Will these things give you a leg up in doing well 1L ?
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:33 am
I got accepted to a school ranked in the 20s (25-29), had a high 173 LSAT and gpa slightly below 2.5. ?
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I think it's definitely possible to do things that will help you in law school, but the problem is figuring out what those things are without knowing what will come naturally and what you will struggle with. Also, it might depend on how committed you are and what resources you have available to you. If you have a friend who can walk you through the basics of legal writing and then grade a couple "homework papers" and have you read some briefs as well, that can only help. But a friend like that is a very unique resource and it would take a lot of commitment from him/her and the student to get a meaningful advantage.lawschoolsplit1984 wrote:I got accepted to a school ranked in the 20s (25-29), had a high 173 LSAT and gpa slightly below 2.5. There's really not much better I can do, since gpa is sealed and cant do much better on the LSAT, so the 20s ranked school was really the best I could do.
However, my goal is Top 14. Again, if I cant transfer (which everyone says is impossible) This school in the 20s, I will be happy graduating from, but I am more or less saying, if it happens great.
Of course, not everyone can be in the Top 10 percent. Only 10 percent of people can. However, arent there methods you can utilize to give you a leg up?
Like what if you begin reading ahead in the Spring and Summer before your classes begin in the Fall, and also I read that sometimes if you have a disability (like hearing problems) the professors with permission may allow you to tape record lectures.
So do you think if you read months ahead of everyone else, are able to tape record the lectures and play them over, and are friends with someone at the same school that did well IL, that you will have a slight advantage in placing in the top 10 percent? OR is still impossible?
no, you won't. There is very little you can gain by pre-reading substantive materials and it may actually harm you if you learn it incorrectly.lawschoolsplit1984 wrote:Like what if you begin reading ahead in the Spring and Summer before your classes begin in the Fall, and also I read that sometimes if you have a disability (like hearing problems) the professors with permission may allow you to tape record lectures.
So do you think if you read months ahead of everyone else, are able to tape record the lectures and play them over, and are friends with someone at the same school that did well IL, that you will have a slight advantage in placing in the top 10 percent? OR is still impossible?
Lincoln wrote:Read and understand Plain English for Lawyers. Writing is really the only thing you can work on in advance. Based on the OP -- an admittedly poor representation of a person's writing ability -- you could use some work on it.
Aren't you a 0L?LaBarrister wrote:Lincoln wrote:Read and understand Plain English for Lawyers. Writing is really the only thing you can work on in advance. Based on the OP -- an admittedly poor representation of a person's writing ability -- you could use some work on it.
Are you asking LaBarrister or me? I'm a 3L, fwiw.A. Nony Mouse wrote:Aren't you a 0L?LaBarrister wrote:Lincoln wrote:Read and understand Plain English for Lawyers. Writing is really the only thing you can work on in advance. Based on the OP -- an admittedly poor representation of a person's writing ability -- you could use some work on it.
Yep, I was referring to LaBarrister. Sorry to be unclear.Lincoln wrote:Are you asking LaBarrister or me? I'm a 3L, fwiw.A. Nony Mouse wrote:Aren't you a 0L?LaBarrister wrote:Lincoln wrote:Read and understand Plain English for Lawyers. Writing is really the only thing you can work on in advance. Based on the OP -- an admittedly poor representation of a person's writing ability -- you could use some work on it.
Only other person who I've heard say this on TlS. I think watching freer's vids for civ pro would have made a world of difference. While the rest of the class is lost you know exactly what is going on in lecture. Hell I learned the whole class from him eventually anyway.delusional wrote:Also, contrary to TLS conventional wisdom, I fail to grasp how a subject like Civil Procedure cannot be studied, at least somewhat, before knowing what your professor will focus on. .lawschoolsplit1984 wrote:I got accepted to a school ranked in the 20s (25-29), had a high 173 LSAT and gpa slightly below 2.5. There's really not much better I can do, since gpa is sealed and cant do much better on the LSAT, so the 20s ranked school was really the best I could do.
However, my goal is Top 14. Again, if I cant transfer (which everyone says is impossible) This school in the 20s, I will be happy graduating from, but I am more or less saying, if it happens great.
Of course, not everyone can be in the Top 10 percent. Only 10 percent of people can. However, arent there methods you can utilize to give you a leg up?
Like what if you begin reading ahead in the Spring and Summer before your classes begin in the Fall, and also I read that sometimes if you have a disability (like hearing problems) the professors with permission may allow you to tape record lectures.
So do you think if you read months ahead of everyone else, are able to tape record the lectures and play them over, and are friends with someone at the same school that did well IL, that you will have a slight advantage in placing in the top 10 percent? OR is still impossible?
E&Es, Glannon's, or other substantive supplements are a waste of time before 1L. Enjoy your free time while you have it. It is about to evaporate.squonk wrote:Digging this thread up because I have something else to ask. I picked up Getting to Maybe and Garner's Elements of Legal Style online, and they both seem pretty useful (though they seem like they'll be a lot more useful as reminders/references than as "prep material.") Is there any point in looking through any of the E&E books during the summer, or is it just a total waste of time? I've seen Glannon's Civ Pro mentioned as useful, but I also plan on spending most of my pre-law school summer not having my nose constantly in a book.
Yeah, it's not that they're going to lead you wrong - they can be useful during the semester. But you won't know what your prof is going to cover/emphasize before you get to the class. I read some of the Contracts E&E before 1L and it turned out we only covered about 5% of what I read. So even if I'd understood what I was reading and remembered it, it wouldn't have helped me.skw wrote:E&Es, Glannon's, or other substantive supplements are a waste of time before 1L. Enjoy your free time while you have it. It is about to evaporate.squonk wrote:Digging this thread up because I have something else to ask. I picked up Getting to Maybe and Garner's Elements of Legal Style online, and they both seem pretty useful (though they seem like they'll be a lot more useful as reminders/references than as "prep material.") Is there any point in looking through any of the E&E books during the summer, or is it just a total waste of time? I've seen Glannon's Civ Pro mentioned as useful, but I also plan on spending most of my pre-law school summer not having my nose constantly in a book.
I studied my a$$ off and got median that first semester, probably, in part, because I wrote my exams instead of typed them. I was an older student. I had never typed exams before so that was foreign to me. Plus I could write extremely fast. But writing is no match for typing. That being said, top 10% is going to depend on your abilities, the students at your school, and your professor. No amount of reading before hand is going to help unless you read Getting to Maybe or something very similar. But please do not read the cases or supplements unless you like wasting time.rad lulz wrote:In short, no, because law exams are based on application of law to fact
I find it's normally used when people refuse to accept certain peers as their intellectual equals, so therefore the grading is flawed. there's something to be said for thinking and applying quickly, and not self doubting. it isn't just typing gibberish that's getting the points.quiver wrote:I agree with what everyone else has said ITT. To add, if you want to work on anything as a 0L, work on your typing speed. There's debate as to how much one's typing speed correlates with good grades, but it definitely can't hurt.
Sure, but I already know I'll have to put in 60+ hours a week. I don't need to pay somebody to tell me that.bananapeanutbutter wrote:I found it was a benefit, personally. I think somebody telling you, you need to put in 60 hours a week or you won't get a job forces you to simply out-hour most people. There'd be too much temptation to just go with the flow, and work the same as everyone else without it.