Top Law Schools

TLS is awesome, so I figured I would contribute what I can to anyone who cares to ask. Also, very bored post-bar/pre-work, so I need something to do besides play FIFA.

About me...

Pre-law school: Graduated from a generic state school with a B.S. in finance with a 3.5. Struggled with the LSAT. My first score was 150 and managed a 159 after taking a prep class.

Law school: Admitted off the waitlist at a T50 in the south. Finished pretty high in my class after 1L and transferred to CCN.

Law Jerb: Decided that I hated winters. Summered at and will be starting with an AmLaw 100 satellite office.

AMA...

I'll shoot. Generic question but what was your study schedule like? And if you could pinpoint one thing, what do you think helped you the most in earning top grades. Thanks.

wl + transfer student
how much debt

Thanks for taking Q's

1. How did you approach 1L year? Did you already assume you were going to transfer or did you plan on sticking it out?

2. What was your study schedule/sleep like in the Fall? Did it change after first semester grades?

3. If you would have stayed, would you have made law review/got a firm job anyway?

souzakid wrote:I'll shoot. Generic question but what was your study schedule like? And if you could pinpoint one thing, what do you think helped you the most in earning top grades. Thanks.

I treated my first year like an 8-5 job. I didn't leave the library until my assignment for the next day was complete. After I left, I tried to get my mind off of school (spent time w/ wife, work out, video games ...). You really need to have a good balance. I don't think I studied past 8pm all of law school. Get your work done and enjoy your life.

The most important thing: Realize that getting good grades is not about how smart you are. Its about learning the law school game. Check out some of the guides that provide great detailed advice http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 3&t=123092. Focus on the exams from day one. Don't get distracted by all the theoretical BS. And make your own outlines!

bld2414 wrote:

souzakid wrote:I'll shoot. Generic question but what was your study schedule like? And if you could pinpoint one thing, what do you think helped you the most in earning top grades. Thanks.

I treated my first year like an 8-5 job. I didn't leave the library until my assignment for the next day was complete. After I left, I tried to get my mind off of school (spent time w/ wife, work out, video games ...). You really need to have a good balance. I don't think I studied past 8pm all of law school. Get your work done and enjoy your life.

The most important thing: Realize that getting good grades is not about how smart you are. Its about learning the law school game. Check out some of the guides that provide great detailed advice http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 3&t=123092. Focus on the exams from day one. Don't get distracted by all the theoretical BS. And make your own outlines!

What was a standard assignment that you speak of? In terms of hours and how it was completed (like an essay or a briefing or what)

Brut wrote:wl + transfer student
how much debt

1L state school + Personal savings + Wife's contributions + parent's contributions = 0 debt.

This is clearly the best part of my story. I am very very very blessed to have the help I did.

BankruptMe wrote:Thanks for taking Q's

1. How did you approach 1L year? Did you already assume you were going to transfer or did you plan on sticking it out?

2. What was your study schedule/sleep like in the Fall? Did it change after first semester grades?

3. If you would have stayed, would you have made law review/got a firm job anyway?

1. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in to 1L. I was accepted off the waitlist very late in the game. I was at median for GPA and below median for LSAT, so I would have considered being in the top quarter a success. Since I didn't think I was as smart as my peers, I buckled down from day one and treated 1L like a job. However, as I noted above, I balanced my hard work with plenty of non-law related activities. I had no ambition to transfer going into school. I honestly thought that I had very little shot to be at the top of my class.

2. Im early to rise, early to bed kind of guy. This is mostly due to being married and my wife working a normal 8-5 job. So, I tried to stick to a job-like schedule. I rarely studied past 5 pm and never studied on the weekends. My schedule ramped up significantly around exam time though. I would say that 50 hrs is a good estimate for my exam work weeks. I may have eased up a bit in the spring, and my grades improved also.

3. I would have been on law review through my school's auto grade on. The firm job is really tough to say. I have kept in contact with several people from my first school and I do not know anyone who has the type of firm job I do. So, could I have? Maybe, but given my favorable financial situation, transferring was probably the best bet.

ilikebaseball wrote:

bld2414 wrote:

souzakid wrote:I'll shoot. Generic question but what was your study schedule like? And if you could pinpoint one thing, what do you think helped you the most in earning top grades. Thanks.

I treated my first year like an 8-5 job. I didn't leave the library until my assignment for the next day was complete. After I left, I tried to get my mind off of school (spent time w/ wife, work out, video games ...). You really need to have a good balance. I don't think I studied past 8pm all of law school. Get your work done and enjoy your life.

The most important thing: Realize that getting good grades is not about how smart you are. Its about learning the law school game. Check out some of the guides that provide great detailed advice http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 3&t=123092. Focus on the exams from day one. Don't get distracted by all the theoretical BS. And make your own outlines!

What was a standard assignment that you speak of? In terms of hours and how it was completed (like an essay or a briefing or what)

Reading for class and briefing cases. Going to class is included in the 8-5 day. So, maybe 4-5 hours of class, 2 hours of reading/prepping for next day's class, and an hour for lunch/surfing internet.

One thing that I see a lot on TLS that I disagree with is how people suggest that reading the cases is a waste of time. There is no doubt that a large majority of the reading is information that you do not need to know. However, skipping the reading in favor of commercial outlines is, in my opinion, a bad idea. At least for me, actually reading the cases and highlighting the important material allowed me to grasp what the heck was going on, because anyone who claims that they really know what's going on is lying to themselves.

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jk148706 wrote:You -- and a lot of people on TLS -- suggest to 'focus on the exam from day one'

Trying to figure this out. What is the best method to do that? Casebooks? E&Es? Hornbooks? Office Hours? Something else? Practice exams?

How do I focus all of my energy on getting a good grade on the exam?

There is no "best" method, nor is there a magic combination of those resources to get good grades. Did I (and probably all of my peers) use these? Sure, however, what I mean by focusing on the exam from day one is more about filtering out all of the crap that accompanies the important information. Its pivotal to realize that your entire grade rests on one exam, and this exam will be graded anonymously. So, unless you are a complete idiot, nothing you do during class will affect your grade. There is no point in getting in deep theoretical arguments with the prof or your peers about what you learned in undergrad and how it applies to some stupid case. Nobody cares, and more importantly, its a waste of time. Instead,keep your eye on the ball. Try to absorb the important information. When I read for class, I would brief the cases in the default black text Word provides. As I was taking notes in class, I would write what the prof said was important about the case in red. And for God sakes, if the prof says something is important or says this could be tested, write it down, bold it, italicize it, do something! This way, when you are reviewing and consolidating your notes for an outline, you can really focus in on how your prof explained things. While it may be obvious, you really need to stick to what the professor says. Don't outsmart yourself. Again, Im not saying that my method is the best...this is just what I did.

Further, casebooks, supplements, office hours, and practice exams all play an important role. However, you should implement them correctly. On day one, you will not know enough to properly use supplements, office hours, or practice exams. You will have to spend A LOT of time in your case book to get a solid understanding of the material. Then, when exams roll around, you can use supplements to really hone your knowledge and create killer outlines. I used office hours the same way. If there was a concept that I was struggling with, I would go to office hours to get it straight from the source. Office hours are also good for gaining insight into how your professor grades. I have mixed feelings about practice exams. On the positive side, they provide a great way to get a feel for how your professor crafts their test and allows you to do a few dry runs before the real thing. On the other hand, they always scared the crap out of me.

HTH

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