Bartending during 1L a mistake? Forum

[jdb2013]

I'm starting at Northwestern this fall and the $ alloted for room/board seems somewhat low, at least for the quality of life i'm used to by now.

I'm considering bartending 1-2 nights a week so I can have more money for groceries etc. Is working part time a huge mistake during 1L year, or can some basic time management make this feasible?

[rad lulz]

Sounds good if you can have flexible scheduling during exams

[romothesavior]

Sounds good if you can have flexible scheduling during exams

I agree, although generally I think working during 2L and 3L is a much better idea than working during 1L. As long as OP is willing to stop working for like the last month or so, it should be fine. I worked 2L and 3L year, usually around 15-20 hours a week, and still maintained my grades, was on law review, did moot court, etc. etc. It's a great way to keep costs down and it really isn't the time-suck that everyone makes it out to be.

[Icculus]

Sounds good if you can have flexible scheduling during exams

I agree, although generally I think working during 2L and 3L is a much better idea than working during 1L. As long as OP is willing to stop working for like the last month or so, it should be fine. I worked 2L and 3L year, usually around 15-20 hours a week, and still maintained my grades, was on law review, did moot court, etc. etc. It's a great way to keep costs down and it really isn't the time-suck that everyone makes it out to be.

Agreed with all of this.

I'm starting at Northwestern this fall and the $ alloted for room/board seems somewhat low, at least for the quality of life i'm used to by now.

You do know models and bottles comes after law school?

[09042014]

If you only do it 1-2 nights a week, you'll probably be spending less time in bars than the average 1L.

I probably wouldn't do it, the loan moneys works for the most part if you aren't spending wildly.

But if you do, just be ready to quit that job if it's going to fuck you on school work. Like your boss wants to you to work and you need to turn in an assignment the next day, you gotta be ready to quit right then and there.

[jdb2013]

Sounds good if you can have flexible scheduling during exams

Yeah.. i mean i can always quit at that point if they refuse to be flexible/give me time off.

You do know models and bottles comes after law school?

$14,000 room/board is cutting it close if you look at chicago rent, and this is meant to cover rent and food etc. Assuming i had to sign a 12 month lease this would give me $1,166/month to cover rent/food - doesnt seem realistic. Models and bottles don't come into the equation. A halfway decent meal and the ability to grab a few drinks at the end of a hard week is what i'm after.

[NotMyRealName09]

Can it be done? Sure, anything can be done. Should it be done? I say no. Now if you cannot afford to live without doing this, well, alright, but it's not ideal.

If you don't know this yet, first semester 1L year is the single most important semester of your life. Your grades from that semester essentially dictate the trajectory of your law school career. If you ace it, employers fight over you. If you don't, you fight to get an interview. It is that simple, it really is.

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

So it's really your call. While you are working, someone is studying, chilling the girlfriend out so she won't bother him while he continues to study, video gaming and then sleeping. That person was me, and I aced it. So just one person's view here.

[LgllyBlnde]

I bartended my 1L year and had no problem. It was nice to be able to get away from law school for a couple nights a week (until my classmates decided to show up at the bar & pose legal hypotheticals).

FYI stop working a MINIMUM of 2 weeks before finals. I stopped 3 weeks before finals and did fine, but a classmate worked up until a week before his first final and lets just say someone didn't come back for his second 1L semester...

[RodneyRuxin]

$14,000 room/board is cutting it close if you look at chicago rent, and this is meant to cover rent and food etc. Assuming i had to sign a 12 month lease this would give me $1,166/month to cover rent/food - doesnt seem realistic. Models and bottles don't come into the equation. A halfway decent meal and the ability to grab a few drinks at the end of a hard week is what i'm after.

I pay around 10k/yr for rent. 333/mo for food doesn't sound like that crazy of a figure for one person. 1-2 nights a week isn't bad(even during finals) if you can manage your time well. It would require a work hard, play hard mentality (except, of course, it would be work hard, work hard) but it can be done.

[A. Nony Mouse]

$14,000 room/board is cutting it close if you look at chicago rent, and this is meant to cover rent and food etc. Assuming i had to sign a 12 month lease this would give me $1,166/month to cover rent/food - doesnt seem realistic. Models and bottles don't come into the equation. A halfway decent meal and the ability to grab a few drinks at the end of a hard week is what i'm after.

