What are the hardest things about law school? Forum

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jingosaur

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by jingosaur » Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:07 pm

heythatslife wrote:staying motivated to do any school work after 1L
This is what was the worst for me. I spent 2 years of my life waiting for law school to be over. Kind of a waste.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by muscleboundlaw » Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:12 pm

jingosaur wrote:
heythatslife wrote:staying motivated to do any school work after 1L
This is what was the worst for me. I spent 2 years of my life waiting for law school to be over. Kind of a waste.
Why? Are first class courses all you need for the bar?

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ManoftheHour

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by ManoftheHour » Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:59 pm

Having a SO that is not in law school, med school, or "take work home"/long hour jobs.

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Lincoln

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by Lincoln » Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:33 pm

ManoftheHour wrote:Having a SO that is not in law school, med school, or "take work home"/long hour jobs.
My SO getting a more demanding job was a godsend for our relationship.

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jingosaur

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by jingosaur » Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:41 pm

muscleboundlaw wrote:
jingosaur wrote:
heythatslife wrote:staying motivated to do any school work after 1L
This is what was the worst for me. I spent 2 years of my life waiting for law school to be over. Kind of a waste.
Why? Are first class courses all you need for the bar?
You really only need Barbri for the bar. Two of my top 3 MBE subjects out of 7 were in classes I didn't even take in law school.

Also, law school was very much a means to an end for me. It's hard to be motivated when you're just going through the motions and the end has already been met.

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:55 pm

Ferrisjso wrote:Realizing it's not UG.

Close second would be figuring out techniques so the professor doesn't call on you.
The latter is easy. Volunteer to answer any questions you can answer, and they’re much less likely to call on you for the ones you can’t.

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MKC

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by MKC » Tue Nov 07, 2017 2:18 pm

A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:Realizing it's not UG.

Close second would be figuring out techniques so the professor doesn't call on you.
The latter is easy. Volunteer to answer any questions you can answer, and they’re much less likely to call on you for the ones you can’t.
Why do you hate his classmates? Have they wronged you in some way?
Last edited by MKC on Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Tue Nov 07, 2017 2:20 pm

MarkinKansasCity wrote:
A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:Realizing it's not UG.

Close second would be figuring out techniques so the professor doesn't call on you.
The latter is easy. Volunteer to answer any questions you can answer, and they’re much less likely to call on you for the ones you can’t.
Why do you hate his classmates? Have they wronged you in some way?
:lol: I did say questions where he knows the answer!

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MKC

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by MKC » Tue Nov 07, 2017 2:24 pm

A. Nony Mouse wrote:
MarkinKansasCity wrote:
A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:Realizing it's not UG.

Close second would be figuring out techniques so the professor doesn't call on you.
The latter is easy. Volunteer to answer any questions you can answer, and they’re much less likely to call on you for the ones you can’t.
Why do you hate his classmates? Have they wronged you in some way?
:lol: I did say questions where he knows the answer!
Something something Dunning Kruger.
Last edited by MKC on Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by toast and bananas » Tue Nov 07, 2017 3:35 pm

jingosaur wrote:
heythatslife wrote:staying motivated to do any school work after 1L
This is what was the worst for me. I spent 2 years of my life waiting for law school to be over. Kind of a waste.
It doesn't have to be this way. If you have employment secured post-1L you should look at what 2L and 3L for what they really are - a 2 year vacation. Hopefully you go to LS in a fun city and don't do a journal.

Litigators and would-be clerks - sorry, the above does not apply.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by muscleboundlaw » Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:03 pm

ManoftheHour wrote:Having a SO that is not in law school, med school, or "take work home"/long hour jobs.
Nailed it. My wife is in residency, and it HELPS so much. I literally only focus on school work.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by Ferrisjso » Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:07 pm

A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:Realizing it's not UG.

Close second would be figuring out techniques so the professor doesn't call on you.
The latter is easy. Volunteer to answer any questions you can answer, and they’re much less likely to call on you for the ones you can’t.
I'd figured this one out already lol! I was actually referring to social life more than the work. I was expecting the work to be different, you guys did a great job informing me of what to expect.

Also for all those who think they wasted their time with my choosing thread, you actually did have a huge impact. Turns out most people at my school don't know(that I talk to) there isn't a distinction between "conditional" and "unconditional" scholarships and that negotiation was an option and last week when I let the details slip I didn't need to maintain a certain GPA and that I negotiated for it(I kind of didn't negotiate, the school did but that's not the point) they were all shocked and assumed everyone had (I mean I'm sure there's a handful of individuals who also have unconditional's who are quietly observing situations such as these) conditions on their scholarships. If it wasn't for my time on TLS I would have been in the same boat and would have had no idea whatsoever either about negotiation, and could have been in like 3-4 times as much debt as I'm going to end up in and many of my classmates are absolutely fucked in this regard.

