How Do I Succeed at Harvard? Forum

[GoldVault]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

[PeanutsNJam]

Relax. You're at Harvard; you're already excelling. Just chill, do the readings, brief if that's what helps you learn, pay attention in class, take notes, and have a good time. Make some friends. Enjoy yourself.

Turn to a supplement only if you're having a hard time understanding or following along in classes.

[quiver]

This thread has good advice. There are like 50 other threads about this, too.

But mostly, this:

Relax. You're at Harvard; you're already excelling. Just chill, do the readings, brief if that's what helps you learn, pay attention in class, take notes, and have a good time. Make some friends. Enjoy yourself.

[Indy16]

Re: briefs specifically. The Climenko's distribute copies of past successful memos in LRW. For the first memo, cling to those as a life raft. For the appellate brief in the spring read anything written by John Roberts when he was an appellate litigator or look at finalist briefs for the Ames competition. They will give you some indication as to style/writing quality/thickness of citations expected.

[GoldVault]

Re: briefs specifically. The Climenko's distribute copies of past successful memos in LRW. For the first memo, cling to those as a life raft. For the appellate brief in the spring read anything written by John Roberts when he was an appellate litigator or look at finalist briefs for the Ames competition. They will give you some indication as to style/writing quality/thickness of citations expected.

Thanks! What is Climeko? And what is LRW an acronym for?

[habeas2210]

Re: briefs specifically. The Climenko's distribute copies of past successful memos in LRW. For the first memo, cling to those as a life raft. For the appellate brief in the spring read anything written by John Roberts when he was an appellate litigator or look at finalist briefs for the Ames competition. They will give you some indication as to style/writing quality/thickness of citations expected.

Thanks! What is Climeko? And what is LRW an acronym for?

Legal Research & Writing

[rpupkin]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

If I graduated from a non-Ivy League school that does not award Latin Honors, may I still offer advice?

[MyNameIsFlynn!]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

If I graduated from a non-Ivy League school that does not award Latin Honors, may I still offer advice?

Nope.

And OP, here's some advice: set your sights higher. You should take advice *only* from those who graduated magna. Cum laudes did not win the law school game.

[Single-Malt-Liquor]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

If I graduated from a non-Ivy League school that does not award Latin Honors, may I still offer advice?

Get out, Pleb! Only the finest of students can advise those matriculating near Boston.

But OP, seriously, relax, with this approach you're going to be a prime candidate to get suckered into thinking you dont know stuff just because the same 5 or 6 students keep getting brownie points by talking in class. Do the readings and make your own outline. Get a study group before finals and include one moron (I was my group's moron). Explaining concepts to daft people will help more than you know.

[rpupkin]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

If I graduated from a non-Ivy League school that does not award Latin Honors, may I still offer advice?

Get out, Pleb! Only the finest of students can advise those matriculating near Boston.

Seriously, LOL@HLS for still giving Latin Honors. This is far and away the most TTT thing about Harvard. Actually, no: it's only the second-most TTT thing about Harvard. The most TTT thing is its GULC-sized classes. I cannot believe that applicants who value "prestige" still decide to attend that Cambridge diploma mill.

[RSN]

1) Read and go to class
2) Take good notes in a way that makes sense to you
3) Repeat 1-2 until around Thanksgiving
4) Condense your notes into an outline of all the legal rules you learned and things your professors care about (or start earlier if it makes sense to you)
5) Take practice exams
6) Review practice exams with other people and compare to model answers
7) Take more practice exams and review them
8 ) Take the exam

P.S. your section is gonna love you

[GoldVault]

Honestly some of u guys appear cynical and willfully mislead by what i said. Since when does a reputable law school necessarily imply an ivy or even a t14. My goal was to attract people from competitive programs, who likely wouldve encountered a talented and bright student body that I know will be at Harvard. If you are so insecure that even you dont believe your law program can be defined as reputable in the slightest, the problem is your menality and not my language.

[rpupkin]

Honestly some of u guys appear cynical and willfully mislead by what i said. Since when does a reputable law school necessarily imply an ivy or even a t14. My goal was to attract people from competitive programs, who likely wouldve encountered a talented and bright student body that I know will be at Harvard. If you are so insecure that even you dont believe your law program can be defined as reputable in the slightest, the problem is your menality and not my language.

For future reference, it was the "Latin Honors" criterion that pushed you firmly into douche territory.

[GoldVault]

Honestly some of u guys appear cynical and willfully mislead by what i said. Since when does a reputable law school necessarily imply an ivy or even a t14. My goal was to attract people from competitive programs, who likely wouldve encountered a talented and bright student body that I know will be at Harvard. If you are so insecure that even you dont believe your law program can be defined as reputable in the slightest, the problem is your menality and not my language.

