a week or so into law school and just some random thoughts/worries Forum

[Leonardo DiCaprio]

maybe 2L/3Ls/graduates can offer some guidance.

everything so far seems okay i guess, but i saw a bunch of people (other 1Ls) in the library with stacks of books furiously writing/typing away or reading. what could they possibly be doing? people are saying they're sleep deprived and i see 20 different colored highlighters, book tabs, etc. i feel kind of anxious about it. should i be doing more work?

also, some of my classmates seem/sound really intelligent when they're speaking in class, and i feel really dumb. i don't feel like i have much to contribute to the discussion in class. i guess this is what "gnawing anxiety" meant in one of those law school advice threads on here.

[anonymous092]

nobody--not even the people who will end up being at the very top of the class--has any clear idea of what is going on. they're pretending.

relax and study until you feel comfortable. it'll click.

also, people in law school love to lie and brag about how little they sleep.

[lacrossebrother]

nobody ends up in the top of the class without working hard. but "working hard" means staying on top of your cases and going to every class and taking notes that reflect the class conversation and augment your understanding of the material/cases. if you can read a case in 30 mins, then reading it for 2 hours won't make you better off. do your own thing.

everything takes a lot longer to understand in the very beginning because not only do you not know how to read a case, you don't know what to predict the professor will care about, and you don't know where the material is heading. figuring this out takes time in class, reading cases, and talking about issues with your friends. youre not gonna make it go any faster by using different color highlighters or tabs or taking notes in a special format or program or reading a special 1L book or studying in the library or anything. just get through your material and then play Fifa and dont worry about if and when those people in the library will start looking more like you.

[DJM]

same exact situation for me after this first week. everyone is working like crazy and I have had SO much time to spare

[Poldy]

As another person who just wrapped up week one, I say don't sweat it. If I saw someone doing that I'd assume they are probably pretty stupid since they have to put in that much work to understand the simple concepts in the first cases.

Also, listen to what the people who love speaking up are actually saying. There are a few of those in my classes but 90% of the time it is just eloquently delivered bullshit.

You should be sleep deprived from all the time spent out drinking and getting to know people, not from over studying the first couple of days worth of material.

[lacrossebrother]

i think a decent analogy is, imagine you've moved to a new city that you don't know your way around in. you don't know neighborhoods, restaurants, landmarks, the way people talk about shit, the traffic patterns, what the cool stuff to do is, what kind of people live in each area etc.

you can spend a bunch of time reading Fodor's and Yelp for that town, but ultimately, it's just going to take a few months to get used to the swing of things, and then even longer to become an expert at that town.

[lacrossebrother]

As another person who just wrapped up week one, I say don't sweat it. If I saw someone doing that I'd assume they are probably pretty stupid since they have to put in that much work to understand the simple concepts in the first cases.

Also, listen to what the people who love speaking up are actually saying. There are a few of those in my classes but 90% of the time it is just eloquently delivered bullshit.

You should be sleep deprived from all the time spent out drinking and getting to know people, not from over studying the first couple of days worth of material.

also be wary about taking advice from fellow 1Ls about how to do stuff or how little work they're doing.

[kaiser]

The truth is that most people, at the very beginning, have no idea how to approach things, nor can they tell the important details from the unimportant ones. This is why you see furious reading and endless highlighting, overly-detailed case briefing and such. People are working super hard, but very likely not working smart. At least not at the beginning.

Think of it like blind horses running a race. They may be running fast, but the most important thing is to ensure you are running in the right direction.

[Poldy]

As another person who just wrapped up week one, I say don't sweat it. If I saw someone doing that I'd assume they are probably pretty stupid since they have to put in that much work to understand the simple concepts in the first cases.

Also, listen to what the people who love speaking up are actually saying. There are a few of those in my classes but 90% of the time it is just eloquently delivered bullshit.

You should be sleep deprived from all the time spent out drinking and getting to know people, not from over studying the first couple of days worth of material.

also be wary about taking advice from fellow 1Ls about how to do stuff or how little work they're doing.

