Thread Unworthy 1L fears, inquiries, and rants welcome here Forum

[Stanford4Me]

Umm....I'm still figuring out how to outline. I feel like I messed up somewhere. TBF, classes don't start until Wednesday.

[romothesavior]

Yeah I'm sorry, I guess I was just in a grouchy mood when I posted that earlier this morning (it was right when I woke up). I wasn't really directing that at you necessarily, just kind of a general observation of this thread in general. I think week 1 or 2 is too early to begin outlining since you don't really know where the direction of the class is going at this point, but I still should have checked the rudeness at the door.

You fended off my trap well. Since I have already finished outline through this AND next weeks class, I thought I could use the rest of Saturday to practice negging other 1L's out of beneficial methods of exam preparation so that I may masterfully mold the curve to my benefit in real life.

I still love you Skoobs, sorry.

It's all cool bro

--ImageRemoved--

[traehekat]

Outlining this early has the obvious benefit of saving you time later in the semester, when you can then be going over practice exams, etc. Unfortunately, there is the very real possibility you just end up doing it wrong because you don't really know HOW to outline, and thus you just waste a bunch of time.

Honestly, though, it isn't like it is some magical process that will be revealed to you, like an epiphany or something. Everyone outlines different anyway.

Arrow suggests to outline early. MegaTTTron suggests outlining every weekend. Xeoh85 says you must be frontloading your work, and specifically mentions outlining as a productive use of your time early in the semester. In the "If I could do my first semester over again..." thread, a TON of people wish they would have started outlining earlier/throughout the semester. Talon also highly recommends outlining early in the semester.

So, yeah... take that for what it's worth.

[keg411]

I think it's easier to outline if you have a syllabus. I input the syllabus into a document and after each class, I take the information discussed and make it into an outline. Obviously if I see later where something is going (and it's not the original direction I thought it was), it's easy to erase and make changes as you go along; nothing is "set in stone". It also hasn't taken up a ton of extra time and has been a good way of review.

However, I can see where outlining early would be extremely difficult if there is no syllabus and you have no idea where the class is going. But I feel like I have to do all of this early because I have a mid-term in one class and a whole bunch of exams spread out in another (half are analysis based and half are bar-style knowledge based) so I really can't wait until the middle/end of the semester.

[philosoraptor]

If I started outlining now, I'd be tempted to include way more information than I'll probably end up needing (such as the theoretical crap that most of my classes have started with). I'm going to wait at least a couple more weeks so there's an incentive to start paring things down.

[gollymolly]

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[TTH]

If I started outlining now, I'd be tempted to include way more information than I'll probably end up needing (such as the theoretical crap that most of my classes have started with). I'm going to wait at least a couple more weeks so there's an incentive to start paring things down.

This is a good idea, but I think I'm going to start outlining now so that I can go through two or three drafts before finals, mainly so that I keep going back to early material to ensure I have it all down.

[legalease9]

Here's a 1L hypo for everyone. Something I've been thinking about a lot, especially with the ubiquitousness (if that is a word) of this forum these days.


If it's safe to assume, then every incoming 1L at your law school probably googled "how to prep for law school" or "how to do well in law school", etc. Some digging will inevitably lead to this forum and thus to suggestions like LEEWs, GTM, etc. So if everyone in your 1L class does LEEWs, GTM, Delaney's and other suggestions one can easily find on this forum, then shouldn't it be especially hard to be the top of your class?

LEEWs makes it seem that by simply doing the audio course, you're guaranteed B+ if you implement the strategy well.

Basically, i'm asking, how are gunners going to place in such an open-information, ultra-competitive class?

With modern Law school curves, B+ is at median. So they are essentially stating you won't be below the 50th percentile. Still a pretty bold claim, but not as extreme as B+ sounds.

[presh]

.

[stocksly33]

Here's a 1L hypo for everyone. Something I've been thinking about a lot, especially with the ubiquitousness (if that is a word) of this forum these days.


