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Getting to Maybe

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:09 am
by ahduth
Hey, I was too lazy to actually read this over the summer. Now that school is starting, should I bother? I'm worried it will be self-evident when I look at an actual past exam (which I've also been too lazy to do).

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:38 am
by JusticeHarlan
ahduth wrote:Hey, I was too lazy to actually read this over the summer. Now that school is starting, should I bother? I'm worried it will be self-evident when I look at an actual past exam (which I've also been too lazy to do).
A good number of people on this site think it's not even worth reading until the semester starts, or at least worth a re-read sometime during the fall. So if you have time for it, it's not like you've missed the boat.

Looking at past exams won't necessarily fill in what GTM teaches; model answers might, though.

Overall I liked the book, and credit it with helping do well 1L, but like all other 'how to succeed in law school' advice, mileage invariably varies.

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:41 am
by FeelTheHeat
I plan on rereading it in a few weeks before the workload picks up.

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:51 am
by downing
Doing the same thing. I hoped to read it and Delaney's "Learning Legal Reasoning" prior to the start of law school, but it looks like I'm going get into them in the next few weeks instead. Seems like the kind of read that could help and certainly couldn't hurt to read, so why not, amirite?

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:08 am
by spleenworship
It is a quick read, easy to follow, and could easily be done a few weeks before finals without losing anything, in my opinion. I read it over the summer, going to have to read it again before finals to remind myself of everything in it.

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:25 pm
by cure
I read getting to maybe after getting too many B+'s my first semester at HLS. It didn't help. Somehow the basics didn't click for me. I think the book still hides the ball a little bit. I try to break it down a bit better here: http://www.SPAM.com .

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:27 pm
by nigelfrost
cure wrote:I read getting to maybe after getting too many B+'s my first semester at HLS. It didn't help. Somehow the basics didn't click for me. I think the book still hides the ball a little bit. I try to break it down a bit better here: http://www.SPAM.com .
NO WAY! TELL ME MORE!

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:29 pm
by 071816
cure wrote:I read getting to maybe after getting too many B+'s my first semester at HLS. It didn't help. Somehow the basics didn't click for me. I think the book still hides the ball a little bit. I try to break it down a bit better here: http://www.SPAM.com .
HLS doesn't give out letter grades...

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:35 pm
by Glock
chimp wrote:
cure wrote:I read getting to maybe after getting too many B+'s my first semester at HLS. It didn't help. Somehow the basics didn't click for me. I think the book still hides the ball a little bit. I try to break it down a bit better here: http://www.SPAM.com .
HLS doesn't give out letter grades...


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Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:52 pm
by vanwinkle
cure wrote:I read getting to maybe after getting too many B+'s my first semester at HLS. It didn't help. Somehow the basics didn't click for me. I think the book still hides the ball a little bit. I try to break it down a bit better here: http://www.SPAM.com .
This is the cure for spam:

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Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:48 pm
by target
downing wrote:Doing the same thing. I hoped to read it and Delaney's "Learning Legal Reasoning" prior to the start of law school, but it looks like I'm going get into them in the next few weeks instead. Seems like the kind of read that could help and certainly couldn't hurt to read, so why not, amirite?
I think Delaney's learning legal reasoning is very basic. How helpful the book is is questionable. GTM, on the other hand, is a good read.

Re: Getting to Maybe

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:32 pm
by CynicusRex
ahduth wrote:Hey, I was too lazy to actually read this over the summer. Now that school is starting, should I bother? I'm worried it will be self-evident when I look at an actual past exam (which I've also been too lazy to do).
It's probably a good idea just to see how law exams are supposed to be answered. It won't resonate with every prof. I basically read it because 1L year I was taking a class with the guy who wrote the book so figured if it worked for anyone it would work for him...

The important lesson of Getting to Maybe is that law school exams are not exercises in formal writing. Far more important to get everything down than worry about prepositions.