Actually, it’s my first day of law school orientation, which for some reason is five days long. Still, it’s my first “first day of school” since 1999. I don’t remember there being required reading or assignments due last time around.
Wish me luck!
I resent the attempt by the learned poster to turn this thread into a circus.
Enjoy!
My threads seldom end up as anything other than circuses. Circii. Festivals.
Wow. Big doings. Good luck in your new adventure!
Congratulations, Really Not All That Bright! I loved law school, and I hope you do as well - it can be an amazing three years.
Remember: Law schools admit their students with the expectation that the vast, vast majority will graduate. You will not fail out. So long as you do the reading and pay attention in class, you will almost certainly do quite well. Don’t drive yourself nuts with stress, and enjoy learning some really neat stuff!
Also, a tip: Most profs will give you a half-grade bump if you actually participate in class - ask questions, volunteer to answer questions, whatever. It is exceedingly foolish not to take advantage of these policies. Don’t be a gunner, but do speak up in class! No one will remember if you get something wrong, they will remember if you get something right - and in either event, you’re getting a free grade bump.
What? When I was in law school all the grading was anonymous.
Congrats!
Here’s some advice you’ve never asked for that I’m giving anyway! Enjoy!
-
Find some activity around campus to do. Mine was joining the editorial board of the college newspaper. I found that going to class and studying and spending all my free time in one building on campus gave me this weird tunnel-vision. I literally had no idea what the heck was going on anywhere else in the University let alone the world and needed to get out and breathe more.
-
Most law classes are divided up like this. 5% who truly love the law. They “get” the law and want to make the law what they do. They’re going to go on to become the judges and legal authorities of the next generation.
20% who will kill themselves working and studying through all hours to earn those grades and get those fat paychecks. They’re going to go on to great firms. About half of them will burn out at some point.
25% will try their hardest but it’s just going to come up as average. Some of them will find, surprisingly, that they do well outside law school even if they didn’t do well inside it!
50% who came into law school because they couldn’t think of anything else to do and figured that, hey, at least they can go back to school for a few years while the economy or their life shakes out. Figure out where you are and figure out where you want to be. -
If you remember nothing else, realize that your answer to 90% of your law school essays will be “it depends.” “Show your work” is more important here than in math class. Your professors will set up a problem that can specifically go either way from what you’ve learned. The point is not to answer yes or no. They honestly don’t care whether you answer yes or no because there is no right answer. You just need to to justify why you believe it to be so.
Um…I’m not sure if any of this was helpful. I think parts of it came out more cynical than I expected. But Congrats! It’s gonna be one heck of a time.
Also, YMMV, but on the contrary, I don’t remember anything any of my classmates said that was right, but I DO remember everything they said that was wrong, including a long diatribe about “indigenous” defendants. And he wasn’t talking about Indians.
OP, don’t be discouraged about speaking up if you have something intelligent to contribute, but seriously, don’t be “That Guy.”
Congratulations with going on to law school, RNATB! Having met you on at least one occasion, I think you’re pretty smart and that you’ll do well in and beyond law school.
Good luck! I loved law school (I’m a nerd like that) but just remember – its one damn thing after another for the next 4 years. 
Oh, yeah – and as an undergrad I was waaaaay too good for study guides. Put that idea out of your head right now. Crunchtime for Civil Procedure is money.
Congrats man :).
So, what sort of paras…err, lawyer are you looking to be? Criminal, tax, insurance, workers comp, medical malpractice, Sea Shepard agitator, living trusts for wealthy poodle heirs…?
Good luck man! If you’re as chill and levelheaded there as you are here you’ll do great.
So your family can go around telling people you play piano in a whorehouse rather than admit the shame of what you really do? 
All kidding aside, luck to you!
Actually, I was thinking something along the lines of an all-of-the-above Swiss Army Knife Of Law kind of deal.
Or workers’ compensation. I’m good at that one.
Thanks for all the advice! After eight hours of day job and four and a half hours of something they generously call “orientation”, I’m pooped.
Seconding the recommendation for Crunchtime. I picked up one, and suddenly everything my utterly inscrutable teacher said made sense.
Good luck! You’ll need it since, really, you aren’t all that bright
Just one word: International Labor Law 
Why do you think I’m going to law school? This economy is killing my regular gigs.
It still is, save for the grade-bumps from class participation. And seminar papers aren’t really anonymous, even when you’re told to keep your name off the cover-sheet when you turn in the final copy - you’ll have usually talked to the prof about the paper during the semester.
Agreed, but only to a point - if you just speak up to hear yourself talk, you’ll make a fool of yourself. But there’s a difference between being a “gunner” - a person who just speaks for speaking’s sake - and someone who thinks they have the answer when the prof asks a question, or who has a genuinely relevant question to ask the prof. A genuinely relevant question won’t make anyone think less of you, even if many people already get the point. An honest and relevant answer won’t make anyone think less of you, even if you get it wrong.
Raising your hand to say, “Well, I didn’t do the reading, but this is how I think it should come out” - well, that’s a gunner answer.
Congratulations! You’ll graduate with a shitload of debt and find the jobs outsourced!