If it's safe to assume, then every incoming 1L at your law school probably googled "how to prep for law school" or "how to do well in law school", etc. Some digging will inevitably lead to this forum and thus to suggestions like LEEWs, GTM, etc. So if everyone in your 1L class does LEEWs, GTM, Delaney's and other suggestions one can easily find on this forum, then shouldn't it be especially hard to be the top of your class?

at my school, quite a few 1Ls ask what a hornbook is when someone brings it up. I doubt if more than 25% have enter heard of TLS.

[kalvano]

I mentioned in a SMU thread that I am very surprised at the lack of preparation / knowledge from people who are dropping a huge chunk of scratch on school.

They seem to have done no research whatsoever.

[romothesavior]

I mentioned in a SMU thread that I am very surprised at the lack of preparation / knowledge from people who are dropping a huge chunk of scratch on school.

They seem to have done no research whatsoever.

Someone yesterday still didn't know there was curved grading.

[sibley]

Here's a 1L hypo for everyone. Something I've been thinking about a lot, especially with the ubiquitousness (if that is a word) of this forum these days.


If it's safe to assume, then every incoming 1L at your law school probably googled "how to prep for law school" or "how to do well in law school", etc. Some digging will inevitably lead to this forum and thus to suggestions like LEEWs, GTM, etc. So if everyone in your 1L class does LEEWs, GTM, Delaney's and other suggestions one can easily find on this forum, then shouldn't it be especially hard to be the top of your class?

at my school, quite a few 1Ls ask what a hornbook is when someone brings it up. I doubt if more than 25% have enter heard of TLS.

This is a very good thing for us provided we use it right.

[SmittenMitten]

Here's a 1L hypo for everyone. Something I've been thinking about a lot, especially with the ubiquitousness (if that is a word) of this forum these days.


If it's safe to assume, then every incoming 1L at your law school probably googled "how to prep for law school" or "how to do well in law school", etc. Some digging will inevitably lead to this forum and thus to suggestions like LEEWs, GTM, etc. So if everyone in your 1L class does LEEWs, GTM, Delaney's and other suggestions one can easily find on this forum, then shouldn't it be especially hard to be the top of your class?

at my school, quite a few 1Ls ask what a hornbook is when someone brings it up. I doubt if more than 25% have enter heard of TLS.

This is a very good thing for us provided we use it right.

For a lot of people I hear volunteering in class-it seems as though their biggest prep was a Law&Order marathon and trying to learn some big words. One guy in my section spends most of his time trying to intimidate with big words/be teachers pet/act like this is a Philosophy course....my guess is that his hubris will be his downfall.

[revolution724]

it seems as though their biggest prep was a Law&Order marathon

I'm NGL, Law & Order is occasionally helpful in crim. And much more often olololol worthy.

[traehekat]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

[skoobily doobily]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

I hope not, i'm bringing them to my final with my outlines!

In other news: I have no freaking clue what to do when a case has no black letter law or statutes in it. When it's just general common sense reasoning I can't figure wtf i'm supposed to take from it. Does this mean the case is less valuable to the class in the long run?

[Adjudicator]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

Yes... you should have bought Boston Legal.

[traehekat]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

I hope not, i'm bringing them to my final with my outlines!

In other news: I have no freaking clue what to do when a case has no black letter law or statutes in it. When it's just general common sense reasoning I can't figure wtf i'm supposed to take from it. Does this mean the case is less valuable to the class in the long run?

what case?

[revolution724]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

I hope not, i'm bringing them to my final with my outlines!

In other news: I have no freaking clue what to do when a case has no black letter law or statutes in it. When it's just general common sense reasoning I can't figure wtf i'm supposed to take from it. Does this mean the case is less valuable to the class in the long run?

I hope to god somebody hosts a Law & Order marathon at school for like, I dunno. An exam stress blowoff or something.

Anyway, sometimes you have to take away the common sense reasoning. Just because something's "common sense" doesn't make it the law until and unless there's precedent for it (I'm looking at YOU, Pierson v. Post dissent), and it may seem common-sensical to you but I guarantee it hasn't always been so to everyone and there may be alternative ways it could have been argued and/or decided; that's a defining feature of common law as opposed to statutory law. I hate to say "you'll pick it up as you go along," too, but I think it's at least partly true. Compare your brief or notes to your supplement or what you can find online about it, or get a study group and talk with them about it, or ask your professor, if you're still unclear on the take-away message.

