<p>Hello everyone! Last week I was offered admission to Boalt's (UC Berkeley) Class of 2010. While I am excited and delighted by the news, I am also anxious. I am currently 21 and graduating from my undergrad one quarter early, so I will have a 5 month summer break before UCB starts. Do you have any advice on what I should be doing during this time to help make my transition to Boalt (and first year experience) as smooth as possible? I have read so many things about how stressful the first year experience can be, so I just want to hit the ground running. Please share any advice you have!</p>
<p>The thing about first-year classes in law school is that they are a bit of a scam. You supposedly learn basic law by reading old cases and discussing them, but the cases are confusing, they contain a lot of irrelevant nonsense, and for the most part, you are graded not on your understanding of those cases but on your ability to learn and apply the basic elements of law to fact patterns in your final exam.</p>
<p>If I had it to do over again, I would get the Gilbert's and Emmanuels outlines for the first year classes (typically Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, and Property) and start studying now. I would also get old exams and model answers to practice on (usually available at the library). Because most likely you will be graded on your ability to write exams, not on your ability to read cases and discuss them in class. Note also that you can pick up practice exams and model answers in just about any law school library. (For example, I went to a top 5 law school and my buddy went to a 5th tier law school -- our first year classes were virtually identical.)</p>
<p>Next: Don't be a "gunner." Unless your teacher grades on class participation, keep your mouth shut in class. If your teacher does grade on class participation, speak often enough so that you get full marks, but then shut your mouth. Because if you do acquire superior knowledge, it's ugly to inflict it on your classmates.</p>
<p>Last: Unless you want to be a supreme court clerk and then a law professor some day, don't worry about your grades too much. The vast majority of top law school graduates find jobs.</p>
<p>personally -- i would suggest relaxing and enjoying these 5 months, because i really don't think there is anything you can do prepare yourself for the first year of law school. it is different. it is stressful. but to stress yourself for the prior months trying to understand caselaw and figure out what your professors may want you to know just isn't a constructive use of your time, in my opinion. </p>
<p>all the first years will be in the same boat -- i don't know about boalt specifically, but that can be a great source of support and bonding. why try to put yourself thru that alone ahead of time?</p>
<p>my suggestion -- accept the fact that law school will be the start of something different and will consume you for the next three years. these 5 months may be the last real break you get -- summers in law school you will probably want to work at law firms or other legal jobs. the summer after law school will be consumed by the bar exam. think about what types of things you want to make sure you get a chance to do before law school, rather than spending those 5 months preparing for someplace you are going to end up no matter how you spend those 5 months.</p>
<p>Congratulations- That is wonderful news.
As a mom and non-lawyer, I really can't give you any specific advice but Relaxing and enjoying the next few months always sounds good to me.</p>
<p>As you already go to "message boards"- you might want to check out another one--
lawschooldiscussion.org. Most of the bloggers are in the process of applying to law school now and will start their law studies next year. (I think most of the kids reading this board are a bit younger and may not take the LSAT's for another year or two) They even have a discussion board for "soon to be 1 L's" which I assume to mean first year law students.<br>
Sometimes these boards can drive you nuts, but you can get helpful info.
Best of luck
Marny</p>
<p>I agree with unbelievablem. Use this time for something other than getting a leg up on law school classes. Besides, in many cases trying to understand the material before you have had a taste of how to approach it from your actual classes can be (a) inefficient (b) frustrating) and/or (c) time-consuming.</p>
<p>Use this time for some other purpose - volunteer work, paying work, travel, taking a class or two just for fun, etc.</p>
<p>See you in the Bay Area in the fall if you are not already here.</p>
<p>Just want to add info about the LSD.org website- you can get a lot of useful and fun info about the schools- Often a current student signs on and opens the door for kids to ask questions about a particular school. There is a current discussion about Boalt under the Heading "Law school Reviews, Visits and Rankings".
