How to take notes in law school? Forum

[lawfreak]

Are you supposed to take notes on a laptop or by hand? Which way is better for law school? If you are not so fast at typing, how are you supposed to take notes on your laptop in law school? How many WPM is good enough to keep up with the lecture?

Feel free to add anything I may have missed to the topic without trying to be funny.

[09042014]

Are you supposed to take notes on a laptop or by hand? Which way is better for law school? If you are not so fast at typing, how are you supposed to take notes on your laptop in law school?

Either by hand or by typing. Some profs do ban laptops though.

[MrPapagiorgio]

Are you supposed to take notes on a laptop or by hand? Which way is better for law school? If you are not so fast at typing, how are you supposed to take notes on your laptop in law school?

Either by hand or by typing. Some profs do ban laptops though.

+1. You might want to improve your typing abilities before finals, though.

[northwood]

do what works for you. I personally like handwritten notes- but if you are used to typing them on a computer, then do that. however, work on your typing skills and speed - and make sure your computer has a good strong battery and charger!

[dakatz]

I took notes by all all first semester (since 2 professors banned laptops in the classroom), but I have used my laptop for all my spring semester classes, as much as I hate carrying it around with me. It really depends on preference. I can obviously get more down when using the computer, but sometimes it becomes hard to sift between the key stuff and the extraneous stuff. With the handwritten notes, everything was seemingly important, but it was hard to keep up at times in certain classes. I found that handwriting kept me a bit more engaged (and less tempted to use G-chat during class). Really depends on your preference. Try both out and see what works.

[lawfreak]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

[DoubleChecks]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

lol uh, i think this would vary greatly depending on the student

[lawfuture10]

Whatever is going to make you more comfortable.

I tried taking hand written notes at the very start of the first semester -- but personally I found it to be much more physically taxing than just typing. I have a few professors who speak so quickly when lecturing that I found it impossible to take down everything I wanted to when writing by hand.

Additionally, I love OneNote. Its so nice / convenient to have everything laid out class by class, so that at the end of the semester you can just copy and paste things into your outline to study.

You'll be able to figure it out when you get into class and get into the swing of things.

[kalvano]

There is no right answer to either of your questions. It's entirely what works best for you.

[09042014]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

From what I can tell less than 4 hours a day, plus classes and shit. More during weeks with a writing assignment and more like 70 hours a week during finals.

[idfatq]

does anyone record the professors (in addition to - not instead of - taking notes, of course)? i saw some dudes doing this in UG but it might not be a bad idea..........replay the part you need again when you're reviewing or something, you know?

[lawfuture10]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

From what I can tell less than 4 hours a day, plus classes and shit. More during weeks with a writing assignment and more like 70 hours a week during finals.

Per Usual, +1 to DF

[DoubleChecks]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

actually, maybe there is a slightly useful way of thinking about it: however hard you worked before, imagine working harder in law school. not a helluva lot more, just harder. so if you were giving 2 before, maybe now you're at a 5. if you were a 5, now maybe an 8, so on and so forth.

how hard a person works depends so much on so many factors i dont know if there can be a standard answer (though maybe if we could poll all law students at a lot of schools, there would be some consensus of the 'avg')

[swc65]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

First 6 weeks- 6-7 per week. next four weeks 25 hrs per week. Last few weeks, nonstop!

[09042014]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

actually, maybe there is a slightly useful way of thinking about it: however hard you worked before, imagine working harder in law school. not a helluva lot more, just harder. so if you were giving 2 before, maybe now you're at a 5. if you were a 5, now maybe an 8, so on and so forth.

how hard a person works depends so much on so many factors i dont know if there can be a standard answer (though maybe if we could poll all law students at a lot of schools, there would be some consensus of the 'avg')

Bah, law school is easier than engineering school. And less time consuming than a real job.