For future reference, it was the "Latin Honors" criterion that pushed you firmly into douche territory.

Why wouldnt I request information from people that did well in comparison to their peers? Its a more efficient way of getting tested, good advice, rather than leaving myself open to potentially substandard or even bad advice. Latin honors was my way of denoting objective achievement. Maybe i was a bit too narrow there. But it would be far from impossible to infer that I woouldve appreciate d the advice of someone who did exceptional ly well by some other academic standard. You took time out of your busy day to criticize rather than offer advice. Would it not have been easier to call me a douche in your head and move past my post?

[rpupkin]

Honestly some of u guys appear cynical and willfully mislead by what i said. Since when does a reputable law school necessarily imply an ivy or even a t14. My goal was to attract people from competitive programs, who likely wouldve encountered a talented and bright student body that I know will be at Harvard. If you are so insecure that even you dont believe your law program can be defined as reputable in the slightest, the problem is your menality and not my language.

For future reference, it was the "Latin Honors" criterion that pushed you firmly into douche territory.

Why wouldnt I request information from people that did well in comparison to their peers? Its a more efficient way of getting tested, good advice, rather than leaving myself open to potentially substandard or even bad advice. Latin honors was my way of denoting objective achievement. Maybe i was a bit too narrow there. But it would be far from impossible to infer that I woouldve appreciate d the advice of someone who did exceptional ly well by some other academic standard. You took time out of your busy day to criticize rather than offer advice. Would it not have been easier to call me a douche in your head and move past my post?

the problem is your menality and not my language.

Douche on, my talented and bright friend.

[RSN]

Is everybody sure this isn't a flame? Because this almost feels like a flame

[QuentonCassidy]

Is everybody sure this isn't a flame? Because this almost feels like a flame

Asking for advice on how to succeed at HLS without knowing what LRW or a Climenko is sure raises some red flags.

[Nebby]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

Wear suits every day. You never know who you'll meet
Go to office hours once a week just to chat with professors
Raise your hand at least once a class. Answer the question and then briefly give your opinion on whether the answer should change
Make a study group, but only let people from the upper Ivies join
Study all the legal Latin phrases and sprinkle them in casual conversation
Brief your cases all three years
Tell everyone you meet that you go to Harvard

[Single-Malt-Liquor]

Is everybody sure this isn't a flame? Because this almost feels like a flame

Asking for advice on how to succeed at HLS without knowing what LRW or a Climenko is sure raises some red flags.

TBF, I didn't know what a Climinko was until my third LRW class.

[nothingtosee]

I've passed the point where I can chalk up HLS-->socially off to just an unfortunate bad random sample. I now need to ask - is this me? Am I part of the problem?

I can't say I am certain of the answer.

[tomwatts]

I've passed the point where I can chalk up HLS-->socially off to just an unfortunate bad random sample. I now need to ask - is this me? Am I part of the problem?

I can't say I am certain of the answer.

It's probably more like TLS --> socially off.

[Single-Malt-Liquor]

I've passed the point where I can chalk up HLS-->socially off to just an unfortunate bad random sample. I now need to ask - is this me? Am I part of the problem?

I can't say I am certain of the answer.

It's probably more like TLS --> socially off.

I don't think this actually helps nothingtolose.

I think HLS is only slightly more socially awkward than other law schools. But we def have some outliers.

[lawlorbust]

Hello Everyone.

So I've made the decision to matriculate to Harvard in the fall. But now I've been contemplating the best way to go about excelling while there. If anyone on here has graduated with Latin Honors from a reputable law school, or is currently enrolled in such a program, please offer some advice on what tends to work and what does not in terms of impressing professors, and both constructing briefs and good study groups. Any other advice is welcomed!

If I graduated from a non-Ivy League school that does not award Latin Honors, may I still offer advice?

Get out, Pleb! Only the finest of students can advise those matriculating near Boston.

But OP, seriously, relax, with this approach you're going to be a prime candidate to get suckered into thinking you dont know stuff just because the same 5 or 6 students keep getting brownie points by talking in class. Do the readings and make your own outline. Get a study group before finals and include one moron (I was my group's moron). Explaining concepts to daft people will help more than you know.

... Jim ...?! Is that you?

[Oskosh]

Typical TLS, ragging on those of us matriculating to Harvard because of a few neurotics.

[Nebby]

Typical TLS, ragging on those of us matriculating to Harvard because of a few neurotics.

Not neurotic. Painfully obtuse