"Boalt student taking questions about Boalt Law School--"
These discussions often include do you need a car?? Where do Law students live?? etc. etc.<br>
I only lurk on that site- I have never noticed a parent asking a question- it really is a more student based site .</p>
<p>As a lawyer who had a 4 year hiatus between college and law school, one big benefit was that I relished being back in school again, enjoyed being back in the world of intellectual pursuit (at least until I got so stressed out about 1st semester exams that I lost 8 pounds without trying--the only time in my life THAT's happened!) and loved wearing jeans every day. My classmates who had just graduated from college were way more burned out.</p>
<p>5 months isn't 4 years, but enjoy yourself and DON'T BUY THE STUDY GUIDES!!!!</p>
<p>You can't learn this stuff in a vacuum and it will only upset you.</p>
<p>Good luck !!!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations on your admission to law school!</p>
<p>I completely agree with the do-anything-but-prepare-for-law-school theory of things being advocated here. You will have plenty of time to study once law school begins, and I'm not convinced that anything you study before attending law school would do much more than give you headaches and leave you confused. Do whatever it is that makes you happy -- travel, sleep in, get a job, volunteer somewhere . . . anything. Enjoy your freedom!</p>
<p>I would relax as much as possible before law school like everyone else said. You've worked very hard in order to get there so a break is essential so you can unwind and jumpstart your semester in August. You should do plenty of dub ruving before you start as well. Good luck!</p>
<p>Work a job in an industry you otherwise would never see. Travel. Learn a new sport/hobby/skill. But whatever you do, please, just use this time to gain some experience that's not related to law. You'll likely have few opportunities to do something like this again.</p>
<p>Law school is stressful enough as it is...Use your five months to get some R and R. That way, you will enter Boalt in the fall with a renewed interst in academia and you won't get burned out halfway through law school.</p>
<p>I, too, finished college in December and didn't start law school until September. I got a mindless job as a messenger and went to every movie, show, concert and museum I could afford. I arrived at law school refreshed and anxious to learn.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone, I am impressed by all of the responses! Before posting this thread I was considering reading a bunch of pre-law books and maybe even going through some course outlines. I think taking all of your advice is probably the better option! I will try my best to relax and do all of the things I won't have time for once classes start. Now does anyone know of a good place in CA to learn scuba diving? :o)</p>
<p>Here's a place in Santa Cruz. Don't know anything about it beyond what's on the site, however. There probably are others nearby. Check around.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aquasafaris.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.aquasafaris.com/</a></p>
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Besides, in many cases trying to understand the material before you have had a taste of how to approach it from your actual classes can be (a) inefficient (b) frustrating) and/or (c) time-consuming.
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<p>Maybe law school has changed since I went there, but I found many classes to be more mystifying than enlightening.</p>
<p>For me, it was the actual classes that were inefficient, frustrating, and time-consuming. And it didn't help that I was thrown in with a pool of people that was smart, competitive, and just as clueless as me.</p>
<p>Anyway, I would suggest that at a minimum, you read one of those "how to succeed in law school" type books.</p>
<p>Where I practice (New York), it is said that you always need a strategy. Whether you are parking your car, renting an apartment, or looking for a job, you end up doing a lot better and saving yourself a lot of aggravation if you have a plan going in, as opposed to just showing up and relying on your smarts. I think law school is the same way. So I disagree with these folks (admittedly, the majority) who say to goof off for a few months.</p>
<p>(Not that it really matters, unless you want a job -- such as law professor -- that's really competitive)</p>
<p><a href="Not%20that%20it%20really%20matters,%20unless%20you%20want%20a%20job%20--%20such%20as%20law%20professor%20--%20that's%20really%20competitive">quote</a>
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<p>personally, i honestly don't think there is anything someone can do during the 5 months prior to law school that will increase their chances at becoming a law professor. </p>
<p>perhaps in hindsight one can look back and think about what one could have done to better prepare for law school. but i don't think without the benefit of that hindsight, ie someone about to enter law school, can do that because no matter how many books one reads about the experience, i don't think you can truly understand what the first year of law school will be like AND how it will affect you. </p>
