not a very pretty blog but hello! uh, hope you all have been well?!?!!! i am dying?!? spiritually aha. no just kidding uh life has been well, honestly. but very stressful if i am honest. it has been 2 months and just a few days since i began this new chapter of my life in law school and oh boy, lemme tell ya, i have considered opening an onlyfans- no i kid once again (i say as i stare at my $52k loan...and it's just semester one...) but i really enjoy it. a ton. and i clicked with some very solid people and we made a study group and we pretty much just do everything together since 85% of my time is spent in school and the library, and maybe 10% is spent at home doing chores or errands and...5% is going to my "me" time and by that i mean i watch one movie with my boyfriend then knock the out because i literally have no time to even scratch the balls i do not even have. so yes, that is why i had to leave rpr because truly i have no time to be here hours like how i used to be in high school and undergrad. but putting the stress of midterms this week aside, it has been truly an amazing and thought provoking experience. the law to me has always been very intriguing, and when i gave up on engineering and stem to finally pursue this, best decision i ever made. it is not for everyone, but if this is something you enjoy trust me it will all be worth it.
now as far as my experience in school and some tips for you guys who may want to get into law school (i can only speak on behalf of studying and attending school in the states, but i hope this helps anyway?)
1. while briefing is important and you should learn how to brief, for the love of god. do. not. brief. every. single. case. for. all. your. classes. just don't. trust me, your first semester (and i think this is more or less the same structure for most if not all law schools in the u.s) you will take 'core classes' like torts, civil procedure, contracts or property, and some sort of legal writing/research course. there is a lot of material and what they call the black letter law- that is what you should spend time memorizing and learning, there are so many supplemental readings and resources you can use to brief cases, so do not waste time doing that because you will have to brief like 7-9 cases for torts, 4 for contracts, 1 for civ pro on top of reading and understanding the material in the text. use quimbee or lexisnexis or westlaw (more likely than not, your school may have a subscription for lexis or westlaw so it is totally free during your time in law school- learn to use it wisely! quimbee you have to pay but you can always split the price with your friends)
2. rent your books. just do it. if you need to buy one, i would suggest buying a blue book or the black's law dictionary (there is a free version in westlaw though!), most of the books just contain cases, so you can just research those, i literally rented my books for about $400 total and there were students in line when i went to the bookstore spending $1,200. seriously you need to budget, rent! do not buy!
3. get a planner. trust me, you will need to schedule even 5 minutes to go poop. there is a lot to do, just for school, and you have to take care of yourself too so schedule your time wisely!
4. this should be your #1 priority: your mental health and well being is important! this is overwhelming, and let me tell you something even if you have worked for law firms, this is not the same. you will learn the material from 0. literally no one knows anything and we have no idea what the we are doing so do not stress out. it is ok not to know everything (just make sure you know the case facts, rule and court holding if you get cold-called!) find a good study group who can also be your support group, make that group of people who have strengths where you have weaknesses so that you can all learn together and push on through! take care of yourself. and at least have one day a week where you do not talk or think about the law. so one day a week spend time with friends and family, enjoy your hobbies, do some self care. it is very important, please.
5. unlike grad school where you can cram for a midterm or final 2-3 days before and pass, this will not work in law school. from day one you are studying for exams. this is your full time job now, if you do not understand something after class review, read, discuss with your study group, find supplementals. you need to review every day. you can not cram. and if you try, you will learn very quickly how everything can spiral out of control.
6. uh, this is all i have so far, but take a deep breath! you can do it! also if you are interested in going to law school and have to take the lsat from my own experience...do not even stress it lmao. this sounds bad but the lsat is just something you need just to get in, no one will even care what your score was. literally nothing you study for in the lsat really helps out that much in law school. in law school you take the teacher, not the class, so let them guide you in how they want things and how they teach it. trust me, you will get it. start your applications asap, and make sure you do it well because when you apply to take the bar exam they will look at your law school application and compare it with your application for the bar and if there are any discrepancies it will only make the progress longer. and yes, this is something i would say to get started on your first or second semester the latest (maybe start the application process during your winter break) the sooner, the better. take it one day at a time! and last but not least best of luck!
Comments
You must be logged in to comment.