So I know a lot of you regard my thread as a complete failure because you didn't convince me to avoid law school at what you considered a bad option but the thread and the advice did have a impact.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by bmathers » Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:31 pm

Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by mehiguess » Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:33 pm

dabigchina wrote:Imposter syndrome.
Dude...and I hear I am thinking I'm the only one. I'm in practice and I still feel that way.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by Ferrisjso » Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:37 pm

bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by sparkytrainer » Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:53 pm

Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Weren't you banned Ferris? Go away. Plus you go to the same school as you went to undergrad. Surely you knew what the situation would be like in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by psu2016 » Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:56 pm

Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
I went to PSU Dickinson and had similar feelings. I moved to D.C. for 3L and commuted one semester (stacking my classes to t/r only) and then did the semester in DC program for the second semester. No regrets.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by Ferrisjso » Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:00 pm

sparkytrainer wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Weren't you banned Ferris? Go away. Plus you go to the same school as you went to undergrad. Surely you knew what the situation would be like in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut.
It's in a different city than the UG.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by sparkytrainer » Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:07 pm

Ferrisjso wrote:
sparkytrainer wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Weren't you banned Ferris? Go away. Plus you go to the same school as you went to undergrad. Surely you knew what the situation would be like in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut.
It's in a different city than the UG.
What? It's literally 5 minutes away from the undergrad.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by Thesaurus » Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:27 pm

sparkytrainer wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:
sparkytrainer wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Weren't you banned Ferris? Go away. Plus you go to the same school as you went to undergrad. Surely you knew what the situation would be like in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut.
It's in a different city than the UG.
What? It's literally 5 minutes away from the undergrad.
Ferris doesn't drive. It's a 30-minute walk for him.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by cavalier1138 » Wed Nov 08, 2017 8:24 pm

Ferrisjso wrote:This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Wait, how is that your experience word-for-word? Surely you aren't the only person in your early 20s at your school.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by bmathers » Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:28 pm

psu2016 wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
I went to PSU Dickinson and had similar feelings. I moved to D.C. for 3L and commuted one semester (stacking my classes to t/r only) and then did the semester in DC program for the second semester. No regrets.
Hey, mind if I PM You?

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by sanjola » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:02 pm

Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Ferris, how can you say that when you intentionally went to QU to be isolated?

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by Ferrisjso » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:56 pm

sanjola wrote:
Ferrisjso wrote:
bmathers wrote:Being a 30+ y/o 1L in a small town that really only has the law school, the toughest thing for me is the social aspect. You have a 21-25 y/o crowd that is ok to hang out with sometimes, but not all of the time. Then you have the 50+ crowd. Everyone, say, 28-40 is married, has a family, and commutes to school, so it makes it fairly isolating when there isn't a larger young professional crowd or adjoining graduate school to help offer more potential for others in your situation (I'm at PSU-Dickinson, for the record).

Take away the stress and loneliness from that isolation (when you are not the type who can be happy as an introvert), and the actual school work is not THAT bad.
This is my experience almost word for word(I'm 22 not 30+). What are your ways of coping?
Ferris, how can you say that when you intentionally went to QU to be isolated?
I don't think my story needs to be discussed anymore, last year my thread really got out of hand because I just refused to go away(I think most people in my situation or similar one's get the hint they're not welcome and just leave, for example you haven't seem too many TT and TTT prospective students in the choosing section this year because if said prospective students are lurking, they're not dumb they know what their advice will be) and made it clear I wasn't following certain advice that was the TLS consensus. People like what they perceive to be interesting stories so the result was the unholy abomination that was my choosing thread.

That being said I know the whole isolation bit sounds hypocritical but I guess I was looking for something specific(relative isolation) and this was a bit too much in the other direction. The LS is in a different city than the UG and the social dynamic is very isolating(in part because there are very few people in the same boat as me). That's not to say I regret my decision to not go to law school in Manhattan.

In terms of the other question, I'm in the exact opposite/same situation as bmathers is, most people I talk to are in the 25-30 range and very few people want the UG like social life I really was counting on.

Anyway this thread isn't about me and if you(or anyone else) really want to discuss this further, you can PM me, where it doesn't weigh down this very important conversation that needs to be had. Just wanted to point out the struggles I was having as a 1L and wanted to see if anyone was in a similar situation(and if anyone wants to talk about that with me in particular, again, feel free to PM me, I'd love to talk to anyone in a similar boat as me).

Please carry on the conversation.

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Re: What are the hardest things about law school?

Post by pancakes3 » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:50 pm

goddamn dude, start putting a space in front of your opening parens already. please.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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