I never could keep track of how much time I spent studying, mainly because I would outline for 30 minutes, play 15 minutes of video games, go back to outlining for 15 minutes, then go out to eat, and so on. Fall was especially disorganized, since on the weekends I would often be gamecasting or streaming football games while outlining. If I had to guess, I'd say I spent 50 hours (including class time) during the first half of the semester, and 60 hours during the second half of the semester (to account for doing more outlining and taking practice exams). That could be way off though. At any rate, I never felt like I was being overworked.ohmy212 wrote:This is great. Thanks! Do you mind sharing approximately how many hours a day/weekend you spent studying? Thanks again!
Success in Your First Year of Law School Forum
- Talon
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Amazing post. I was starting to freak out a bit earlier (i.e. my time horizon made it past orientation and on to actual classes) but this really helped me feel more confident. Bookmarked immediately.
- MiamiUG
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
tagJOThompson wrote:I'll be referring to this often, thanks!
- holydonkey
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Bump. Thanks.
- senunit
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Hey Talon, thanks a lot for this! Its very helpful to hear such insightful advice from someone who has done it and completed 1L successfully.
I have a Q relating to the practice tests. Lets say there is no access to a model answer. Does that leave the option to only compare it or show it to another student? Who's to know that the evaluation will be of any value having just met the fellow 1L's? Are there alternate advisable methods to approach this?
Also, when did you find that a supplement would be beneficial for your constitutional law course? Did you buy it before, or during the semester as the material became more difficult to understand?
Thanks again!
I have a Q relating to the practice tests. Lets say there is no access to a model answer. Does that leave the option to only compare it or show it to another student? Who's to know that the evaluation will be of any value having just met the fellow 1L's? Are there alternate advisable methods to approach this?
Also, when did you find that a supplement would be beneficial for your constitutional law course? Did you buy it before, or during the semester as the material became more difficult to understand?
Thanks again!
- Talon
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
If there's no model answer, comparing your answer to another student's lets you know how you're doing. It will make you aware of any major issues you missed, any improper applications of the law, and such (unless, of course, both of you made the same error). While you may not get a good sense for whether your answer is A quality or merely median, you'll at least learn what errors you are making and hopefully learn how to avoid them - that's the value of exchanging answers. Sometimes professors will offer to read over your answer to one of their old exams - you should consider taking up those offers.senunit wrote:I have a Q relating to the practice tests. Lets say there is no access to a model answer. Does that leave the option to only compare it or show it to another student? Who's to know that the evaluation will be of any value having just met the fellow 1L's? Are there alternate advisable methods to approach this?
I bought it during the semester. Constitutional law is a tricky subject because there are few clear rules - the case law does not, for example, clearly address the issue of whether or not a federal regulation of marriage might be an improper exercise of commerce power. The only way to successfully analyze that issue is to be familiar with the Commerce Clause cases, and supplements can present good points about the cases that you might not see just by reading the cases yourself.senunit wrote:Also, when did you find that a supplement would be beneficial for your constitutional law course? Did you buy it before, or during the semester as the material became more difficult to understand?
- senunit
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Thanks again man!
One more Q: does it matter what year the supplement is? For example, the con law supplement that you recommend is listed for sale in the 2008 edition and the 2009 edition. Would you recommend paying the extra money for a supplement that is updated?
One more Q: does it matter what year the supplement is? For example, the con law supplement that you recommend is listed for sale in the 2008 edition and the 2009 edition. Would you recommend paying the extra money for a supplement that is updated?
- Talon
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Depends on the course. For constitutional law, you should get the latest supplement, since you don't want to miss out on recent decisions that have altered particular fields. For civil procedure you can use an older supplement if you know what has changed recently (pleadings in Twombly, for example), but you may want to play it safe by getting the latest supplement. For the other classes, I think you can use older supplements - I don't think the basic doctrines have changed much in the past decade.senunit wrote:Thanks again man!
One more Q: does it matter what year the supplement is? For example, the con law supplement that you recommend is listed for sale in the 2008 edition and the 2009 edition. Would you recommend paying the extra money for a supplement that is updated?
- jawsthegreat
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
ThanksTalon wrote:If there's no model answer, comparing your answer to another student's lets you know how you're doing. It will make you aware of any major issues you missed, any improper applications of the law, and such (unless, of course, both of you made the same error). While you may not get a good sense for whether your answer is A quality or merely median, you'll at least learn what errors you are making and hopefully learn how to avoid them - that's the value of exchanging answers. Sometimes professors will offer to read over your answer to one of their old exams - you should consider taking up those offers.senunit wrote:I have a Q relating to the practice tests. Lets say there is no access to a model answer. Does that leave the option to only compare it or show it to another student? Who's to know that the evaluation will be of any value having just met the fellow 1L's? Are there alternate advisable methods to approach this?
I bought it during the semester. Constitutional law is a tricky subject because there are few clear rules - the case law does not, for example, clearly address the issue of whether or not a federal regulation of marriage might be an improper exercise of commerce power. The only way to successfully analyze that issue is to be familiar with the Commerce Clause cases, and supplements can present good points about the cases that you might not see just by reading the cases yourself.senunit wrote:Also, when did you find that a supplement would be beneficial for your constitutional law course? Did you buy it before, or during the semester as the material became more difficult to understand?
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
I just read this post two weeks into 1L. Wow. Thank you, Talon. This post is beyond helpful.
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- R.R. Raskolnikov
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Thanks for paying it forward, Talon. I'll brush up on this over the summer.
- risktaker
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- lolschool2011
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- pattonthicke
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- esq
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Great stuff.
- rbarcelo9
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Thanks for this, from a anxious/nervous 0L.
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Wow thanks for the insight. This will definitely come in handy.
- nerdherder
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Bump.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
Great post!
Tagging for later reference
Tagging for later reference
- reilanrc
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
thanks for a thorough and well-conceived 1st year advice guide...best ive read so far
- northwood
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
wow.. thanks!
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Re: Success in Your First Year of Law School
northwood wrote:wow.. thanks!
Seriously? What are you waiting for?
Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!
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