2ls and 3ls .. where were you during this time around 1L Forum

[dj_roomba]

Where were you during this time around in terms of notes, outlining, etc.? And what was your class rank?


Obviously everyone is different in terms of studying but I'm curious as to the amount of work you guys had done and how much of a correlation there is to your grades.

Another way to answer this is... as a 1L, where SHOULD we be right now if exams are in Dec?

[stillwater]

Where were you during this time around in terms of notes, outlining, etc.? And what was your class rank?


Obviously everyone is different in terms of studying but I'm curious as to the amount of work you guys had done and how much of a correlation there is to your grades.

Another way to answer this is... as a 1L, where SHOULD we be right now if exams are in Dec?

I read the cases. Hadn't started outlining. Maybe had perused some supps, nothing crazy. Ended up at the top of my class. Relax, youll be fine if youve kept up so far.

[brotherdarkness]

.

[stillwater]

you are on a ship being ferried to the shores of doom. you just need to keep preparing and ignore the fact one day youll land on normandy beach and may be among those mowed down with the chain gun fire from the headlands.

[spleenworship]

I can't remember where I was, but it was a bad place. I ended up barely above median. I read and briefed every case, read the E & Es, and was trying to outline.


Spring of 1L I started studying and outlining only in the last two weeks after taking no notes all semester. Ended up top 25%.

YMMV.

[thesealocust]

Don't look backwards, you'll turn into a pillar of salt, etc.

Obsess about prepping for the exam, not about where you are, where other people are/were, or how you are in relation to them.

[PepperJack]

I was like OP, confused and always felt I was behind. It was so wasteful, and I thought I'd get median owned for sure. But then I saved a bunch of money by switching my car insurance to Geico and graded onto law review. The answer is a fifteen minute call to Geico.

[daryldixon]

I was gunning pretty hard. I think I had finished outlining two of my classes by this time and I started taking some practice tests. I honestly don't think any of it helped my grades but it did relieve my anxiety.

I am at a t14 and I was top 25% after first semester and maybe top 15% after second semester. I have completely stopped gunning now (as a 2L and a 3L). I don't even know my class rank now and I really don't want to.

[odoylerulez]

Everything before Halloween doesn't matter.

From now to finals, you should be a madman. I didn't take first semester seriously until about this time last year. Focus on mastering about one class a week. If you don't have a good supplement for every class, now's the time to get one. Now's the time to start synthesizing your notes so that you can finish up those outlines over Thanksgiving. Start ignoring everything that goes on in class unless it's going to be on a final. But, it's important to go to every class in case your professor talks about the final or drops hints about its content.

We didn't get our class ranks until after second semester, but I believe I was between the top 1-2% of my class after first semester. I dropped a little bit after second semester because one class really hurt me - but I'm still in the top 10%.

I studied 60-70 hours a week from Halloween to finals. Before that, I only did enough to understand most of what was going on in class.. maybe 20 hours a week, if that, including time spent in class (probably about equal studying in/out of class).

[PepperJack]

I can't remember where I was, but it was a bad place. I ended up barely above median. I read and briefed every case, read the E & Es, and was trying to outline.


Spring of 1L I started studying and outlining only in the last two weeks after taking no notes all semester. Ended up top 25%.

YMMV.

It sounds like you just learned how to take the tests, not that the answer is starting to work in the last 2 weeks.

[hephaestus]

Where were you during this time around in terms of notes, outlining, etc.? And what was your class rank?


Obviously everyone is different in terms of studying but I'm curious as to the amount of work you guys had done and how much of a correlation there is to your grades.

Another way to answer this is... as a 1L, where SHOULD we be right now if exams are in Dec?

I didn't start outlining until the beginning of November. Well, technically I had one outline mostly done by this time, but I ended up remaking it from scratch because it was useless. I didn't start doing practice exams until this time, but then I started doing two a week (eventually escalating to five a week). I only used the E&E if something specific confused me. I ended up top 10% of a T14.

[sublime]

..

[hephaestus]

Where were you during this time around in terms of notes, outlining, etc.? And what was your class rank?


Obviously everyone is different in terms of studying but I'm curious as to the amount of work you guys had done and how much of a correlation there is to your grades.

Another way to answer this is... as a 1L, where SHOULD we be right now if exams are in Dec?

I didn't start outlining until the beginning of November. Well, technically I had one outline mostly done by this time, but I ended up remaking it from scratch because it was useless. I didn't start doing practice exams until this time, but then I started doing two a week (eventually escalating to five a week). I only used the E&E if something specific confused me. I ended up top 10% of a T14.

Two and five a week per class or total? And were those full 3-4 hour exams or 1-2 hour individual hypos. tyia.

I did two total per week until the last two weeks of classes. Then I moved to five. Save the most recent ones until the end. You may want to start with one from your professor that's older, then move on to ones by other professors but the same subject, then finish with the newer ones from your professor. After doing an exam, you should strictly grade yourself and adjust your outlines to reflect things you didn't understand or grasp. And these were full exams taken under exam conditions.

