September 10, 2018

Finding Meetups & Study Groups in Your 1L Year of Law School

Hi friends! I'm super excited today because I'm back with another guest post!! I was so excited to find out that TestMax wanted to collaborate on today's post because I've been following their Twitter all of law school and think they're such a cool company! In case you're not super familiar with them, TestMax provides comprehensive test prep courses (mobile and web) for LSAT, Bar Exam, and most recently, a product called the 1L to help students get through their first year of law school. As you'll see below, TestMax really knows law school and have great resources for 0Ls and 1Ls. Today, they're helping you get your study group up and running!

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Getting through your 1L year can seem incredibly daunting. You're adjusting to a new, rigorous program and are probably working harder and longer than you ever have before.

To balance this out, it can help to find study partners or groups to break up the work, help each other out, and make your law school experience more manageable. Another benefit to these groups is the networking factor. The law school students of today are the associates, partners, and network of the future in the field of law.

Here is a look at different online and tradition methods to make your 1L year a little less of a solo journey:

Student Organizations and Clubs

Possibly the most obvious place to being searching for a group setting of fellow law students is a list of your law school organizations. The positives here are that many clubs may not expect 1L students to take on too much responsibly. So, this could be a way to meet others, learn from them, and set yourself up for a leadership position as your progress through law school without over-committing yourself in your first year.

Organizations exist for eeeeeverything imaginable. There are clubs for different ethnic backgrounds, spiritual backgrounds, social justice interests, etc. At the University of Virginia, there's even a student organization called Mindfulness in Law which aims to use a mindful approach to improving legal work and relationships.

Check with your school and do some digging to see what's available. You may find some really interesting clubs to partake in!

Online Law School Forums

Online forums provide a great opportunity to start or join a conversation with other 1L students (or students of any year) when you want to discuss experiences with others in the same boat. These can be questions you want answers to, advise you seek, opinions you're collecting, dealing with stress, etc. Even though this is a little bit more old school, online forums, such as Top Law School's TLS Forums, let you reach out to and connect with other law students you may otherwise never come across or have contact with. This can give you greater reach and accessibility to different resources and ideas. These kinds of forums have made the world a VERY small place, in many ways.

The downside to these forums is that, as anyone can join most of them, you may not have ways to truly vet all the contributors. It's always important to use your best judgment and to not accept things on blind faith.

Meetup Websites

Technology to the rescue once again! These days, there are so many websites dedicated to organizing group meet ups. You can start the listing yourself (just remember the extra responsibilities that come with this!) or find one and join in.

Some are done virtually, giving you the flexibility to not worry about it being local, while others let you list by physical location, allowing you to find others in the area. One of the most popular of these sites is Meetup.com, which boasts hundreds of meet ups each minute in locations across the globe. Here, you can find or create opportunities to build study groups, meet with people to discuss specific interests or topics, etc. In our most recent search, there was a current lack of 1L-specific study groups already listed, but consider that the opportunity to create a dream group exactly as you'd like. For quick reference, take a look at the Law School groups here: Law School Groups.

Other options are seeking out meet ups through event websites, like Eventbrite, where you can not only get your knowledge on, but also find other students to connect with. There's also sites geared more towards casual local hangouts, like CitySocializer, in case you want a hang out that's not law school centric.

Online Study Groups

Along with the above options, you can find different sites that encourage and facilitate online study groups. These are a bit few and far between, but you can consider something like GoConqr and see if it works for you! Again, remember that you need to use your best judgment when working with strangers (and soon to be study buddies) online, to make sure you're working with motivated, focus students.

The journey through law school is challenging, and adapting during your 1L year is crucial to your overall success. Don't allow yourself to become over-committed or feel isolated in your experience. There are tons of people just like you looking for meet ups, study groups, and forums on a local, notional, and even global level. With so much connective capability, you can certainly find the right fit for you. The benefits are emotional, educational, and network-enhancing!

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