I Haven't Started and I'm Already Annoyed

[Mr. Moo]

Cliff's Notes + law school = crazy delicious.

 

[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by Mr. Moo

Cliff's Notes + law school = crazy delicious.

Yeah, Huntsman if you read through the Emanuel's outlines or whatever the books are that track your classes' casebooks (forget which actual publication series this is), you don't really have to read the cases to get a 90% understanding of them. also get an outline of the class if you can, or at least an outline of the subject from a different student/prof since it's likely 90% the same (obviously, it's the same basic laws).

 

[AR_Six]

^Or you could just get the note packages made by the people in the year before yours. I distribute mine to the class below me and they buy me beers. It's a shortcut some people take. If you really want to be competitive for the good jobs, though, you need to actually know the material off the top of your head, which entails making those note packages yourself.

Re: OP, fwiw, everyone in law who does reasonably well seems to come up with a system. The sooner you figure out what system works for you, the sooner you'll start competing. For me, establishing a day-in-day-out library routine I could adhere to was essential. Not so for everyone. I know a guy who did his best learning when he wasn't anywhere near the school.

 

[DNW]

If I knew then what I know now, I would've found all the outlines for all my classes before classes start, then build on that from day one. It would've saved a lot of time from taking notes furiously while the prof spoke, and instead just focus on what he was saying.

 

[intent]

Originally Posted by JD_May

^Or you could just get the note packages made by the people in the year before yours. I distribute mine to the class below me and they buy me beers. It's a shortcut some people take.

In some schools that's a breach of academic honesty, and you can face dire consequences if someone rats you out.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by intent

In some schools that's a breach of academic honesty, and you can face dire consequences if someone rats you out.

Never heard of this before. Which schools discipline students for obtaining outlines from someone else who had taken the course?

 

[Flambeur]

lots of bitching in this thread...

 

[lawyerdad]

Good luck, H. I'm confident you'll do fine.

 

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by intent

In some schools that's a breach of academic honesty, and you can face dire consequences if someone rats you out.
I suppose I can see that; I know of programs (not law) where they even go so far as to ban laptop computers. One of my profs has in fact said that you can't use note packages you haven't made yourself. But generally it's actually encouraged at my school... in trusts, a girl named Jen who graduated 2 years ago made a set of notes that have since been widely circulated and used by pretty much everyone, to the point where the prof said during lecture "now, this may throw some of you off as I'm departing from Jen's notes for a little bit..."

Anyway, I feel as though using others' notes is actually not the best strategy, I'd rather make my own. But others seem to have success with it.

 

[odoreater]

My strategy was to avoid the library as much as possible. Actuallly, I did most of my studying on the bus from NJ to NYC and back home.

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by JD_May

I suppose I can see that; I know of programs (not law) where they even go so far as to ban laptop computers. One of my profs has in fact said that you can't use note packages you haven't made yourself. But generally it's actually encouraged at my school... in trusts, a girl named Jen who graduated 2 years ago made a set of notes that have since been widely circulated and used by pretty much everyone, to the point where the prof said during lecture "now, this may throw some of you off as I'm departing from Jen's notes for a little bit..."

Anyway, I feel as though using others' notes is actually not the best strategy, I'd rather make my own. But others seem to have success with it.

Ironically, you probably benefited the most by making the notes - more than others did in using them.

 

[yerfdog]

I had a crim class where everyone used an outline that wasn't really an outline so much as a near word-for-word transcript of what the professor said. it had been refined over the course of several years.

The weird part was, the professor spoke without notes, only going along through the casebook, and it SEEMED (before we got ahold of the outline) like he was making up all these bizarre criminal law hypotheticals off the top of his head. Yet almost exactly the same words came out of his mouth, with the same pacing as the years before (despite having socratic interrogations of students, that you would think would throw some randomness into it)

 

[IUtoSLU]

Good luck, Hunts.

It is all about expectations. You can bet that from now on, every professor will expect that their class is the most important. Each professor will also expect you do have unlimited time to devote to each reading. You will also be expected to know the cases and materials perfectly before you get to class, to the point where you ask yourself, "If this much prep is required and I am expected to completely understand the cases before I come to class, then what is the prof teaching me?" The answer to that question is the same as the tree falling in the woods question.

 

[airportlobby]

Originally Posted by Flambeur

lots of bitching in this thread...

Have you ever spent time with a bunch of law students? This is the only skill taught by JD programs. Unless self-entitlement is a skill.

To the OP - if you aren't going deep into debt for the degree, STFU, already. Jeeze. You're gonna be popular with your fellow students, who are mortgaging their futures for the degree, while you can back away at any time. Just be sure to mention the fact that you aren't paying for law school at least once every day on campus. This will guarantee popularity. Also that you are only there to learn "patent law."

 

[Gotham]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Some classes I really liked. I think, if I had been a trust fund baby, I'd have gone to school for life, just taking classes I enjoyed.

Fo real. If i were a trust fund hookup, Id think id be a professional student too