What do you wish you knew/did when starting 1l Forum

[ampersand5]

Curious to see people who posted as a 0l asking for advice, what they regret/wish they did differently.

Thoughts/Thanks

[paintbynumbers]

try the search bar

[ampersand5]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5&t=180584

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5&t=105424

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=154662

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=125

read all. wanted more

[stillwater]

gone to disneyland

[nowasbestosfree]

Probably could have studied more. But I'm not all that convinced that if I had done better in school, and not had the memories of social outings I had with my friends from school, that my life would be better today.

I probably would have been more appreciative of the people that did help me out. I earned a scholarship and didn't even bother showing up for the award ceremony. I regret that. I didn't participate in charitable functions - I should have. There was one professor who did take some interest in me, I wish I had taken more advantage of that - he was a pretty cool guy and could have served as a mentor or a good reference later on. I wish I had just generally made connections with more people, even those I vaguely knew from school. It helps to have a wide network of acquaintances, especially if you live/practice in a smaller city.

So focus on personal connections. Studying is great, but when you're out looking for a job or clients, its going to be people you met along the way that will help you out.

[Bronck]

Wish I knew not to waste my time reading cases first semester.

[AreJay711]

Wish I knew not to waste my time reading cases first semester.

Especially reading cases closely. I still glance generally in the direction of the pages to get the gist of what's going on but I remember first semester of 1L when it was taking me an hour to read 10 pages

[Nelson]

I wish I had more faith in my own learning style and spent less time asking other people what was the best way to do law school.

EDIT: Which is to say, I did pretty much everything wrong according to TLS and I did well. YMMV. I knew people who freaked themselves out way too much trying to do things a certain "right" way and it probably hurt their performance in the long run. Sticking to what you're comfortable with is usually a good idea. Try a bunch of different approaches to get a feel for what works for you, but don't force yourself to do things a certain way because other people do.

[stillwater]

I wish I had more faith in my own learning style and spent less time asking other people what was the best way to do law school.

couldnt agree with this more. i spend more time worrying that i was "doing it wrong" than i should have.

[oblig.lawl.ref]

I wish I had more faith in my own learning style and spent less time asking other people what was the best way to do law school.

I agree with this. Also, I'd echo people on reading cases less closely. Though I don't know that I'm comfortable at this point not reading at all. Maybe after 2L I will be. Mostly I think people overemphasize the need to study. Studying more will not lead to doing better. Especially beyond a certain (fairly low) threshold.

[TooOld4This]

Start networking now.

The economy is lousy. You can do everything "right" and still wind up without a job at the end of hiring season. It is easiest to talk with alumni and people who do things you find interesting when you are not desperate for a job. Informational interviews can be really helpful in preparing you for the real thing. Talking with people who do things you might be interested in can give you direction. Outside BigLaw getting your résumé on the right person's desk is very important. Setting yourself up to be able to bypass HR can be a great boost. Start laying the ground work ASAP.

[Bronck]

I wish I had more faith in my own learning style and spent less time asking other people what was the best way to do law school.

I agree with this. Also, I'd echo people on reading cases less closely. Though I don't know that I'm comfortable at this point not reading at all. Maybe after 2L I will be. Mostly I think people overemphasize the need to study. Studying more will not lead to doing better. Especially beyond a certain (fairly low) threshold.

I didn't read cases second semester and it worked out pretty well for me. They're largely a flame. I almost completely relied on supplements (well, and Wikipedia for Con Law). In fact, my outlines were basically outlines of the supplements.

Of course, this may not work for everyone

[stillwater]

I wish I had more faith in my own learning style and spent less time asking other people what was the best way to do law school.

I agree with this. Also, I'd echo people on reading cases less closely. Though I don't know that I'm comfortable at this point not reading at all. Maybe after 2L I will be. Mostly I think people overemphasize the need to study. Studying more will not lead to doing better. Especially beyond a certain (fairly low) threshold.

I didn't read cases second semester and it worked out pretty well for me. They're largely a flame. I almost completely relied on supplements (well, and Wikipedia for Con Law). In fact, my outlines were basically outlines of the supplements.

Of course, this may not work for everyone

supps fo LIFE

[oblig.lawl.ref]

I wish I had more faith in my own learning style and spent less time asking other people what was the best way to do law school.

I agree with this. Also, I'd echo people on reading cases less closely. Though I don't know that I'm comfortable at this point not reading at all. Maybe after 2L I will be. Mostly I think people overemphasize the need to study. Studying more will not lead to doing better. Especially beyond a certain (fairly low) threshold.

I didn't read cases second semester and it worked out pretty well for me. They're largely a flame. I almost completely relied on supplements (well, and Wikipedia for Con Law). In fact, my outlines were basically outlines of the supplements.

Of course, this may not work for everyone

supps fo LIFE

I'm not sure I did it the right way by reading cases. I just feel like not reading at all is kind of like jumping into the deep end of taking it easy.

[otnemem]

Less studying early on in the semester, more networking, gone to more events/lunches/etc, gotten seriously involved with one club/organization, and just less stressing about the things I couldn't control.