Lol that's fair. I'm just saying though that there is absolutely no reason to study that much for what is, in my case anyway, a total of six cases and two days of class. If you have to study like that for almost no material, you'll be fucked when there actually is a semester's worth to study.

Also, for the record, I'm not saying don't study yet or study very little. I'm saying study an appropriate amount. What was described in the OP is not an appropriate amount by any reasonable measure for the first week of class.

[trey ohh five]

Ignore those tryhard losers, focus on what works for you and you'll do just fine.

[UnicornHunter]

nobody ends up in the top of the class without working hard. but "working hard" means staying on top of your cases and going to every class and taking notes that reflect the class conversation and augment your understanding of the material/cases. if you can read a case in 30 mins, then reading it for 2 hours won't make you better off. do your own thing.

everything takes a lot longer to understand in the very beginning because not only do you not know how to read a case, you don't know what to predict the professor will care about, and you don't know where the material is heading. figuring this out takes time in class, reading cases, and talking about issues with your friends. youre not gonna make it go any faster by using different color highlighters or tabs or taking notes in a special format or program or reading a special 1L book or studying in the library or anything. just get through your material and then play Fifa and dont worry about if and when those people in the library will start looking more like you.

Keep making posts like this and you'll be back to consensus t-3 poster on this chatboart in no time.

I agree with everything lax said, except I recommend NHL>Fifa.

[admiringatticus]

Number of hours does not equal success in law school. Some people put in a ton of hours and aren't doing anything productive. You need time for yourself so you don't burn out and so that when you are actually working, your attention is on your work and you're able to absorb what you're studying.

[First Offense]

As another person who just wrapped up week one, I say don't sweat it. If I saw someone doing that I'd assume they are probably pretty stupid since they have to put in that much work to understand the simple concepts in the first cases.

Also, listen to what the people who love speaking up are actually saying. There are a few of those in my classes but 90% of the time it is just eloquently delivered bullshit.

You should be sleep deprived from all the time spent out drinking and getting to know people, not from over studying the first couple of days worth of material.

I mean, I love shitting on 1Ls and their freak outs too, but if you're not freaking out as a 1L, you're already doing it wrong. The 1L freak out is a rite of passage.

Edit: Also co-signing what Lax said. Don't read into what other people doing - it may work for them, it may not.

[Leonardo DiCaprio]

thanks for the advice everyone.

i know people have complained about some of the personality traits of law students, and it was definitely a thing i expected going into law school. but man, it's just bizarre to see the types of people you read about actually exist IRL. it's almost like a caricature.

the sycophant who laughs loudly after every little "joke" or side comment the professor makes. the guy who literally nods from the moment the professor's mouth opens and doesn't stop nodding until class ends. he literally writes notes, flips through casebooks, finds pen/paper from his bag, etc. all the while nodding. it's admirable, pathetic, and also weirdly endearing in a way. and also the "scary" professor who tries to intimidate the shit out of you...

well thats what i signed up for i guess. i like the school part though. i don't really get whats going on but it's interesting from what i can make sense of it. just the feeling that i am not doing enough, that I'm dumber than the classmate making some insightful comment in class, that i have no idea wtf I'm supposed to take away from classes... it's just a lot to adjust to. hopefully it gets better like people have suggested above.

[Poldy]

I love the nodder. The one in my classes occasionally switches to a shake when a student says something wrong and then returns to nodding with extra vigor when the professor corrects them.

[zot1]

Chill. Do what feels right for you. Some people will go crazy but even they don't know what's going on.

[ManoftheHour]

I love the nodder. The one in my classes occasionally switches to a shake when a student says something wrong and then returns to nodding with extra vigor when the professor corrects them.

lol

[unsweetened]

The first week of law school was a hot mess. By next week you'll have a much better idea of how your professors conduct class and what they'll be asking of you. Just keep on top of the reading and it's not bad at all.

