How does participation in student organizations relate to your law school objectives? Legal fraternities, student bar organizations, clubs based on interests and backgrounds, the school newspaper, public interest law student groups—you will be solicited by many of these to join as early as orientation week. Socializing and working for social concerns while in law school may be very appealing and important—however, prioritizing is essential.

Thoughtfully consider the time impact and be prepared to postpone active participation until after the first semester or first year.

Call it "internalization," "learning by heart," or simply "memorization," it's an important part of law school for those intending to work at their highest levels and earn grades that correspond to those efforts. Commitment of the rules, definitions, exceptions, and other essentials to memory, so that these words, phrases, maxims and even templates for persuasive arguments become an integral part of your legal vocabulary, is required to achieve the liberating degree of instant recall you will need during exams.

Need?

At a recent law school “Career Day” panel discussion, a student asked the nine panelists, “How did law school help you prepare for what you actually do from day-to-day in your law offices?” The first lawyer answered, “I didn’t learn anything useful in law school.” After the other eight spoke, he asked to amend his statement – what he meant was that he had not learned any substance dealing with the problems he now deals with daily in his specialized practice.

The study of law is a rigorous undertaking which demands a student's full attention. Therefore, the ABA Regulations (ABA Standard 304(f)) prohibit remunerative employment by full-time students in excess of 20 hours per week.

Many law schools have tighter restrictions than the ABA, prohibiting full-time first-year students from engaging in any paid employment. The faculty at many schools take this so seriously that intentional violations can be the basis for disciplinary action under the their law school Code of Student Conduct.

Plan on visiting the office of each of your professors during the semester. If you've already taken that professor's exam and received your grade, plan to go over the exam with the professor.  The key word here is "plan."  Know exactly what questions you need answered before you walk in the door.  Circle areas of your essay that you want to discuss.  Simply saying, "So why did I get a 'C+' instead of a higher grade" will get you no useful information.  Remember why you're there: you want some specifics that will help you score higher on the next exam.

Many students find the differences between law school classrooms and university classrooms refreshing. Generally speaking, you're attending law school with the "cream of the crop." Students are in the classroom because they want to become lawyers. Watch the entries for tips and comments about such classroom topics as . . .

Well, it is and it isn't. 

Maybe you've had a summer job.  It's not like that.

Maybe you've had a routine or boring job.  It's not like that.

Maybe you've been a resident physician in a busy hospital.  It's not like that, either.

The summer job ends in 10 weeks.  Usually, it doesn't require much deep thinking, or more than 40 hours per week.  Often, the college kid who is law school bound is the smartest one in the crew.  (Well, at least "book-learnin'" smart.)