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I know the general rule for at least 1L is that you should not be working as you will need to devote between 40-80 hours a week to studying (these are the ranges I've seen on here), but does anyone have any experience with bar-tending weekend nights? I know it depends on the individual, but I am just looking for perspective from current students. My one worry is hurting my sleeping habit since I generally would not get home till 5am or so.

40-80 (?? lol) hours a week of "studying" sounds fucking insane

patogordo wrote:40-80 (?? lol) hours a week of "studying" sounds fucking insane

This is quite literally the range that has been thrown around in this place.

i would say however long it takes you to do the reading + take some notes + go to class + maybe a couple review hours a week is all you should be doing until like thanksgiving.

As a 1L? Horrible idea. It's just about impossible to overstate the importance of first year grades. Depending on what school you go to, your grades can mean the difference between biglaw or shitlaw. That's a salary difference of $160k/year and $30k/year (for roughly similar # of hours worked). And that's just for the first year. It gets out of control after that. The money you would earn as a bartender does not come close to making up for that potential difference in later income.

shock259 wrote:As a 1L? Horrible idea. It's just about impossible to overstate the importance of first year grades. Depending on what school you go to, your grades can mean the difference between biglaw or shitlaw. That's a salary difference of $160k/year and $30k/year (for roughly similar # of hours worked). And that's just for the first year. It gets out of control after that. The money you would earn as a bartender does not come close to making up for that potential difference in later income.

Are you high? There's more than enough hours in a week to overstudy and work two nights a week.

Agreed. If you know what you're studying for/doing. But most 1Ls don't. I sure as hell didn't. I was hilariously inefficient. In that case, overstudying is the better and safer route. Especially when the stakes are so high.

overstudying is a good way to build bad habits, because there is just so much shit that you can't effectively work on until later in the semester. if you force yourself to work long hours for fear of being "inefficient" you're going to do more harm than good.

it's not about efficiency it's about figuring out how to write a good exam. the law is easy to learn. writing an exam isn't. but you need to know the law to spot issues and write good exams. spending eight hours poring over your week 2 reading assignment is not going to help you reach that goal and is more likely to burn you out

patogordo wrote:i would say however long it takes you to do the reading+ take some notes+ go to class + maybe a couple review hours a weekis all you should be doing until like thanksgiving.

You have more than enough time to bartend on the weekends. You don't have to do work from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening.

ArtistOfManliness wrote:

patogordo wrote:i would say however long it takes you to do the reading+ take some notes+ go to class + maybe a couple review hours a weekis all you should be doing until like thanksgiving.

You have more than enough time to bartend on the weekends. You don't have to do work from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening.

i was being generous.

So all that shit that Law School Confidential says about multiple highlighters of different colors and whatever should be discarded?

Theopliske8711 wrote:So all that shit that Law School Confidential says about multiple highlighters of different colors and whatever should be discarded?

just read sealocusts thread

I don't think I used a single highlighter during 1L, because highlighters are irrelevant to how I learn. Do you.

Highlighters are stupid, but so is working on weekends as bartender. There is too much at stake, and the money you will be making as a bartender do not really matter in the long run, whereas grades do matter. Relaxing would probably be a better use of your time than bartending.

am i the only one who assumed the bartending was more about picking up chicks than making money

patogordo wrote:am i the only one who assumed the bartending was more about picking up chicks than making money

the chicks you'll meet bartending are nothing compared to the chicks you'll meet working biglawl bro. 1l grades are just too important.

Real answer: if I took the time I spent going out as a 1L and put all of it towards bartending (this includes bar reviews, clubbing with college friends, a casual drink in the village wednesday afternoon, ect, but not time spent w my SO), I could pull 15-20 hours of solid work a week. I would then have no life other than working out, sleeping, class, studying, the occasional TV binge, and the bartending gig. So in other words no life.

So it's doable if you accept than schema. My friends already complain that I work all the time as a law student .. I can't imagine what they'd say if I took a weekend job too, but who knows?

80 hours is totally crazy for your average wk during the semester. I may have only reached that the week before finals.

Also the multiple highlighters thing is totally real. Im not OCD enough for that shit, but the people who used my rental textbooks before me sure were. Fucking purple to blue to red to green.

I knew a guy in law school who bartended the entire time. He sure didnt fail but I do not believe he was on law review, but I believe he did get onto moot, and his grades I assume were nothing to write home about. Of course, he did tell me that he was in law school for the money and to meet women, sooooooo that says a lot about his personality.

Its doable, I guess it depends on what your goals are.

i dont know what he does now, so I guess, that was worthless

do what you can manage op

I worked on campus doing a mindless job my 1L year and I did fine

patogordo wrote:

Theopliske8711 wrote:So all that shit that Law School Confidential says about multiple highlighters of different colors and whatever should be discarded?

just read sealocusts thread

Slightly off-topic, but do you have a link to that thread?

graphia wrote:

patogordo wrote:

Theopliske8711 wrote:So all that shit that Law School Confidential says about multiple highlighters of different colors and whatever should be discarded?

just read sealocusts thread

Slightly off-topic, but do you have a link to that thread?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=123092 is the compendium and the first link is the thread i was referring to

Not worth it

patogordo wrote:

graphia wrote:

patogordo wrote:

Theopliske8711 wrote:So all that shit that Law School Confidential says about multiple highlighters of different colors and whatever should be discarded?

just read sealocusts thread

Slightly off-topic, but do you have a link to that thread?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=123092 is the compendium and the first link is the thread i was referring to

Thanks!