Since my last advice post I received a lot of messages from 0Ls trying to choose between schools. Here are three common themes:
1) Prestige.
Unless you are considering a top 5 or top 10 school, focus on what city or region you want to practice law in.
For example, if you want to live in Seattle, then going to Less Prestigious School of Law in downtown Seattle is probably a better idea than going to a “top 40” school in Georgia.
The top 10-40 schools will tout the few alumni who made it in swank, distant cities to oversell their national reputation. Go to the “okay” school in the city you want to practice in, volunteer, build a network of local attorneys and land a job.
2) Employment rates.
Ignore them. The job market sucks unless you go to an elite (top 5) school.
If a school is waiving around a really high employment rate, call up the career office and ask them these questions:
Does your employment percentage represent the entire class or just the students who responded to the survey?
How many students responded to the survey? Did you verify their employment or is it self-reported?
What exactly counts as “employment” in this survey? How many of these students have paid, full-time positions that require a JD?
You’ll find that many schools count any employment towards their numbers. The student with a research position with a professor that ends a month after graduation counts. The student volunteering at a non-profit counts. The barista counts. If you ask how many of a school’s students actually go on to become paid full-time lawyers, you’ll find a lot of trapeze artists.
3) Specific programs.
Law school is a big investment, so you have the right to ask questions before you get into a crushing amount of debt. If you have a passion for a particular area of law, ask the admissions office to put you into contact with a professor that teaches the subject.
If admissions is unhelpful, then you can always look up the professor on the school’s website, and email them yourself. A simple email will do –
“Hello, My name is Jill Smith. I am an accepted student interested in insurance law. Can you tell me more about Whatever Law School’s insurance law program? I am specifically interested in car insurance…”
I know this sounds scary, but you might just find a mentor, and the worst they can do is ignore you, …which is also telling.
2. Sleep. Get eight hours of sleep. Skipping on sleep is like not filling an empty gas tank because you are in a hurry. And unlike the silly driver, AAA can’t help a fried and sick law student.
3. Eat healthy, skip on caffeine. You do not have time to battle acne, obesity, and caffeine withdrawal during finals. Plus, the fake-food is just going to drain your wallet and make you feel sluggish anyway. So go to the grocery store and stock up on your apples, peppers, bananas, nuts, cucumbers, & etc. Just don’t be “loud crunching guy” at the library or we will pelt you with oranges.
4. Start your outlines. All of them. Right now. Quick and dirty does the trick: have a header, pour the syllabus in, and now you have a framework. It is often easier to fill something in than to start. And do not worry about having perfect headings and margins. Your outline does not need to be cute. Just make sure you have a good table of contents (instructions here) and do not worry about the rest. Perfect indentations and bullet points are not on the test. I promise.
And: Unless it’s conlaw, do not worry about the extraneous little details of every case. Focus on concepts, themes, why a court made its decision, and what made that case different from the one before it.
5. Exercise, relax. If you hit a wall in studying, take a run or a gym break. Working 4 hours at full-speed is better than half-assing 14 hours in the library.
6.Actually study when you study. Studying is not about how long you sit in the library. Do not pretend to study and when you’re actually taking quizzes on facebook. Focus,or at least acknowledge that you aren’t studying.
When you are studying, the most important task is the one right in front of you. Forget about everything else. Do not worry about facebook, your neighbors, the 1,001.3 other things you have to do, or Beyonce, and just focus. Disable your laptop’s wireless card if you have to. We won’t judge. Remember, distraction is the enemy of productivity – so stop being distracted and start being productive.
7. No posturing. There’s no elegant way to announce the size of your outline on facebook, so don’t be that girl. No one likes her or thinks she has a particularly rich inner life…
8. Share. Unless the curve in your class is set to a 1.5 or something ridiculous like that, do not be afraid to exchange outlines and talk over hypos with your classmates. There is a difference between giving an outline to someone who has skipped all semester and exchanging your work with someone who is working just as hard as you are.
And finally:
9. Breathe again. Every minute you spend being hysterical on facebook or twitter is one less minute you could be doing something other than annoying your peers and looking ridiculous. Hush. Stop panicking. Remember, one is going to die… now get to work.
And remember, your 2L support squad is available on twitter (@dennisjansen@huma_rashid) if you need us. We accept cookies and exotic teas.
I’m an orientation leader for my law school, so our 1Ls are definitely going to get a swig of the Morton’s. The point is: don’t panic and figure out what’s right for you.
The soon-to-be 1Ls are lighting up my inbox, and I’m starting to get duplicate questions.
