Getting a headstart Forum

[Fiction]

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[samiseaborn]

Can I suggest that mods change the title to the 0L thread that is sticky-ed to something like "OL GUNNERS: THE GOLDEN TICKET TO SUCCESS!" so they might actually read it for a change?

[LiveFree]

My current job (security) permits me a tremendous amount of downtime. I intended to use the next 4-5 months preparing myself for my upcoming year as a first year law student in an attempt to mitigate the madness of 1L (and ideally excelling).

I am in the process of contacting professors at my future school in the obvious first year courses to figure out the casebooks they'll be working from. I have also gotten a number of the law school legeand, and sum and substance audio tapes. I'm planning on getting a subscription to CALI. Is there any other resources I should get a hold of? Should I avoid listening to the audio lectures until I have developed the ability to create a brief?

How can I best use my time in the month preceding the start of the year?

I can't believe people like this actually exist...

[Ipsa Dixit]

If there are any books that you have always wanted to read, but just haven't gotten around to it then spend your time reading those books.

If you're curious about the law in general, maybe skim around wikipedia, but don't read casebooks or use supplements. I think it would be a waste of your time.

[Renzo]

Fiction, none of this will help you whatsoever. (top 5% at T1 advice).

I worked security when I was fresh out of HS, and can appreciate the mind-numbing boredom. Betasteve's advice is spot-on, you cannot possibly get a headstart. But since you have so much time to kill, buy a used torts E&E and read through it. It will NOT help your performance in your torts class, but it's fairly breezy reading and a good preview of how generally to approach the material you'll be seeing in law school. After that, stop--do not read any more law-related stuff. You'll do much better in law school if you come in fresh, intellectually rested, and ready to engage some novel material.

[270910]

NO NO NO NO NO.

You will not get a leg up. I promise you. I triple-dog promise you. TLS is swarmed with successful law students, and 90%+ of them echo the same message: attempting to prepare prior to attending law school beyond skimming something like getting to maybe or law school confidential WILL NOT HELP YOU OUTPERFORM YOUR PEERS.

Trust us.

[Fiction]

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[dakatz]

Curious...why is all of this so useless? People so far agree that trying to prepare yourself by prereading and going to secondary sources, but they haven't really mentioned why. Obviously TLS and S&S are produced for students studying law so they must have some value though I completely understand if it would not be useful as a 0L.

I was thinking that it would help me get a handle on the broad stroke of the various fields so I wouldn't feel completely lost when classes started.

Do some reading for pleasure, because you won't be able to for quite a long time. Anything to relax your mind before the struggles ahead.

[Fiction]

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[270910]

Also, burnout is a huge issue. Just ask almost every second semester 1L right now. I'm so fucking tired of reading cases... I am insanely motivated, but it hurts just to crack a book right now. Now add a couple of months of reading everything once already, getting frustrated because almost everything you got out of the cases doesn't really apply in class, and you have a recipe for very hardcore burnout.

1L is a marathon... why would you warm up to a marathon by running a half marathon?

Second semester 1L here: I am so fucking tired of law school it hurts to think about how fucking tired of law school I am.

[nealric]

Ask about head start programs in your community

[Renzo]

1L is a marathon... why would you warm up to a marathon by running a half marathon?

This is the best analogy I've ever heard.

[annapavlova]

How about you read a book that is actually good? You will be plenty bogged down with law school reading once you get there. Take advantage of this opportunity to think about something other than law, which you'll be doing for three years.

I recommend:
All Harry Potter Books
Anything by Neil Gaiman
Anything by Cormac McCarthy (but stay away from Blood Meridian and The Road if you have a weak stomach)

Enjoy your fucking spring and summer. OK?

[Carnertine]

The only beneficial things you could possbly do is read some "heavy" material to up your reading comprehension and work on getting those wpm's up.

[JordynAsh]

Thanks law students for validating my decision to spend this summer drinking beer lakeside and possibly reading some E&Es, if I finish my current "to read" list.

[mac.empress]

Thanks law students for validating my decision to spend this summer drinking beer lakeside and possibly reading some E&Es, if I finish my current "to read" list.

Perfect!

[tintin]

Thanks law students for validating my decision to spend this summer drinking beer lakeside and possibly reading some E&Es, if I finish my current "to read" list.

+1, except i am reading tons of novels and some stuff by the dalai llama. and ill be on a beach, not a lake.

the lesson=BEER ftw!

[sumus romani]

1L is a marathon... why would you warm up to a marathon by running a half marathon?

This is the best analogy I've ever heard.

I would've thought that the consensus is that 0L prep is not relevantly similar to any training/warm-up at all (like swimming as prep for a marathon). Rather, this analogy would seem to imply that it would be useful, were there to be a recovery period between the half marathon and the marathon. I'm banking on the analogy being inapt, since I'll have plenty of time to prep before 0L, and weeks to spare as rest. Instead of prepping though, I plan to go on a bicycle tour of the pacific coast, and rest after that. Here's to hoping that 0L prep is not like training for a marathon if there is sufficient time for rest: that the supposed analogy is indeed not appropriate!