[DoubleChecks]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

actually, maybe there is a slightly useful way of thinking about it: however hard you worked before, imagine working harder in law school. not a helluva lot more, just harder. so if you were giving 2 before, maybe now you're at a 5. if you were a 5, now maybe an 8, so on and so forth.

how hard a person works depends so much on so many factors i dont know if there can be a standard answer (though maybe if we could poll all law students at a lot of schools, there would be some consensus of the 'avg')

Bah, law school is easier than engineering school. And less time consuming than a real job.

No idea on the engineering school, never been. I personally agree with you on the second statement. I have found it quite pleasant and not that bad at all; I pretty much treat it like a normal work week (including the class times), with a few hours here and there on the weekends (unless appellate brief is due haha). I probably maintain the same schedule even for finals, though there gets to be a bit more free time without there being classes during dead week.

[drdolittle]

does anyone record the professors (in addition to - not instead of - taking notes, of course)? i saw some dudes doing this in UG but it might not be a bad idea..........replay the part you need again when you're reviewing or something, you know?

This is strictly prohibited at most if not every school, I believe, without special permission from prof/dean.

[lawfreak]

lol uh, i think this would vary greatly depending on the student

That is precisely why I asked what the average student studies.

[Mick Haller]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

From what I can tell less than 4 hours a day, plus classes and shit. More during weeks with a writing assignment and more like 70 hours a week during finals.

I studied this hard in 1L, but in 2L I am not studying much on a daily basis. So far no drop off grades-wise.

[lawfreak]

From what I can tell less than 4 hours a day, plus classes and shit. More during weeks with a writing assignment and more like 70 hours a week during finals.

4 hours a day is pretty intense! I don't know if I can handle that.

[DoubleChecks]

lol uh, i think this would vary greatly depending on the student

That is precisely why I asked what the average student studies.

I'm saying it would vary so much that it would be impossible to gauge...especially since I believe people gravitate toward other people similar to them. Gunners will know other gunners, slackers will know other slackers. Short of an extensive poll, I can't realistically imagine you getting an accurate answer, even if a bunch of people on TLS agree in one thread.

Then you have the problem that maybe you're nothing like average in your law school. lol the best I can really say is more work than ugrad, but not an uncharacteristic bump. If you did not work super hard in ugrad, do not assume you will suddenly do ridiculously more at law school (though you will work harder).

Exceptions to the rule still exist.

[Pizon]

Once were on the topic of classwork and notes....how many hours of study does the average law student study a day?

actually, maybe there is a slightly useful way of thinking about it: however hard you worked before, imagine working harder in law school. not a helluva lot more, just harder. so if you were giving 2 before, maybe now you're at a 5. if you were a 5, now maybe an 8, so on and so forth.

how hard a person works depends so much on so many factors i dont know if there can be a standard answer (though maybe if we could poll all law students at a lot of schools, there would be some consensus of the 'avg')

Bah, law school is easier than engineering school. And less time consuming than a real job.

Truth.

[northwood]

isnt it best to take notes using your fingers and either a keyboard, or some sort of writing utensil and paper?

[Cupidity]

I use two legal pads for day to day class/reading. One to take class notes, one with my notes on the reading to follow along with and for on calls.

[TatteredDignity]

Whatever is going to make you more comfortable.

I tried taking hand written notes at the very start of the first semester -- but personally I found it to be much more physically taxing than just typing. I have a few professors who speak so quickly when lecturing that I found it impossible to take down everything I wanted to when writing by hand.

Additionally, I love OneNote. Its so nice / convenient to have everything laid out class by class, so that at the end of the semester you can just copy and paste things into your outline to study.

You'll be able to figure it out when you get into class and get into the swing of things.

You were the second or third person I've read who recommends OneNote, so I decided to check it out. I have the the full Office suite, so I had it and didn't even realize it. Can someone give me a quick run down? Besides the "folders" aspect, how is it different from word? What are the advantages? How do you personally use it to take LS notes?