1L Networking Forum
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eagle2a
- Posts: 393
- Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:37 pm
1L Networking
Do I need to be doing this 1st semester, or just focus on grades. I'm at SMU
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carmensandiego
- Posts: 452
- Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 6:23 am
Re: 1L Networking
Focus on grades, always. Lightly network if it pleases you now, but networking was not really helpful to most people at my school until second semester. Unfortunately you need both at the end of the day.eagle2a wrote:Do I need to be doing this 1st semester, or just focus on grades. I'm at SMU
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totesTheGoat
- Posts: 947
- Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:32 pm
Re: 1L Networking
Nobody wants to network with 1st semester 1Ls. Get to know your classmates, especially the smart ones, and study your ass off. Worry about networking when you have a resume to network about.
Also, y'all have that new student Inn of Court thing this year. Get to know your mentor and pick their brain constantly. You'll develop a relationship with them that may be helpful come networking time. However, 99.99999% of your focus should be on getting as high of grades as you can possibly get.
Since you're a full-time student who doesn't have to worry about a career, a mortgage, or a family, you should have the time to become notorious to your professors. You should be in at office hours asking questions all the time (not necessarily every time, but more often than not). You should know the reading backwards and forwards so that you understand the material like the back of your hand. Use the professors to make sure you know how to write a law school exam. Take a question from one of their prior exams and write an answer to it. Then go back to office hours and have them critique it.
IOW, use the time you would have devoted to networking to instead get super prepared for exams. I guarantee you that if you spend 3 hours a week working with professors on your understanding of the material and on your exam writing skills, it'll pay off in your GPA. If you focus on your GPA during 1L, you all of a sudden become very interesting to those people who you want to network with. Partners at law firms want to talk to you. Judges want to talk to you. Professors want to talk to you. If you have a reputation as a top student coming out of 1L, networking becomes easier in your 2L year.
Also, read all the flyers on the doors, partly because I put half of them up there, but partly because you can spend an hour eating lunch and listening to a lawyer talk and then you can go introduce yourself to them after the talk. You'd be surprised how many lawyers who talk on campus end up back on campus to do OCI. When you look familiar to them, your OCI interviews will go better. It's a relatively small time investment.... you get free food... and you get to practice a bit of networking in a low-risk environment. That's as much networking as I would do as a 1st semester 1L.
Also, y'all have that new student Inn of Court thing this year. Get to know your mentor and pick their brain constantly. You'll develop a relationship with them that may be helpful come networking time. However, 99.99999% of your focus should be on getting as high of grades as you can possibly get.
Since you're a full-time student who doesn't have to worry about a career, a mortgage, or a family, you should have the time to become notorious to your professors. You should be in at office hours asking questions all the time (not necessarily every time, but more often than not). You should know the reading backwards and forwards so that you understand the material like the back of your hand. Use the professors to make sure you know how to write a law school exam. Take a question from one of their prior exams and write an answer to it. Then go back to office hours and have them critique it.
IOW, use the time you would have devoted to networking to instead get super prepared for exams. I guarantee you that if you spend 3 hours a week working with professors on your understanding of the material and on your exam writing skills, it'll pay off in your GPA. If you focus on your GPA during 1L, you all of a sudden become very interesting to those people who you want to network with. Partners at law firms want to talk to you. Judges want to talk to you. Professors want to talk to you. If you have a reputation as a top student coming out of 1L, networking becomes easier in your 2L year.
Also, read all the flyers on the doors, partly because I put half of them up there, but partly because you can spend an hour eating lunch and listening to a lawyer talk and then you can go introduce yourself to them after the talk. You'd be surprised how many lawyers who talk on campus end up back on campus to do OCI. When you look familiar to them, your OCI interviews will go better. It's a relatively small time investment.... you get free food... and you get to practice a bit of networking in a low-risk environment. That's as much networking as I would do as a 1st semester 1L.
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eagle2a
- Posts: 393
- Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:37 pm
Re: 1L Networking
Thank you very much for the all the advise. I really do appreciate it.
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Corporate Blogger
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:34 pm
Re: 1L Networking
My answer is an unequivocal YES.
Not to pump my own thread or whatever, but I wrote this thread hoping to help students like you. Hopefully you find it beneficial.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&start=25
Not to pump my own thread or whatever, but I wrote this thread hoping to help students like you. Hopefully you find it beneficial.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&start=25
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pancakes3
- Posts: 6619
- Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2014 2:49 pm
Re: 1L Networking
Go to anything with free booze. Go to most things with free food. Wear a suit. Smile. Don't get too drunk. Don't try to impress anyone with your legal knowledge. Best case scenario you really hit it off with some partner and you've got a direct email for when you MM. Worst case scenario you get free booze and food.
It's also a good way to understand what exactly various practice groups if you're unclear, so you can articulate yourself a little better during OCI.
It's also a good way to understand what exactly various practice groups if you're unclear, so you can articulate yourself a little better during OCI.
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totesTheGoat
- Posts: 947
- Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:32 pm
Re: 1L Networking
Wow, to be honest I'm a bit surprised that worked so well for you! That's really awesome!Corporate Blogger wrote:My answer is an unequivocal YES.
Not to pump my own thread or whatever, but I wrote this thread hoping to help students like you. Hopefully you find it beneficial.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&start=25
