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I've done a lot of research on here for good ways to prepare for 1L this summer, and came up with a "plan" of sorts. Could any current law students comment if I am on the right track?

For context, I have no job this summer, or any other commitments really. I'm just doing reading on my free time, nothing serious.

I'm going to read/do:

Getting To Maybe
Planet Law School II
Law School Confidential
Delaney's Legal Reasoning
LEEWS

Considering (if anyone could comment on these, that would be great)

Logic for Lawyers
Barbri's First Year Review
Thinking Like A Lawyer (two different books I found on amazon - which one is conventional TLS wisdom that is good?)

I have two months/eight weeks until the start of school, so even if I go at the leisurely pace of one book a week I'll finish everything that I listed. (if I decide to read the books I'm even considering).

Also, decided against the E & Es and Hornbooks, judging from the comments I read.

Thanks in advance

mcs268 wrote:I've done a lot of research on here for good ways to prepare for 1L this summer, and came up with a "plan" of sorts. Could any current law students comment if I am on the right track?

For context, I have no job this summer, or any other commitments really. I'm just doing reading on my free time, nothing serious.

I'm going to read/do:

Getting To Maybe
Planet Law School II
Law School Confidential
Delaney's Legal Reasoning
LEEWS

Considering (if anyone could comment on these, that would be great)

Logic for Lawyers
Barbri's First Year Review
Thinking Like A Lawyer (two different books I found on amazon - which one is conventional TLS wisdom that is good?)

I have two months/eight weeks until the start of school, so even if I go at the leisurely pace of one book a week I'll finish everything that I listed. (if I decide to read the books I'm even considering).

Also, decided against the E & Es and Hornbooks, judging from the comments I read.

Thanks in advance

dont burn yourself out. i flipped thru GTM. but otherwise, relax, be fresh for when the deluge begins.

Keep in mind that Planet Law School will tell you that you should be reading every E&E that exists, five times over, and that you should have started last February (which goes against all the advice here). Personally, I think it's a bitter, overwrought polemic intended to scare the crap out of law students that really needs a good editor, but maybe other people here think it's more useful.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Keep in mind that Planet Law School will tell you that you should be reading every E&E that exists, five times over, and that you should have started last February (which goes against all the advice here). Personally, I think it's a bitter, overwrought polemic intended to scare the crap out of law students that really needs a good editor, but maybe other people here think it's more useful.

I did read similar comments about that. I think I'm planning on skimming it and looking for the info that seems helpful, and kind of ignore that extreme stuff. Will definitely go through the others first though and see if I still want to spend money on it though.

@stillwater, I don't think one book a week is gonna burn me out. I'm still doing relaxing things on the side. I'm also not learning anything really about the law itself, just how to handle law school and exams, so I don't think the reading is going to be that stressful as I don't have to memorize anything

I don't know much about some of the books you listed, but definitely stay away from any that will attempt to teach you substantive law. It will be a waste of your time. Personally, I think they're all going to be a waste of your time, but if they make you feel like you're more prepared and you're less stressed because of it, I guess there's something to be said for that.

GTM was really helpful, but honestly LSC was the game changer for me.

I read GTM, and I liked the section on exams. It seemed to give you some insight, and I believe the heads up about exams will help. Law School Confidential is a waste of time. I received a summer reading list, so I put off any other reading for the summer as I have 7 books to read before orientation.
Good luck!

Sgttpc wrote:I read GTM, and I liked the section on exams. It seemed to give you some insight, and I believe the heads up about exams will help. Law School Confidential is a waste of time. I received a summer reading list, so I put off any other reading for the summer as I have 7 books to read before orientation.
Good luck!

How many schools assign readings for the summer before 1L?

Sounds cray

Sgttpc wrote:I read GTM, and I liked the section on exams. It seemed to give you some insight, and I believe the heads up about exams will help. Law School Confidential is a waste of time. I received a summer reading list, so I put off any other reading for the summer as I have 7 books to read before orientation.
Good luck!

sounds TTT

Doesn't your 1L summer come after 1L? I think you mean 0L prep...you haven't even started yet.

