What are the top 5 tips you would give an incoming 1L?` Forum

[NotMyRealName09]

Not a flame in the least. I am dead serious. I may have mentioned it before - you can search my name and "ambien," it may turn up, I don't recall. Why would I make this up? For shits and giggles? Not one thing I said wasn't true. Like I said - for ME - Ambien was excellent. Your experience may vary. I suffer from insomnia, and being able to know I could get some sleep at the very moment it was most important was a god send.

You do what works for you. And it wasn't caffine pills all the time. It was diet Mt. Dew, and I got twitches in my eye from drinking so much daily. The pills were just during outlining because they work quickly and you can measure your intake. You can get them at a pharmacy or a gas station.

We're not talking meth-addict levels of caffine here. We're talking cup o' coffee levels, just easier to take on the fly. I'm not an idiot, and pills lay out the exact caffine content. And night before the exam, stress alone kept me awake, I didn't need to caffinate then.

I also didn't study with people, ever. I was a loner. I wasn't a dick, mind you, but I lived an hour from campus and didn't hang out there anymore than I needed. I was engaged, so I wasn't looking to get laid. Moreover - and this may sound bad, but remember, this was all my internal thinking, I never said this to anyone - I knew I was the best, and studying with other people would only help them do better, while it could only hurt me by wasting my time. (Okay, I hoped I was the best, and it turns out, at least first semester 1L year, I was). I know for some people law school is a communal experience, but for me, because of the curve, every single person in my class was trying to make my grades lower. So, I took every advantage I could think of.

It is a fact that no one knew I was #1 - because I never told anyone. I didn't get good grades for bragging rights, I got them for me.

Law school isn't for fun (although I loved it and it WAS fun). It is for dominating grade-wise so you can get a high-paying job. That was my motivator. I was afraid of failure, so I determined not to fail.

[NotMyRealName09]

Oh, and last tip - take a shit before your exam, slam a redbull as soon as the timer starts, and take 2 advil as preemptive protection against a bad mid-test headache or backache.

Hey, it worked for me.

[NotMyRealName09]

No way I'll be hopped up on caffeine and ambien to pass exams. That's just fucking dangerous. I'm tempted to call flame.

Hehe, it's not like you do them both at once. Caffeine is in fricken coffee, and Ambien is available as a prescription only. "Hopped up" isn't the right word. You fall asleep. (Yes, there are side effects for some people, like sleep walking, sleep eating, sleep shopping, but for me, the only side effect was 8 solid hours of rejuvinating, restful sleep).

And I didn't just "pass exams." I dominated them.

I detailed my plan of attack for whoever wants to listen. If it's not for you, ok then.

[071816]

Oh, and last tip - take a shit before your exam, slam a redbull as soon as the timer starts, and take 2 advil as preemptive protection against a bad mid-test headache or backache.

Hey, it worked for me.

Cocaine's a hell of a drug...

[EliHBCU]

This is a good list of things they should know, it's more random then the above comments and less about school work. I think you might want to let them know these too:


http://thestudentappeal.com/what-i-wish ... wn-as-a-1l

[NotMyRealName09]

It is a fact that caffeine improves memory, concentration, and test performance. Is this really a earth-shattering, unbelievable fact that a law student used caffeine to study?

[NYC Law]

The NotMyRealName method can work for certain types, I believe I'm that type because he/she sounds most similar to myself in study habits and rituals, except I've never used ambien. I appreciate the input, this kind of thing clearly isn't for everyone, the same way mscarn's approach isn't for everyone.

[Naked Dude]

^ the one tip that doesn't require the "do what works for you caveat"

At what point in the semester should you begin doing practice exams? Obviously not so early that it's before you've learned anything right? Maybe mid to late October?

[Verity]

--ImageRemoved--

[Naked Dude]

you immediately – FIRST THING – scribble down your outline...In my head, immediately before an exam, I am reciting little dirty poems to myself to make sure I can recreate my one page handwritten outline as soon as the proctor says go.

Assuming you have an open-outline exam, which you can bring your outline materials to, what's the point of this? I'm sure that it aids in recollection, but if you're allowed to bring material in, it seems that reciting dirty poems to furiously scribble something at the beginning of an exam would cause unnecessary stress.

[mths]

It's incredibly hilarious what exams drive naturally neurotic people to do. I'm definitely no exception -- at least 4 cups of coffee a day and red wine to sleep.

[mths]

^ the one tip that doesn't require the "do what works for you caveat"

At what point in the semester should you begin doing practice exams? Obviously not so early that it's before you've learned anything right? Maybe mid to late October?

This is absolutely what you should plan for. If you plan to do them in October you'll probably get to them at the beginning of November.

Don't think there aren't a million other things to do other than prep for exams. I'm talking about briefs, keeping up on reading, outlining, and reading E&Es.

[Cupidity]

^ the one tip that doesn't require the "do what works for you caveat"

At what point in the semester should you begin doing practice exams? Obviously not so early that it's before you've learned anything right? Maybe mid to late October?

This is absolutely what you should plan for. If you plan to do them in October you'll probably get to them at the beginning of November.

Don't think there aren't a million other things to do other than prep for exams. I'm talking about briefs, keeping up on reading, outlining, and reading E&Es.

