Page 1 of 2
How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:38 pm
by Dream Machine
I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:41 pm
by BK201
Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
TLS Box:I can't read; I can't write; and I like to watch TV.
Highest LSAT:120
GPA: 2.0
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:46 pm
by Chucky21
Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
It sounds like you did what I did. But you know how to work hard and have a good work ethic, and that is half the battle. You are smart and made smart decisions to ensure you got the GPA and LSAT scores you needed. From what I hear, most law students also spend most of their time in the library, you, like me, will be accustomed to this already. You got into law school for a reason. Have confidence. I hope this message doesn't sound condescending or patronizing, but I relate to what you wrote.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:00 pm
by Dream Machine
BK201 wrote:Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
TLS Box:I can't read; I can't write; and I like to watch TV.
Highest LSAT:120
GPA: 2.0
My profile information is meant as a joke. The nature of my original post though is actually meant to be completely serious. I'd appreciate some insight.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:04 pm
by Flash
Dream Machine wrote: (I literally have no friends), I have a friend
hmmm...
Also if you have good enough numbers to get into a top school, you have nothing to worry about. Nobody actually fails out of good schools. Bottom of class and curve =/= failing out.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:16 pm
by snowpeach06
The only way you can fail out of law school is if you literally don't take the final exam. One girl at my school actually went insane (skipping class to sit in the library laughing at a blank computer screen, sending angry e-mails to professors during midterms, posting nonsensical facebook statuses), and even she didn't fail out. The thing about law school is that it's hard to do well, but, also damn near impossible to completely fail. You'll be fine.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:42 pm
by romothesavior
Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
You need to take a chill pill. Seriously. You sound about as fun as a terminal illness. Live your life a little for chrissakes and try not to be such a gunnerish goober.
failing out of law school, at least a reputable law school, would take some serious effort. You're not going to drop out.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:44 pm
by bk1
romothesavior wrote:Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
You need to take a chill pill. Seriously. You sound about as fun as a terminal illness. Live your life a little for chrissakes and try not to be such a gunnerish goober.
Failing out of law school, at least a reputable law school, would take some serious effort. You're not going to drop out.
+1
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:12 pm
by tomwatts
Dream Machine wrote:the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life.... I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out?
Sounds like you're already living the law school lifestyle, so you're good. Just keep that up.
Uh, I'm kidding, I think. Mostly. What the above posters said about the difficulty of failing out is true if you're in one of the top schools (it'd be fun to look up the last time someone failed out of, say, Harvard or Yale) but becomes much,
much less true as you move down the rankings. Tier 4 schools routinely fail out the bottom third of the class or the like. So it depends a little on what your "first choice" school was. I'd advise looking up their grading policy (usually on the school's website) if you're really worried, because it will probably ease your mind a little.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:12 pm
by Dream Machine
Flash wrote:Dream Machine wrote: (I literally have no friends), I have a friend
hmmm...
Also if you have good enough numbers to get into a top school, you have nothing to worry about. Nobody actually fails out of good schools. Bottom of class and curve =/= failing out.
I'd say he is more of an acquaintance than a friend lol. I realized how dumb that sounded as soon as I posted it.
And the school itself is at the very bottom of the first tier (UF, which may actually be a 2nd tier school I suppose), but I can't seem to find any information on its attrition rate. I am not really sure where I would look.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:51 am
by bk1
Dream Machine wrote:And the school itself is at the very bottom of the first tier (UF, which may actually be a 2nd tier school I suppose), but I can't seem to find any information on its attrition rate. I am not really sure where I would look.
Uhhh.... Google? A quick Google search of "florida law attrition" led me to several places that showed attrition rate (the official LSAC guide, LSN, etc).
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:54 am
by rbgrocio
snowpeach06 wrote:The only way you can fail out of law school is if you literally don't take the final exam. One girl at my school actually went insane (skipping class to sit in the library laughing at a blank computer screen, sending angry e-mails to professors during midterms, posting nonsensical facebook statuses), and even she didn't fail out. The thing about law school is that it's hard to do well, but, also damn near impossible to completely fail. You'll be fine.
Not true. At T3s and T4s u can fail out even if you try hard.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:02 am
by 071816
romothesavior wrote:Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
You need to take a chill pill. Seriously. You sound about as fun as a terminal illness. Live your life a little for chrissakes and try not to be such a gunnerish goober.
Failing out of law school, at least a reputable law school, would take some serious effort. You're not going to drop out.
I agree with this and lol at "gunnerish goober."
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:08 am
by johansantana21
rbgrocio wrote:snowpeach06 wrote:The only way you can fail out of law school is if you literally don't take the final exam. One girl at my school actually went insane (skipping class to sit in the library laughing at a blank computer screen, sending angry e-mails to professors during midterms, posting nonsensical facebook statuses), and even she didn't fail out. The thing about law school is that it's hard to do well, but, also damn near impossible to completely fail. You'll be fine.
