Law School.....easy? Forum

[liLtuneChi]

So I just got done with 1L year. After all the hype I must say it didn't live up to it. I was able to get by just fine (~top 10% at CLS) without exerting too much energy or stress. Didn't really use any hornbooks or supplements. Didn't even make my own outlines half the time. The material was pretty easy and the exams were as well.

I actually enjoyed the whole semester and wouldn't mind doing it again. Even taking the exams was kinda fun.

Am I alone or are there other people who felt the same way?

[EijiMiyake]

So I just got done with 1L year. After all the hype I must say it didn't live up to it. I was able to get by just fine (~top 10% at CLS) without exerting too much energy or stress. Didn't really use any hornbooks or supplements. Didn't even make my own outlines half the time. The material was pretty easy and the exams were as well.

I actually enjoyed the whole semester and wouldn't mind doing it again. Even taking the exams was kinda fun to take.

Am I alone or are there other people who felt the same way?

I was probably within top 10% of HLS after 1 semester, and I feel pretty much the opposite. Definitely one of the most frustrating and seemingly random academic experiences imaginable, and I certainly don't have faith that my second semester grades will come out the same, even though I did more or less the same thing.

[glitter178]

i will say that everyone is going to call you out for being a troll. however, i hope people like you do exist, because it at helps (albeit slightly) to balance out the doomsday prophecies of others.

Did you work a lot in undergrad and/ or after? I always wonder about the backgrounds of those who had an easy go of 1 L.

[fatduck]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

[glitter178]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

ohhh. you sound fun.

[liLtuneChi]

i will say that everyone is going to call you out for being a troll. however, i hope people like you do exist, because it at helps (albeit slightly) to balance out the doomsday prophecies of others.

Did you work a lot in undergrad and/ or after? I always wonder about the backgrounds of those who had an easy go of 1 L.

I was a slacker in undergrad....only got by cause undergrad was a joke

law school is definitely more challenging.....but not impossible at all

when I said easy.....I meant in comparison to the doom and gloom talk I heard before going in......and even while I was going through 1L year.....everyone from the Profs to upperclassmen made it seem like it was the most challenging year of our lives.....I never felt that way

but then again I never usually take anything serious or get flustered so it might just be my personality

[fatduck]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

ohhh. you sound fun.

sorry for frightening you with the truth. you should read the rest of my posts and school yourself up.

[liLtuneChi]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

more power to ya

but I will agree with you on one point

I did have a couple of inexperienced Profs for 1L year and they were terrible....not very good at explaining the material.....I pretty much taught myself in those classes......but the more experienced Profs at CLS are amazing and definitely can go toe to toe with anyone at HYS

[thwalls]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

ohhh. you sound fun.

sorry for frightening you with the truth. you should read the rest of my posts and school yourself up.

I almost wrote a long post. Then I realized that you're joking. Carry on sir.

[hawkeye22]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

ohhh. you sound fun.

sorry for frightening you with the truth. you should read the rest of my posts and school yourself up.

I almost wrote a long post. Then I realized that you're joking. Carry on sir.

I definitely wouldn't consider law school easy, but I do think its portrayed as being much more difficult than it actually is.

[PinkCow]

So I just got done with 1L year. After all the hype I must say it didn't live up to it. I was able to get by just fine (~top 10% at CLS) without exerting too much energy or stress. Didn't really use any hornbooks or supplements. Didn't even make my own outlines half the time. The material was pretty easy and the exams were as well.

I actually enjoyed the whole semester and wouldn't mind doing it again. Even taking the exams was kinda fun.

Am I alone or are there other people who felt the same way?

Shhhhh don't ruin the surprise.

[traehekat]

ive said this before, but law school is difficult for all the wrong reasons. i dont think the material itself is really that terrible, but its all the other stuff that comes with law school, like the curve, the socractic method, the way the material is presented, the way students are almost purposely kept in the dark, etc. if you knew about all this stuff coming in its not horrible, but i can see how some very smart people are just blindsided by the whole experience, which is unfortunate.

kind of a tangent, but this is why im almost embarrassed to say im in law school sometimes. a lot of people think its some really hard, challenging thing. truth is, the only reason i did well was because i stumbled upon this website. most of the time i almost feel like i cheated, like i had some kind of secret information most people didn't have.

eh, ill stop before i go off on everything i think is wrong about legal education.

[kswiss]

1L was extremely easy for me. I worked harder on school than I ever have before, but I still had tons of time. Top 2% at a T2 after first semester. I think its far easier if you are just easy going and chill. People stress out about stuff they have no need stressing about. I do think its easier if you kill first semester because you don't really have to change your approach, just refine. I ended up working smarter my second semester and probably cut my studying by a third or half during the semester. I was just fine come exam time; I felt as confident if not more confident than last semester.

Who knows though, I'll probably fall like a rock and my confidence is misplaced. But all of the "LS is the hardest thing you'll ever do" is misplaced IMO.

[pleasetryagain]

Law school is not hard. It's the curve that's hard. And write-on .. that sucks too.

[liLtuneChi]

1L was extremely easy for me. I worked harder on school than I ever have before, but I still had tons of time. Top 2% at a T2 after first semester. I think its far easier if you are just easy going and chill. People stress out about stuff they have no need stressing about. I do think its easier if you kill first semester because you don't really have to change your approach, just refine. I ended up working smarter my second semester and probably cut my studying by a third or half during the semester. I was just fine come exam time; I felt as confident if not more confident than last semester.

