MyFifteenthPost: Hello From the Other Side!
First and foremost, Happy New Year! We have now entered 2020, the beginning of a new decade. The roaring 20s! Around this time a year ago, I was submitting my law school applications and waiting for their decisions. Now, I have completed my first semester of law school and am waiting for the second semester to start. Crazy how far I’ve come.
This past semester was…a lot. The workload and the amount of information we had to remember and apply was just so much. By God’s grace I was able to adapt and make it to the end. Hair and sanity still intact lol.
I ended this semester with a 3.2 GPA. I think it’s pretty decent. Not the best but not the worst either, although I am sure others would have different opinions on that. But to me, it’s not bad at all. Of course I’m definitely encouraged to do better next semester. I’m prepared to reflect on my effort, seek some advice and adjust accordingly.
For now, here are some things I learned from my first 1L semester:
1. The only thing that matters in law school are exams. Okay perhaps I’m overgeneralizing, but exams are very important. If your syllabus indicates that exams make up 80-100% of your grade (whether in reference to just your final exam or midterm and final combined), that should be your focus.
2. Practice tests are a must. Knowing the material well is different than applying it to the exam. We usually learn the material as “In situation x, y would apply.” However, exams test nuance and finesse. It is not to trick you, but as one of my professors said, the cases that go to court are rarely clear-cut. Most often on an exam, the situation is not so clearly “x”. You have to use the facts to argue why the situation is likely or not likely “x” and why “y” may or may not apply. Multiple choice questions are even more frustrating when you don’t see the exact answer you want, so you pick something close to it, to still second-guess yourself. Mind you all of this is under a time-constraint. So again, learning how to test is very important. Things to practice: issue-spotting, concise writing, irac/creac, time management, and how your professor would write the answers to the exam.
3. Supplements are your best friend! Whether it’s to clarify, simplify, help you practice, I would really encourage looking into supplements. The highest grade I got was an A- in contracts, which I never imagined would happen. During finals week, I used a supplement that condensed all the rules we learned in like 2-3 pages and basically used that as my “outline”. It saved me time, helped me recall the rules better and more accurately and the rest is history.
4. There is nothing you can do about the curve. Worrying about it will only stress you out about something you cannot control. So don't.
5. Don’t assume the strengths/weaknesses of your classmates. Even though there is nothing you can do about the curve, you still want to be above the median at least. You don’t know what everyone else does and doesn’t know. It’s foolish to assume that because an exam/assignment was hard “everyone else must have did bad” or that just because you are above the median, you are closer to the top than you are to the median. Study like you know you are already at the bottom trying to get to the top despite others already knowing more and being more talented than you. Then, regardless of where you fall on the curve, you will at least be satisfied that you gave your best effort.