Cornell 1L taking questions Forum

A forum for applicants and admitted students to ask law students and graduates about law school and the practice of law.
Post Reply
WeeBey

Silver
Posts: 547
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 8:23 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by WeeBey » Wed Jun 10, 2015 1:20 pm

What part takes up so much time? Are the readings just that long or do you spend alot of time outlining and making summaries?

I thought law school was just an all or none final and no assignments or homework.

runinthefront

Gold
Posts: 2151
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:18 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by runinthefront » Wed Jun 10, 2015 1:41 pm

WeeBey wrote:What part takes up so much time? Are the readings just that long or do you spend alot of time outlining and making summaries?

I thought law school was just an all or none final and no assignments or homework.
I'd rather someone else chime in so you're not just getting one opinion, but yeah, I don't even start outlining until 1.5 months out from finals. The readings just take a while to understand/digest and I still brief everything to help retain it all (and for coldcalls) so yeah. You'll get a Conlaw or CivPro reading that can take up the entire afternoon alone (at least, my friends and I felt that way alot) just to sorta understand it.


You're also forgetting Lawyering assignments
Last edited by runinthefront on Sat Jan 27, 2018 12:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
runthetrap1990

Bronze
Posts: 432
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by runthetrap1990 » Wed Jun 10, 2015 2:15 pm

WeeBey wrote:What part takes up so much time? Are the readings just that long or do you spend alot of time outlining and making summaries?

I thought law school was just an all or none final and no assignments or homework.
Idk your background but it's most likely a safe assumption that law school is going to be a totally new way of thinking, working, language, etc. So It will take some time to adjust (some quicker than others). And then there is just a lot of material to get through, much of which you can't put off til the very end and expect to do well (I know anecdotally someone who was able to do so but even at the end he/she was pulling off some crazy hours to study....and that's very much the exception not the rule). Reading, and understanding,will take time and patience. You may have 10 pages of reading for civpro but my god that will be the most dense 10 pages ever. But that's how your lay down the ground work ahead of outlining, exam practice, memorizing the law, etc. And then add in getting involved in school (to different degrees of course, ymmv), you end up just getting sucked up on time.

I agree completely with runinthefront through, you gotta put in the time if you want to succeed. I was able to usually skirt by on the minimum and do fine in undergrad but law school does not give anything easily. It's ultimately rewarding (I think) but extremely demanding.

My 2c's

User avatar
Yea All Right

Silver
Posts: 579
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:27 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Yea All Right » Wed Jun 10, 2015 11:22 pm

runthetrap1990 said exactly what I was thinking, 10-15 pages of civpro reading could take 1-2 hours or more and I still wouldn't get what was going on

User avatar
mt2165

Silver
Posts: 546
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:58 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by mt2165 » Wed Jun 10, 2015 11:33 pm

Lol there were some civ pro reading in the beginning of the year that I swear took me like 3-4 hours to get through-but by the middle/end of first semester you kinda figure out what you need to look for and what to skim etc., unfortunately just in time for all the outlining and test prep-where once again you have no clue wtf is going on. I would say that in addition to class, I know people who got away with doing 3-5 hours of work outside of class everyday and did fine, but these people are 1) really efficient in a way most arent and 2) generally pretty sharp. And in response to WeeBey, you would think that having only one final would make things easier but im like 97% sure it makes things ALOT worse. Because now you have an ungodly amount of information to process and apply on one test on a curve against people either as smart of smarter than you. The pressure is real and even if you theoretically wouldn't have to put that much time into prep based purely off the content of the exam, you sure as hell do cause jimmy in the cubicle next to you is going hard as fuck on a supplement two weeks before fall break.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


redsoxfan1989

Bronze
Posts: 176
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:04 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by redsoxfan1989 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:38 pm

When do rising 2Ls sign up for classes and when do they release the course schedule?

User avatar
Lavitz

Gold
Posts: 3402
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 1:39 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Lavitz » Thu Jun 11, 2015 3:14 pm

redsoxfan1989 wrote:When do rising 2Ls sign up for classes and when do they release the course schedule?
Last year it was June 20th. Probably end of next week.

