A guide to be at the top of your class in law school (Pt. 1 : what to do during the semester)
Iāve had so many question about how to prepare for law school and how to study law and get great grades so here you go!
Disclaimer : I go to law school in Paris, France so my advice may not be appropriate to law school in all countries! Feel free to try what seems useful for you and to leave out the rest.
I really do believe that if you follow these advice youāll be in the top of your class. These are all things I wish I knew earlier because figuring out law school AND trying to ace law school at the same time is so tiring. All these tips really worked for me and this is what I do everyday to try and get the best grades possible so hopefully they will be useful to you.
YES it does take a lot of work to do very well in law school and there is no shortcut. You need to be willing to put in the work if you want to succeed. These tips are no miracle solutions to work less, just tips to work better and more efficiently than everyone else in your class, thus making you one of the top students.
1. Prepare your tutorials classes thoroughly
Tutorial classes must be your number 1 priority. I mean it. There is nothing more important than your tutorial classes (Ā« TD Ā» in French). This means that you must spend as much time as necessary to prepare them. Do the assigned reading, make summaries, write the assigned essays, etc.
I canāt stress this enough. Tutorials are the only classes where youāll be in smaller groups, able to ask questions to a tutor. You will also be training for the exams so being able to participate actively will make a huge difference in your grade. Tutorial classes are the most difficult part of law school in France and a lot of other students will try to make themselves invisible in the back of the classroom. This is soooo tempting when you havenāt prepared enough because you are just so afraid to be asked questions by your tutor. Been there, done that. Biggest mistake ever.
Oh and did I mention that the grades you will get during those classes will be a significant part of your final grade ? So working very hard for you tutorials means 2 things : you are way more prepared for the exam + you already have good grades that count towards your final grade.
2.Ā How to behave during your tutorial classes
Tutorial classes will often be something like 4:30 hours a week. There are the 4:30 hours a week when you canāt make any excuses. Even if you are very shy, or if you really lack self-confidence, or if you are very lazy, these are the 4:30 hours a week when you canāt show it.
NEVER miss a tutorial. Again, there are the most helpful class you will have + you tutor gets to grade you. There are so few grades in law school that any good grade you get will make a huge difference.
if you absolutely cannot go to a tutorial, make sure to email your tutor. Apologize and ask him if heās giving another tutorial to another group at another time in the week. If not, ask if any other tutor do. If he doesnāt know, ask around to try and find another tutorial to go to.
sit upfront. No excuses. Have all your material ready in front of you.
try to make it your goal to answer every single one questions your tutor ask. You must get your tutor to notice you. Believe me, youāll get a better grade for it. Also chances are that you will never be picked randomly to answer a question that you donāt know the answer of. Do not be scared to look pretentious or to look like a know it all. Donāt be afraid to look smart, because you are smart. Youāre here to succeed, so act like it.
ask your tutor every single one questions youāve asked yourself about what the professor said during the lectures or about the assigned reading / exercices. Also, if your question if a bit of topic or needs a very long and detailed answer, just wait the end of the class to ask it. Itās just super annoying when someone goes of topic during a tutorial because once again tutorials are the perfect place to understand everything about the subject and ace your exams. Remember you need to act smart, prepared and efficient. Not cocky or selfish.
take as many notes as you can. Donāt be afraid to ask you tutor to slow down or repeat something.
be nice and friendly to everyone in your class.
3. How to prepare for your tutorials
You can apply these tips to any class you have to prepare really. I know in some countries you have to prepare for your lectures but again I go to law school in France and tutorial classes are the one which you need to spend the most time preparing for.
So youāll probably have 3 tutorial classes a week. The time you need to spend to prepare them will of course depend on the professor, the tutor, the subject, the exercices given each week, etc. Iād say that spending 3 hours on each tutorial is the minimum amount of time. Of course, if you have essays to hand in that will be graded by the tutor, 6-7 hours are a minimum. It can go up to 10-15 hours of preparation for more complex subjects or if a lot of reading is required.
You need to aim at the perfect grade, the A*, the 20/20. You have all the time you want, all the books you need, the internet, friends, a tutor that you can email, etc. Youāre just so much more likely to get good grades in tutorial classes than at the final exam. So get those good grades.
Use the online database (Lexis, Dalloz, etc). Work in the library to use all the books on the subject. I guarantee that the other students will be to lazy to do so or wonāt even know that these sources exist during their first year. If youāre lost, ask someone at your library to explain it all to you.
To prepare a tutorial I will :
read the notes I took during the lecture and complete them with books. Add the legal definitions, explanations on things you donāt understand, some examples that you like, some diagrams if they help you, etc.
do the assigned reading to prepare for the tutorial and make small summaries. You wonāt have time to read through these materials again for the final exam.
do the exercices. At that time I will make lots of research on the only database to make sure I donāt leave out anything.
make sure that I will be able to answer the tutorās questions quickly. Have all your legal definitions ready as they will likely ask what those terms mean and who looked them up. Be able to talk about the texts you read (but if you wrote small summaries it should be easy).
Given all the time you need to spend on your tutorials, donāt be too hard on yourself when it comes to lectures. Just showing up, being focused, and taking note that are as detailed as possible is enough.
For your main subjects, you will re-read, correct and complete your notes when preparing for your tutorials. AFTER the tutorial, when youāve asked all your questions, make summaries of your notes. Usually I use the structure of the lecture and add everything important I learned during my preparation and during the tutorial.
For the other subjects, those with no tutorials and only final exams, just make sure you have good notes at the end of the semester. To be honest, I often donāt have time to go to all those lectures so I usually have a arrangement with friends I trust and who take good notes. We share the lectures and our notes so we donāt have to go all the time. To be honest you will just have to cram before the exam as those subject are often just stuff you have to learn by heart. No need to spend your precious time revising those during the semester.
stormborns
ellievsbear
pixelskylines
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
areudirty
