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From what I understand, we MUST come to class prepared to answer the professor's questions, and be ready to engage in serious dialogs. Is there a book that can give 0Ls a better glimpse of 1L life and what to expect?

As another 0L, I hope that's what each of my classmates thinks he or she needs to do.

bees wrote:As another 0L, I hope that's what each of my classmates thinks he or she needs to do.

I hope I don't have ridiculous gunners in my section.

charlesjd wrote:

bees wrote:As another 0L, I hope that's what each of my classmates thinks he or she needs to do.

I hope I don't have ridiculous gunners in my section.

1) You will

2) Don't worry, they're really fun

As a 0L, chill. The in class experience is totally unimportant, don't get distracted by it.

charlesjd wrote:

bees wrote:As another 0L, I hope that's what each of my classmates thinks he or she needs to do.

I hope I don't have ridiculous gunners in my section.

I sort of hope that was a dig at me. If so, you missed the point.

are there books we can get a head start on to place ourselves in a better, more prepared position, as 1Ls?

Seems like it could be worthwhile to brush up on American history, if nothing else.

In all seriousness, I'm reading The Citizen's Constitution. It goes line by line through The Constitution (no, really) and gives a little background on each sentence - sometimes law related, sometimes not. I figured it'd be good to have read the damn thing at least once. Really I just got it as a present though.

I can't think of a single book that would help a 0L, or at least one that would give them an advantage over their classmates. I guess you could see if any of your professors published any book or articles, and read up on them so you can kiss ass when you get there (and no, this isn't a dig on any of you guys asking the question- I've actually seen people do this and its the only time i've heard of a student getting an 'advantage' through summer reading).

Another 0L here, I heard that Getting to Maybe is very good. Planet Law School is weird but good. I read Thane Messinger's Law School: Getting In, Getting Good and getting the Gold. It seems helpful. He recommends that you buy the LEEWS CDs or attend a session if they are in your town.

There are a million threads on this topic. Using the search function will help the most.

MURPH wrote:Another 0L here, I heard that Getting to Maybe is very good. Planet Law School is weird but good. I read Thane Messinger's Law School: Getting In, Getting Good and getting the Gold. It seems helpful. He recommends that you buy the LEEWS CDs or attend a session if they are in your town.

1L here... avoid Planet Law School. I've said this many times in a variety of ways, but following its advice on in-class preparation will work to your detriment. Read Getting to Maybe during your first semester. You can read it before if you really want, but it doesn't really mean much until you've taken some law classes.

You don't need to do any prep for the "Socratic" experience. Nothing will prep you for it. The other poster upthread is right in that there's no point stressing out about it because what goes on in class doesn't "count," but I will say that class is extremely helpful, so pay attention (which is not what PLS will tell you).

As an OL, I am planning on reading law School confidential, Getting to Maybe, and purchasing LEEWS. I have also been told to read law school cases but I don't know if I will be doing that. Coming in prepared and ready to go is definitely a good thing.

disco_barred wrote:

charlesjd wrote:

bees wrote:As another 0L, I hope that's what each of my classmates thinks he or she needs to do.

I hope I don't have ridiculous gunners in my section.

1) You will

2) Don't worry, they're really fun

As a 0L, chill. The in class experience is totally unimportant, don't get distracted by it.

What do you mean by not getting "distracted" by it? Are you saying that its not necessary to participate in class, or not to have cases briefed? I read an article, http://www.top-law-schools.com/success- ... chool.html, and it seemed to advocate this. While I understood his reasoning (the exams are the only thing that matters in the end), it seemed a bit counter-intuitive to not be prepared for class in the traditional manner.

Can someone talk about HOW Getting to Maybe will help? HOW Law School Confidential will help? Likewise, WHAT the Leews will do for you?

Much appreciated!

flawyer wrote:Can someone talk about HOW Getting to Maybe will help? HOW Law School Confidential will help? Likewise, WHAT the Leews will do for you?

Much appreciated!

They help prepare you for your law school experience, give you study tips, teach you how to write and apporach exams, etc. Probably the most important thing is that they give you peace of mind.

brigun wrote:

disco_barred wrote:

charlesjd wrote:

bees wrote:As another 0L, I hope that's what each of my classmates thinks he or she needs to do.

I hope I don't have ridiculous gunners in my section.

1) You will

2) Don't worry, they're really fun

As a 0L, chill. The in class experience is totally unimportant, don't get distracted by it.

What do you mean by not getting "distracted" by it? Are you saying that its not necessary to participate in class, or not to have cases briefed? I read an article, http://www.top-law-schools.com/success- ... chool.html, and it seemed to advocate this. While I understood his reasoning (the exams are the only thing that matters in the end), it seemed a bit counter-intuitive to not be prepared for class in the traditional manner.

Good question!

That article is exaggerated, but it gets at something important. There will be a lot of games going on in class - you'll have professors that drill you mercilessly on the minute facts of the cases, you'll have professors who engage in crazy hypotheticals or entertain crazy hypotheticals from students, profs who go on crazy tangents, etc. But don't get caught up in the circus / dog and pony show - it won't help you prepare for the final exam, and when the dust settles it's those grades and not your moment of embarrassment / glory when you were cold called that will matter.

Don't worry about it too much right now, but when class starts and people start going crazy with respect to cold calls / being prepared for cold calls, remember it well.