The typical email starts with a variation of “Hi, I start law school the fall. I saw your blog, and didn’t get a chance to read it. Can you answer these questions?” I can, I did, and I will – but don’t be offended if you’re linked to this post (or this one).
Here are some of the common questions this week: 1L: “I’m thinking of getting a rolly backpack…and” A: No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. Do not. Put down the fug and step away slowly. Yes we see people considering them every year, and it confuses me. Assuming your law school has student lockers, there is no reason for you to carry around 5 law books at one time, so a rolly bag is unnecessary. I simply carry my books in my hand because typically I’m going to my locker to exchange one book for another. And I find that when I’m studying, I’m not going to focus on more than one or two classes, so dragging a stack of books to the library is unnecessary. Don’t be that guy or girl who looks like they are about to catch the next flight to fugville. See:Jill on backpacks
1L: “What supplements should I buy?” A: I recommend waiting for your professor to recommend a supplement. Check the syllabus. Some professors teach from the supplements, and other professors insist that you shouldn’t read anything but your casebook. I also recommend waiting to buy supplements until the middle of the semester when you have a better idea of what you don’t know. You’re not going to score any points or good will by bringing up obscure arguments from a hornbook. If you are inconsolably freaked out, then make a few purchases from West’s Nutshell series. These tend to be just enough to get you grounded in a subject. If you feel cheap, then wait until you get your LexisNexis and Westlaw passwords. Westlaw contains treatises like Wright & Miller (for Civil Procedure) and Lexis has course outlines.
1L: “I want to start a blog but I don’t know if I can keep up with it…” A: Assuming your blogging goals are somewhat similar to mine (see post here), then my best advice is to sign up for a blog at wordpress.com and give it a shot. The trick is to post every day, even if it’s just a sentence or two. The second you stop posting consistently is when your blog is most likely to die. And yes, most blawgs die. SeeThree Years of Hell, and Frugal
1L (following up): “Why wordpress?” A: WordPress is the standard for blogging software. WordPress.com accounts are free and easily customizable. The problem with blogspot and typepad blogs is that these services don’t have as many options and it is harder for people to comment on those blogs. Also, if you’re feeling fancy, you can get a dot com address for your wordpress.com blog for only $15-20 a year. I’m pretty sure this is what Huma of humarashid.com did. And please, when you get a new blog, don’t spam everyone’s blogs with your new address.
1L: “Okay, so I’ve seen in your fashion post that things can get really petty…are law students really that immature or is it just you?” A: Let me remind you that I am not Oprah. All of my advice comes with a hefty dose of salt. Wear what makes you feel comfortable. Just do so with the realization that some of your peers are as petty as I am (see here). Think of it like this: you are in professional school. Showing up looking like a hot mess for law school is the equivalent of accusing your coworkers of being immature because you decided to show up at the office in pink, bejeweled crocs. Now, yes, the fact that someone is sitting at the UMN library, enraged that a classmate is wearing flipflops is silly, but I think that flip flops during orientation is more akin to the pink crocs at the office. See Think Like a Woman, Act like a Man.
Female 1L: ”If I start blogging will have creepy men hiding in the bushes outside of my apartment?” A: There will probably be creepy men hiding in the bushes outside of your apartment, but it won’t be because of your blog. Think of online privacy as a bicycle lock. Your average bicycle lock is going to stop the vast majority of bike thieves, but no bike lock can stop that rare, determined bike thief. The same thing is true for stalkers. The rare stalker is going to stalk regardless of how good your pseudonym is, and regardless of how carefully you guard your online presence. Frankly, so much information is available via public directories and information companies (like Lexis), that the rare crazy is not going to be stopped by anything but the Tazer x3 in your purse. So no, don’t post a picture of your apartment with the address and a challenge, but also don’t be afraid to use your real name – because frankly, it’s not a secret. See also: 3 years of hell, and Fresh Thought Soup.
And no, I’m not saying go out and buy designer clothes – the point is that you can look put together without wearing your church clothes, or looking like a Kinko’s manager (no high-water khakis please.)
My experience: There was a girl who wore the same thing throughout orientation: ass-cheek exposing shorts, a red tank top, an oversized hoodie, and her greasy hair in a sloppy bun. She was a super-smart girl, but she looked like she smelled, and was called uncharitable names (like slutty hobo) for the rest of the year.
Some classic dressing tips are here, and female law students who need extra help should check out Huma’s tips. When in doubt, women should check out their local Forever21 for a quick cheap but put-together look or Banana Republic for personal assistance on what is flattering your body type.
