1L Questions - Please help Forum

[deelaw1]

I am preparing myself now to take the December LSAT test. I am starting law school January 22, 2013.

I want to pick your brains a little so that I can get a sense of what I should be doing in order to succeed.


1) what kind of back pack will I need for law school?
2) what is your method of note taking? (both during lecture and on your own study time)
3) how do you study for exams?
4) what school supplies will I need for law school?
5) I am quitting my full time job so that I can focus on law school full time. Am I insane?? lol
6) what else do I need to know or should be concerned with?
7) how do you study & plan your reading time?


Please help me, I will be a 1L

Please respond seriously, thanks everyone!!

[05062014]

You should get one of those roller blade backpacks

[rinkrat19]

There are threads on every single one of these topics.

[uvabro]

I am preparing myself now to take the December LSAT test. I am starting law school January 22, 2013.

I want to pick your brains a little so that I can get a sense of what I should be doing in order to succeed.


1) what kind of back pack will I need for law school? Originally I had a professional briefcase from J-Crew. It looked good, even got complemented by a professor, but it's just not efficient. When you spend 12 hours in one building, you also need gym clothes, a coffee mug and fruit/protein bars to avoid too many snickers runs which as you get older and adapt a sedentary lifestyle are not something your body can afford particularly in a game based around so many 1st impressions.

2) what is your method of note taking? (both during lecture and on your own study time)
i lay everything out: case brief, book notes, supplement notes then class notes which i put in after class. most of the relevant stuff is stuff i already picked up on in my own reading so i really just shorten my own notes around what's relevant to the professor, then transfer from my notebook onto my laptop.


3) how do you study for exams? don't know yet.

4) what school supplies will I need for law school? lots of books, highlighters, pens, reliable computer, running shoes

5) I am quitting my full time job so that I can focus on law school full time. Am I insane?? lol - depends on school and $. law school like the lsat should be a go in with all you got kind of thing. you can't study an hour a week and break a 170 unless you're a genius. however, most people i know like this didn't become working lawyers. they get phds.

6) what else do I need to know or should be concerned with? the economy, traits you have that will make you better than most.

7) how do you study & plan your reading time? you read, you think, you write. it's not planning your reading time as much as it is planning your life around reading time. everything in law school is planning because everyone's around the same IQ. women that may have been dateable before become undatable because they just aren't worth the time commitment, your best friend asking you to grab a beer is no longer immediately answered by yes. You look at what you told yourself you'd do at the beginning of the week, and evaluate how each non-work related choice may impact that.


Please help me, I will be a 1L

Please respond seriously, thanks everyone!!

[Clearly]

LOL reading comp skills... This is the LSAT Prep forum. Perhaps the single worst of all categories to seek opinions from those already in law school.

[Bildungsroman]

I am preparing myself now to take the December LSAT test. I am starting law school January 22, 2013.

wut? How is that even possible?

[Jeffort]

I am preparing myself now to take the December LSAT test. I am starting law school January 22, 2013.

wut? How is that even possible?

The post is probably a flame but could be real in a few circumstances that have 'you are doing it wrong' written all over it.

Some part-time/night law school programs start in late January or later. Maybe the person has already applied, been accepted or is in application limbo and re-taking the LSAT to try to get in, get $$ or something, or is just confused. Unfortunately, most schools with a late January start date that would be swayed in some way by a newer LSAT score from the December 2012 administration released shortly before 1L classes begin are not even ranked and/or not even ABA approved.

Some crazy things happen in the 'I'm going to go to law school' game every year. Late last year a person contacted me about tutoring for the December 2011 LSAT. She had already taken the test once and submitted applications for a part time program but her school of choice told her she needed a higher score to be admitted and to be eligible for student loans to pay the tuition. She had submitted applications (that were horrible, reading her PS was painful!) with a reported 135 LSAT score plus a UGPA in the mid 2.XX range and it was only a few weeks before the Dec test when she contacted me about tutoring after finding me online in LSAT forums.

She only wanted one or two hours, 'lets just do this really fast, tell me the tricks', tutoring sessions shortly before test day and said she didn't have much time to do homework, hence why she was asking for the 'quick and easy shortcut tricks'. Her: "All I need is a 142+. That's what XYZ LS I want to go to told me".

I asked her if she knew that the XYZ LS she wanted to attend a night program at had recently been denied approval by the ABA. She didn't care, said she just needed to get in, be eligible for the subsidized loans, get the degree to be a lawyer, and everything would be fine after that. I tried to explain some of the important factors and issues with her plan and ideas to outline a better strategy in line with reality but she blew it off saying "I don't care about that stuff, it doesn't matter. I don't have time to study much or take practice tests, just tell me the tricks really fast". I declined to meet with her in person for tutoring based on her point of view, situation, unrealistic expectations and demands.

[uvabro]

I find half of lsat test takers are like this. This is why a 130 is as common as a 170.