Our students thrive
Since 1998, BARBRI Law Preview has been helping students find success in law schools across the country. Consistently, they attribute their law school success to Law Preview and the important difference it made for them during their first year and beyond.
"Law Preview is both a wake-up call and a road map to success in your first year of law school. I received personal attention and exposure to many of the fundamental concepts of my 1L courses. Law Preview not only prepared me to excel, it also gave me the confidence to face an otherwise daunting first year. I finished my first year in the top 10% of my class and will transfer to a higher ranked law school in the fall. Thank you, Law Preview! [Ranked #20 out of 269 students]."
Anonymous, Michigan State University Detroit College of Law, Class of 2013
"Law Preview did a great job in preparing me for what each course was going to entail. They gave me some insight into what contracts really was, what a tort is, and how legal writing would be part of the curriculum. Attending Law Preview so close to the start of classes also got me mentally prepared to go back to an academic setting and be ready for readings and classrooms again. The materials from the case brief skeleton to the online multiple-choice to the year-long calendar were impactful for maintaining a good pace, briefing cases with speed, and preparing for finals."
Tai K., University of Southern California School of Law, 2022
"Since I just received my grades from the first semester yesterday, I do not know what I’m ranked yet, but I did get 3 As and 1 A-!! Law Preview definitely made a huge impression on my law school experience. The most important thing I took out of it was how much Don stressed to us that the 1st year matters the most. I always had that in the back of my mind at all times and that is what kept me going and striving to succeed. While everyone around me I felt complained about how hard it was and basically wanted to give up, I just kept remembering what Don said every day that once you get through the 1st year, the rest is easy! It also made me not want to settle for anything less than a 4.0 and so that’s what I worked toward and I’m extremely pleased that I have no regrets about the effort I put in because I did everything I could have possibly done. . . . I also benefitted from Law Preview in that it stressed the importance of taking note of the things professors said in class that other students would think were trivial because those actually can matter the most and always find their way on the exam. For example, my torts professor mentioned one small detail in class that a certain case (that we were required to look up on our own time) might be on the exam, and I was SO happy i took the time to do that because the facts and issue in that case were EXACTLY the same on the exam and worth 20 essay pts! I really liked all the professors that came and lectured at law preview as well. My favorite was Jody Kraus who taught us Contracts because although he was intimidating at first, that definitely prepared me for some of the professors I had last semester! (I also really appreciated Don telling us to make sure we were well-prepared for that lecture!) Whenever I was called on to recite in class I just kept thinking how Jody told us that even if you’re not sure what you’re talking about, SOUND confident, and that helped a lot. . . . I also really found the schedule Law Preview laid out for us very helpful because I think a lot of people go into law school not knowing what the average time commitment is and I just kept thinking 9 hrs a day and would try to aim for that! In the beginning of school, I was trying to do my homework for class the night before and then I realized that on the schedule we were given it said to do the assignments 2 nights in advance and that definitely was helpful!! Much less stressful that way. . . . More than anything, thank you Law Preview for being my motivation to strive for a 4.0 and constantly remind myself how important the first year grades are!"
Chirstina G., Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Class of 2012
"Law Preview provided a good insight into the law school experience before I actually started which calmed all my anxieties by having an idea of what to expect. The knowledge of the subject matter discussed in Law Preview also came in handy when it came up during the lectures which made it seem more like a revision as it was familiar, especially in areas like Torts and Contracts."
Farari M., Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Class of 2024
"Law Preview helped me feel comfortable going into school. I knew the tasks that were ahead of me and how best to handle them. I understood how to brief, how to organize a study schedule, and some of the basic premises of core courses that allowed me to be able to focus my studying and class preparation more efficiently. Furthermore, Law Preview simply provides students with confidence which, especially during the first semester, is lacking because no feedback is received (except in Legal Writing) until January. I do not know my current class rank because my school does not rank after the first semester, but I finished with a 3.69 and Law Preview played a large role in my first semester success."