By the way? I hate working in groups as a rule, but I am so, so, so glad to have had a study group during 1L. It's early yet, but unless it rips apart your soul to talk about law with other people, I highly suggest that you find one. I don't think the number of people matters that much; we had three in mine, four might have been good too, I saw some that were as many as eight, but regardless, it helps a LOT to have peers in your same classes against whom to bounce thoughts and ideas and figure out points of confusion. FWIW.

[romothesavior]

By the way? I hate working in groups as a rule, but I am so, so, so glad to have had a study group during 1L. It's early yet, but unless it rips apart your soul to talk about law with other people, I highly suggest that you find one. I don't think the number of people matters that much; we had three in mine, four might have been good too, I saw some that were as many as eight, but regardless, it helps a LOT to have peers in your same classes against whom to bounce thoughts and ideas and figure out points of confusion. FWIW.

I think a lot of that is just personal preference, IMO. I'll definitely be discussing things with people in my classes on an informal basis, but I'm not planning to get together and have a regular pow-wow with them. And my next door neighbor is a 2L who did pretty well during 1L, so that's a resource I plan to tap into and bounce ideas off of as well.

[skoobily doobily]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

I hope not, i'm bringing them to my final with my outlines!

In other news: I have no freaking clue what to do when a case has no black letter law or statutes in it. When it's just general common sense reasoning I can't figure wtf i'm supposed to take from it. Does this mean the case is less valuable to the class in the long run?

what case?

Hackbart v. Cincinnati Bengals Inc.

[revolution724]

By the way? I hate working in groups as a rule, but I am so, so, so glad to have had a study group during 1L. It's early yet, but unless it rips apart your soul to talk about law with other people, I highly suggest that you find one. I don't think the number of people matters that much; we had three in mine, four might have been good too, I saw some that were as many as eight, but regardless, it helps a LOT to have peers in your same classes against whom to bounce thoughts and ideas and figure out points of confusion. FWIW.

I think a lot of that is just personal preference, IMO. I'll definitely be discussing things with people in my classes on an informal basis, but I'm not planning to get together and have a regular pow-wow with them. And my next door neighbor is a 2L who did pretty well during 1L, so that's a resource I plan to tap into and bounce ideas off of as well.

I'm all for doing what works for you. On the other hand? Working in a group and meeting with one regularly is decidedly not my personal preference. I would not have sought one on my own, but a classmate approached me and asked if I'd like to join up with him and another classmate. I thought about it and decided what the hell, and I'm very glad I did. Also so grateful to my study partners for inviting me, because I probably would have otherwise missed out on something unexpectedly helpful.

So... YMMV, but...

[Bustang]

woah, woah, woah.... are you guys saying i wasted my money in ordering the dvd box set of law and order?

I hope not, i'm bringing them to my final with my outlines!

In other news: I have no freaking clue what to do when a case has no black letter law or statutes in it. When it's just general common sense reasoning I can't figure wtf i'm supposed to take from it. Does this mean the case is less valuable to the class in the long run?

what case?

Hackbart v. Cincinnati Bengals Inc.

When I run into cases like these, or ones that I simply just don't understand (or don't think I understand) I use good-ol' google to see what pops up. Sometimes you miss important things by glancing over them etc.

[beach_terror]

Quick question regarding cases cited within cases and the extent I need to know them (mainly their names):

For instance, I'm on Commonwealth v Carroll in crim law right now. When describing the time period in which premediation can occur, the court points to Commonwealth v Earnest and quotes "whether the intention to kill and the killing, that is, the premeditation and the fatal act, were within a brief space of time or a long space of time is immaterial if the killing was in fact intentional, willful, deliberate and premeditated..."

Obviously this is an important component of first degree murder, but will I ever have to point to the case that established this? Figured I may as well check before I get too far in to turn back.