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for those that commute: what is the most effective use of your time? I will be commuting 3+ hours each day (round trip) and that will cut a significant chunk of study time out of my day. Reading on a train gives me headaches and makes me nautious, so that is generally not a good idea for me personally. The only other thing I can think of is to record lectures and use my ride home to listen to them over again. I commuted like that for part of undergrad and it really killed me in terms of exhaustion. I didnt want to do ANYTHING when I got home, so I dont mean to sound neurotic, but I really need to make good use of those 3 hours.


for everyone else: do you think teaching the lsat would have any effect on 1L performance? I know the predictive abilities of the lsat have been debated and beaten to death, but in general, do you find the skills you needed to master for the lsat to be similar to the skills needed to do well on exams? I am debating dedicating 12 hours a week to teaching a prep class--I need the money, and I am hoping it will atleast marginally help me spot issues on exams/keep my mind sharp, but if it will be a total waste of my time, I may reconsider

1) That Commute + 12hrs a week of teaching + 1L law school will really suck
2) Teaching the LSAT will not help you do better in law school
3) The lectures on tape could be a good idea...I would get some Bonine, Antivert, or Dramamine to stop the motion sickness and try to type/read notes during the commute
It all depends on long it takes u to understand the law, to read the cases, etc...you could end up having free time and teaching + the commute wont hurt at all....Good Luck

Ask yourself if you need the money because you want to maintain a certain standard of living, and don't want to cut back, or if you need it because without it, you won't be able to pay rent. If the former, then I say suck it up. That's twelve hours of studying/sleeping/chilling that you could have. If the latter, then you gotta do what you gotta do.

As for the train ride, generally, I advocate living as close to school as possible. If that's not possible, then I definitely agree with underachiever. You could also use that time to listen to podcasts or other audio supplements, such as Sum and Substance, to help you clarify the material.

I also said that reading on the train made me nauseous. After a year of hour long commutes (each way), I got used to it. If you can get a seat, you'll be fine.

Also, LSAT teaching will not help you for law school.

thanks for the responses.

I just bought getting to maybe off half.com for a little more info. hope it helps calm my nerves

Yeah honestly I think that with that long of a commute you are going to have to figure out some way to read on the train. There's not much else you can do that would be a good use of your time. I don't think that listening to recorded lectures would be helpful to me at all. That's not to say it couldn't be useful to someone else. However, the biggest timesink in law school is reading, so I'd advocate cramming that into your schedule wherever possible.