Raymond G., New York Law School, Class of 2011
"First, Law Preview basically demystified law school. I know a lot of students who came in and were just spinning their wheels the first month or two. Even worse, they were reverting back to their college mentality of there’s always tomorrow. I knew from the summer that tomorrow was something that you had to be ready for. In fact, I usually prepared for tomorrow’s tomorrow. Law Preview really got me thinking about how to plan and how to prepare for the endgame, exams. Without the focus, I don’t think I would have done as well as I did. Starting from the first day I had a schedule I kept to fairly strictly when I started, but then I let loose a little as I found out what my strengths and weaknesses were (work well in the morning – good to take a break in the afternoon – need some time off before bed). Law Preview helped me sort out the hours and figure out how to make it so that it would be a realistic schedule so I wouldn’t burn out come November. I saw a lot of people do the opposite – skirt the stuff in September/October and then end up way behind with no time to review OR prepare properly for exams. This is a little less of a direct effect, but it also gave me some confidence in terms of being willing to make mistakes. I remember during the summer session I offered an answer to a question posed by the Contracts professor and I was dead wrong (he was nice about it). Although it was somewhat humiliating at the time, the experience prepared me to be willing to accept my errors and learn from them – it was the fact I thought through the question AND could see what was wrong with my logic that mattered more. I’m not afraid to raise my hand in class and offer an answer to a difficult question because it will either affirm my knowledge or help me understand my mistakes. It is far better to blush in class than to panic on the exam or explain to a prospective employer why you received a C in Contracts. I guess you could say Law Preview made me a little bolder."
Christopher L., Suffolk University Law School, Class of 2013
"Law Preview provided me with invaluable insight and helpful tools for tackling the rigors of 1L. The program gave me a level of confidence which allowed me to hit the ground running as I embarked on my law school experience. There is no doubt in my mind that Law Preview was instrumental in enabling me to finish my 1L year in the top 10% of my class and being invited to join the Law Review. Don, thank you for an outstanding course!"
Paul G., Boston College Law School, 2020
"Law Preview was critical in giving me the strategic advantages that allowed me to excel during the 1L year. Many of my colleagues did not realize the correct pacing and preparation schedule until it was far too late. I appreciated Don’s realistic and blunt advice about the difficulties you will face during the first year. Law school is about hard work and proper preparation, and Law Preview made this unambiguously clear through the Strategies for Academic Success sessions, as well as the experience of preparing for the mini-courses at Law Preview. . . . Last, and maybe most important, I left Law Preview excited to start school. When the year began I was able to step through the doors with the confidence of having an explicit and detailed plan about what was going to happen. Carrying through with the Law Preview schedule allowed me to go into exams confident, relatively stress-free, and somewhat rested. While this it was not a particularly fun experience to go through finals, I know that my experience was far better than most. [Ranked top 1% after first year]."
Anonymous, Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, Class of 2011
"Great experience with Law Preview. Support material (online videos) after the course and continual study tips helped reinforce the material taught in the classroom. Highly recommend. Felt prepared for class discussions and received A-s in the two courses that were introduced in-depth at Law Preview."
Anonymous, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
"Law Preview had an amazing impact on my education and social life – I felt prepared from the very beginning of the year and met my best friends during the week-long class. It covered every aspect of how law school is structured. How to strategically approach classes and exams, and how the legal job process works. While other new students were trying to figure out how to study and how to balance their time, I was already in a comfortable routine after Law Preview. As a true testament to the program’s efficacy, my friends and I (all former Law Preview students) obtained summer associate positions with various big law firms after our 1L year. This is usually very rare for first-year law students, but Law Preview enabled us to start strong and plan ahead for opportunities that other students didn’t even know about. I’m so glad I took Law Preview’s class."
Linda Q., Northwestern University School of Law, 2020
"It made me more confident in the material and briefing in the beginning, and the review videos were a great review for the final. I definitely tried to work to the BARBRI time schedule as well to devote that many hours to school work."