WeeBey

Silver
Posts: 547
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 8:23 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by WeeBey » Fri Jun 12, 2015 1:25 am

So basically you're doing law school til like 9pm every night? Fuck lol. I feel like Hughes is gonna be real depressing.

runinthefront

Gold
Posts: 2151
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:18 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by runinthefront » Fri Jun 12, 2015 10:35 am

WeeBey wrote:So basically you're doing law school til like 9pm every night? Fuck lol. I feel like Hughes is gonna be real depressing.
I would say many are working well past 9pm each day; then again, I'm probably a gunner so idk if that's just my atypical experience

But the library is still pretty full well past 11pm a lot of the time

What were you honestly expecting
Last edited by runinthefront on Sat Jan 27, 2018 12:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


User avatar
runthetrap1990

Bronze
Posts: 432
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by runthetrap1990 » Fri Jun 12, 2015 11:03 am

WeeBey wrote:So basically you're doing law school til like 9pm every night? Fuck lol. I feel like Hughes is gonna be real depressing.
Truly depends on your efficiency and also the amount of work you plan to put in each day. How long you work is going to be totally dependent on your style, when you start working, how many breaks you take, how much dicking around on Reddit you do, etc. etc.

First semester I wasn't sure what i was doing so I'd work til like 11pm five days a week, lighter load during weekends. Second semester I had a better idea of what I was doing and though I was able to leave earlier on average I was also putting in more work each week on average, but even then I noticed my hours got later and later as the weeks went on. Things just pile on.

1L is definitely not a year-long models and bottles party, though...or anything remotely close to college.

WeeBey

Silver
Posts: 547
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 8:23 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by WeeBey » Fri Jun 12, 2015 12:16 pm

runinthefront wrote:
WeeBey wrote:So basically you're doing law school til like 9pm every night? Fuck lol. I feel like Hughes is gonna be real depressing.
I would say many are working well past 9pm each day; then again, I'm probably a gunner so idk if that's just my atypical experience

But the library is still pretty full well past 11pm a lot of the time

What were you honestly expecting
TBH, I knew it would be more work than undergrad, but I was hoping it would just be undergrad with 7-8 courses a semester as opposed to 5.

newbienew

New
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:02 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by newbienew » Fri Jun 12, 2015 2:43 pm

Allow me to provide a contrary perspective.

Everyone's experience is going to vary, but I don't understand why it would be necessary to spend more than 2-3 hours out of class per day, five days a week, on school-related work during the semester. It's important to do 100% of the assigned reading, and to engage with it seriously and try to understand it, but it's impossible to get it completely at first, and spending hours spinning your wheels isn't particularly useful. It's much more important to give it a good-faith effort, think about it some, and then pay attention in class. (This is one of the biggest mistakes people make, in my opinion -- the hour you spend in class listening to your professor talk can be far more valuable than 2 hours spent on your own outside of class. Don't waste that time.) If you do all the reading, spend a little time thinking about the material, pay attention in class, and are lucky enough to find a decent percentage of it interesting, you'll be doing just fine.

People freak out and kill themselves over-studying for two basic reasons: (1) because they have no indication of how they're doing at any point during the semester and therefore feel the need to over-prepare for the lone assessment; and (2) because they're worried about precisely what was said above: that someone else is going to be studying at any given time, so they'll necessarily be falling behind if they don't. The flaw in that logic is that the sheer amount of time you spend studying is not the key to success on law school exams. Exams are partially about knowing the material, but they're about far more than that, too. They're also about your ability to: read and process fact patterns; apply the law you learned to those facts; be comfortable expressing and exploring hypotheticals and alternative possibilities; type quickly; avoid nerves; write in a way that's easy to read; etc. Some of those skills can be aided by studying, but some can't. Spending 8-10 hours a day on law school might make you feel like you're in control of your own success, but it's largely a myth. Studying with an eye toward analyzing the material in the way your professors do and then being able to produce that during a timed exam doesn't have to take that long, and it's a much smarter way to go.

Long story short: if you want to study for 10 hours a day, more power to you. But if you don't, you don't have to. If you're doing the things I described above, you're likely to do just as well studying 3 hours a day as you would with 10. That's especially true if the 3-hour-per-day plan allows you to enjoy your life more and stay less stressed. You don't have to be miserable to succeed in law school, and in fact it's probably counter-productive.

Finally, I would recommend studying more than 3 hours per day when exam period rolls around, but I think spending 2-3 days per exam, studying for 5-6 hours per day, is plenty even then.

Hope this helps.

WeeBey

Silver
Posts: 547
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 8:23 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by WeeBey » Mon Jun 15, 2015 4:52 pm

newbienew wrote:Allow me to provide a contrary perspective.