Right, but keep in mind that the law school estimates are usually for the school year, not 12 months. Usually, if you take classes over the summer you take out additional loans, and if you work, you're either earning a salary (if you work at a firm), or you can often get a summer stipend for doing public sector-type work.

(Of course, I didn't go to NU - this is just my general understanding; if NU is different somehow feel free to ignore me.)

[cinephile]

A friend of mine bartended during 1L, but found he didn't have enough time to do so as a 2L with other commitments like journal, etc. So 1L might actually be the ideal time for so long as you're not late to class the next morning.

[Icculus]

Right, but keep in mind that the law school estimates are usually for the school year, not 12 months. Usually, if you take classes over the summer you take out additional loans, and if you work, you're either earning a salary (if you work at a firm), or you can often get a summer stipend for doing public sector-type work.

(Of course, I didn't go to NU - this is just my general understanding; if NU is different somehow feel free to ignore me.)

This applies to NU as well.

[09042014]

Right, but keep in mind that the law school estimates are usually for the school year, not 12 months. Usually, if you take classes over the summer you take out additional loans, and if you work, you're either earning a salary (if you work at a firm), or you can often get a summer stipend for doing public sector-type work.

(Of course, I didn't go to NU - this is just my general understanding; if NU is different somehow feel free to ignore me.)

This applies to NU as well.

And the summer classes are free (well not free, but don't cost extra it's included in your degree tution, you pay the same rate for the whole degree). You can even do a job that you don't get school credit for, for example, a job that pays. And take a night class and still take out more loans.

Ditch your car, don't live in streeterville, and you'll be fine.

[jdb2013]

Right, but keep in mind that the law school estimates are usually for the school year, not 12 months. Usually, if you take classes over the summer you take out additional loans, and if you work, you're either earning a salary (if you work at a firm), or you can often get a summer stipend for doing public sector-type work.

(Of course, I didn't go to NU - this is just my general understanding; if NU is different somehow feel free to ignore me.)

This applies to NU as well.

And the summer classes are free (well not free, but don't cost extra it's included in your degree tution, you pay the same rate for the whole degree). You can even do a job that you don't get school credit for, for example, a job that pays. And take a night class and still take out more loans.

Ditch your car, don't live in streeterville, and you'll be fine.

If this is coming from the perspective of current NU students living solely off the loans - i'll take your word for it. From a NYC perspective it seems very tough to live off of. Don't have a car, and ideally I'd be spending summers in NYC where I have plenty of places to stay for free (although I'm assuming that I'll still be stuck paying for a 12 month lease in chicago).

Otherwise this post really wasnt meant to be a debate over whether or not the loan money is livable, I was really just hoping to get opinions on the feasibility of working (very part time) during 1L year.

[hyakku]

Can it be done? Sure, anything can be done. Should it be done? I say no. Now if you cannot afford to live without doing this, well, alright, but it's not ideal.

If you don't know this yet, first semester 1L year is the single most important semester of your life. Your grades from that semester essentially dictate the trajectory of your law school career. If you ace it, employers fight over you. If you don't, you fight to get an interview. It is that simple, it really is.

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

So it's really your call. While you are working, someone is studying, chilling the girlfriend out so she won't bother him while he continues to study, video gaming and then sleeping. That person was me, and I aced it. So just one person's view here.

Jesus man, that sounds horrible, sorry to hear that. Won't say I aced LS but did pretty damn well first year, and I don't think LS requires this much commitment from everyone to do well (not that you shouldn't commit if you'd like or that this is a bad idea). I watched many people study from sept. - dec. straight following your strategy only to do poorly / ok and also just be incredibly stressed. If you can do this, more power to you, but I also don't think it's necessary to do well depending on the type of person you are.

OP, I think you should first take an honest assement of yourself. If you've done well your entire life not studying 24/7 then I personally think taking a bartending job and quitting before finals would be awesome and easily doable. I really don't advocate most people drastically changing study methods upon entering LS unless your study methods didn't produce great results in the past.

