Law School is a unique experience.You can’t fully understand what law school is like until you experience it yourself. When you are preparing to attend law school, many people who went to law school before will try to give you advice. Everyone thinks they have the best law school tips.
More likely than not, what they tell you is outdated or no longer the way things are in law school. You may be worried that you’ll look like an idiot compared to your classmates who have a mentor or friend that recently went to law school. They probably know way more than you. On that first day, you’re walking in to the classroom and all those heavy textbooks are pulling you down. The cool kids that know what is going on are probably staring at you, clueless how you even ended up here.
Fortunately, this isn’t really happening. Nobody knows what is going on their first day, even if they had a million mentors to tell them what to expect. The first day of law school is a new experience for everyone and nobody in the room is truly comfortable – except maybe the professor.
Luckily, the Law School Team has put together a list of 21 free and simple tips guaranteed to boost your law school life on the first day and for each and every day afterwards. These require no financial cost and can be implemented right away.
21 Tips Guaranteed to Boost Law School Life
- Do ALL the reading so you’re prepared for a cold call.
- Hand write your notes for better memory recall.
- Color code your notes so you have a different color ink for class notes than your reading notes. Or, use a note organizer like Evernote.
- Go to any sessions your teaching assistants host.
- Attend Professor Office Hours at least once during the semester.
- Bring something to drink to each class.
- Attend any social gatherings your school hosts within the firs month.
- Make a friend in each class that you can text about assignments and readings.
- Make your own outlines. The process of creating an outline is half the learning process.
- Highlight rules, holdings, and important passages in your textbooks.
- Be friendly to the law librarians.
- Do as many practice tests as you can during your studying for finals.
- Exercise! Even if you only walk around the school. Blood flow is good for your brain!
- Prioritize sleep. People who pull all nighters don’t perform well on test day.
- Make a weekly tradition. Go to a certain restaurant (with the same friends), order your favorite pizza, buy a fancy latte. Have something you can look forward to every single week that you do no matter what.
- Befriend the career counselor early. Let them know what you want out of an internship or job. They will keep it in mind and find something for you.
- Be kind to the law school staff. You may find good friendship among the cafe workers, custodians, etc.
- Remember law students love to gossip. Think about this before and while you’re out socializing.
- Create a study routine. Try to keep consistency in how you get ready for and go study. It will make it easier to get it going when you don’t feel like it.
- Relax and have fun. Law School is a lot of work but there is actually a ton of free time to be enjoyed if you prioritize correctly.
- Take everything in small increments. What do I need to accomplish this week? What do I need to accomplish today? Try not to think beyond the current semester if you don’t have to. It goes fast and you’ll know when to worry. about things Don’t worry too far out about your legal career when you’re only in your first semester.
Conclusion
These tips seem simple but they can have a profound effect on your law school life. Try some of these tips and we guarantee it will boost your outlook and your daily experience in law school.