10 Questions for Law Students (now with answers!)

Reading through my old posts, on July 11, 2009, I did a post called "10 Questions for Law Students" where I posted open questions to current law students.  Although that post in particular received no comments, I was able to discover some answers on my own.  Now that I have completed my first year of law school, I can answer all of those questions I had, for the benefit of you, the soon to be 1L.


Question 1: I only am scheduled for about 10-15 hours of class, as of now. I am wondering how accurate this is. 
I originally guessed that it didn't matter, you spent about 40 hours per week at the school, regardless.  For a 1L, this is both true and not true.  Your scheduled class time is your class time.  That's it.  However, you will have small group TA sessions (at UB they are Law Scholar Sessions) probably once a week per class.  I really recommend these when you first start out, especially since the TAs tend to share outlines, which as a 1L you don't know how to write.  UB also had "orientation" every Tuesday during lunch for the entire first semester, but they always served pizza.  In addition, there are some law school social or academic functions to go to, you will probably want to go to the "study tips" session, the "writing an exam" session, and  pick a special interest law group to attend (you know, animal rights, international, IP, environmental).


So while on one hand, yes, what you see on your schedule is what you get, on the other hand, there are always other things coming up.  But as a 1L you also will probably study at home, from the hours of 10PM - 2AM, a lot.

Question 2: Additionally, in college I was told to expect about 2 hours of work outside of class for each hour spent at class. Therefore 15 credit hours per week was assumed to have about 30 hours of work per week outside of class. Is there a commonly accepted ratio for law school? 
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Two hours a week of work outside of class! As a 1L (or at least a first semester 1L) you will probably spend at least 4 hours a night reading and prepping for the next day. The big difference between undergrad and law school is that in law school, you can't slack off until the week before finals.  You will quite literally spend 4 hours per day every day reading.

Question 3: And as a follow up, I found that I spent about 10 hours per week outside of class doing school work, the rest of the time I spent socializing, playing sports, Halo and Smash Bros, or doing volunteer and extra curricula. Plus I was employed all through college. How much free time can I expect?
First semester, almost none.  Seriously, see family and friends now, go out and party, play videogames, because it gets really hard to balance your time once school starts.  The good news is it is mostly because you haven't learned these skills yet.  One thing I highly, highly recommend is finding the campus gym and going at least twice a week.  I never did this first semester, and second semester, when I started going again, I felt so much better.  Also, you can socialize, but no more all afternoon gaming sessions, or all night movie/pizza/beer binges, instead, you will learn to meet a few friends for dinner or lunch, because you know you have to go back and hit the books later.
Question 4: I have been told law school is uber competitive and there is no such thing as a study group since no one wants to help anyone get ahead. Is this true?
Yes and no.  Yes, the law school grade curve literally puts people in rank, 1-70, in each class.  Yes, there are some people who will not send you notes if you miss a class.  Having said that, no one is deliberately sabotaging anyone else by sending bad notes, and I have found some really great study groups that have immensely improved my scores.

Question 5: Do professors really call on you at random all the time, or just on days when they don't have a full lecture planned?
Ok, I have written about this a few times, it isn't that bad.  Also, each professor has a style.  Some call on one or two people per class, and they have to know the entire case.  Some professors call on 15-20 per class and just ask one or two questions.  Some use shuffled cards, some use random numbers, some go alphabetical.  You will get used to it, and survive it.  However, expect to get called on, I have never had a professor go an entire class without calling on someone.

Question 6: My college roommate is now in medical school, and he reports that he is almost encouraged NOT to go to class but to instead download the notes and audio recording. Is this the case in law school?
No, in fact ABA rules allow only 5 absences per class.  You will quickly discover, and be reminded during orientation, that there is a direct correlation between missed classes and lower grades.

Question 7: My other college roommate told me, "Law school is no different than college except you have to read every night." Fair assumption?
Sort of, except you are getting older, and therefore you have more and more "life" distractions.  You can't hide away in the dorm and spend mom and dad's money.  You can't plead youthful ignorance to missed deadlines.  You have to start thinking about career choices, and really seriously consider this as the first step of becoming a lawyer.  But you will also find that it is still "school."

Question 8: Take notes via laptop or pen and paper? (I'm leaning heavily towards pen and paper, besides, how do you not get distracted by Twitter/Facebook/Instant Messanger?)
I wrote about this for my school here, but I will just give the quick and dirty: Pen and paper for class notes, laptop for re-typed notes, outlines, and papers.  Only email while in class.

Question 9: At every open house or accepted student's day I attended, or every blog I read by law students or admissions experts, incoming students always ask "What can I do to prepare?" and current students or experts always say, "Relax, enjoy life, spend time with friends and family, do fun reading, see a movie, sleep." Anyone else want to add an opinion?
Yes, do these things.  Do not prepare.  If anything, maybe brush up on structure of government type things.  My summer 1L reading list post has some more on this, but seriously, relax.

Question 10: I am not sure what kind of law I would like to practice, or how I will ultimately use my law degree. Is this going to put me behind? Should I pick something that sounds good and go for it, or should I just wait and see if anything catches my eye? (I ask because I know that pretty much as soon as I start school I also need to be thinking about a summer job or internship, and start defining my career.)
Well, two things.  On one hand, don't worry too much about this, because you don't really know what different types of legal practice really mean until you really get into school and the whole legal community.  Secondly, really, especially first semester, your grades are very, very important.  Focus on grades above all else, and you will be amazed how many doors will open for you.  Beginning of second semester you will have time to evaluate your options, try to have as many as possible by getting good grades.