If you like to take a lot of notes / reread things or review them though, you probably shouldn't do it as I found that most people that spend a lot of time studying 1L year before finals do so by outlining, briefing and rereading cases. Don't work if that's your style of learning imo.

[Icculus]

Can it be done? Sure, anything can be done. Should it be done? I say no. Now if you cannot afford to live without doing this, well, alright, but it's not ideal.

If you don't know this yet, first semester 1L year is the single most important semester of your life. Your grades from that semester essentially dictate the trajectory of your law school career. If you ace it, employers fight over you. If you don't, you fight to get an interview. It is that simple, it really is.

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

So it's really your call. While you are working, someone is studying, chilling the girlfriend out so she won't bother him while he continues to study, video gaming and then sleeping. That person was me, and I aced it. So just one person's view here.

Jesus man, that sounds horrible, sorry to hear that. Won't say I aced LS but did pretty damn well first year, and I don't think LS requires this much commitment from everyone to do well (not that you shouldn't commit if you'd like or that this is a bad idea). I watched many people study from sept. - dec. straight following your strategy only to do poorly / ok and also just be incredibly stressed. If you can do this, more power to you, but I also don't think it's necessary to do well depending on the type of person you are.

OP, I think you should first take an honest assement of yourself. If you've done well your entire life not studying 24/7 then I personally think taking a bartending job and quitting before finals would be awesome and easily doable. I really don't advocate most people drastically changing study methods upon entering LS unless your study methods didn't produce great results in the past.

If you like to take a lot of notes / reread things or review them though, you probably shouldn't do it as I found that most people that spend a lot of time studying 1L year before finals do so by outlining, briefing and rereading cases. Don't work if that's your style of learning imo.

NU student here. Minus the month leading up to finals I basically did my reading, went to class, and hung out. Had plenty of free time and worked less than when I had a full time job. Did well first year, at least well enough for OCI and I am pretty sure I could have handled a bartending job a few nights a week 1L. Worked 20 hours/week 2L (minus exam time) and did fine there, too. I think if you have worked a full time job before law school then 1L is not the time suck people make it out to be. This doesn't guarantee you will be top of the class, but if you can handle a 50 hour work week you can more than handle the commitments of 1L.

[Another]

.

[romothesavior]

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

So it's really your call. While you are working, someone is studying, chilling the girlfriend out so she won't bother him while he continues to study, video gaming and then sleeping. That person was me, and I aced it. So just one person's view here.

lol wat. Is this a serious post?

If so your classmates must love you.

[jdb2013]

OP, I think you should first take an honest assement of yourself. If you've done well your entire life not studying 24/7 then I personally think taking a bartending job and quitting before finals would be awesome and easily doable. I really don't advocate most people drastically changing study methods upon entering LS unless your study methods didn't produce great results in the past.

If you like to take a lot of notes / reread things or review them though, you probably shouldn't do it as I found that most people that spend a lot of time studying 1L year before finals do so by outlining, briefing and rereading cases. Don't work if that's your style of learning imo.

this is basically my sentiment, i've got 5 years work experience already in a demanding field and I find the concept of filling every waking moment with studying to be detrimental. Many people on this forum seem to express that they have downtime for video games, drinking, frisbee... whatever. I just figured that instead of spending 16 hours with my non-existent wife I could mix up some drinks and afford a slightly higher quality of life.

I guess the solution is pretty straightforward. Get a job, recognize my priorities, and quit when it feels like it may get in the way.

[Nelson]

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

It's people like you that make 1L absolutely miserable.

OP you can have a part time job and go to law school. Hell people have full time jobs and go to night programs. And you can go out for a drink now and then too.

[arklaw13]

Only you know your abilities as far as maintaining a balance. If you think you'll need it, by all means go for the extra cash. But if you realize you're ever behind, be prepared to bail on the job.

[NotMyRealName09]

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

So it's really your call. While you are working, someone is studying, chilling the girlfriend out so she won't bother him while he continues to study, video gaming and then sleeping. That person was me, and I aced it. So just one person's view here.

lol wat. Is this a serious post?

If so your classmates must love you.

