1L Daily Life Forum

[triathlete0128]

I'm just curious to know how seasoned law students (2Ls+) break up their day.

What are the hours you're putting in for studying? getting to the gym?
What time do you start and end your day?

Does your schedule allow for an enjoyable weekend? or do you devote it entirely to school work/outlining?

Any time maintenance advice would be great.

[bex]

It's really different for everyone. I would say that if some routine has worked for you in the past, stick to it.

I would usually get to the library and get some studying in before classes for a couple of hours. Then I had classes during the day. In the evenings I would obviously do work, but always made sure to leave time for exercising and/or TV/chill out time. You need some time to relax and wind down, even just for half an hour to an hour!

Good luck!

[Paichka]

Here was an average weekday for me last semester:

8am: Got to school
8am - 8:40: Dicked around on the internet, got coffee, refreshed my memory on reading for my first class
8:50 - 9:40: First Class
9:40 - 10:50: Break -- more coffee, refreshed memory on reading for next class
11:00 - 11:50: Next Class
12:00 - 2:35: Massive break -- hit the gym, got lunch, refreshed memory on reading for next two classes
2:45 - 3:35: Class
3:45 - 4:40: Class
4:40 - 6:00: Commute home
6:00 - 8:00: Dinner, hung out with daughter (bath, book, bed)
8:00 - 11pm: Studying

I'd go to bed around 11, wake up in the morning around 6, repeat.

Two days a week I'd stay at school until 10pm to get ahead on the reading (I stayed about a week ahead). That way, on the weekends, my day looked like this:

8am - 12pm: Hang out with daughter
12pm - 2pm: Read (maybe) while daughter naps
2pm - 8pm: Catch up on TV from previous week, take daughter to park, go shopping, get nails done, WE.
8pm - 12pm: Girl's night out OR, if people were being lame, reading (cut this out as exam time approached)

[thexfactor]

\
wake up 8am
eat/shower/watch some tv 8-9
9-1030 class
1030-12 class
12-2 go home and eat/nap
2-4 class
4-5 HW at home
5-6 relax/ waste time online
6-7 eat/watch tv
7-10 study
10-11 workout
11-12- relax/ waste time online
12-8 sleep
\

[romothesavior]

So xfactor and paichka, you both spent ~3 hours studying?

Glad to see your schedules won't put me in killself mode. I always felt that law school horror stories were exaggerated.

[thexfactor]

So xfactor and paichka, you both spent ~3 hours studying?

Glad to see your schedules won't put me in killself mode. I always felt that law school horror stories were exaggerated.

more like 4 a day. Some days less. However, I actually paid attention in class. No fb or twitter.

However, my weekend schedule:
Sat
9am-12 waste time music etc...
12-5 study/chat/go online
eat 5-7
7-1 study/chat/go online

Sun
8-10 wast time online
10-1 out to eat + grocery shopping
1-6 tv/study
6-7 eat
7-9 relax workout
9-12 waste time/look over outlines


I went out 3 times for the whole year.....
Spring break- went home and basically followed the same schedule.

wow come to think about it now, I actually did a lot of work during the semester. Most of it on weekends.

[romothesavior]

Serious question... How much do most law students go out? It sounds like xfactor didn't go out much, but what about others? From what I hear, it isn't really an option late in the semester. But what about early on? Do most students drink and go to sporting events, etc.?

[thexfactor]

Serious question... How much do most law students go out? It sounds like xfactor didn't go out much, but what about others? From what I hear, it isn't really an option late in the semester. But what about early on? Do most students drink and go to sporting events, etc.?

A lot of people I know went out once a week or so. Most of the people that did well seemed to study all the time. (top 15%) However there were a coupl e of my friends that did pretty well top 1/3 who went out once a week.

My philosophy is that LS is kinda like bbqing. You need to prepare early. you dont want to marinate meat 5 mins before you are going to grill it. Hence you want to study early. A lot of the stuff isnt hard, but it takes time to understand. If you dont give it time, you wouldnt be able to manipulate the concept on the exam.
I front loaded my schedule. 1 month before exams, I was a lot more relaxed than i was earlier in the semester.
Also start your papers early. The earlier you start, the more your writing teacher can read and help. You dont want to go to office hours 2 days before the paper is due. I guarantee the professor's office will be packed.

num 1 tip: Pay attention in class
#2 start everything early!

[yinz]

4:40 - 6:00: Commute home

How many times do you punch the steering wheel during this commute? I'm taking bets of over/under 3.

