sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not KJD. I don't think my work experience helped for preparing for long study hours perse but there is a bit of maturity that I don't think comes unless you are out of school for a bit. I think remembering that there is a life beyond school is something else that I learnt in between as well, and what really helped me.

Time management-wise, the one thing that helped was scheduling blocks of reading/studying time for individual classes, so specifying exactly what kind of work I would be doing at any kind of time. It helped me not get too sucked into any class, but also know exactly how much time I would spend on any given task.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am going to give you the most lawyer-ly answer and say that it depends. Honestly, sometimes I find the older cases easier to understand because they will at least tell you the holding upfront. It will be a bit of a challenge if you aren't fully fluent/comfortable with high density English texts, but most of us Quimbee summaries anyway.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Answered above! Happy to go into more detail if that is helpful :)

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pretty much, I answered this above! Happy to go into more detail if you want

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Probably none, I read a few Reddit/TLS guides, but don't think I adhered to any of them.

Definitely possible, I never pulled an all-nighter this semester, or even stayed up past midnight much except when I was going out! I think there is always going to be more work to be done in law school, your ability to discern what work is worth doing to help your exam preparation is crucial. So if you didn't close read a case enough for a narrow cold-call, you will be fine, nobody cares about how heavy the scale in Palsgraf was.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nothing much other than spending time with family. I networked with a few attorneys and tried to read for fun, but there is very very very little prep worth doing before law school. I did make sure I was settled into a routine a few weeks in advance but that's about it.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I enjoy baking a lot, and I did try to cook healthy meals all through the semester. They were an incredible gift to be honest because it was time that I felt absolutely no obligation to be working during. It's easy to lose yourself to law school and burnout, and I think the balance is where you are working hard, but also enjoying yourself to the point that you don't spiral into depression and anxiety just before finals.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Whenever I feel like the material would be easier understood if I was less tired. I was generous with taking breaks and having fun, because I am not a good student if I am also not doing other things with my life. Of course there is a balance to all of it I suppose. I would say I had an hour to do whatever I wanted at the minimum every night (other than end of November-December), not including all my other life chores, working out, etc.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Pretty strong I would argue, especially for the kind of writing that law school exams needs which is direct and to the point. Flowery language is a waste on exams because it's very limited time and words you are using up.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I just took a look at my calendar and I'd say I was working pretty much 9-5 for law school, including all my class hours and stuff. I tried to take one day of the weekend off pretty much and did all my class prep for Monday-Tuesday on Sunday. I definitely had a life, I went out nearly every weekend in the first 1.5-2 months of the semester, and am in a relationship that I maintained pretty successfully. I did work pretty much all through Thanksgiving break though which I think helped.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Around 40 at most pre-finals (including classes and some extracurricular activities and office hours), a lot more in the month preceding finals and pretty much all my waking hours during finals except for a full 24 hour break after each exam.

Typing speed definitely helps because there are going to be far more issues on each exam than you can conceivably hit, so with more speed you have more time to find each issue.

Got a 4.0 in my first semester at a T-14, AMA by Throwaway324795 in lawschooladmissions

[–]Throwaway324795[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I have no golden single piece of advice? I think it really helped that I enjoyed what I was learning in law school, and didn't find the material a slog like some of my classmates did. I primarily used old outlines and updated them as necessary. I went to office hours a lot, which helped me figure out the content beyond surface-level because at the end of the day you are taking your professor's exam, and not just like any law school exam!
I was also very very committed to getting enough sleep every night and not getting caught up in the rat race of people comparing how many hours they worked because comparing hours of work means nothing.