Well, I exaggerated a little, but for context, I knew going into 1l year how important that first semester was. I commuted to school, one hour each way. I was already engaged when I began, so I had no need to socialize, and as an introvert generally, I didn't give one fuck about making friends in law school. They were all my enemies (figuratively) because they had to get out of my way on the curve so I could be on top. And I knew I was not a social studier, so no group studying for me.

So frankly I didn't really interact with law school people because I didn't need to.

It not like I was a dick to anyone or anything, I just showed up, went to class, and went home to study. I was always friendly, and - ok - I made a few friends just by being next to them all the time. But I knew why I was there - I needed to make BANK because I like money. And at a school like MSU College of Law, you had to dominate to land a large firm job through OCI.

I was #1 in my class after my first semester, and i never told a soul at my law school.

Like I said, that was one view. i don't need people to be happy (except my woman, for love and affection), and it was a big help not being worried about making friends, because I have enough from before law school.

[NotMyRealName09]

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

It's people like you that make 1L absolutely miserable.

OP you can have a part time job and go to law school. Hell people have full time jobs and go to night programs. And you can go out for a drink now and then too.

Whatever - I made no one miserable, frankly I was probably under the radar since I never hung around. No one knew or cared about me, which is fine. How does my private study habit make anyone miserable? It doesn't.

And my wife liked it because I'm banking now.

[JamMasterJ]

Right, but keep in mind that the law school estimates are usually for the school year, not 12 months. Usually, if you take classes over the summer you take out additional loans, and if you work, you're either earning a salary (if you work at a firm), or you can often get a summer stipend for doing public sector-type work.

(Of course, I didn't go to NU - this is just my general understanding; if NU is different somehow feel free to ignore me.)

This applies to NU as well.

And the summer classes are free (well not free, but don't cost extra it's included in your degree tution, you pay the same rate for the whole degree). You can even do a job that you don't get school credit for, for example, a job that pays. And take a night class and still take out more loans.

Ditch your car, don't live in streeterville, and you'll be fine.

If this is coming from the perspective of current NU students living solely off the loans - i'll take your word for it. From a NYC perspective it seems very tough to live off of. Don't have a car, and ideally I'd be spending summers in NYC where I have plenty of places to stay for free (although I'm assuming that I'll still be stuck paying for a 12 month lease in chicago).

Otherwise this post really wasnt meant to be a debate over whether or not the loan money is livable, I was really just hoping to get opinions on the feasibility of working (very part time) during 1L year.

1) NYC is not like Chicago.
2) You should probably be able to sublet your place in Chicago over the summer if you end up back here for a couple months

[Clearly]

So, anything - literally anything - you do that takes time away from (1) studying, (2) maintaining close personal relationships (like a wife, boyfriend/girlfriend - that's it, forget mom and friends, they'll understand), and (3) zoning your brain out from the stress of (1) and (2), is a bad thing. If, to be happy, you require nights at the bar, you should have gotten that out of your system in undergrad.

So it's really your call. While you are working, someone is studying, chilling the girlfriend out so she won't bother him while he continues to study, video gaming and then sleeping. That person was me, and I aced it. So just one person's view here.

lol wat. Is this a serious post?

If so your classmates must love you.

Well, I exaggerated a little, but for context, I knew going into 1l year how important that first semester was. I commuted to school, one hour each way. I was already engaged when I began, so I had no need to socialize, and as an introvert generally, I didn't give one fuck about making friends in law school. They were all my enemies (figuratively) because they had to get out of my way on the curve so I could be on top. And I knew I was not a social studier, so no group studying for me.

So frankly I didn't really interact with law school people because I didn't need to.

It not like I was a dick to anyone or anything, I just showed up, went to class, and went home to study. I was always friendly, and - ok - I made a few friends just by being next to them all the time. But I knew why I was there - I needed to make BANK because I like money. And at a school like MSU College of Law, you had to dominate to land a large firm job through OCI.

I was #1 in my class after my first semester, and i never told a soul at my law school.

Like I said, that was one view. i don't need people to be happy (except my woman, for love and affection), and it was a big help not being worried about making friends, because I have enough from before law school.

Still sound insufferable.