Secrets law school doesn’t want freshmen to know

Starting law school can be an extremely stressful time. Most undergraduate students get into the habit of coming to class whenever they want. For most undergraduates it is a fun and relaxed time. You get to law school and there are reading assignments even before the first day of class. It is a rude awakening for many that one must report to class after having read hundreds of pages of case law. Not only that, but one must also be prepared to stand up in front of all their peers and engage in the dreaded Socratic method.

Two days of classes and the Socratic method was the undoing of one of my classmates. I found him in the campus plaza grabbing his withdrawal papers. After only two days, he became so stressed with reading, preparing for class, and the Socratic method that he quit. Unlucky because he was a nice guy and if he had stayed a little longer, he would have learned two secrets that no one tells scared freshmen.

First of all, it’s not really about survival of the fittest, it’s really about survival. The old joke asks what do you call the person who ranks last in your graduating class? Answer: A lawyer. Now, I’m not trying to say there isn’t competition in law school because there is. And, there is a ton of competition for those high-ranking slots. If you want to get the thumbs up from one of the big law firms, then it’s all about your ranking. It has always been so and always will be so. However, there are only a limited number of those jobs at top-tier law firms. There are hundreds of law firms, corporations, and organizations that need exceptional attorneys and will pay them good money. All one needs to do is graduate from their school. One still needs to study and work hard, but if a top-tier law firm is not your goal, just graduate.

Graduating is still hard work, but you can find resources to make it easier. That brings us to the big secret law schools they don’t want their freshmen to know about: SCHEMES. At orientation, they tell you how important it is to outline coursework. They tell you to start your schematics early and keep them up to date. That’s the truth! A good outline will make your daily life easier and is essential for studying for final exams. After about six weeks of trying to figure out how to start a scheme, I learned a dirty little secret about my law school.

My law school kept the schematics of the best students. That sounds great, right? However, they only shared these schemes with freshmen who were considered “higher level” students by the law school. Before the first day of school, 95% of my classmates, including myself, were at a disadvantage. A group of us got together and started acquiring schematics from previous students and sharing them with everyone. We still had a lot of work and study to do, but the field had leveled. The mystery of what good scheme had been revealed. We were now free to make our own grand schemes without the stress of the unknown.

Administrators will tell freshmen that the key to success is their class outlines. Back then we had to use copiers. Today a simple Google search will return hundreds of schematics. Current and former law students have created websites with free schematics. If you’re starting your career in law school, get ahead of the game and find some schematics. There is no substitute for studying and working hard. However, there is no reason why one cannot use the resources that are freely available. Law schools make sure that their best students have impressive profiles. The internet is making sure that the other 95% of law students also have access to awesome free law school outlines. Visit our site for free law school outlines at http://www.lawschooloutlinesonline.com and do a Google search for “free law school outlines.”