happens that I'm in a VERY COMPETITIVE part of the alphabet.

That said, the writing assignments don't start for the first month and don't occur during finals. We are done with moot court by spring break.

[gator1]

20 pages per night per class.

Legal Writing Consumes 10-12 hours per week.

Job applications are hell.

You're at BU right? Legal Writing is that bad? Damn...

BU's legal writing sections are organized alphabetically, and it just so happens that I'm in a VERY COMPETITIVE part of the alphabet.

That said, the writing assignments don't start for the first month and don't occur during finals. We are done with moot court by spring break.

i feel like more time should be spent teaching people how to be complete assholes...or repealing them.

[Gatriel]

Between reading, outlining, reviewing, supplements, and LRW you are lucky some weeks to do your laundry. Stupid forced curve forcing me to work harder than I need to.