Don't do law stuff. Get on Duolingo and study Spanish. Or play guitar. Practice typing. Learn to cook. Work out.

Maybe read GTM if you just have to do something law related. For your 1L, you're not learning law (or how to "think like a lawyer" either) you're learning your professor. Picking up or improving some skill or hobby to keep you level-headed through the year is much more important than reading supplements about material you may not even cover in class.

mcs268 wrote:I've done a lot of research on here for good ways to prepare for 1L this summer, and came up with a "plan" of sorts. Could any current law students comment if I am on the right track?

For context, I have no job this summer, or any other commitments really. I'm just doing reading on my free time, nothing serious.

I'm going to read/do:

Getting To Maybe
Planet Law School II
Law School Confidential
Delaney's Legal Reasoning
LEEWS
Considering (if anyone could comment on these, that would be great)

Logic for Lawyers
Barbri's First Year Review
Thinking Like A Lawyer(two different books I found on amazon - which one is conventional TLS wisdom that is good?)

I have two months/eight weeks until the start of school, so even if I go at the leisurely pace of one book a week I'll finish everything that I listed. (if I decide to read the books I'm even considering).

Also, decided against the E & Es and Hornbooks, judging from the comments I read.

Thanks in advance

Don't do any of this. Seriously. It won't help and it might hurt.

Best use of time? Clean-up your resume, pick out some firms/outfits you want to apply to for 1L summer job and try your hand at a cover letter or two so you dont have to do it in the weeks leading up to December 1. Otherwise relax. Srsly

Just watch some good TV shows, read some good fun books, and relax.

I'll echo the "flip through Getting to Maybe and then have some fun" responses. Nothing you do over the summer is going to have any real impact. GTM might help you get in the right frame of mind for How to Study Law, but honestly any effect it had on me was subliminal at best.

I'm currently reading law 101 and I think its really interesting. Its a basic overview of different kinds of law written in very laymans terms.

I was using it to see if law was a topic I was fully ready to dedicate 3 years of study too but it seems like it would be a great first year overview, especially if you know nothing about law like I do.

chem wrote:

mcs268 wrote:I've done a lot of research on here for good ways to prepare for 1L this summer, and came up with a "plan" of sorts. Could any current law students comment if I am on the right track?

For context, I have no job this summer, or any other commitments really. I'm just doing reading on my free time, nothing serious.

I'm going to read/do:

Getting To Maybe
Planet Law School II
Law School Confidential
Delaney's Legal Reasoning
LEEWS
Considering (if anyone could comment on these, that would be great)

Logic for Lawyers
Barbri's First Year Review
Thinking Like A Lawyer(two different books I found on amazon - which one is conventional TLS wisdom that is good?)

I have two months/eight weeks until the start of school, so even if I go at the leisurely pace of one book a week I'll finish everything that I listed. (if I decide to read the books I'm even considering).

Also, decided against the E & Es and Hornbooks, judging from the comments I read.

Thanks in advance

Don't do any of this. Seriously. It won't help and it might hurt.

Best use of time? Clean-up your resume, pick out some firms/outfits you want to apply to for 1L summer job and try your hand at a cover letter or two so you dont have to do it in the weeks leading up to December 1. Otherwise relax. Srsly

This, so much this. Such a waste of time. I 100% guarantee you will regret anything you do to prepare for 1L outside of the bolded.

IDK, i just read through gtm (everything except the sample questions and answers section - not paying much attention to that since i don't understand the law yet) and it seems like I had an epiphany. Although I'm a 0L so maybe i didn't. But I feel like I was in the dark before and a lightbulb clicked in my head.

I'm doing cover letters and resumes too..I was never implying this was all I was going to do during the summer lol