The First Year Versus the Last Year of Law School
The first year of law school can be an intense exercise in adaptation. While you may begin attending law school, whether online at an institution like California Desert Trial Academy College of Law, or in a physical classroom, the first few months especially can be difficult—no matter how prepared you thought you were! All the talk in the world can be helpful before you begin school, but it cannot compare to the experience of studying voluminous amounts of coursework, learning to organize copious amounts of study material, and also juggling other issues which can be stressful too such as competition with other students—and extraneous worries which may present themselves quickly, such as where to intern in the summer after your first year. Expect a heavy course load, expect to be as busy with law school as you would be a full-time job (and then some). Expect to be extremely challenged—and to get through the worst of it in the first year, hopefully.
What can you do to make the first year easier on yourself? Make sure you have the proper mental tools, refining your reading comprehension and writing skills, and all the recommended study resources. Be prepared to stay extremely organized and avoid procrastination at all cost. Missing class or seeing how many lectures you can skip out on will not serve you well at all and pulling all-nighters to study is not the route to go in law school either. Establish good studying habits from the beginning, to include finishing all your reading on time and briefing all your cases, attending class prepared and taking extensive notes, and either creating or joining a study group online or in person are all good points to follow—plus remembering to get lots of sleep.
Fast forwarding to your last year in law school, assuming all has gone reasonably well, you can expect to know exponentially more about the law and be much more confident in attending, participating in—and passing classes. This is the time to pace yourself so that you have plenty of time to complete all your final assignments while keeping your grades up, along with networking, so you begin working toward finding a great job when you graduate. And although it may never seem like there are enough hours in the day to get everything done, enjoy your final year, savor it, and excel.
Our mission at CDTA College of Law is to educate, train, and develop extraordinary legal advocates. Your legal education will be comprised of bar-tested academic subjects, skills training, and values reinforcement. Upon completion of your four-year course of study you will be fully qualified to take and pass the California Bar examination. Call us today at (760) 342-0900 or find out more online here.