Everyone's experience is going to vary, but I don't understand why it would be necessary to spend more than 2-3 hours out of class per day, five days a week, on school-related work during the semester. It's important to do 100% of the assigned reading, and to engage with it seriously and try to understand it, but it's impossible to get it completely at first, and spending hours spinning your wheels isn't particularly useful. It's much more important to give it a good-faith effort, think about it some, and then pay attention in class. (This is one of the biggest mistakes people make, in my opinion -- the hour you spend in class listening to your professor talk can be far more valuable than 2 hours spent on your own outside of class. Don't waste that time.) If you do all the reading, spend a little time thinking about the material, pay attention in class, and are lucky enough to find a decent percentage of it interesting, you'll be doing just fine.

People freak out and kill themselves over-studying for two basic reasons: (1) because they have no indication of how they're doing at any point during the semester and therefore feel the need to over-prepare for the lone assessment; and (2) because they're worried about precisely what was said above: that someone else is going to be studying at any given time, so they'll necessarily be falling behind if they don't. The flaw in that logic is that the sheer amount of time you spend studying is not the key to success on law school exams. Exams are partially about knowing the material, but they're about far more than that, too. They're also about your ability to: read and process fact patterns; apply the law you learned to those facts; be comfortable expressing and exploring hypotheticals and alternative possibilities; type quickly; avoid nerves; write in a way that's easy to read; etc. Some of those skills can be aided by studying, but some can't. Spending 8-10 hours a day on law school might make you feel like you're in control of your own success, but it's largely a myth. Studying with an eye toward analyzing the material in the way your professors do and then being able to produce that during a timed exam doesn't have to take that long, and it's a much smarter way to go.

Long story short: if you want to study for 10 hours a day, more power to you. But if you don't, you don't have to. If you're doing the things I described above, you're likely to do just as well studying 3 hours a day as you would with 10. That's especially true if the 3-hour-per-day plan allows you to enjoy your life more and stay less stressed. You don't have to be miserable to succeed in law school, and in fact it's probably counter-productive.

Finally, I would recommend studying more than 3 hours per day when exam period rolls around, but I think spending 2-3 days per exam, studying for 5-6 hours per day, is plenty even then.

Hope this helps.
That's a relief! I never really spent that much time studying in UG. I was a STEM major and I found success by just paying attention in class in to understand a concept and by doing a few practice questions come exam time.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


User avatar
Yea All Right

Silver
Posts: 579
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:27 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Yea All Right » Fri Jun 19, 2015 11:41 am

Would it be reasonable work-wise to take 3 of the core upperclassmen courses (specifically Admin. Law, Biz Orgs, and Evidence) in the fall semester? Also, should I take Professional Responsibility during 2L or 3L?

Thanks in advance.

User avatar
Lavitz

Gold
Posts: 3402
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 1:39 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Lavitz » Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:19 pm

Yea All Right wrote:Would it be reasonable work-wise to take 3 of the core upperclassmen courses (specifically Admin. Law, Biz Orgs, and Evidence) in the fall semester? Also, should I take Professional Responsibility during 2L or 3L?

Thanks in advance.
Admin and Evidence are at the same time, so I don't see how you have that option (yet). Also, depends on what the last class is, because that's only 11 credits.

Doesn't really matter. Do you want a 9am class, or wait and see if you get a non-9am class in a different semester?

User avatar
Yea All Right

Silver
Posts: 579
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:27 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Yea All Right » Fri Jun 19, 2015 2:38 pm

Lavitz wrote:
Yea All Right wrote:Would it be reasonable work-wise to take 3 of the core upperclassmen courses (specifically Admin. Law, Biz Orgs, and Evidence) in the fall semester? Also, should I take Professional Responsibility during 2L or 3L?

Thanks in advance.
Admin and Evidence are at the same time, so I don't see how you have that option (yet). Also, depends on what the last class is, because that's only 11 credits.

Doesn't really matter. Do you want a 9am class, or wait and see if you get a non-9am class in a different semester?
Ah you're right, just saw that. Guess I'm taking one of them during 3L (don't want to take in spring), and same with Professional Responsibility. Thanks man!

hephaestus

Gold
Posts: 2399
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:21 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by hephaestus » Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:35 pm

Yea All Right wrote:
Lavitz wrote:
Yea All Right wrote:Would it be reasonable work-wise to take 3 of the core upperclassmen courses (specifically Admin. Law, Biz Orgs, and Evidence) in the fall semester? Also, should I take Professional Responsibility during 2L or 3L?

Thanks in advance.
Admin and Evidence are at the same time, so I don't see how you have that option (yet). Also, depends on what the last class is, because that's only 11 credits.