Whoa now, I'm going to disagree with this October malarky. Practice tests are precious, if you are lucky you will have four or five from your professors. Most professors I had only had one or two on file. Those things are by far the best tool to study, so don't squander them! Doing them in October is a massive waste. I took the pratice tests 2-3 days before the actual exam, once I knew everything and my outline was done. If you professor has a test bank of 15-20 tests, by all means, waste them. But don't go reading the single issue spotter they have published too soon!

[Verity]

Since LS is kind of an incubator, do students often turn to each other to satisfy their "slappin' skins" needs?

[Corwin]

It's incredibly hilarious what exams drive naturally neurotic people to do. I'm definitely no exception -- at least 4 cups of coffee a day and red wine to sleep.

Wow lol. I did the same exact thing when I was writing my thesis in undergrad. Drank way too much wine during that time.

[mths]

^ the one tip that doesn't require the "do what works for you caveat"

At what point in the semester should you begin doing practice exams? Obviously not so early that it's before you've learned anything right? Maybe mid to late October?

This is absolutely what you should plan for. If you plan to do them in October you'll probably get to them at the beginning of November.

Don't think there aren't a million other things to do other than prep for exams. I'm talking about briefs, keeping up on reading, outlining, and reading E&Es.

Whoa now, I'm going to disagree with this October malarky. Practice tests are precious, if you are lucky you will have four or five from your professors. Most professors I had only had one or two on file. Those things are by far the best tool to study, so don't squander them! Doing them in October is a massive waste. I took the pratice tests 2-3 days before the actual exam, once I knew everything and my outline was done. If you professor has a test bank of 15-20 tests, by all means, waste them. But don't go reading the single issue spotter they have published too soon!

This is essentially what I meant (sarcasm was dripping). I also did practice exams once all my outlines were finished a few days before the exam. Everyone I know did the same.

[Naked Dude]

^ the one tip that doesn't require the "do what works for you caveat"

At what point in the semester should you begin doing practice exams? Obviously not so early that it's before you've learned anything right? Maybe mid to late October?

This is absolutely what you should plan for. If you plan to do them in October you'll probably get to them at the beginning of November.

Don't think there aren't a million other things to do other than prep for exams. I'm talking about briefs, keeping up on reading, outlining, and reading E&Es.

Whoa now, I'm going to disagree with this October malarky. Practice tests are precious, if you are lucky you will have four or five from your professors. Most professors I had only had one or two on file. Those things are by far the best tool to study, so don't squander them! Doing them in October is a massive waste. I took the pratice tests 2-3 days before the actual exam, once I knew everything and my outline was done. If you professor has a test bank of 15-20 tests, by all means, waste them. But don't go reading the single issue spotter they have published too soon!

So pound the information into your head with briefing, outlines and supplements and THEN do practice tests? I guess this will be easier to ascertain once I get there

[transplantedbuckeye]

1.) Have the reading done for every class - preferably the night before. Once your behind, it is difficult and stressful to catch up. Learn what type of notes you need to take on what you read - after two years I've finally realized I like to highlight (just one color) and then go back and underline/take margin notes on things I thought were important after doing the rest of the reading.

2.) Take notes in class. I think handwriting them is better - no way to get distracted with a laptop then. Also, take note of the phrases, cases, topics your professor likes. Repeat those phrases on the exam, which is likely to cover the cases and topics you noted the prof likes. Any time the professor says "I think" or "I gave a speech" or "I wrote," make sure you write it down.

3.) If your professor gives you an example of something, make sure you read it and then use it. Example: your writing professor hands out an example of a good/perfect memo following the first one you wrote for the class. It's a hint - your next one should look and read like that one. You would be surprised how many people in my writing class didn't look at the example and then wondered why their next memo got another bad score.

4.) Don't feel that you need to use a supplement just because everyone else does.

5.) Read the facts on the exam. Then read them again. Sometimes I even read them a third time. You don't want to start writing about something that isn't there. Taking the time to understand what the facts are telling you is going to save you the time of correcting or changing your answer when you realize you wrote about something that wasn't there.

[snowpeach06]

1. Breath. Stressing isn't all that helpful. And there are always people that are going to be doing more than you and make you feel behind, dumb and stressed.

2. I found supplements to be helpful. Also if your school has tutors or if you can get outlines from the top people in the class above you, that is super helpful.

3. Make friends. Have a social life. It makes studying with people easier, and your life happier.

4. Most of my advice is school specific. So this is kind of pointless.

[Pizon]

I would give five tips, but my first one would be "Don't listen to what anyone tells you about law school"... so, I guess this reply never happened.

[jmjones]

1-5. Don't go.

1-4. Don't go.
5. I told you so.

[ManLaw]

Since LS is kind of an incubator, do students often turn to each other to satisfy their "slappin' skins" needs?

Of course. Law schools host "bar reviews" where they select a different bar to meet at every thursday, which results in many awkward stories for next week in the student lounge.

[Naked Dude]

Since LS is kind of an incubator, do students often turn to each other to satisfy their "slappin' skins" needs?

Of course. Law schools host "bar reviews" where they select a different bar to meet at every thursday, which results in many awkward stories for next week in the student lounge.

Yeah I would imagine the weekly bar reviews results in many a drunken hookup.

[FeelTheHeat]

Seems like everyone in my class is married/engaged/taken







subtle tag

[shepdawg]

^ the one tip that doesn't require the "do what works for you caveat"

At what point in the semester should you begin doing practice exams? Obviously not so early that it's before you've learned anything right? Maybe mid to late October?

I started taking them before my outline was finished. They helped guide me as to what I should put on my outline.