Law Preview: worth it? Forum

[GouldGirl]

My law school paid for Law Preview as a part of the scholarship. However, I did not find it helpful and after my first semester I was thankful that USC paid for the prep course and not me. Fortunately, on a recommendation from a friend, I worked with a tutor over the summer who had specific knowledge of the courses, professors and exams at my law school. This gave me a major boost and probably contributed a lot to why I was at the top of my class after 1L and and I am now working this summer (I am a rising 3L) in Big Law in LA. The key is that if you can actually get early help on your specific courses then of course it would be an advantage.

Thus, I would recommend finding someone with specific knowledge about your specific law school courses and exams (if at all possible). My tutor was affordable and focused on LA law schools such as USC, Loyola and Pepperdine.

[BlueJeanBaby]

My law school paid for Law Preview as a part of the scholarship. However, I did not find it helpful and after my first semester I was thankful that USC paid for the prep course and not me. Fortunately, on a recommendation from a friend, I worked with a tutor over the summer who had specific knowledge of the courses, professors and exams at my law school. This gave me a major boost and probably contributed a lot to why I was at the top of my class after 1L and and I am now working this summer (I am a rising 3L) in Big Law in LA. The key is that if you can actually get early help on your specific courses then of course it would be an advantage.

Thus, I would recommend finding someone with specific knowledge about your specific law school courses and exams (if at all possible). My tutor was affordable and focused on LA law schools such as USC, Loyola and Pepperdine.

You got a tutor before 1L year? I've never even heard of that. I guess for the amount of $$ you are going to blow on Law Preview, though, you might as well. I don't think it would work for someone who, like me, lives states away from where they will be attending law school.

[hmlee]

I'm not exactly an objective voice in this discussion, admittedly, given that I work for a company that's introducing a free 0L prep site, but, I think it depends on where you get the funds for it.

If you have somebody else willing to pay for you to take it, it's not necessarily a bad idea to take advantage of it. It's true that a lot of what you learn there (or in any 0L prep system), is something that you will pick up as a 1L. However, some people learn faster than others... what may take one or two weeks for one person to adjust to might take a half a semester for another. Given the importance of 1L grades, falling behind is a very bad idea.

That being said, $1,000 is a lot of money. Sooo if you're thinking of self-funding something like law preview, then I really hope you have excess funds just lying around.

[GouldGirl]

My law school paid for Law Preview as a part of the scholarship. However, I did not find it helpful and after my first semester I was thankful that USC paid for the prep course and not me. Fortunately, on a recommendation from a friend, I worked with a tutor over the summer who had specific knowledge of the courses, professors and exams at my law school. This gave me a major boost and probably contributed a lot to why I was at the top of my class after 1L and and I am now working this summer (I am a rising 3L) in Big Law in LA. The key is that if you can actually get early help on your specific courses then of course it would be an advantage.

Thus, I would recommend finding someone with specific knowledge about your specific law school courses and exams (if at all possible). My tutor was affordable and focused on LA law schools such as USC, Loyola and Pepperdine.

You got a tutor before 1L year? I've never even heard of that. I guess for the amount of $$ you are going to blow on Law Preview, though, you might as well. I don't think it would work for someone who, like me, lives states away from where they will be attending law school.

Good point. Cool thing is that in the summer he has grants and works with 0Ls free of charge. The job market is tough so any advantage I could afford and that made sense I took on.

[deliriousxix]

No. Waste of your money and your life.

[sundance95]

drop the P and its totally worth it, otherwise lololololololol

[Keithustus]

I just completed the six-day Law Preview and wanted to post a followup. First, here are my last posts here on the subject:

I've been out of school since 2003 so am very tempted to take Law Preview. I'll read Getting to Maybe and The Eight Secrets of Top Exam Performance in Law School thanks to your guys' recommendations, but given how long it's been since I've been in any kind of class or taken academic notes, a one-week exposure seems worthwhile given that the course price isn't extravagantly high. ... FYI, I've been reading SCOTUS opinions and attending their oral arguments for almost 15 years.

Considering how much Kaplan charges for a course that only helps you for a one-morning test, $1,000 for a week to maybe help you for three years is reasonable. Besides, one of the Law Preview locations is easily commutable from my home...

Law Preview was a good program. Whether it is worth $1,000 is less clear, but I would venture that most students would be helped by it. Like any aid, though, there are those who will do fine without, and those who will partake and glean nothing. In the end, it will be about who does work as a student, not just who went to a preparatory week.

I am glad to have attended because by spending that week with Law Preview, I believe I know enough about the 1L courses (4- or 8- hours of lecture for each) and how the exams work (4-hour lecture) such that I can begin outlining and exam-focused studying in the early-mid portion of the first semester when many other students will still be trying to grasp the course overview and what an outline is. So Law Preview may be considered a head-start or just an opportunity to sketch your three-year plan. Other than the 1L course overviews and exam-taking materials, Law Preview gave lessons on and took questions on vital issues such as how to apply to internships and jobs after graduation. Yes, I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to be introduced to those things again in the coming years, but I will be able to spend more time when those days come preparing my briefs and preparing for exams.

For others considering Law Preview, if you've got the $1,000 available, it's probably not going to be poorly spent. (80% of students become indebted during law school with for a median average indebtedness of over $100,000 is its own problem.) BUT I would suggest that you only take the five-day course and leave off the Legal Research & Writing day at the end. Probably the only thing you'll come away with from that day that you won't from attending a Legal Writing class or two your first semester is something I'll write here: 1L legal writing requirements are not intended to be exceptionally demanding; if you passed college English and aren't incapable of writing other than in text messages and tweets, you'll probably be able to put together the 1L writing assignments. It's the legal analysis that's emphasized, not the actual writing (at least as a 1L*). * May not apply if you're in a top top top school.