Law School Anxiety: What to Do For My First Day of Class

[BilmReeteve]

Hey--I will be a 1L in the upcoming semester. I am experiencing a great deal of anxiety. I have read "Law School Confidential" and "Acing Your First Year of Law School" but I still just feel anxious because I have received basically nothing from my institution in the way of telling me when to buy books, when I will get my schedule, etc. We do have an orientation a few days before class begins but I don't want to show up empty-handed if others are going to show up with all their books bought and toting other documents we need.

Any suggestions from those who have been through it on what I need to be doing in this last month before school begins?

[Occuchskabs]

I know exactly how you feel, because I was in your same position one year ago. Here is the best piece of advice you can get: Relax. Trust me on this.

• You will do fine in law school. If you study hard, you will do fine.
• Law school is not as hard as it sounds. The Socratic method sucks, but you WILL get through it.
• Put away the "how-to" books about law school. This one is important. These things do nothing but make you unduly nervous. Put them away and relax.
• You are prepared. There is nothing more you should do. There is no "real" way to prepare anyway.
• And as for your school leaving you in the cold, this is part of the process of being a 1L. I felt the exact same way. I was like "what the hell am I supposed to be doing?"

You will see that were overly nervous. One year from now you'll be looking back on where you are now and kinda grinning, hating and loving the whole thing.

If you have any other question or just want to talk about what its like or anything, please respond to this forum thread and we'll help you out.

I hope this helped at least a little.

[HakerargeTrem]

Ok, here's what to expect:

I'm a 2nd semester 1L. It's 9:30 PM on a Saturday night and I'm home alone working on my Appellate Brief (100% of the legal writing grade, due in a couple days). I've been at it since 9 AM. Most days I start at 7. This has been going on for the last several weeks. I could probably get by with less work, but I want good grades (how unique, I know, but I'm trying to transfer)

Not every week is like this. Most weeks I take two nights and a Saturday afternoon off.

Not everyone works like this. Some people do less work and get better grades.

FYI... when you're in law school keep in contact with other law students through this law school forum. Other than this sort of forum TomFoolery spend your free time drinking, it helps clear the mind (seriously!).

Otherwise I love law school. Only thing I hate is studying my ass off and not knowing if I will get an A or an F... (fortunately results have been closer to the former )

[DGominar]

I am also a 2nd semester 1L. However, I do not study to the extent that the previous poster seems to... I am in the top 10% of my class, so it is not that I don't work hard-- i usually do hw 2-3 hours a day m-f and about 4-5 hours on sunday (if i feel motivated, so about 2 sundays a month). You have to do what works FOR YOU. I have found, not only with myself, but my friends as well, that how much time you spend on hw and the method of how you study doesn't need to change much from college. i still study the same way, the only difference is an increase in hours of work per week that i do. it is completely dependent upon the individual, so asking someone how they study and how much, doesn't mean that is what you should do.

As for starting in the fall, i also read all those guides, bought a few supplements before school, and read the PR board and Sua Sponte religiously. Though i can't say it was a waste of time, i can say that it didn't really matter. I also had no idea about books, orientation expectations, etc. Don't worry, everyone is in the same boat... you will get it all in order AFTER or during orientation. Just make sure you are compeltely moved in and settled in your new apartment/house/dorm, that you have the mindset of a 1st grader ("i want to make friends") when you go to orientation, and know thyself--- seriously. the friends part is good just because you might miss class someday and need notes, or you might want to have someone to call if you forgot your syllabus at school, etc.

i know this is repetitive, but don't freak out, it is not bad. if you are sure you want to go to law school (or at least mostly sure) then you will be fine. i love law school, which might be odd.... i think most people do, they just don't want to admit it (or they shouldn't be there anyway).

good luck

[Igdblukj]

See, some people do less work and get better grades (although I'm right behind you guys...). But, you are right, it's not that bad there's no need to freak out (I can say that now that I turned in my brief).

Hey, are you able to maintain that schedule while taking care of your legal writing requirement and are you taking 5 or 6 classes?

For those who care, here is a breakdown of my schedule and reading requirements (generally):

• Property (20 pages 2x per week)
• Contracts (50 pages 1x per week)
• CDR (50 pages 1x per week)
• Torts (50 pages 1x per week)
• Crim Law (40 pages 2x per week)
• Legal Writing (various reading, plus appellate brief and oral arguments)

(WOW that's about 270 pages of reading per week, 1000 per month, 3-4,000 pages of reading per semester!)

For those wondering, what else is there?

• Brief cases
• Research your appellate brief
• Write your appellate brief
• Prepare for oral arguments
• Apply for summer position
• Join an organization
• Have fun
• Drink

And I still love law school...

[guyaliyahgsh]

I'm attending a tier 4 (supposedly almost a tier 3, how they figure that out, I have no idea). I'm in the S. East (FCSL). Class of '06 is about 300 students, 700 overall. Environment is competitive (there's a required curve), however a large portion of the students are good with "getting by." I've heard reading requirements are generally the same regardless of tier...

I'm not the fastest reader. I never finished an entire book until I got to college. I'm getting faster, but there are people way faster. So in obvious conclusion, if you're a fast reader, you might have some more free time.

oh yeah... CDR stands for Civil Dispute Resolution (same as CivPro)