Recently told by the neurologist that my arm injury from a car accident requires immediate surgery... Post-op recovery is 6-8 weeks in a sling, which means I will be a one-armed bandit at least a couple of weeks of 1L, making typing/note taking and keeping my sanity quite interesting. Luckily its not my dominate hand so I can still write but not sure if I can write fast enough for solid notes. Basically any emailing, research and computer use is a nightmare.

Considering getting a tape recorder for class (might need permission from the profs? I'm not sure) and going back and typing all the class notes out a few weeks later when I can use both hands. If anyone has any ideas on how to improve my 1L experience in general, I am all ears...

I'd call the office of student affairs at your school and explain the situation to see what they recommend. Other students have probably been in a similar situation, so they probably have a policy in place to provide you with some sort of accommodation. Your professors probably won't be too keen on having their copyrighted lectures recorded (though, some might not care), but if you provide documentation from your doctor, I think the school would likely (have to?) find a way to help you out.

Also, make friends quickly so that you can borrow their notes

befriend a few people who will take sympathy on your situation and will share their notes with you or help you with typing. You can return the favor by taking them out to dinner or buying them drinks and being as helpful w/o typing as possible. That way you can turn a negative into a positive by building a strong relationship with good people and potentially forming a study group.

Great ideas guys, thanks. The concept of being dependent on others starting out is inherently disturbing, but if I play my cards well it could turn out for the best. Might it look fishy if I bring a laptop to class and never actually type (because I'm secretly recording class via computer)?

I only have on hand (arm amputee) and in undergrad I had to have surgery on my wrist. It was only undergrad, but profs were very accommodating in letting me record class if I asked. Make sure you focus hard during class- it was easy to get distracted when not actively writing. (It will be good that it will happen at the beginning of the semester and not during exam time). I also learned how to type with my toes for emails and such, but you wont need to do that since you still have one hand.

i think it'd be a huuuge pain in the ass to record everything and then try to type it up a few weeks later. 3 weeks later you're going to be wanting to focus on that material, rather than having to essentially rehash everything you already did. get notes from friends, supplement with hand-written ones as best you can.

Wow, you're an impressive dude. I think you nailed what worried me the most, maintaining focus and not falling behind. I guess its really not too bad, especially since I don't have to get acclimated during finals. I wish you the best of luck and thanks for putting it in perspective.

Start practicing typing with one hand. I work in a newsroom where several people do it. No idea how they picked it up, but they type just as fast as everyone else. Also, it may be a good way to teach you how to filter out the important stuff in class and not type everything. Tough break, though.