7 Tips for the 1st Week of Law School Forum

[2014_law_grad]

1. Read your cases like its a treasure hunt. You're looking for... FIRAC!
-important facts
-the issue the court is struggling to resolve
- the rule the court applies
- the application of the rule to the facts
- and the holding, or conclusion the court reaches

2. Organize your treasure in a way that will help you remember it. This can mean:
- outlining
- give cases nicknames (like the "Hairy Hand" case)
- use highlighter, but very sparingly, and only after you know what's important
- use a .7 mm mechanical pencil and write yourself notes in the margin as you go, summarizing passages and occasionally draw little doodles to aid retention

3. Spend 10 minutes immediately after class reviewing your notes. Clean them up to reflect your improved understanding post-class. This will increase your exposure to the material and thus aid memorization and save you many hours of time closer to exam time.

4. Join a study group even if you're an introvert, or even if you think other people are dumb or smell. In the 1st semester, study groups help you understand where others are at, allow you to talk about cases (verbalizing what you've learned helps immensely with memorization and learning), and to talk and hear about professors (which can be useful when it comes to understanding what professors like come exam time).

5. Create deadlines and study plans for yourself, and get anxious about meeting them. Mainly this means, staying on top of your outlining (see number 3 above).

6. Keep perspective. Law school is composed of six semesters, each of them mini-marathons unto themselves. The main way to know if you successfully complete the full race is if you've managed to retain your sanity, sense of humor, and love for life and other people by the end of it. Here are some tips to help you do this:
- laugh at the class "gunners," the political wingnuts, and your professors dress habits
- enjoy those classmates of yours who hail from states with awesome accents, like Kentucky and New Jersey
- make yourself a fun daily schedule with little rewards built in (afternoon workout, date-night, skype date with a loved one, make your roommates a delicious meal once a week, go for a hike)
- don't stress out about finding a 1L summer internship ... that's what your 2L summer internship is for!

7. Make friends! Law school is a social experience and is way more fun when done in the spirit of community and friendly competition!

[stacyhoovs]

Great tips! Making friends and joining a study group will be the hardest for me.

[kalvano]

- use a .7 mm mechanical pencil

I really enjoyed how precise this is.

[Pneumonia]

.05 HB or gtfo

[Kimikho]

Damn 0/7. Can't even use the right pencils.

[Attax]

I set a date to start outlining. Then realized it was way too early. Whoops, guess I didn't stick to things.

[First Offense]

5. Create deadlines and study plans for yourself, and get anxious about meeting them. Mainly this means, staying on top of your outlining (see number 3 above).

That's exactly what 1Ls need: more anxiety.

Edit: I disagree with pretty much all of this, btw. The study group, especially early in the semester, will just be retarded penis measuring/gossip, and if you want to have any element of sanity and look at your classmates as more than competition, start forming relationships that have some other foundation (hobby, common interests, past criminal history, anything other than LS really). I pointed out #5 because it's the worst of the pieces of advice, but it's all pretty bad tbh.

[star fox]

"Study Groups" = Group Briefing Exercises.

Avoid

[Scotusnerd]

It never ceases to amaze me how few people realize how broad the variety of study techniques for law school there are.

[KingDongKong]

Tips for the 2nd week of Law School

1) Skim cases before class so you can bullshit your way through a cold call
2) Use coffee to fight hangovers
3) Play IM sports
4) Start finding old outlines
4.a) Make friends with people who take really really good notes

[hikensurf]

5. Create deadlines and study plans for yourself, and get anxious about meeting them. Mainly this means, staying on top of your outlining (see number 3 above).

That's exactly what 1Ls need: more anxiety.

Edit: I disagree with pretty much all of this, btw. The study group, especially early in the semester, will just be retarded penis measuring/gossip, and if you want to have any element of sanity and look at your classmates as more than competition, start forming relationships that have some other foundation (hobby, common interests, past criminal history, anything other than LS really). I pointed out #5 because it's the worst of the pieces of advice, but it's all pretty bad tbh.

I tend to agree with you. These tips seems like overkill and just another way to induce unnecessary stress. Tip #1 CHILL OUT. End tips.