Law Preview and other law prep courses Forum

[nosorio2007]

So i got this letter from Law Preview which is suppose to help prepare you to do better in 1L. According to their statistics on their site, they do help. The comments from past students generally are positive. Anyone here thinking of going to it? Or anyone here do it? impressions? worth it or not? Any info would be great.

[sbjohnsn]

Don't do it. Every law school admissions person I have talked to has said those are a waste of money and time and can actually hinder your performance in law school if they teach you incorrect information.

[dwharris2]

What about programs that the schools themselves offer? Pace, for instance, offers something called the Skills Enrichment Program:

--LinkRemoved--

It sounds helpful (especially for someone who's been out of school for 20 years), but it's also $950.

David

[JClark-NYU]

Hi -

Sorry for the cross-post, but I don't have a ton of time for new posts with finals coming up:

I am currently a 1L at NYU and I took this course the summer before I entered law school. It was extremely helpful for me. I would be happy to talk to anyone about this who is interested. I entered law school straight from undergrad and so it was a nice introduction to the rigors of legal reading, as well as helped ease my fears of "cold calling".

I found the skills law preview teaches to be very relevant and useful, and I am still using them during my second semester. These classes aren't for everybody. They are especially useful if you are anxious are worried about your first semester. In addition, I really feel that these classes gave me a head start into the semester. I had already read and briefed cases while my classmates learned about case briefing at orientation.

I learned about outlining months before my classmates did. Most people don't learn about the skills or strategies for outlining until the end of the 1st semester.

Do I think this class is necessary to be successful? No. However it is certainly a worthwhile investment.

Best,
J

[The Kid]

I am currently a 1L at NYU and I took this course the summer before I entered law school.

which course specifically did you take?

[JClark-NYU]

Sorry I left that off - I cross posted in a law-preview specific post.

I went to law preview the summer before I started law school. Also during my first semester at NYU I took a program called LEEWS, which I feel was a waste of time and money. Let me know if I can answer anything specifically.

[afinnst]

I'm thinking JClark works for Law Preview...no?

[JClark-NYU]

I actually don't. I would rather not post my private NYU email address, however if you would like to email me @ loganvanderbilt@gmail.com I would be happy to respond to you with my NYU account. I can also send you some syllabi, my outlines from this semester, even some of my notes I took during my law preview course if you are interested.

[TTT-LS]

.

[JClark-NYU]

How is it awful to be sharing the only law school advice I can that I feel is worthwhile? Isn't that what everyone else does on here? I am just self-censuring so I only share info that I feel is worth the time It takes to post.

[imisscollege]

I also did it last year and ended up waiting a year to go to LS. But I think that IF you can easily afford it, it is unquestionably helpful especially if you have had no prior exposure to the law.

[270910]

How is it awful to be sharing the only law school advice I can that I feel is worthwhile? Isn't that what everyone else does on here? I am just self-censuring so I only share info that I feel is worth the time It takes to post.

Because nobody wakes up one morning - in the middle of their purported second semester at law school - and decides to register for an internet discussion forum, search through months of posting history for posts about a particular product, and post nowhere and about nothing except for rave testimonials of that product.

The naive act makes it all the more farcical.

[JClark-NYU]

I hope you are already in law school because the skepticism only gets worse. You are completely wrong. Everyone has a first post. Luckily, thanks to the advent of a search engine I could easily locate all of the
posts that I felt I could really contribute to. I do not encourage a complete acceptance of the program. I admit it's not for everybody. I don't make any magical claims about guaranteeing top of the class results.  I also make
myself available as a resource for the people that are fence sitters. I just know that law preview helped me alot.

It's funny how people who have never taken the program claim it doesn't work. It may not work for you, great but it did for me. If I can help someone figure out if they are similarly situated to me pre- law school I'm happy too. Isn't that the premise of this website? 

I don't see how the fact that I restrict my postings to one area where I think I have relvant advice makes me suspicious. People on this site post way too much about what they don't know. In addition I am making myself available as a resource. 

The real reason I started posting today is because I just received Alumni tips #10 from law preview and so the program was on my mind.  I felt that the best way I could repay the program is by balancing out what I see as often purely speculative one-sided views on this website.

I am not being naive. How can offering to talk about my experience be some sort of trick? Why not let people hear both sides of the issue then decide on their own. For your own peace of mind I'd be happy to prove my 1L status. You just let me know what you would be willing to accept as proof.