law school difficulties (just started 1L year) Forum

[waitlisted1]

So I'm in a tier 3 school (scholarship) and my problem is that I like the law.

Believe it or not, I ENJOY reading the casebooks...criminal, torts, etc.

However, I just don't like to read it on the "law school" schedule; that is, 30-40 pages per night for each class (30-40 pages is dense reading in law school).

Also, it's just too many hours of my day. And I'm living at home and that's no fun.

Do you think it's possible to not do alot of the readings and just take the exam. Ive looked at practice exams and they don;t seem too bad...it seems 'hit or miss'; either you know about that part of the law in question or you don't.

Any advice for a 1L struggling with discipline and motivation?

In sum, I'd say that I'm not thrilled with the workload and the location of my law school.

[dakatz]

The practice of law itself requires intense discipline, dedication, and self-motivation. If you want to half-ass it now, then what makes you think you could just suddenly "flip the switch" and become a disciplined and motivated worker when you actually have a real job and people depend on you? Can someone get away with not doing much briefing? Sure. Can someone get by with skipping reading entirely and expect to perform well on exams? I doubt it. I would suggest trying to change your reading schedule to get more stuff done in advance. If you spend all weekend reading, you can get far ahead and have easier nights during the week. But if you take it day by day, you are always going to feel like the fire is right underneath you and a moment's slip-up could screw you big time.

[12262010]

time to think about dropping out

[bk1]

Have you ever worked full time before?

[rayiner]

100 pages of reading shouldn't take you more than 4 hours per day. You probably only have classes 3 hours a day. What else are you doing with your time?!

[whymeohgodno]

time to think about dropping out

[worldtraveler]

You went to law school not expecting a lot of reading. Brilliant.

[180orbust]

Reading is a waste of time. Just skim and make a spare outline in the book of the basic organization of the opinion. Get casebook summaries and read those to help you read dense opinions faster. Most importantly, pay attention in class and take good notes. After class every day, summarize the main points the professor tried to communicate or focused on. Make sure you understand these points, and put them into an outline. Use a hornbook to help you with the organization of the outline. The emphasis of your study time should be outlining the material that the professor thinks is most important. This is because the final exam will be written by the professor, and most professors don't want to test students on material they haven't covered in class. If you do this, then you won't have to waste hours every night trying to understand irrelevant, trivial points from cases that will only be discussed for 5 minutes in class.

Remember, law school is not about sounding smart in class. Its about mastering the material that will be on the exam, and being good at expressing that material in exam format. Good luck.

[thebookcollector]

So I'm in a tier 3 school (scholarship) and my problem is that I like the law.

Believe it or not, I ENJOY reading the casebooks...criminal, torts, etc.

However, I just don't like to read it on the "law school" schedule; that is, 30-40 pages per night for each class (30-40 pages is dense reading in law school).

Also, it's just too many hours of my day. And I'm living at home and that's no fun.

Do you think it's possible to not do alot of the readings and just take the exam. Ive looked at practice exams and they don;t seem too bad...it seems 'hit or miss'; either you know about that part of the law in question or you don't.

Any advice for a 1L struggling with discipline and motivation?

In sum, I'd say that I'm not thrilled with the workload and the location of my law school.

I have to agree that if you're struggling with discipline and motivation, you've got a serious problem. Even if you can ace your exams (which will be unlikely... hard work isn't sufficient, but it is necessary), you'll need to man up to enter the legal profession.

So try like the rest of us. I get everything I need to get done done in about 40 hours per week... I work efficiently and effectively... and if you can't handle 40 hours per week, you need to see professional help adjusting to this little thing we call the "real world."

[beach_terror]

Please be a flame, if not you're getting into the wrong profession.

[JG Hall]

adderall

[waitlisted1]

yea I have worked in a law firm before entering law school. And that's my problem. I know what the practice of law is like and I know how unnecessary most of this stuff is. I mean, it's relevant, and I wish more people learned this stuff. However, I don't agree that it needs to be so stressful. I don't want to get burnt out, so all i can do is what i can do. I don't want to let my classmates down, but it's tough, that's all i'm saying.

I pray I can make it through. It's scary. But I need to live my life.

[rayiner]

yea I have worked in a law firm before entering law school. And that's my problem. I know what the practice of law is like and I know how irrelevant most of this stuff is. I mean, it's relevant, and I wish more people learned this stuff. However, I don't agree that it needs to be so stressful. I don't want to get burnt out, so all i can do is what i can do. I don't want to let my classmates down, but it's tough, that's all i'm saying.

I pray I can make it through. It's scary. But I need to live my life.

Were you a paralegal?

[waitlisted1]

yea

[Hattori Hanzo]

Is that the norm? I have seen two law schools so far as 1L and the average has been certainly less than 100 pages/night (2-3 classes per day, 10-20 pages/class).
My understanding of things (based on chatting with 2/3Ls) is that you can skip a good amount of reading, use briefs/outlines and pay attention in class and still do well on the finals.