This isn’t Undressed, Raising the Bar, or the first day of college. Bedding your classmates will come back to haunt you. Well, unless you’re this guy:
3. Check the ego.
It takes people a while to understand that in law school, the playing field is level. Unless you ditched a full ride at Harvard for Nowhere University, you are probably not the smartest kid in your class. So be careful, because the section-mate you are bragging to just might be a PhD or getting a dual degree in Rocket Science.
Also, no one cares how much time you spent reading hornbooks during the summer, how prestigious your undergrad was, or how much money you made in your former job. You are in law school. Save yourself the ego-check and humble yourself before you get to school. The grades are based on finals, so you don’t get any points for muscling your classmates during orientation.
My experience: During orientation, the entire 1L class was in an auditorium. Some prestigious lawyer gave us a lecture about his experience and this girl raised her hand, preceded to tell the speaker (and the entire 1L class) about a lengthy book she read on a completely irrelevant subject, and asked the lawyer for his thoughts on the book.
The presenter’s mouth said: “Uh, I haven’t read that one.” His face added: “You crazy bitch.”
Your classmates will get to know you in time. Disclosing things too early will just earn you a reputation as a socially inept. We don’t need to know about your DUIs, roaring undergraduate drug habits, or thoughts about your weight. We also don’t need your blog address. We’ll stalk you when we add you on facebook.
This happens at every school outside of Utah: after orientation, you will head to a local pub with your section-mates, someone will get crunk for jesus and embarrass themselves.
And in law school, no one bothers to stop a social train wreck. Law students will just stand by and chuckle nervously as the disaster unfolds – and because no one ever says anything, this behavior is repeated throughout the year. Don’t be that guy.
And remember it is not too late to get the essential law school summer reading:
A lot of you 0Ls have graduated and want to get a head start on law school.1
Not buying the “relax read a novel” advice? Fine.
Here are the top 5 things you can do this summer to prepare for law school:
1. Figure out your purpose
Why are you going to law school?
What do you want to do after law school?
The answer to these questions is extremely important. Law students who have a clearly defined purpose for being in law school are infinitely less anxiety-prone than those who are simply wandering through the halls ala legally blonde.
Having trouble articulating your purpose? A helpful exercise is to visualize where want to be in 10 years. Where are you working? How do you look? Who is around you? Do you want to work with a lot paper or a lot of people? Court room drama or board room drama? How much free time do you need to be happy?
Then make three lists:
List 1: steps you can take to work towards your goal (ie, networking with tax attorneys, volunteering at the public defender’s office, working towards a judicial clerkship…etc.)
List 2: behaviors that will help you work towards your goal (adequate sleep, taking time to review, work out, etc.)
List 3: behaviors that will detract from your goal. (drugs, drinking, overspending…etc.)
Keep these lists somewhere conspicuous and look them over every day.
Find one or two people in your life that you look up to and ask them what personality traits you can improve. Yes, this will be completely awkward, but find someone you trust to give you constructive feedback (professor, boss). The benefit to this is worth more than the 10 minutes of awkward.
Also spend some time thinking how other people view you, and your personality.3
Three quick tips:
Don’t forget to smile: There was a girl in my section who was very friendly and very well dressed, but no one could get over how distraught she looked. Seriously, we thought she was going to cry until we realized she always looks like that. I’m sure it was a “I’m concentrating” face, but it was so distracting that it was the first thing people always mentioned about her.
There’s sexy, and then there’s annoying: Every law school has that guy who spent all summer working out, and the girl who just got a bust enhancement. Girls: remember you are not Erin Brockovich, and the twins won’t help you learn summary judgment. Boys: abs don’t make up for slimy. A good exterior is not going to make you a better person.4
Pigpen: The opposite is also true – this is professional school. You can be personable and brilliant but we will never know if we are distracted by your sweatpants and scabbed forearms. Err on the side of looking appropriate. Some good pointers are here.
Example: DO NOT USE THE EXCUSE OF “I CAN’T AFFORD TO BUY NICE CLOTHES.” This is like the people who pay a $zillion for law school tuition, but then won’t put up the extra couple hundred bucks to buy books and study-aids. It’s relatively a minor cost, and if you don’t do it, it will cost you more over the long haul. Your appearance matters. It influences how people view you, and that’s important not just for raises, but in gaining respect from colleagues. (Seriously, think about all the people at your work who dress really horribly…) Read on.