Not true. At T3s and T4s u can fail out even if you try hard.
Most people at T3s and T4s are objectively bad at law school.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:09 am
by bk1
johansantana21 wrote:Most people at T3s and T4s are objectively bad at law school.
You are consistently a horrible poster.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:36 am
by nsbane
Dream Machine wrote:I am a 0L who graduated in 2011, and I am working full time right now. I promise that I am not a troll, but I am very concerned about failing out, being unable to handle the workload, being dumber than everyone else, etc. I am basically an idiot. I got into my first choice of schools, but the only reason I had the GPA and LSAT to get in is because I spent all of my time in the library undergrad (I literally have no friends), and when it came time to study for the LSAT, it literally took over my life. I have a friend who studied for 1 month and got the same score as me, while I studied from March until October. I would literally wake up everyday and while I was half-asleep, lying in bed and I would unconsciously be doing Testmasters exercises in my head. So tell me, what steps should I take to not fail out? Thanks in advance.
What kind of answer are you expecting to hear, aside from go to class, take notes, do the reading?
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:50 am
by sunynp
There are several excellent guides to doing well in law school right here on this forum. They don't guarantee success, but I can promise you that if you follow them you will at least not fail. Just search for them on the forum.
I think with your standards you might mean failing out = median. I have no advice to give you that will guarantee you hit top ten percent.
Also- you may want to improve your quality of life. You need social support. And some hobbies!
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:20 pm
by Xvimic
I'm a 0L too, so I can appreciate the apprehension that comes with waiting for law school to start as it is a new and largely unknown academic challenge that also often accompanies moving to a new location that you have never been to before.
That said, I can imagine that one way to assist in not failing out would be to calm down and make sure you aren't so neurotic about failing out that you snap and have a mental break down. I say this only partially tongue in cheek. Stress can be a great motivator for success, however if you let it reach critical mass it can shut you down completely. I doubt this will happen to you though if you got through the LSAT which is a great firewall to stop people who are going to let stress cripple them.
In other words, chill son and when august rolls around just make sure you put in as much work studying for your classes as you did for the LSAT. (Maybe even a little less if you actually did study every waking hour like you claim).
Personally I'm gonna try to get by with 40 hours a week in and out of class, at least until finals roll around.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:39 am
by Gail
You probably would have done better if you took a break between and didn't burn yourself out on the LSAT. You're selling yourself short.
I actually wish I had done that. I came back after several months off to see what my LSAT score would be. I scored 3 points higher on my first try.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:54 am
by bk1
Xvimic wrote:Personally I'm gonna try to get by with 40 hours a week in and out of class, at least until finals roll around.
Unless you're the kind of person who needs it, 40 hrs/week during the semester is overdoing it.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:06 am
by Xvimic
bk187 wrote:Xvimic wrote:Personally I'm gonna try to get by with 40 hours a week in and out of class, at least until finals roll around.
Unless you're the kind of person who needs it, 40 hrs/week during the semester is overdoing it.
I meant 40 hours including class time, or is that what you meant too? I'd love to be able to get away with less, I'll have to see how it goes.
Generally I'm not the type who has to study like mad I have pretty good reading comprehension, then again I've never been in law school so who can say. Ultimately I suspect I will study as much as I have to during the semester in order to get a firm grasp of the concepts and then probably go crazy over the top around finals time. I won't be working or anything so I'm not too worried about it either way.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:08 am
by IAFG
snowpeach06 wrote:The only way you can fail out of law school is if you literally don't take the final exam. One girl at my school actually went insane (skipping class to sit in the library laughing at a blank computer screen, sending angry e-mails to professors during midterms, posting nonsensical facebook statuses), and even she didn't fail out. The thing about law school is that it's hard to do well, but, also damn near impossible to completely fail. You'll be fine.
Hey, just wondering... did she happen to transfer?
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:11 am
by FeelTheHeat
bk187 wrote:johansantana21 wrote:Most people at T3s and T4s are objectively bad at law school.
You are an
consistently objectively horrible poster.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:13 am
by bk1
Xvimic wrote:I meant 40 hours including class time, or is that what you meant too? I'd love to be able to get away with less, I'll have to see how it goes.
I was including class time. 3 hours of class per day... the only time I'm putting in another 5 hours is if I'm working on a paper.
Re: How to not fail out of law school
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:17 am
by Xvimic
bk187 wrote:Xvimic wrote:I meant 40 hours including class time, or is that what you meant too? I'd love to be able to get away with less, I'll have to see how it goes.
I was including class time. 3 hours of class per day... the only time I'm putting in another 5 hours is if I'm working on a paper.
That's what I like to hear.