1L Checkpoints

Today is Monday, September 26th.  To 1Ls all across the country, that should mean just one thing:  Only 55 Studying Days Left until Thanksgiving! But don't worry.  You have plenty of time.  Presumably, since you're concerned enough to be reading this, you've already done the basics: Attended class, had thrice-weekly debate sessions with your study group, been to your professors' offices at least twice a week, kept up with your outlining, and finished all of the assigned reading for the entire semester. Right?

Great. Now all that's left is for you to get those outlines finished, printed, and tabbed by the end of the week, so that you can spend October taking practice exams. I'm not saying that you need to do three practice exams every day; obviously, it's up to you. But I guarantee you that  most of your classmates are doing at least that many, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Once November rolls around, you'll want to shift your focus a little bit. Sure, you've got most of what's been covered in class down cold.  But that's barely enough for a B-minus. So take the 3.5 weeks from Nov. 1st until Thanksgiving to read law review articles. All of them.  Anything that's come out in a top 50 journal in the last five years is totally fair game on an exam, as are the dozens of older articles that are still considered relevant classics. This is an important time, so don't shortchange yourself.   Not only are you solidifying your knowledge base, but you're picking up those little nuggets of legal gold that make your exam smell like an A+.

After Thanksgiving, and until exams, you'll want to do all of the above in a sped-up sort of way that can fit into a repeatable daily schedule. Wake up, practice exam, study outline, read law review articles, review practice exam, meet with study group, read more articles, write your own practice exam, meet with other study group that you heard was smarter but really just has better coffee, take the practice exam you wrote, read more law review articles, grade the practice exam that you took and wrote and give yourself a B+ because goddam it you exepect better than that, study your outline, call your professor at home to see if he'd like to chat about estoppel, read some law review articles in a foreign language to keep your mind limber, sleep with your outline under your pillow, repeat.

That's about it. Obviously there's a lot of exam day stuff that we could go over, but the last thing I'd want to do right now is freak you guys out.  So, until then, good luck!

Comments

[Glen Selvy]

I can't wait until I'm a 3L. Then I'll be able to read a post like this and know which of it I really should be doing and which is just a suggestion. Right now, I just can't tell!

[Ruth]

Damn, I never slept with my outline under my pillow. No wonder I'm not getting any callbacks from OCI.

[Amanda]

Does falling asleep while reading your outline and using as a pillow work as well as sleeping with it under your pillow?

[me]

must be nice to be a 3L and have enough time to write long blog posts. Lends cred. to the "1L they scare you, 2L they kill you, 3L they bore you" cIiche'. I have to get back to reading, outlining, and practice examining now.

[me]

must be nice to be a 3L and have enough time to write long blog posts. Lends cred. to the "1L they scare you, 2L they kill you, 3L they bore you" cIiche'. I have to get back to reading, outlining, and practice examining now.

[Abbey]

Some people say that third year of law school is easy.
Those people are liars.

[Ian]

Ya Fed Courts, Seminar Paper, clerkship interviews, TLR...its a friggin breeze.

[Oklahoma City School of Law 4L]

The saying should be: "1L: scare you to death with a miniscule amount of work; 2L: work you to death with heavier academic load and a ridiculous amount of extracurriculars, including flying back to interviews all over the country; 3L: continue to work you to death and add editorial board duties, but you are used to it," but that wouldn't be as catchy, would it?

[wordhomie]

Dear God Glen, if you think you need to do 1/4 of that get on the blood thinners now. And he's been doing this since his first year and he turned out alright so i think you can pause to read it, just don't lollygag...those foreign law review articles aren't going to read themselves.

[Reckless Murder]

There is one step that I prefer that Wings didn't mention. He is the EIC (EAC?) of TLR so you might be better off just sticking to his plan. But in order to keep law school work fun, I try to find citation errors in international law journals. I see how many I can find in an hour, then I try to beat it. I make it into a game.

dude, i'm a 2L...grades dont matter. i recommend drinking as many french martinis between now and final exams. you will all be fine. remember, i'm a 2L and know everything now.

[Moonlighting in Misery]

I don't know about you, but about the first of November is when I make my trip to the local psychic/palm & tarot card reader in order to get a good handle on what the Professor will put on the exam when he finally writes it the first week of December.

Either that or I visit the local voodoo priestess for a couple curses to place on the students I fear will kill me in the curve.

[jason]

I never slept with my outlines...

I bought them a few drinks and tried, but to no avail.

Damnit.

[val]

1Ls:

That "call your professor at home to discuss estoppel" part... That was serious.

The professors look forward to it.

[jason]

post more, i'm bored at work

[Mel]

That was very, very evil.

[PG]

But don't stalk the professors. They can get restraining orders. Cf. "Lord of the Outlines," Colum. L. Revue, Spring 2005.

(There's an article in my Federalism reading -- Deborah Jones Merritt, Commerce!, 94 Mich. L. Rev. 674 (1995) -- that really does cite the lyrics of a song from a 1980 CLS musical. And my Property professor was singing a Patsy Cline parody today. 2L year actually is all about Law Revue; 1L year was just getting the experience to write it.)

[Jime]

Bien hecho, yo tambien ire a conocer ese lugar fantastico.

[Lauretta]

Que bonito, yo tambien pienso asi, que continue la onda!.

[Djenka]

He dicho que no lo se varias veces, y ustedes se niegan a entenderlo

[Jimmy]

mmm.. yes it is

[Macalla]

Vamos al mundial de football, quien se une a nuestra escurcion?

[Rose]

we write from the northen island. congrats.

[Anetta]

ur great, i want to meet you!!!

[Garrilo]

La china no es ni de china ni de japon