[nickwar]

[quote="Fiction"]My current job (security) permits me a tremendous amount of downtime. I intended to use the next 4-5 months preparing myself for my upcoming year as a first year law student in an attempt to mitigate the madness of 1L (and ideally excelling).

I am in the process of contacting professors at my future school in the obvious first year courses to figure out the casebooks they'll be working from. I have also gotten a number of the law school legeand, and sum and substance audio tapes. I'm planning on getting a subscription to CALI. Is there any other resources I should get a hold of? Should I avoid listening to the audio lectures until I have developed the ability to create a brief?

How can I best use my time in the month preceding the start of the year?[/quote


First off, great job on contacting your professors a month before school starts at your future school. They will both appreciate your interest and remember your "above and beyond" efforts. Professors love when students who don't even attend a school show up in their inboxes.

Second, make sure you mention you're in security before you hit the campus. It shows you're tough yet on the correct side of the law. Remember professors have the discretion to bump you up or down a 1/3 of a grade. This will help.

Finally, I suggest you set up tent at the local borders and read every book with "law" in the title. Law school guides, the secret guide to 1L and the law of attraction are all viable titles that will give you a valuable leg up on the rest of your 1L peers.

Remember -- law school is a cut throat competition. Whoever puts in the most hours wins. Best of luck.

[steve_nash]

.

[rayiner]

1) You won't remember anything by the time you get to law school. Hell, I barely remember what I learned at the beginning of the semester.

2) You won't know your professor's take on the material.

3) You won't know how to think about the cases. The first 4-6 weeks are really more about that than the material anyway.

IMHO, each semester is a gentle jog where you do the reading and pay attention in lecture followed by a near-sprint in the last month to reread everything to do your outlines and prepare for finals. YMMV.

[Carnertine]

2) You won't know your professor's take on the material.

3) You won't know how to think about the cases. The first 4-6 weeks are really more about that than the material anyway.

IMHO, each semester is a gentle jog where you do the reading and pay attention in lecture followed by a near-sprint in the last month to reread everything to do your outlines and prepare for finals. YMMV.

+1 for 2 and 3. I think if you manage your time right you can be ahead of the last part before the sprint. Like for 1L spring break, I read all the material that was assigned at that point for the rest of the semester and roughly outlined it. Then I would skim reread before class and edit my outline accordingly. I used the spare time to perfect my brief and try out for moot court. Additionally, I say start reviewing the material you learned 2-3 topical headings later so it constantly stays fresh. I am not saying go all hXc on it, but review it gently. I would just take the BLL and rewrite it as many times as necessary until I didn't forget it.

[A'nold]

My current job (security) permits me a tremendous amount of downtime. I intended to use the next 4-5 months preparing myself for my upcoming year as a first year law student in an attempt to mitigate the madness of 1L (and ideally excelling).

I am in the process of contacting professors at my future school in the obvious first year courses to figure out the casebooks they'll be working from. I have also gotten a number of the law school legeand, and sum and substance audio tapes. I'm planning on getting a subscription to CALI. Is there any other resources I should get a hold of? Should I avoid listening to the audio lectures until I have developed the ability to create a brief?

How can I best use my time in the month preceding the start of the year?[/quote


First off, great job on contacting your professors a month before school starts at your future school. They will both appreciate your interest and remember your "above and beyond" efforts. Professors love when students who don't even attend a school show up in their inboxes.

Second, make sure you mention you're in security before you hit the campus. It shows you're tough yet on the correct side of the law. Remember professors have the discretion to bump you up or down a 1/3 of a grade. This will help.

Finally, I suggest you set up tent at the local borders and read every book with "law" in the title. Law school guides, the secret guide to 1L and the law of attraction are all viable titles that will give you a valuable leg up on the rest of your 1L peers.

Remember -- law school is a cut throat competition. Whoever puts in the most hours wins. Best of luck.

+1. Listen to this guy 0L's. All these other posters are trying to beat you in the curve by telling you not to pre-cram.

[Fiction]

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[sf87]

Also, burnout is a huge issue. Just ask almost every second semester 1L right now. I'm so fucking tired of reading cases... I am insanely motivated, but it hurts just to crack a book right now. Now add a couple of months of reading everything once already, getting frustrated because almost everything you got out of the cases doesn't really apply in class, and you have a recipe for very hardcore burnout.

1L is a marathon... why would you warm up to a marathon by running a half marathon?

Second semester 1L here: I am so fucking tired of law school it hurts to think about how fucking tired of law school I am.

Ugh +1. Just relax before law school consumes your life...