Doesn't really matter. Do you want a 9am class, or wait and see if you get a non-9am class in a different semester?
Ah you're right, just saw that. Guess I'm taking one of them during 3L (don't want to take in spring), and same with Professional Responsibility. Thanks man!
I also advise taking PR the semester you take the MPRE, because you'll avoid reteaching everything to yourself.

As far as 2L goes, I think taking 2 "hard" classes a semester (which would include the core courses) is a smart balance between actually learning and being able to explore areas of the law you might be more interested in, as well as opening up some more free time than you are used to as a 1L.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


rackylo

New
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:44 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by rackylo » Sat Jun 20, 2015 10:30 pm

In what courses are people more likely to opt for S/U? I heard that Sec. Reg. and Fed. Courts are two popular courses to use up the S/U.

User avatar
runthetrap1990

Bronze
Posts: 432
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by runthetrap1990 » Sun Jun 21, 2015 6:16 pm

Dumb question here, but for that first screen of pre-reg, should we be filling all 6 slots up? And if so, should we be taking into account that we may not get into the classes we are registering for? Finally, if we want to take a writing seminar or clinic do we account for those credits on that first screen when making the selections?

User avatar
Lavitz

Gold
Posts: 3402
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 1:39 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Lavitz » Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:51 pm

runthetrap1990 wrote:Dumb question here, but for that first screen of pre-reg, should we be filling all 6 slots up? And if so, should we be taking into account that we may not get into the classes we are registering for? Finally, if we want to take a writing seminar or clinic do we account for those credits on that first screen when making the selections?
Yes. It's preregistration, so just sign up for everything you may want and then just drop later when you see what you got into / think about it some more. You can also add more classes as soon as the initial preregistration results come out.

Yes, although you'll probably get into any regular class if you stay on the waitlist long enough. Maybe not certain seminars or the small skills classes though.

? You select seminars on the second screen and clinics on the third screen. I don't know what you mean by "account for credits." I think I was signed up for well over 30 credits for the first week of 2L Spring until I decided what I was dropping.
rackylo wrote:In what courses are people more likely to opt for S/U? I heard that Sec. Reg. and Fed. Courts are two popular courses to use up the S/U.
Those are the two big ones. Sometimes people save them for whatever classes they take in 3L Spring just so they can check out. So a bunch of people used it in CrimPro with Colb, Evidence with Clymer, Financial Institutions with Hockett, etc.

User avatar
runthetrap1990

Bronze
Posts: 432
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by runthetrap1990 » Mon Jun 22, 2015 12:32 am

Lavitz wrote:
runthetrap1990 wrote:Dumb question here, but for that first screen of pre-reg, should we be filling all 6 slots up? And if so, should we be taking into account that we may not get into the classes we are registering for? Finally, if we want to take a writing seminar or clinic do we account for those credits on that first screen when making the selections?
Yes. It's preregistration, so just sign up for everything you may want and then just drop later when you see what you got into / think about it some more. You can also add more classes as soon as the initial preregistration results come out.

Yes, although you'll probably get into any regular class if you stay on the waitlist long enough. Maybe not certain seminars or the small skills classes though.

? You select seminars on the second screen and clinics on the third screen. I don't know what you mean by "account for credits." I think I was signed up for well over 30 credits for the first week of 2L Spring until I decided what I was dropping.
last question you basically answered in the first few explanations. Thanks!

Follow up Q. Thoughts on Bankruptcy with Lienau and Public International Law with Ohlin (if you've taken either of them or heard from class mates).

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


User avatar
mt2165

Silver
Posts: 546
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:58 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by mt2165 » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:36 pm

What do most 3l's do when they extern fall semester regarding housing? Do most people just try and sublet out their apartment in the fall? Or sublet an apartment during the spring?

User avatar
Lavitz

Gold
Posts: 3402
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 1:39 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Lavitz » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:41 pm

mt2165 wrote:What do most 3l's do when they extern fall semester regarding housing? Do most people just try and sublet out their apartment in the fall? Or sublet an apartment during the spring?
I've heard of both.

hephaestus

Gold
Posts: 2399
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:21 pm

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by hephaestus » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:45 pm

Law school is quite a great place.

User avatar
Lavitz

Gold
Posts: 3402
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 1:39 am

Re: Cornell 1L taking questions

Post by Lavitz » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:20 pm

ImNoScar wrote:Law school is quite a great place.
Miss it already, I see.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Post Reply

Return to “Ask a Law Student / Graduate”