<p>in law school i saw many fellow students who thought they entered prepared and with a plan go thru some serious ego crushing when they realized the preparation and plan were of little help in practice. i also know former class mates of mine who have achieved careers at the highest levels - law professors, general counsels, etc - and i honestly can't say that i could have picked them out based on how they approached their classes first semester.</p>
<p>Unbelievablem is right on. One of the MOST stressful things about law school is that for all your classes (except legal writing) your ENTIRE grade consists of the grade on your final exam. You will be listening to your fellow classmates talk in class and out, and you will THINK you know who is doing well.</p>
<p>In my experience, however, when grades came out after first semester, I couldn't have been more wrong in most cases. The lesson is that no matter how smart you think other people sound, you really have no clue as to how their grades will turn out.</p>
<p>My favorite "don't get mad, get even" story is that during my first semester--even though I had always been a solo studier in college --I joined a study group because EVERYONE was forming study groups. Right before our first semester exams, for no reason that I was ever able to determine, the two people I studied with told me they didn't want me to study with them any more. It really hurt my feelings, but I soldiered on alone. The aftermath? I made law review and neither of them did.</p>
<p>In short, follow the style of studying and working that has been successful for you in the past, don't start thinking that everyone gets the material except you, and DON'T LISTEN to those neurotic people who discuss the exam questions as soon as they walk out. Those people are NEVER at the top of the class.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
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personally, i honestly don't think there is anything someone can do during the 5 months prior to law school that will increase their chances at becoming a law professor.
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<p>I totally disagree. In fact, I had one classmate who -- before she even started -- lined up a research assistantship with a well-known and respected professor. This turned into a mentor/protegee relationship. I'm sure he helped her get a good clerkship. Now she herself is a law professor. </p>
<p>This was a woman who was smart, but definitely not stand-out smart. She may have had a little luck, but it looks to me like she went in with a plan. </p>
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perhaps in hindsight one can look back and think about what one could have done to better prepare for law school. but i don't think without the benefit of that hindsight, ie someone about to enter law school, can do that because no matter how many books one reads about the experience, i don't think you can truly understand what the first year of law school will be like AND how it will affect you.
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<p>You could say that about anything in life -- work, pregnancy, relationships. Things are always hit or miss, but it almost always helps to go in prepared.</p>
<p>And in law school -- as in life -- the people who have a real edge aren't going to tell you about it. If they say anything at all, they'll give you the old "bullet and a bottle of whiskey" story.</p>
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And in law school -- as in life -- the people who have a real edge aren't going to tell you about it.
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<p>i'm not sure what you mean by this -- are you saying that those who had an effective "plan" were just keeping it secret so as not to share their key to the inside track? personally, i saw nothing in my law school experience (nor subsequent in hindsight) to conclude that the successful students were so calculating. i guess you'd just conclude that is proof at how successful they were in hiding their key to success.</p>
<p>often, the people who seemed to think they had an "edge" ended up not. the people who had an "edge" were often the most open and sharing people i met -- i even think that part of what may have given them that "edge" was simply the self confidence and self awareness not to think their status depended on trying to keep someone else from being equally successful. at least that is what my personal experience was, substantiated by what i have since seen became of many of my classmates. but maybe all the competitiveness that now goes into play in college and law school admissions is changing this? -- if it is, i think it is a very sad thing indeed.</p>
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i'm not sure what you mean by this -- are you saying that those who had an effective "plan" were just keeping it secret so as not to share their key to the inside track?
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<p>Yep. </p>
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i guess you'd just conclude that is proof at how successful they were in hiding their key to success.
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<p>Hehe. Well, I agree it's something that's difficult to measure. But my point is that if a successful person gives you the "bullet and a bottle of whiskey" line, there's a good chance it's BS.</p>
<p>And you don't seem to disagree with my point that many pursuits in life have a good chance of working out better if you are prepared. I don't see why law school should be any different.</p>