Anonymous, Boston University School of Law, Class of 2024
"Law Preview was beneficial in that it helped strip away some of the anxiety and myths about first year law school while also conveying the reality of the large amount of time and effort that would be required of students if they wanted to succeed. There are no magic words or formulas to success but Law Preview passed on tools and techniques for studying so that I was able to hit the ground running from the very first day of school. The tools and practice from Law Preview allowed me to focus on the substance of what was being discussed in class and in the readings. Rather than trying to remember what the heck IRAC was or learning how to write case briefs and read case books effectively the first few weeks of the semester I’d already had a week of practice on how to accomplish those tasks thanks to my time with Law Preview. One of the first legal writing assignments at my school during first semester was to write a case brief which I already knew how to write thanks to the templates from Law Preview and session on the topic. I got 100% on the brief. The familiarity and introduction to various topics and projects covered during the first year of law school became a huge time saver. And any law school student will tell you that anything that saves time is invaluable in law school."
Anonymous, Whittier Law School, Class of 2011
"Law Preview set the stage for my success at Columbia. I don’t have any lawyers in my family and none of my close friends went to law school, so I didn’t have any guidance before I started. Law Preview gave me practical advice that I could trust on the basics, like how to brief a case, what a supplementary companion is, and when to outline. I still use the templates and timelines provided for all of my law school classes. The course put me in the right mindset going into law school and provided me with the foundational knowledge on how to do well that I would not otherwise have had. [4.0 GPA after the first semester]."
Anonymous, Columbia Law School, Class of 2024
"Law Preview was a great decision for me. I have been out of school for a few years and needed a jump start. The comprehensive program gave me the framework to start classes confident and prepared [ranked #1 out of 140]."
Anonymous, Western State University College of Law, Class of 2011
"As someone who had been out of school for over 4 years before starting law school, Law Preview was a great mental exercise to get me back into the swing of being a student. More importantly, it gave me a sneak peak on what my 1L readings would look like, and gave me early practice of case-briefing. In addition, I didn’t have any family members who attended law school, and not too many friends either; Barbri resources helped answer questions that I had about 1L, or gave me the footing to figure out which questions to ask in the first place. [3.65 GPA after first semester]"
Anonymous, Boston College Law School, Class of 2023
"I really feel like I was more prepared than anyone else in my class. This definitely gave me an edge. After the first year I did so well, I’ll be attending Washington University in St. Louis in the Fall! Thank you Law Preview! =) [Ranked #1 out of 63 students]."
Jonathan S., University of Akron School of Law, Class of 2013 (transferred to Washington University School of Law)
"Law Preview gave me the perspective I needed to hit the ground running and reach my goals. While my classmates were still trying to figure out what was happening, I was well into my outlines. At the end of the semester I knew how to use the outlines to write excellent exams because I knew what to expect."
Janet L., University of North Carolina School of Law, Class of 2021
"My school does not rank students, so I don’t know my percentile. But I am very pleased with my grades–almost all As. I know that Law Preview was particularly helpful in getting me into the right mindset from the very beginning. I already had a framework for each course, and it made it easier for me to see the big picture from day 1. This is where I feel I excelled past my classmates–my ability to understand the material thematically. I did not spend my first weeks struggling over minute, unnecessary details, or teaching myself the components of a brief, as others did."
Anonymous, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Class of 2011
"Law Preview really helped to acclimatize me to law school and put me on the right track to performing very well on my first-semester law school exams. [4.0 GPA after the first semester]"
Anonymous, New York University School of Law, Class of 2024
"BARBRI Law Preview was invaluable in helping me understand what I needed to do to succeed in law school and gave me a good overview of the 1L topics. Also, thanks to Barbri’s online resources throughout the semester, I was able to better understand some of the more confusing aspects of my classes. [3.9 GPA after the first semester]."