Re: outlining, I got into a really nice groove second semester. We had four doctrinal classes. Five weeks before I would start outlining. I spent one week on each of the doctrinal classes outlining up until the next class' assignment. During week five, I revised all four outlines to reflect the material that I missed initially (so the last four weeks of material for class one, last three weeks for class two, etc). Also I outlined in reverse chronological order by final (so the first class I outlined was my last final). This makes the last outline you do a seamless transition to your first exam.

[spleenworship]

I can't remember where I was, but it was a bad place. I ended up barely above median. I read and briefed every case, read the E & Es, and was trying to outline.


Spring of 1L I started studying and outlining only in the last two weeks after taking no notes all semester. Ended up top 25%.

YMMV.

It sounds like you just learned how to take the tests, not that the answer is starting to work in the last 2 weeks.

No. I just stopped worrying all the time. It allowed me to actually think and function as a human being. We all have different reactions to stress. Mine is to just get pissed off and shut down anything that might make me more stressed. It doesn't work for law school.

[thegrayman]

Keep in mind that Thanksgiving is relatively late this year, so you will probably want to start making significant headway on your outlines before then.

[Tiago Splitter]

There are two things to remember: You can put together an outline from scratch in about three days (perhaps even fewer) if you stuck with the readings and class during the semester, and most schools give TONS of time to their 1L's to study for finals. At my school we had 5-7 full days off before each final first semester. Keep grinding and try to get your outlines done around the time classes end, but don't freak out because there will be plenty of time.

[shock259]

I read ahead 1L, so I by this point I was done reading for the semester and mostly done with outlines. I started doing practice tests, which I did for the next 3+ weeks. I kept going to class, but only to polish/tweak my outlines. I got decimated on cold calls at this stage.

Note that I was way, way early in this. By the "reading" period that our school gave us, I was basically out of things to do. I couldn't do any more practice tests, I knew all the material, etc. So I just took baths, watched Netflix, and played video games.

I was ~ top 5% that semester. But I know that most of the other top people did not do nearly this much. So don't let this scare you.

[andythefir]

1st semester of 1L: In early November I was doing all of the assigned reading and going to every class. As per a professor’s (awful) advice, I had started my outlines in September. I was so overwhelmed by the process and by how much I had to do that I thought of my outlines as a finish line-once I outlined that class/topic I was done. I spent my free time memorizing my (mostly incorrect, because I started way too early and didn’t go back to fix) outline. I wound up in the bottom 10% for that semester.

2nd semester of 1L: At the same point I was still doing all of the assigned reading and going to every class. I incorporated CALI lessons and Lexis Q&A’s at about this point in order to get practice applying the law-which is completely different from knowing it. I talked to 2Ls and 3Ls about how to actually take law school exams, which no one teaches you unless you go out of your way to learn. I wound up in the top 10% for that semester.

[Ohiobumpkin]

1L Fall Semester: Panicking and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

1L Spring Semester: Hardly able to care and did better on grades. \

Such is life.

[ilovesf]

Had all my outlines done by Thanksgiving so that I could start memorizing/doing practice tests well ahead of a week before exams started. Take advantage of this feeling now, because you will never be this motivated to do well ever again.

[Danger Zone]

I had barely kept up with the reading and definitely had not started outlining.

[stillwater]

I had barely kept up with the reading and definitely had not started outlining.

DZ you dirty gunner, tell em the truth. they deserve to know the TRUTH about your study habits.

[Blumpbeef]

I had started my outlines, but had just been slacking most of the semester. Only read consistently (ie. more than 25% of the time) for one of my four classes. I relied on supplements for the rest. I started working old exams into my outlines, outlining supplements, and practicing old exams. I would also find important cases and important balancing tests from supplements and, if they had been assigned, go back and read the relevant parts of the cases they came from. The only real reason to read before going to class, IMO, is for fear of cold calling.

Outlines are basically just advanced notes. I didn't really use mine during the exams for most of my classes. I had an "outline that I worked on during the semester", and then an "outline I rushed together two days before the test". The latter is helpful on the exam, the former is helpful to organize everything you need to know.

I know that the best way for me to do well is to make my own outlines from scratch; one for comprehensive black letter law to use as a backup, and other other to jog my memory during the test. As ilovesf said, though, you will pretty quickly lose your motivation to do well.

[Hipster but Athletic]

still drunk till about the end of this week.

[hiima3L]

I was doing the usual day-to-day drudgery, that is, reading for every class. If I could go back in time, I would have just gotten outlines, relied on canned briefs, and started outlining, memorizing, and taking practice exams.

None of the cases from 1L is hard to understand or factually complicated. They all just illustrate a principle. There's no reason to reinvent the wheel, so get someone else's work and digest it.