No! You do not need a backpack for law school. However, having a backpack can make your life much easier in law school. For example, you will save yourself a lot of back pain if you use a quality backpack. Law school is unlike your undergraduate experience. For most law students, you will not be going all across campus in a rapid rush. Instead, you will be confined to one or two buildings and your classes will be more spaced out.
What does this mean for you? Well, it means that a law school backpack is totally optional. You can certainly make do without one by utilizing a locker, carrying only what you need, or some combination of both. Here are the most common questions we get about law school backpacks:
Frequently Asked Questions About Law School Backpacks
To carry stuff! You’ll have a number of textbooks, planners, notebooks, and electronics that you want to bring with you every day to law school. A backpack makes that much easier!
Absolutely! Hopefully you have strong arms! Law school textbooks can be heavy. It is not uncommon for your Constitutional law textbook to weigh at least 5 to 10 lbs. So, if you have to carry even 2 textbooks to school in a single day, that is quite the work out. Not to mention you’ll probably also have your law school laptop which you will want to be secure. We’ve seen a number of law students carry only what they need to class but that is usually students who live near the law school and can go back and forth to their home between classes.
Big enough to fix two large textbooks, a laptop, and a notebook is our recommendation for the minimum size. Most backpacks on the market will be big enough as long as they have a dedicated laptop pocket. However, stay away from those tiny trendy backpacks you see. They will not have enough space for anything you need let alone a large legal casebook.
Absolutely! In fact, we recommend a number of great bag options for law school in our best bags and backpacks guide. Bags are awesome for law school because they are easy access. Additionally, you can have multiple bags to style with your outfit for the day. The bags we recommend are even built for keeping your electronics safe from water spills. You will see many law students rocking bags instead of backpacks.
Law school lockers are great if you commute to school and spend the whole day there. The best use of a locker is to get to school early and load your locker up with your textbooks. Then, you can carry only what you need to each individual class instead of lugging around everything. We’ve known some law students to permanently keep their textbooks in their lockers because they do all their reading and studying at the school. We recommend taking your casebooks home with you at the end of the day to study at home. But, if you have the discipline to get all your law school work done like a 9-5, then a locker might be a great option for you.
Anything you want! Common items include your notebooks, electronics, pens and pencils, and daily needs items. For example, you’ll want some chapstick, tissues, gum, make up in your bag because you never know when an event or interview might happen on campus. Basically anything you might need to freshen up and get yourself semi-professional looking would be a great addition to have in your backpack.
No way! First off, don’t worry about looking like a nerd in law school. If you’re in law school we’ve got bad news for you: you are a nerd! All joking aside, the majority of your class will have a backpack. You will not stand out unless you have a bright neon backpack. And even if that’s your style, we say go for it. The one fashion tip we have for law school with regards to backpacks is please try not to wear them with a suit for an interview. Nothing screams socially clueless to in a job interview like someone walking in looking business professional but with a mismatched backpack crumpling up their outfit.
Conclusion – Backpacks in Law School
So, as you can see a backpack is not necessary in law school. However, we highly recommended purchasing a bag or backpack for law school. The reason is because you will have many heavy law school textbooks to carry around along with your electronics and notebooks. Be sure to check out our best bags and backpacks for law school for our top picks!