My personal favorites are H&M, Banana Republic, and Old Navy…but you can always go the Obama route. And for the fashion clueless, do not be afraid to go up to the store during a not-so-busy time (ie, middle of a weekday) and have a sales rep help you find flattering clothes. Banana Republic sales reps are especially eager to be personal stylists…
3. Find your joy, and figure out your non-negotiables.
If you aren’t a joyous, centered person before you get to law school then you’re in for three miserable years, if you last that long…
Look back to the lists from tip #1, and also think about the behaviors that do/don’t work for you right now. Do you get enough sleep? Do you exercise enough? Is religion important to you? How about family? Shopping?
Then make a list of non-negotiables. These are the really important things that you will schedule law school around. Do you need 8 hours of sleep? Do you need 45 minutes of stairclimber time to fend off that second chin?
Try to put this list into practice this summer. Hint: if you can’t keep up your non-negotiables schedule during the summer, then it’s not going to work for the school year – revise as needed. The purpose of this is keep you centered, not drive you crazy…
4. Start your file.
Sign up for a Tumblr or Delicious account (or just use the bookmarks function of your browser) to save all of the useful tips you come across online. Both services allow you to install browser buttons so you can quickly save links.
The tag function on delicious makes it easier to find links later…like in the fall, when you actually need them…
5. Make some money
Are you just sitting around this summer? Think about getting a job. Law school is expensive and loans do not cover everything.
Hint, if you’re moving for law school then a summer job at Target or Ikea is a good way to get discounts for stuff that you have to buy in a few months anyway…
1 I’ve somehow become a 0L favorite… 2 Law school is a wonderful experience, but not the time to “figure yourself out.” What’s what undergrad was for. 3 And I’m not talking about what they think about your shoes, bag, or car. This isn’t high school… 4 In fact, you will be shocked by how plain law students are. The hotties are getting MBAs. The law school frump is more likely to be prejudiced against attractive people…
One day, she held up her casebook to point out there was almost no underlining or highlighting. However, in the margins of the book were handwritten notes. She explained that doing full briefs for cases was a waste of time. (Via Law Ingenue)
Are law school and, in particular, 1L classes designed to impart to us a compendium of knowledge about certain subjects like Civ Pro or Contractsor are they instead supposed to impart a WAY of thinking about those subjects, specifics notwithstanding?
I know that most response will say the latter is the intent of law school, but then another question comes up: Why, then, do we learn so many specifics? Why am I learning the Restatement on expectation interest and trying to remember the names and details of cases? (the comments are very useful.)
Congratulations, 1Ls. You’re here, you’re in, you’ve signed on for a solid 3 years of angst. Yippy skippy, right? As promised, I have some words of wisdom for you. There will be more forthcoming- you know I like to talk. (thanks, but no thanks)
The following is a collection of advice for incoming 1L’s who will soon be starting law school. This advice is from members of the graduating Class of 2006, Ohio State University (Moritz Law School), and is intended as a gift to the Moritz Class of 2009. The majority of the advice is also applicable to other law schools. More will be added soon. (here’s the list)
As the summer dwindles for summer classes of future MBAs and JDs, we thought we’d give some advice on how to say goodbye (and hello). (here’s the advice).
If I’m sending a writing sample to a potential employer, should I do anything special to it? Like, put a cover sheet on it? It’s a full memo, so I figured I didn’t need to preface it with a lot of information about the legal issues. Right now, I just have my name and phone number at the top of each page and no cover sheet. Is that sufficient? (again, the magic is in the comments.)
“Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist die Mark nicht wert!”
(Who doesn’t value the penny isn’t worth the dollar.)
I didn’t give the phrase much thought until 7th grade, when my mother, (a waitress at the time) bought a $2000 computer for me with the spare change she saved from her tips.
Yesterday was a reiteration of the power of change (No, not the Obama kind…); My spare change bowl was filling up, so I threw the coins in my string backpack and took them to the TCF change counting machine at school.
The total was $86. Cha-ching!
The lesson? Shit adds up. Be it bad loans, lack of sleep, or quarters in a change jar…
In SSG we had a panel of older students that gave advice on exams:
Panelist 1: “Don’t talk about the exam afterwards. Don’t.Seriously. Because you’ll think of all the things you did wrong and feel like CRAP.”
Panelist 2: “You’re kinda in a panic during your first exam and like what the fuck…”
Panelist 3: “Your professor is really intimidating – I’d go to her office hours and she’s looking at me like I’m the stupidest person on earth…so just take a piece of humble pie and get over it…”
Panelist 4: “I felt SO depressed after that exam! I was like “I got a C, I KNOW I got a C.” I felt sad, I felt like throwing up…” Panelist 2: “Uh, Panelist 4 is a glass half empty…”
Panelist 3: “The perfect law student is a ROBOT. So don’t worry about it…”
