The first year of law school can be stressful.
Most new law students will hear the following commentary on the law school experience: "In the first year you will be scared to death. In the second year you will be worked to death. In the third year you will be bored to death." Nothing could be closer to the truth. For most students, managing the stress and fear that the first year of law school imposes is the key to a successful law school career. Of course, this is far easier said than done, but there is help to guide them through the pitfalls.
Instructions
1. Rent your own apartment. Do not attempt to live with a roommate (even if another law student), friends or your family. Law schools allow you to take out a living allowance loan for a reason. During the critical first year you will need a quite place to unwind, collect your thoughts, focus and rest. Having others around may impede your ability to do this. Of course, some students will not be able to avoid living with others because they have spouses, children, other family obligations or are facing financial issues. In this case, designate a room in your home as your "private space." Let those living with you know that you are not to be disturbed (with the exception of emergencies) while you are in this private space.
2. Locate a quiet place where you will be able to study without distractions. If you have your own apartment, you may decide to set up a study area there. However, you should also identify one additional location such as a quite coffee shop or a public library for this purpose. Some students opt to study in their law school's library. However, other law students can be a distraction and law libraries can become extremely crowded during final exam periods, so it is best to have an alternate location in mind.
3. Purchase one hornbook and one commercial outline for each of your substantive courses. First-year students typically must take the following courses: contracts, torts, civil procedure, real property and criminal law. You are expected to learn these subjects by reading case law and statutes. You may choose to rely on case law alone, but you will have a much easier time learning the material if you review a topic in a commercial outline first, a hornbook second and approach the case third. Never buy more than one hornbook and one outline for each class, and do not attempt to read supplemental materials from cover to cover. They are meant to act as a quick reference. Spend no more than a half-hour reviewing supplemental materials each day.
4. Highlight cases instead of "briefing." When you get to law school, you will probably hear that you need to "brief" each case that you read. You may engage in this activity once or twice (or as required by your professor), but do not make it a routine practice. Briefing a case is analogous to rewriting a case in your own words and it is a waste of time. Most students believe that if they "brief" a case, they can merely read from their briefs when they are called on in class. Professors are privy to this practice and will usually ask finely tuned questions that cannot be answered by regurgitating your written version of a case. A much more efficient substitute to briefing is to use different colored highlighters to differentiate the facts, law, analysis and conclusion right in your case book.
5. Create outlines for each of your courses. An outline contains summaries of the topics and points of law that were discussed in each class. Most students use outlines to study for exams. Create a habit of updating your outlines at the end of each day. Supplement topics that you do not fully understand with information in your supplemental materials (hornbooks and/or commercial outlines).
6. Be conscious of "burnout." Burnout occurs when you overstimulate yourself for a prolonged period of time, and it can drastically inhibit your ability to perform well in law school. Symptoms of burnout are increased anxiety, lack of focus and mild to moderate depression. Most first-year law students work 14 or more hours per day, six to seven days a week. If you start feeling any of these symptoms, address you situation immediately. Take a break and do an activity that is enjoyable. Additional ways to avoid burnout are making sure that you get at least six to seven hours of sleep each night, exercising regularly and eating healthy, nutritionally balanced meals.
7. Manage your time efficiently. If you work efficiently, you should be able treat law school like an average work day. This means attending class and completing your assignments in 8 to 10 hours each day, which will leave you with time at the end of the day to relax and unwind. Purchase a day planner or use a computerized equivalent. Block off all time spent in class. Schedule time before, between and after class to complete your assignments for the next day. Write down an action plan for each day and stick to it.
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