What’s Your Law School Personality?
Are you The Gunner, The ‘Common Law’ Student or The Slacker? Take our Law School Personality Quiz to find out how you’ll match up against your 1L competition.
Who Is The Slacker?
In law school, The Slacker isn’t just your average lazy student. The Slacker we’re talking about is one of those never-studied-for-the-LSAT-and-walked-out-with-a-173 kind of student.
Yes. You know who we’re talking about.
The Slacker headed to law school has managed to get through undergrad by cramming and relying on their short-term memory (and oftentimes someone else’s class notes!), to regurgitate pages of information during the final exam and earn the top grade.
But here’s the thing, those tactics don’t work in law school.
Heading into law school with a Slacker mentality is a huge mistake. Given the time and expense you’re about to invest in a legal education, if you’re a Slacker, you may want to seriously reconsider your decision to attend law school at all.
That may sound like tough love, but the world doesn’t need any more unhappy lawyers.
The Slacker’s Strengths
Now, being a Slacker isn’t all bad. Actually, the mental power and amount of focus it takes to be a Slacker is rather impressive.
A Slacker’s laser-like focus allows them to absorb enormous amounts of information in short periods of time to ace college exams or complete pending assignments.
Throughout their lives, Slackers have always managed to produce quality work despite exerting the bare minimum amount of effort.
The Slacker’s Weaknesses
It’s clear that Slackers are incredibly intelligent, resourceful, and possess an astonishing memory — characteristics that can carry you far in life.
However, in law school, none of these traits are remarkable. In fact, the majority of your law school classmates will possess those very same attributes.
So, what distinguishes the top 10 percent of any 1L class from the bottom 90 percent?
Simple. Top students don’t simply learn the material for the final exam, they internalize it throughout the semester.
You see, based on the sheer volume of material covered during each 1L course, cramming isn’t a realistic option. More importantly, even if students could cram, there’d be no benefit because law school exams reward analysis and not regurgitation or “information dumps.”
Law professors assume that students have mastered the black letter rules of each course; so, rather than testing students’ ability to recall rules and definitions, they test students’ ability to apply those rules to hypothetical fact patterns that were never raised (or even envisioned) during classroom discussion.
While a working knowledge of the various rules and their definitions are an essential starting point for any legal analysis, being able to regurgitate their definitions or elements doesn’t amount to any points on the exam.
You read that right, ZERO POINTS. Analysis cannot be memorized.
In order to do well in law school, The Slacker is going to have to throw all of their old methods out the window and start from scratch.
That means coming up with a solid study routine, managing their time wisely, and revolving their world around law school (instead of the other way around).
Law Preview (A.K.A. The Slacker’s Saving Grace)
If you’re a Slacker, all hope is not lost. Law Preview’s Law School Prep Course will save the day.
At Law Preview, we have one goal: to teach incoming 1L students the skills they need to get to the top before their first day of law school. That means starting your 1L year with a game plan for success that includes a working knowledge of the legal theories that repeat in each course, as well as the study and exam-taking skills needed to truly excel.
Here’s what you’ll learn by taking Law Preview:
- An overview of core 1L material (torts, contracts, criminal law, property, and more)
- Case briefing and case law analysis
- Proven exam-writing strategies
- How to take winning notes in law school and create outstanding outlines
- Academic success skills like time management, research techniques and more
- Legal writing, research, and oral argument
So, what are you waiting for? Don’t be such a Slacker! Enroll now and save $100 on Law Preview Courses with code: PQUIZ100.