[Paichka]

As far as going out, yeah, there's plenty of that earlier in the semester if you like. My school's SBA had a thirsty thursday/bar review every Thursday, and there were plenty of non-sponsored social events throughout the semester. I didn't go out as much as I'd have liked, but there's no reason you couldn't go out at least once or twice a week, as long as you were smart about budgeting your time the rest of the week.

Most days I probably studied between 3-6 hours per day between and after classes. Two days a week I studied longer than that -- maybe 8-10 hours. I did that on purpose so that I could free up my weekends for my munchkin, but you could definitely spread the work out over the weekends without negatively impacting your social life.

[Paichka]

4:40 - 6:00: Commute home

How many times do you punch the steering wheel during this commute? I'm taking bets of over/under 3.

Haha -- that wasn't ALL driving. 40 minutes of it was walking to and riding the metro, the rest was driving. So, not too bad.

[Bankhead]

you can go out every night if you want the first month of the semester.

[yinz]

Were your schedules any different in the weeks leading up to finals?

[Paichka]

Yinz,

Yeah. While classes were still going on, I followed essentially the same schedule during the week but accelerated my reading pace so I'd be finished with all of the reading/outlining by the last day of classes. That meant I worked between 4-6 hours on the weekends, maybe a little more.

Once reading period started, this was my schedule:

3 hours: Practice Exam (for first class)
1 hour: Outline clean-up based on Practice Exam
2 hours: Break
4 hours: Outline clean up, E&E multiple choice questions, etc. (for a different class)

The day before the exam I'd run through a practice exam, without writing out my answer, just spotting issues, for a few hours, then relax.

[thexfactor]

Were your schedules any different in the weeks leading up to finals?

During reading week I went
9-12 study by myself.
12-1 eat
1-6 study with 2 close friends
6-8 relax
8-10 study alone
10-12 relax

[bankruptedcasino]

yinz wrote:

How many times do you punch the steering wheel during this commute? I'm taking bets of over/under 3.

A 90-minute commute isn't out of the question in Southern California. Some would say it's the norm. Personally, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to drive 17 miles to/from my office.

[romothesavior]

Any other current law students want to contribute?

[Miniver]

...

[Notor]

Guess OP didn't get that annoying email that BU sent out in the fall with the overly-anal and OCD-detailed spreadsheet's of select student's schedules.

[trialjunky]

tag

[Kretzy]

Yinz,

What part of Pittsburgh are you from?

[JWicker10]

yinz wrote:

How many times do you punch the steering wheel during this commute? I'm taking bets of over/under 3.

A 90-minute commute isn't out of the question in Southern California. Some would say it's the norm. Personally, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to drive 17 miles to/from my office.

Agreed, I try to avoid rush hour, but when I'm stuck in it, it takes me about 2 hours to drive 35 miles home.

[Great Satchmo]

A 90-minute commute isn't out of the question in Southern California. Some would say it's the norm. Personally, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to drive 17 miles to/from my office.

Agreed, I try to avoid rush hour, but when I'm stuck in it, it takes me about 2 hours to drive 35 miles home.

I had a ~45 minute commute each direction for work for about 5 months and I couldn't stand it.

This is just another reason I'm moving into a place 2 blocks from campus - I'm walking to campus in 5 minutes at least for 1L, just one less thing to worry about.

[JWicker10]

A 90-minute commute isn't out of the question in Southern California. Some would say it's the norm. Personally, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to drive 17 miles to/from my office.

Agreed, I try to avoid rush hour, but when I'm stuck in it, it takes me about 2 hours to drive 35 miles home.

I had a ~45 minute commute each direction for work for about 5 months and I couldn't stand it.

This is just another reason I'm moving into a place 2 blocks from campus - I'm walking to campus in 5 minutes at least for 1L, just one less thing to worry about.

DEFINITELY agreed. There are few worse things than traffic, and I don't plan on having time to waste in LS.

[katjust]

I spend 3-4 hours days studying on average. I came in around 7:00 AM, and went home around 5:00 and did no studying after that (usually). However, Fridays were free from class, so there was often a good deal of studying on that day. I rarely did anything on the weekend except during finals or when a legal writing project was due.

I recommend (strongly) paying attention in class. I didn't do it as much as I should have, but in the classes I did I did better.

I have kids and a wife. I am at a 2T school (50-70 rank). I finished my 1L year in the top 15% (guessing based on past years grade distribution since official rank hasn't been released).