Anonymous, University of Texas School of Law, Class of 2023
"It was good coming into law school with an idea of what to expect. Aside from being familiar with some of the substantive material covered in class first semester, it was helpful knowing what to expect from the law school experience. There were multiple occasions during the semester when I found myself looking back on the notes I had taken at law preview for clarification on different things. All in all Law Preview was a great experience [ranked #25 out of 144 after first semester]."
Anonymous, Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law, Class of 2011
"Law Preview really helped me to understand how to take notes in class and study for finals, which was very different from my undergraduate study methods. As a first-generation student, I had no idea how law school worked or what kinds of things I should get involved in, so Law Preview was immensely helpful."
Anonymous, Yale Law School, Class of 2023
"I loved it! [Law Preview] made me feel much more confident in class and studying!"
Katherine M., Notre Dame Law School, Class of 2011
"On the first day of law school classes, I felt completely prepared for the experience. I was already ahead of most of my class in knowing how to brief a case, create an outline, and take lecture notes that would help me prepare for exams. I also had a unique understanding of the subject material in my first-year classes due to the fantastic road map provided by each of my Law Preview professors. I’m currently ranked #1 out of 320 students and I don’t think I would be having nearly the academic success that I’m having today without the solid grounding that Law Preview provided. I can’t say enough good things about my Law Preview experience — it was worth every dime and a whole lot more. It may be the best-kept secret for how to prepare and succeed in law school!"
James C., Seattle University School of Law, Class of 2012
"Law Preview was an incredible resource that provided me with a real introduction to what law school would be like and what would be covered. I had a better understanding of the material because Law Preview provided a solid foundation for it and as a result, I finished my first semester of law school with excellent grades."
Rosa C., City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, Class of 2023
"I’m not sure what my rank is. My school only ranks 1Ls at the end of the academic year. My grades after first semester were: A in Contracts, A in Crim Law and A- in Torts. The top 10% gets A’s and the next 15% get A-‘s. . . . I am very happy that I attended Law Preview for the following reasons: practice reading and briefing cases; having some briefs already written at the beginning of law school; knowing what some of the seminal cases are about in each subject area; getting it beaten into my head that I need to actually brief all the cases (which I did); doing the reading two days ahead so I never got behind, even if something came up; learning about reporter names, how to tell where a case is from, research strategies; having the confidence at the beginning of the semester that I knew what I was doing . . . Being in Law Preview was really exciting because it confirmed for me that I find the law interesting and that law school was the right decision for me. Also, having confidence at the beginning of the semester is a huge advantage. Even if by the end of the semester it seemed like everyone else was comfortable with the material, etc., I still think I benefited by being calmer/more confident right from the beginning."
Anonymous, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Class of 2011
"I entirely credit Law Preview with my success this semester. I came into the week-long class with no idea of what law school really was and more importantly for my GPA, what law professors really wanted. Law Preview gave me a road map of how to succeed. I closely followed their advice and have two A’s and an A- to show for it. Next semester, I plan to continue my regimen from the fall while also signing up for the online exam review through Law Preview. I really can’t say enough good things about this program and I’ve been encouraging all my law school bound friends to sign up."
Emily W., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Yeshiva University, Class of 2013
"Law Preview let me know what to realistically expect from law school. It was shocking to hear the amount of time required to excel in law school. But after hearing from many professors during law preview, I knew what to expect from day 1 which helped me stay ahead and prevent me from getting behind."
Anonymous, American University, Washington College of Law, 2022
"Law preview gave me the tools and confidence I needed to hit the ground running when school began. It was just like you said, when I was outlining everyone else was still reading, when I was breaking my outline down to something I could internalize, everyone else was outlining. This left me time to take plenty of practice exams and bring my A game during exams. [Ranked #14 out of 150 students]."
Anonymous, Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School, Class of 2013
"Great experience with Law Preview. Support material (online videos) after the course and continual study tips helped reinforce the material taught in the classroom. Highly recommend. Felt prepared for class discussions and received A-s in the two courses that were introduced in depth at Law Preview. Thanks!!"
Anonymous, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, Class of 2022