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(I know this sounds gunnerish)
Got some feedback last semester on which of my classes would be good to work ahead on, and trying to figure out which of the following classes people would recommend I work ahead on (Working based on the advice by Ken in his Success in Law School post where he says to work ahead in one of your classes):

Crim
ConLaw
Property

This isn't just gunnerish. It's dumb.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/success- ... chool.html

Thanks for the extremely helpful feedback you provided.

Gunner.

First, I wouldn't read ahead in classes in general, but if you want to, I'd do it in Crim first, then ConLaw, then Property not at all. Property is fairly different from the caselaw stuff. It's more like CivPro than torts, but even rulesier than CivPro. A lot of it is about rote classification, and while it's definitely doable to teach yourself that stuff correctly, it's also possible to get in the habit of classifying things incorrectly, which would be very bad.

I'd read Crim first because most people find it confusing, but it's fairly linear - there aren't a lot of doctrinal shifts that make one test basically completely useless. In ConLaw, there are phases where the Court does one thing, and then about 50 years later, it does the opposite thing, and this isn't just true for one or two doctrines - it's prettymuch every aspect of ConLaw that has this kind of switch. If you read Crim, you won't confuse yourself with which is the right test for which era as much, since there just isn't that much there. The tests get refined or expanded, but usually not fundamentally reversed. There is also a lot of value to really knowing the details - very small shifts in the facts can get vastly different results under exactly the same tests (like Tyson/Edmunds, which are about whether you are allowed to execute people for murders not committed by them that occurred during a crime they were involved in). So getting really familiar with the facts of cases could be fairly helpful.

I don't understand how you've finished an entire semester of law school and haven't figured out how worthless reading cases is.

What benefit does reading ahead offer?

Mal Reynolds wrote:I don't understand how you've finished an entire semester of law school and haven't figured out how worthless reading cases is.

Shouldve clarified, read ahead in supplements.

KD35 wrote:

Mal Reynolds wrote:I don't understand how you've finished an entire semester of law school and haven't figured out how worthless reading cases is.

Shouldve clarified, read ahead in supplements.

I don't get how supplements are even helpful. They always include way too much shit that your prof doesn't teach. Prepping with supps sounds even dumber to me than reading ahead.

I don't understand how you can be this clueless about how to spend your time after an entire semester of law school.

Mal Reynolds wrote:I don't understand how you can be this clueless about how to spend your time after an entire semester of law school.

lol some people started outlining the weekend after new years in my school.

DOG PILE!

Desert Fox wrote:

KD35 wrote:

Mal Reynolds wrote:I don't understand how you've finished an entire semester of law school and haven't figured out how worthless reading cases is.

Shouldve clarified, read ahead in supplements.

I don't get how supplements are even helpful. They always include way too much shit that your prof doesn't teach. Prepping with supps sounds even dumber to me than reading ahead.

This. Supplements are long.

All of them. If you haven't worked through at least one supplement and half a hornbook by february then have fun below median.

Desert Fox wrote:

KD35 wrote:

Mal Reynolds wrote:I don't understand how you've finished an entire semester of law school and haven't figured out how worthless reading cases is.

Shouldve clarified, read ahead in supplements.

I don't get how supplements are even helpful. They always include way too much shit that your prof doesn't teach. Prepping with supps sounds even dumber to me than reading ahead.

Revelation: read only the stuff your professor teaches

Stringer6 wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

KD35 wrote:

Mal Reynolds wrote:I don't understand how you've finished an entire semester of law school and haven't figured out how worthless reading cases is.

Shouldve clarified, read ahead in supplements.

I don't get how supplements are even helpful. They always include way too much shit that your prof doesn't teach. Prepping with supps sounds even dumber to me than reading ahead.

Revelation: read only the stuff your professor teaches

I guess I assumed he didn't have a syllabus yet, but that's not necessarily true.

As the others have said, it's pretty pointless to try to get ahead over the break. If you absolutely can't contain yourself, a better solution is to get your hands on good outlines from last year for as many of the classes as you can. Hell, you don't even need to read anything else the entire semester if you find the right ones. Read those if you have to read something... At least you'll learn exactly what will be taught down to the gritty details. Professors never change their schtick from year to year in 1L classes. That right there is the best use of your time.

Reading ahead is dumb. You want the material to be FRESH in your head when you cover it in class, like "I read this last night or today" fresh. You're working harder but not smarter. You have plenty to read within the class schedule, conserve your energy.

And for christ's sake, don't work over winter break. Recuperate, re-energize. Work when you go back.

Okay, I'll bite because I've got the "answer the question and then say 'but'" strategy ingrained in me. ConLaw, because I find that reading cases more than once is helpful for me. Likely certain cases will repeat across casebooks.

Read, but only do it if you want to. I honestly would spend time on YouTube looking up cat videos.

It depends on how your professor teaches, how clear the casebook/syllabus is about what you should read and focus on, and whether your professor does the cold-call system or if he tells you ahead of time when you're going to be on call. If there are cold-calls, then reading closer to the time that the class occurs is preferable.

I read ahead in Con Law and in Property.

please enjoy your break. you are stressing me out with your ridiculousness.

3|ink wrote:This isn't just gunnerish. It's dumb.

Agreed. If you are 30-40 pages ahead the information that you are going over today you may have read a week ago. Not only is it not as fresh in your head but you may have misunderstood what exactly you were supposed to take away from the assignment in general.

Don't do it.

.

Do not read ahead. It's a waste of time. Keep up to date with reading during the semester, work on outlines, do practice problems, and ask profs during office hours if you have questions.

Hutz_and_Goodman wrote:Do not read ahead. It's a waste of time.

Meh. Everyone's different. I finished reading for property by the end of February and never prepped for class. I bet I spent less total time on the subject than most of my classmates.