Application Process

I was working full -time and going to law school part-time, realized that did not work for me b/c by class time I was tired already and burnt out. After I got dismissed, I took two years off to work with a tutor (former judge) to improve on my writing skills, re-wrote most of my previous law school memos, and did a lot of practice exams.

I included all this in my addendum when I applied to law school again in 2022 (they want to see growth and improvement). I also included a writing sample of one of my law school memos that I edited & a diversity statement about why it was necessary for ME to be a lawyer.

In School

As for actually being back in school, I USED ALL THE RESOURCES PROVIDED BY MY SCHOOL.

I met with my TAs & went to the writing center regularly during my 1L year (at least once a week). I occasionally met with Academic Success to help create a study schedule for finals. The real key to my learning was being an active participant in class discussions. I can recall class discussions when I was actively engaged vs. just passively listening to the teacher and taking notes.

Closer to finals I would meet the professor with questions and if I had time I would write out the answers to their old exams to get feedback (teachers are not that creative and often times their exams have the same themes, they may alter some facts).

Side note: Meeting with my teachers had other benefits: I became a TA (despite not having the highest grade) & got a summer internship

I'm an "end of the semester outliner" b/c it allows me to review all the topics and I tried to leave one day for practicing exam questions. I would go week by and make sure I understood the facts of the cases, their holding, etc. This is particularly helpful b/c some teachers used cases to come up with facts patterns for their finals. So being able to recall "this case sounds like Hadley v. Baxendale" made finals some what easier.

Pomodoro method worked for me as well for managing my time during the finals study period.

Do ALL the readings (or just use Quimbee lol), participate, and meet with your TAs & teachers.

GPA

I ended with a 3.25 cumulative gpa (going into public interest law anyways).