[LgllyBlnde]

Don't worry about how much everyone else is studying/reading/preparing for class.

Have a life. Go out, drink, and have some fun every once in awhile.

Don't be a loner. They scare people.

Don't ask stupid questions. Yes, there are stupid questions (i.e. Professor, I know the syllabus says to read pages 43-102, but does that actually mean read all of those pages? [this actually happened]).

Don't be that kid who wears a suit to class every day while the rest of the class is in polo's and jeans.

NEVER ask a question when there is 1 minute left in class.

Try not to sleep with your entire class...It just looks bad.

[guano]

Wish I knew I'd get a great job offer halfway through 1L, so I wouldn't have wasted my money

[Bronck]

NEVER ask a question when there is 1 minute left in class.

The most important one.

[spakesneaker]

My biggest regret is not making more friends. I probably should have gone to more bar reviews or intramurals or gotten more involved in a few student groups to meet more people.


Studying-related things I would do differently:
-use supplements throughout the semester. Used the CivPro E&E occasionally throughout the semester to clear things up, and aced that class. BUT there's also a matter of striking a balance--Dressler for Crim went into a lot more detail and used different terminology than my professor did, and occasionally I would confuse myself. I probably wasted time outlining from that supplement, though skimming through it at the beginning of the semester helped give me an overview of the course and the material. I'll probably do the same for my classes next year, but again, not rely on the supplement quite so much.

-review more throughout the semester to make sure I'm understanding the concepts, and go to professors' office hours to clear up any confusion.

-when I do practice exams, not just look at whether I'm 'spotting the issues,' but also at how I'm expressing the issues. I had two types of exams: non-word-limited exams where faster typists will probably get higher scores (and I did well on exams I had like this), and word-limited exams, some with a lot of time allotted, where the highest scorers are those who not only know the concepts inside and out, spot the issues and explore all the possibilities, but also WRITE WELL. By writing well, I mean they make it clear to the reader exactly what the legal issue is. I went over one of my exams that I did worst on, and comparing it to the model answer, I thought I was saying all the things the model answer did, but in reality I was often just re-stating facts or law or not providing any valuable analysis. Some of it was due to being confused as to how the issue would actually be resolved (not knowing the material well enough), but some of it was due to not writing clearly and concisely under pressure. I firmly believe that such writing skills are what distinguish A exams from the rest.

-And, lastly, I would not listen to what anyone in my class says about professors, only what 2L and 3L students say (course evaluations aren't as useful because they're filled out before people take the exam at my school; after the exam I would definitely say different things). It either biases you against a professor or builds up the class and makes it seem really hard and almost mythical. I'm pretty sure I wrote myself out of some points on one of my [word-limited] exams because I thought "wait that can't be the answer, that's too easy! this professor wants more from us than that." Turns out that was the actual answer, lol.


-I'm still not sure how useful the casebook is. First semester I highlighted/underlined/book-briefed and had mixed results. Second semester I didn't write in my casebook at all, and instead put a lot more time into digesting cases, and typed up briefs (although I would sometimes read the wikipedia entries for the cases before reading them so I knew what to look for already). It was useful just because I would sometimes end up reading the cases weeks before we covered them in class, although in the future I'll probably try to read the cases closer to class time and write shorter briefs I don't put as much effort into. It just helped me understand the material a lot better, and I generally did better second semester. I don't think I looked at my casebooks at all in the last month of second semester, and I was sometimes confused by people who I saw looking through their casebooks during reading period as part of their studying.

[togepi]

Tag

[olive16]

I only have two pieces of advice for you.

1. Stick to study methods that worked for you in UG. People have already said this, but I have to reiterate it: DO WHAT YOU KNOW WORKS. You'll probably read "How to Succeed in Law School" guides. There are several on this site, and they are excellent guides, but that's all they are; read them accordingly. Fortunately, I realized this early in the semester.

2. Finish your outlines on the last day of classes, but only because this will give you more time to take practice exams. Finishing early might have other benefits like forcing you to outline when the material is fresh in your head. That's great, but you will be graded on how well you take law school exams. PRACTICE TAKING THEM, preferably at the end of the semester after you've finished your outline.

[patienunderstanding]

A few people mentioned supplements... could someone list the best (in their opinion) supplement for each 1L class?

[SportsFan]

I wish I'd relied on more supplements my first semester (I did in 1 class and it was my best grade first semester), and that in general I'd spent more time learning exam taking techniques. I ended up getting medianpwned, and I think a lot of that (as opposed to being top 10% or whatever) was because I *thought* I knew how to take a law school exam, but didn't actually "get it" as well as I thought I did.

[hephaestus]

A few people mentioned supplements... could someone list the best (in their opinion) supplement for each 1L class?

Con law: Chemerinski
Torts: Glannon E&E
Civ Pro: Glannon Multiple Choice guide.
Contracts: Hillman Concise Hornbook
Crim: Dressler Understanding Criminal Law
Property: The Short and Happy Guide to Property

Edit: some may be more school specific. I would wait until school starts then ask 2Ls and 3Ls.

[chill]

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