Are you in law school, applying to law school, or thinking of applying to law school? Or are you just a lover of life and curious about the ins and outs of the legal profession? This post is for you and find punjab law admissions gndu ac in!
We asked an expert what he thought to be “the 8 BIGGEST mistakes that people make when trying to get into law.” Here’s what he had to say:
1) Failing to keep up with the reading.
You see reading as your biggest obstacle, but in fact you can’t really succeed until you overcome that obstacle. The law is a profession of learning and studying, and if you don’t have the intellectual ability to keep up with reading then there are lots of other careers for you out there. You may think that every professor wants to be your best friend and that law school is all about being social, but this isn’t the case. Law school is about learning and studying, not making friends or having fun. If you want to do well in law school, you must put in the effort required because if you don’t, you will be stuck in a rut and it will only get harder and harder to advance.
2) Failing to take advantage of your time & resources.
You have 20 months to study for the bar exam, and there is no way that you can study that long without outside help. It’s like saying “I have 20 feet of rope, so I’m just going to hang myself by myself.” You’re not going to do it. It’s impossible. You need help from your classmates, or/and you need to join a study group, or/and you need to have an online subscription of some sort because you simply can’t do it alone.
3) Failing to focus on passing the bar exam.
You have to have the long-term vision of passing the bar exam and nothing else. You can take your time and try to get involved in extracurricular activities, but you must keep the end goal in mind: pass the bar exam. The odds of you getting a job right out of law school are very slim (even if you have a 3.9 GPA or are “on law review”). So while there is value in taking part in extracurricular activities, it is nothing compared to being able to say that you passed the bar exam.
4) Not taking advantage of all opportunities for learning outside the classroom.
I see students fail to take advantage of classes outside their major, or classes that make their major seem less difficult, or classes that are only offered in the summer. Don’t get me wrong, law school is a tough subject. I’ve had one client study for a test when they were stressed out and still fail, so there’s no way you can learn it all in one year. But you can always find ways to reach your goals using your other strengths. I find that students really need their life outside of law school more than they realize.
5) Not completing all of the assignments that you are given.
You’ve heard it a million times. You have more than 30 hours a week of class and homework to complete, so you might be thinking “surely I can get through it!” All of those hours will count towards your GPA, so you may think that it is okay to procrastinate on certain things. But if you don’t complete all of your assignments, then you won’t be able to get an A in the course and your GPA will suffer. It is important to come into law school taking nothing for granted because if you do, the chances of you getting an A or a B in a class are slim.
6) Not taking advantage of outside resources.
I think that part of the reason people fail is because they have unrealistic expectations of themselves and/or because they don’t take advantage of all resources available to them. Online forums, text books, study groups, video lectures (like UWorld), and tutors can be helpful in times of need. They can also help you to stay motivated when you are very unmotivated.
7) Comparing yourself to others.
Don’t compare yourself to other students in law school. In life, there are those who do well and those who don’t. Don’t be discouraged if your friends are doing better than you at a certain task; instead, use it as motivation to try harder or study more. You have the ability to make this experience better for yourself with the choices that you make, and there is no reason for you to be disheartened if you just aren’t doing well at something yet.
8) Not understanding the “big picture.”
You have to think about law school as a whole. Once you realize that every class counts towards your GPA and that the classes are cumulative, then you can start to create a game plan. If you make all A’s in your 1L classes, then you will have a good chance of getting into a school with a higher ranking, which means that the overall employment rate will be better.
But what if you don’t want to go to law school? Well, my guess is that you are just exploring options or still trying to figure out what career path interests you the most.
Conclusion:
Now, if you made it this far, congrats on making it to the end! If you are thinking about law school or are currently in law school, I hope that these tips can help you make the right choices.
What do you think of these 8 mistakes? Is there anything else that you would add? Let us know in the comments below!
If anyone has any questions about their pre-law journey, please comment below and someone from our team would be more than happy to offer some advice for your situation.
