How To Avoid Losing Your Mind In Law School
Impossible exams, tough professors, and all-nighters will permeate the next three years — unless you go to school to become a drug dealer.
One Redditor (and good Samaritan) realized the academic year is swiftly approaching. He reached out to the community for some law school wisdom. Check out the five of the best responses.
1.) From sflittlespoon:
This may appear rather simple, but save all of your class notes into a single document (save said document on the cloud or some other safe platform). When the first set of finals came around, I had about 100 different docs that I had to weed through to find the language the prof used in class. I use evernote now and it's a great tool, even records audio — which classmates will love you for when they miss a lecture or were too distracted by deadlines.
Read more here.
2.) From bigredwon:
Take time early in the semester to crank through your cover letters and resume revisions to have ready to send off on Dec. 1. A lot of the process is a timing game. You'll be studying for finals and you'll feel strapped for time anyway.
Read more here.
3.) From helloes1111111111111:
Find out exactly how to answer an exam. Does a professor want just the rule application, or also the rule statement? Is citing cases necessary, useful as a shorthand, or worthless? Does the exam consist of areas with a rigid number of points (3 areas to explore each worth 5 points max), or might an excellent response which addresses 2/3 areas pick up over 10/15 points? With 100 raw points total, does a typical "A" test need 95/100? 40/100?
Read more here.
4.) From oatmealbatman:
Except for emergencies, don't go near the university bookstore unless you want to pay double for your books. This was true in undergrad and it's true in law school. I made this mistake first year and spent over $1000 on books. Renting books is a scam. Buy your books from an online retailer several weeks before classes begin. Buy used instead of new whenever possible. Some used books will surprise you. I bought my Evidence book through amazon, and the girl who previously owned it did a great job at highlighting the important parts of cases, and even put in labeled bookmarks throughout the book. If the highlighting sucks in your used books, laugh it off.
Read more here.
5.) From sdhall101:
First semester I worked every day until I thought I was going to pass out. I did really well, but I started getting bloody noses. Second semester I relaxed, went to the gym, watched my alma mater play basketball, and grabbed beer woth friends. I was much happier and got the exact same great grades. This is the best advice there is.
Have some tips of your own? Tell us in the comments.