Law School Hacker & 0L Prep Forum

[JamesDean1955]

Like most 0L's, I'm torn between the whole do 0L Prep/don't do 0L Prep question before attending. I know this topic has been discussed to death, so rather than get into another general debate I was just curious if anyone tried this guy's course/read his book:

http://www.law-school-hacker.com

He goes against TLS CW and basically says 0L prep is valuable for getting ahead in law school and his course (or free e-book) will teach you. He also recommends doing one commercial supplement per 1L course before enrolling (e.g. Glannon for CivPro) Is this another marketing gimmick or is there some value in this? Anyone tried his course/book?

I find his arguments for doing 0L prep (especially w/r/t learning to outline, exam taking, and learning BLL/as long as it doesn't override how your professors teach the law) compelling.

[SFSpartan]

As a fellow 0L, I haven't done this. However, I'm always skeptical of someone telling me a particular thing is good for me, then trying to sell me something.

Like many law schools, this guy has a clear economic incentive to misrepresent the real value of his product, so I'd be wary of this.

[JaviSTB]

There are so many successful cases of 0L not needing to prep and doing amazing in LS. You can see some of the TLSer guides on here and some do say you should to some prep (read E&Es, and Getting to Maybe), and some say don't. Just enjoy your summer. Relax and mentally prepare yourself for what's to come. Even if you learn stuff now, you would have to tailor it to your prof and your class. No one way is the best.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

I think familiarizing yourself with some terms can be helpful, but not necessary.

For example,

• Contracts:
  Consideration, Offer, Acceptance...
  
  Torts:
  Assault, Battery, Conversion, Negligence
  
  Property:
  Adverse Possession, Easements, etc

Also, I'm sure that getting an overall understanding of the court system is helpful, and even some look into federal civil procedure like federal question and diversity jurisdiction could be helpful.

[Nelson]

I find his arguments for doing 0L prep (especially w/r/t learning to outline, exam taking, and learning BLL/as long as it doesn't override how your professors teach the law) compelling.

0L prep is a waste of time. There is barely enough material to fill a semester assuming you work a reasonable amount consistently over the whole semester. You're just going to waste your time learning the wrong things out of context. Law school isn't hard, the curve is. I'm not convinced you can beat the curve by working more than your peers even when you know what material is going to matter. You definitely can't when you don't know what's being tested.

Learning to outline isn't a skill assuming you know even a little bit about your personal learning style. "Learning to take an exam" is wholly dependent on the professor and you can't do that until you have access to the prof's exams and know what they're looking for.