Upper Years give their take on how to succeed as a 1L
With school closing (again) and the term slowly approaching exam season, Ultra Vires asked our upper years to share some insight into how to handle exams, how to stay well, and how to survive law school in general.
Tips for Academic Success
“Read the code!” – Kent Roach (Jamie Corbett, 2L).
I did not succeed academically (Anonymous).
Some respondents suggested to stick to methods that work for you:
Ignore other people’s pace. Follow your own study habits and don’t get too caught up in the stress (Anonymous).
That said, many upper years had specific pointers:
Create your own summaries (Lucy Yao, 2L).
Read and brief your cases before lectures. Take notes. Summarize the briefs in three lines each. Make a map out of the summaries. Don’t do more than two practice exams per subject (William Mazurek, 3L).
Study groups can be helpful for motivation once you’ve already understood the law, but less helpful for actually learning it in the first place (Anonymous).
Focus less on remembering all of the doctrine or the intimate details of cases, and more on how the material all fits together as a cohesive whole and how you might use it to help someone in a real-life predicament (Teodora Pasca, 3L).
Check the past exam answers in the SLS dropbox. Make sure to check all grade levels to get an idea of what gets you extra points. In terms of study groups, don’t go for who seems the “smartest” — you’ll spend a lot of time with these guys. Make sure you like them and you work well together (Anonymous).
Listen carefully to how the professor structures and narrates the material. They have their own unique bend on the subject matter that you can pick up. Understanding the professor’s storyline will help you write the exam (Anonymous).
Extracurriculars
A lot of advice focused on finding a few things you like and sticking with them:
It’s good to choose two-ish things that you’re interested in, and then you can take a more active role in upper years (Abdullah Khan, 2L).
Don’t worry about stacking your resume. Your mental health and schoolwork are your first priorities (Anonymous).
If you’re doing something in a perfunctory manner, or just because it seems prestigious, employers will see right through that (Anvee Paranjape, 3L).
What will help you through interviews is being able to show interest and passion in your pursuits (Melody Chan, 3L).
On the other hand, you never know what you’ll discover!
As long as you aren’t burning out, try new areas of law you might be interested in. You can get a feel for what areas you might like without having to invest into an entire course in upper years (Anonymous).
Taking Care of Yourself
Get lots of strenuous physical exercise. If you don’t have time, reduce your studying levels so that you do (William Mazurek, 3L).
Try to remember that self-comparison to other 1Ls is irrelevant to your own success (Jamie Corbett, 2L).
Hang out with non-law folks (Anonymous).
Try to maintain a regular schedule, wear pants when you’re studying at home to put yourself into a studious mindset, and see people in your social bubble because the social isolation is real. Law Chats and the Student Wellness Office will likely have better recommendations, going further than “wear bottoms” (Lucy Yao, 2L).
Have a routine time during the day where you just don’t touch anything related to law school. Preferably right before bed so you don’t dream about case law (Karan Sharma, 2L).
Talk to your upper year mentors; they are an excellent resource and they have been through this before (Abdullah Khan, 2L).
It is very easy for law school to slowly take over your life, so don’t feel like you have to abandon the things you enjoyed and valued before you got here (Teodora Pasca, 3L).
Find a balance between law school and other parts of your life. Things seem much less dire when you get out of the “law bubble” (Melody Chan, 3L).
Miscellaneous advice, insight, or information
Ps get degrees. Ps also get jobs but that doesn’t rhyme (Lucy Yao, 2L).
Don’t be afraid to speak up or make a fuss if something isn’t right (Jamie Corbett, 2L).
There is this mythical event called “Call to the Bar” and once a year it is hosted at the most magical venue: Sneaky Dees. One must attend this CTTB at Sneaks prior to graduation (Anonymous).
(Editor’s note: CTTB is currently on hold sine die, pending discovery of a bar that can accommodate 75 law students while also following social distancing rules.)
And for those looking ahead to recruits:
Network now and build relationships. They’ll serve you well later on (William Mazurek, 3L).
Articling employment rates for students at the Faculty are around 93 percent every year. So there’s no need to panic (Yuki Qui, articling student).
P.S. You don’t have to do corporate law, despite the crushing pressure you may feel (Vanessa Sectakof, 3L).
Finally, many upper years wanted 1Ls to know that as strange and difficult as times feel right now, things will turn out okay:
You’re probably already pretty awesome so just keep doing you (Karan Sharma, 2L).
1L doesn’t determine your career or your life. Relax (Avnee Paranjape, 3L).
Spend this time figuring out what you are truly passionate about, and focus your energy on those things. Worrying about what everybody else is doing is a tremendous waste of energy and a disservice to yourself (Teodora Pasca, 3L).
Whatever direction you wish to take the law, be mindful of your place and your power within the system. The law is a tool accessible only to a select few and we have the opportunity to use it, whether in work or in our personal lives, to improve our society, our country, and our world, writ large. The first and most important step is to be humble, be kind, and be conscious of privilege and bias. The rest will follow (Rachel Bryce, 4L).
