<p>At a first tier law school, is the amount of time a student invests into his/her work a good indication of his/her success? Or, is a student's aptitude for taking tests and learning the law more indicative of success?</p>
<p>i don't think you can predict anything from the amount of time someone puts into their work. at least when i was in law school, there were fellow students of all different abilities who worked their rear off and there were fellow students of all different abilities who slacked off (relatively speaking). in general, a certain level of hard work is required for most people to do well, but you can't say that someone who put in more hours than someone else is going to end up doing better. some of the people putting in a ton of hours were people who were having the most trouble. some of the people putting in a ton of hours were simply those who always pushed themselves to do the best.</p>
<p>i'm also not sure what you mean by success? grades? employment options? ultimate career success? again these all weren't necessarily going to the people who were the biggest grinds.</p>
<p>don't get me wrong -- you have to be willing to work hard both in law school and at your law job after you graduate -- but its just not as simple as whoever puts in the most hours does the best.</p>
<p>i will also add -- by definition, everyone at a top tier law school will be smart. that doesn't mean that everyone will find it easy to do well there. and that comes as quite a shock to some people who have had little trouble being successful their entire lives up until law school. the type of work that has to be put in is just different than what most people were used to before -- not just the hours or amount of reading, but the way in which you have to think and approach that reading as well as the classroom experience (which is also very different that anything you may be used to). </p>
<p>for some it seems to come easier than others -- but i didn't see any way of telling who would have an easier time than others. ( and fyi, i went to one of the top law schools and was surrounded by some really really smart people)</p>