[lavarman84]

maybe 2L/3Ls/graduates can offer some guidance.

everything so far seems okay i guess, but i saw a bunch of people (other 1Ls) in the library with stacks of books furiously writing/typing away or reading. what could they possibly be doing? people are saying they're sleep deprived and i see 20 different colored highlighters, book tabs, etc. i feel kind of anxious about it. should i be doing more work?

also, some of my classmates seem/sound really intelligent when they're speaking in class, and i feel really dumb. i don't feel like i have much to contribute to the discussion in class. i guess this is what "gnawing anxiety" meant in one of those law school advice threads on here.

Ignore it. Do what you're comfortable with. Some people go way too hard. You don't need to match their effort.

And yes, people will sound very intelligent when speaking in class. But you got in the same school they did. So don't feel nervous about it. Easier said than done, I was kind of nervous about it too because I felt what they were saying was over my head. In the end, I had a more successful 1L year than they did. It just doesn't matter. Trust yourself and work hard.

If it makes you feel better, I never spent time in the library on the weekends (except during exam weeks) during 1L year and I didn't tab my books either. I did just fine. The best thing you can do is work hard, do what you do best, and trust your instincts. Every person has to do things their own way.

[Tiago Splitter]

If it makes you feel better, I never spent time in the library on the weekends (except during exam weeks) during 1L year and I didn't tab my books either. I did just fine. The best thing you can do is work hard, do what you do best, and trust your instincts. Every person has to do things their own way.

Totally agree with the conclusion, only I always was in the library on weekends because that's when I did the majority of my reading during 1L. Spend a couple hours on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday reading for the following week and the weekdays turn in to a piece of cake. But everyone needs to do what works for them.

One thing to remember during 1L is that each hour spent studying in November is worth about 5 hours in September (August?!?!) so know your own limitations and just get the reading done and chill.

[Effingham]

I consistently looked like an idiot in class and it had no impact on my end result, just disregard the bs strivers. They seem to end up below median any way.

[everything_bagel]

tag

[Tyler_Durden]

Read everything twice in your first semester. Don't write long case briefs. Write short, concise outlines summarizing only the main points of LAW from the cases. Include one or two sentences per case to explain the facts and the outcome of the case.

Take time to relax on weekends! Go out with your friends and act like a normal human being. You can start hiding in your room and studying 24/7 about a month before final exams.

[rcharter1978]

maybe 2L/3Ls/graduates can offer some guidance.

everything so far seems okay i guess, but i saw a bunch of people (other 1Ls) in the library with stacks of books furiously writing/typing away or reading. what could they possibly be doing? people are saying they're sleep deprived and i see 20 different colored highlighters, book tabs, etc. i feel kind of anxious about it. should i be doing more work?

also, some of my classmates seem/sound really intelligent when they're speaking in class, and i feel really dumb. i don't feel like i have much to contribute to the discussion in class. i guess this is what "gnawing anxiety" meant in one of those law school advice threads on here.

1) In my experience, in the first year there is a lot of BS that floats around. Non BS responses in class are briefing cases, and giving an opinion based on the actual case. BS is someone who is clearly saying things just to impress the professor/class. Those people are not necessarily smart, they are just loud and generally obnoxious. Although these are also the people that are always convinced they know everything about everything -- I avoided them at all costs. Wait until you get to the special snowflake who wants to argue law with the professor in class. It could actually be entertaining, except when that guy would raise his hands 5 minutes before class let out. That asshole

2) The stack of books, etc may be commercial outlines, case brief books and other supplemental materials that they are using to get out of doing the class reading. To me, the best way for me to study was to do the assigned reading, take notes and be prepared for class. There was no other way for me, but people tried to find any and every way to get out of doing the reading (which was heavy). I supplemented with E&E's but never instead of doing the class reading.

I think everyone develops their own system that works for them -- if I had to do it over though, I would start outlining earlier than I did but thats about it.

[rcharter1978]

I love the nodder. The one in my classes occasionally switches to a shake when a student says something wrong and then returns to nodding with extra vigor when the professor corrects them.

Ugh, second hand sucking up. Unless the professor is starting directly at you there is no need to try so hard to get his love.