Who knows though, I'll probably fall like a rock and my confidence is misplaced. But all of the "LS is the hardest thing you'll ever do" is misplaced IMO.

agree with everything you said

people who are uptight and define themselves by their grades are the most likely to fail

people who on the other hand keep a positive attitude and are there to learn and have fun seem to fare better.....at least that was true for me

I also didn't study half as much as I did first semester yet I felt more prepared come test time. The big thing however is getting off to a good start first semester by being able to know what the Profs are looking for on exams. It seems most people don't realize what it takes to do well on the exam until its too late.

[liLtuneChi]

Law school is not hard. It's the curve that's hard. And write-on .. that sucks too.

maybe its just me but I think the curve makes it more exciting

competition brings out the best in some people and I think that is what I thrived on

I was never motivated in undergrad as much as in law school because the competition was not the test or material but rather my classmates. And I don't mean this in a "I hate other people and enjoy their misery" type of way. But rather I always played sports growing up and it was never fun just shooting at the hoop to see how many shots I could make. It was always more exciting playing someone else one and one and trying to see how many shots I could make that way.

The competitive aspect of law school is actually the most appealing fact about it to me.

[missinglink]

,

[09042014]

i will say that everyone is going to call you out for being a troll. however, i hope people like you do exist, because it at helps (albeit slightly) to balance out the doomsday prophecies of others.

Did you work a lot in undergrad and/ or after? I always wonder about the backgrounds of those who had an easy go of 1 L.

It should scare you more. Because the correlation between hard work and success in law school isn't that high. Hard-work is neither necessary nor sufficient for success.

You can't gun your way to good grades. That's not to say that hard work doesn't help, but it's like playing a game of pickup basketball with friends. There are people who play everyday and still suck. There are people who never play but are good. And there are people who are good and practice.

There are people who can work all semester, puting in hundreds upon hundreds of hours and get a B. And there are people who can print out someone elses outline, spend 10 hours looking at it, then rock out an A-.

The kicker is that damn near everyone seems just as smart as each other.

Everything about law, is about marking it artificially harder. There is really no other reason to have horse race issue spotters.

[shoeshine]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

ohhh. you sound fun.

Fat Duck you can't post like this outside of the lounge, people don't "know" you here.

OP: I hope you aren't a flame. But for everyone in the top ten like you there are are fifty who get below median and spend 8 hours a day reading and make 90+ page outlines.

[missinglink]

d

[keg411]

people who are uptight and define themselves by their grades are the most likely to fail

people who on the other hand keep a positive attitude and are there to learn and have fun seem to fare better.....at least that was true for me

These two things aren't mutually exclusive. I had fun and kept a positive attitude (during the semester), but I'm also extremely uptight about grades (during/after exams). The whole thing is a giant mindfuck, which I personally am not a fan of.

[kswiss]

These two things aren't mutually exclusive. I had fun and kept a positive attitude (during the semester), but I'm also extremely uptight about grades (during/after exams). The whole thing is a giant mindfuck, which I personally am not a fan of.

I think for me, the mindfuck is the best part. Its hard to express this without sounding like a total dick. I really like basically all of my classmates; our section gets along really well and I have made tons of good friends. But one of the things I have really enjoyed about LS is watching people freak out about things they have no control of while I feel in complete control. That doesn't mean I want my classmates to fail; the curve is just part of law school. But I like the real competition. I know a lot of people hate that part, and those are the ones that get stressed. You are graded against faceless people on something concrete, and your pleasant and hard-working personality doesn't get you points here.

I hated undergrad, where I could look around the room and realize that I understood the material far better than someone else, but some idiot would probably get a better grade because they would go to office hours and not miss any classes while I just chilled. In LS with anonymous grading, I can be myself completely. I don't go to office hours, and I don't care if the prof likes me or not. I just learn my shit and then take the test.

I think that the grades are EXTREMELY merit based, and far less arbitrary than UG. The problem that people have is not figuring out what it takes to get the "merit" in LS. It isn't being prepared for class, making sure the teacher likes you, doing well in group presentations, or spending hours spinning wheels. The merit is writing good law exams. I think people get pissed because they work hard as hell all semester, but they'll tell you straight out that they suck at taking tests. Well, no amount of re-reading the cases is going to fix that...

[paulinaporizkova]

well, you go to CLS, so it's not that surprising. many of your professors are inexperienced and unable to get into the really challenging nuances of the law. students at HYS have to work a lot harder to succeed because their professors require a deeper understanding of legal practice.

ohhh. you sound fun.

ohhh. you sound lame.

[071816]

OP......a dbag?

[bhan87]

So I just got done with 1L year. After all the hype I must say it didn't live up to it. I was able to get by just fine (~top 10% at CLS) without exerting too much energy or stress. Didn't really use any hornbooks or supplements. Didn't even make my own outlines half the time. The material was pretty easy and the exams were as well.

I actually enjoyed the whole semester and wouldn't mind doing it again. Even taking the exams was kinda fun.

Am I alone or are there other people who felt the same way?

Cool story, bro...