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How do I succeed in law school?

Tips for Law School Success
Tags: 1L, final exams, law school success
Jun 13, 2023

Team LSData here with unsolicited tips for law school, curated by a top 10% HLS grad.

Topic of the week: How do I succeed in law school?

Work hard. Work smart. Success in law school requires dedication, discipline, and strategy. Your post-law school outcomes will largely rely on two factors: your grades and your networking.

Law School Grades: For most law schools, the only grades you receive will be from a single final exam at the end of each course. There’s no homework, no midterm, just the final exam, which is usually a 3-hour in-class essay. Your goal from day 1 should be to crush your finals.

  1. Be dedicated: Law school isn't just a sequel to your college days—it's where you prep for your future career. Treat it like a full-time job, not just an extension of college. Your mindset should be to dedicate at least 40 hours per week to school.
  2. Be disciplined: Like I said, treat law school like a job. Don't skip your 8am Contracts class because you're hungover, and don't procrastinate on your readings to binge watch The Office for the fourth time.
  3. Be strategic: Your job is to crush your exams, not to memorize the facts of every case, not to answer every cold call perfectly, and not even to do all the assigned readings. Understand what your professors are teaching, but more importantly, figure out what their exams are asking, and what kind of answers they want from you.

Key Tips:

  1. Learn your professors' preferences: Each has their own teaching style and grading criteria. Understand what they expect in exam answers. Some professors prefer an in-depth analysis to demonstrate mastery of fine detail, while others want concise and direct answers that show a holistic understanding of how all the pieces fit together. Consider asking your professors during office hours. Or better yet, hit up the student exam bank for exams that received top marks. Read them and emulate them on your exam.
  2. Concentrate on key legal concepts: Avoid memorizing every case detail; instead, understand the key principles behind them.
  3. Prioritize wisely: The heavy workload in law school demands efficient prioritization. Focus on what matters most to your grades and long-term goals. Balance between readings, classes, and extracurricular activities. Don't try to do everything. You'll burn out.

Remember, your goal is not to be the most well-read or the most participative in class (don’t be a gunner), but to get the best grades possible on your exams. Focus your energy and resources towards this goal.

Next week’s topic: What should I be doing this summer to prep for 1L?

LSD+ has everything you need to take your studies to the next level and crush your 1L exams. We offer over 50,000 case briefs; each with an integrated legal dictionary and deep dive tool that make it as easy as possible to prepare for class. Plus, with millions more cases at your fingertips, you'll be prepared for whatever the professor throws at you. Our short video summaries make studying efficient, so you can effectively use your time - on the bus or in the library. Learn more or subscribe to LSD+ today.

cryptanon HLS '22 & LSD creator

Tech-focused creator of LSD.Law. I built LSD while applying to law school. I saw unequal access to knowledge and built LSD to level the playing field and help applicants make thoughtful, well-informed decisions in the application process.

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J-Reuben-Clark-Law
14:15
I am sick of law schools sending out emails without the option to unsubscribe. It's straight up illegal and shows you the quality of education you will get there.
J-Reuben-Clark-Law
14:16
CAN-SPAM Act violation
literally
14:47
dude washu has sent me an email at least once per feek for 3 months
14:47
it has significantly impacted my opinion on their law school
14:48
week* frick
BluePacedCephalopod
14:49
yeah like i've gotten radio silence from them since october
BluePacedCephalopod
14:49
like if you don't want me that's fine but why not reject or WL people? too busy having Zoom seminars
BluePacedCephalopod
14:50
like it's actually so rude that they don't have the decency to R/WL before like April
15:03
Lmaoo the Zoom seminars
GW is requesting my fall transcripts (I had intended to apply during the fall semester when I requested them, but had three hurricanes-one with water rescues in my neighborhood-an emergency 2 1/2 week trip to Colorado to say goodbye to my mother-in-law, then I received my service dog, which required another eight days away from school for training), so I ended up applying this month. If I request new transcripts through LSAC, does each school I applied to receive them? I'm hoping to not have to write an addendum of why all of my narrative evaluations mention my busy schedule or that I had to miss classes and whatnot. (My school doesn't do letter grades.)
AnotherUsername1
16:31
Yes, they receive them automatically from LSAC
@AnotherUsername1: Thank you! :)
1a2b3c4d26z
17:00
hi
omelette
17:22
yooo 1a
omelette
17:22
its eggan
omelette
17:22
eff i missed him
Do y'all think Berkeley's gonna reject me or waitlist me. An A seems unlikely atp.
omelette
18:24
i feel the same way
'tis very sad
It sucks cause I feel like I fucked up my video statement but the rest of my app was strong and now the video statement isn't even a requirement
I think as long as you haven't been R or WL, you're still in the running! I don't think they'd leave anyone hanging if they already knew! <3
BatmanBeyond
19:12
Tried negotiating scholarships with the school but they basically called my bluff saying I have to share other letters by the deposit deadline to get any $. It feels good to bet on myself though
1a2b3c4d26z
19:37
EGGGGG
1a2b3c4d26z
19:38
MY MAN
1a2b3c4d26z
19:38
How's it goin
[M] hw03
20:46
how's everyone doing
did anyone have a penn date change? mine went into review early feb, then the date on the portal changed to a couple days ago.. but no email update wondering if anyone else is in the same boat
omelette
22:24
@1a2b3c4d26z: im ok just waiting on a few more schools
0:32
how do you fuck up a video statement when youre well aware its going to happen and its straightforward
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