Preparing for Spring Semester of Law School

Ugh it feels like Christmas break just started but that hasn't stopped that nagging feeling that I'm getting, reminding me to get my life together in the next week before school starts. For those of you who are 1L's, congratulations you made it past the hardest semester of law school and believe it or not your classes will get easier! (a fair warning though, that does not necessarily mean that you will be less busy) Even in undergrad I've always loved Spring semester because it's a fresh start in your school year but isn't completely new like Fall semesters. So, my friends, here's what I'm doing to get started on the new year! PS - Happy 2017!

Get finances in order

New year, new loans amirite? It sucks I know. Although I don't have to fill out another FASFA for this semester, I went ahead and double checked with my school to see when my tuition is due and if I'll need to request my refund or if it's automatically deposited in to my account. And since my government loan wasn't enough to cover my school and living expenses, It have to re-apply for another personal loan for this semester, too. If I had extra money left over from last semester, I definitely would think about taking out a smaller loan next time so because the less I initially take out (the principal) the less I'll have to pay later (the principal + interest). 

Next on the list: budgeting! I make sure I have enough money to pay for the next 5 months of rent (or maybe even 7 months in case I end up with an unpaid internship). I also look in to see how much my books will cost and go ahead and order those ASAP so that they get in before my first day of class.

With any extra money left over in my budget, I look and see what supplies I need to replenish. I typically need some more highlighters and other basic school supplies. I am still going to use my planner, but if you're needing a new planner for the new semester you should check out this post and also this one :)

Make a game plan

Now that I've been through a semester, I like to look back and think on what I slacked on the most so that I can make goals to fix those problem areas. One semester I struggled to actually read all of the cases, so I set a goal to make more time to read them. My first semester I procrastinated on my outlines, so then I made an effort to try to work on them a little each week. My goal is always to just try to improve on myself a little.

These goals are nice but I consider about what I'll need to do to achieve them. One thing that really helps me with that is creating a study schedule and planning out to study a little every day but also planning out some R&R time. Another thing I've tried is changing my study methods if what I did last semester didn't quite work out for me. 

Most importantly, I make appointments with my professor's office hours so that I can sit down with them and go over my finals. It's important for me to see what my strengths and weaknesses are! Also I go back through anything else that was graded and absorb any notes that were on my papers. I realize that this sounds like the type of advice that a guidance counselor would give but no one actually take or even what only suck-up students do, but I'm playing the law school game now and this is one of my cheat codes. 

Another big thing that I think really helps is that I review my notes from the previous semesters. Everything in law school builds on other topics so I know I will be screwed in my upcoming classes if I already forgot what I've been learning (plus it's a good little start for the Bar). All I do is start with my Fall 1L outlines and just read through them once, and then read through my Spring 1L outlines, and now I'm adding my Fall 2L outlines to that as well. My favorite law school quote is your rate of learning has to exceed your rate of forgetting.

Get organized

Déjà vu. Print out my syllabus. Color code my classes to my planner. Add due dates to my planner. Find where my classes will be (thank God law schools have less classrooms than college campuses!!). Find out when organization meetings are and if/when dues are due. Find out when try outs for any competitions are. Do a little internship hunting. This semester I bought cute file folders and a desk organizer and made a folder for: syllabi; financial aid documents; pro bono time sheets; internship paperwork; documents for tax purposes (FYI that's coming up soon); and textbook rental paperwork. Something I started last semester was adding my classes to my iCal with the classroom in the location so that I can easily remember it, and my section number and professor's names in the notes of the event. I set the events to repeat either M/W or T/R and have the repeat end for finals. I also set a reminder to go off "at time of event" just in case I'm grabbing a drink or something so I'm reminded to get back to class.

I also make sure that I'm getting my daily schedule organized too. This is probably my put-too-much-thought-into-everything coming out again, but I find that getting back into a daily schedule while I'm on break helps me be more productive when I'm back at school. I'll start going to bed earlier so that I can eventually be waking up as early as I do for school. Then I'll go ahead and actually not look homeless before meeting up with my friends or someone for lunch. When I get back in the afternoons, I'll make myself be productive by doing some laundry or helping my mom clean or cook. Because I'm not at school, I allow myself to watch a ton of TV but try to set a time to stop and stick to it. Then I read or do something else that isn't just bumming around. By the time I get back to school, it seems like my body is already on autopilot and used to the motions of being productive throughout the day. Just something to try maybe. 

How to Make a Budget for Law School

A Preface on Loans

In the past year, I have dug myself exactly $47,476 in debt. Law school is fun! That comes from two loans, one FASFA and one from Sallie Mae. My FASFA (thankfully) only has a rate of like 1% but the Sallie one is a little steeper at 7% interest.  Even though I've already been paying back my Sallie one a little bit each month, it's already accumulated close to to $400 in interest since August. And according to their website, I should be paying on this loan until 2028 so like, kill me. The nice thing about my Mint account though is that I can sync it with these loans and it will calculate how much I need to pay each month to pay it off faster (like when I have a big girl job). 

Read about my government loan here and read about my private loan here.

As for next year, I read about how it's better to take out your loans semesterly instead of yearly, because there's a lower principal so you're accrued interest will be lower, so I'm considering maybe doing that if I can figure that out. I borrowed the full amount that my school suggested I would need because I didn't want to run out of money, but it turns out that I didn't need quite that much. The good news is that this is more than enough to cover my costs during the summer. I'm planning on doing the math and seeing if it'd be more beneficially to next semester take out a smaller loan and pay less on it now, or to continue taking out the max and paying a good chunk every month. It's a lot for me to figure out!

One thing I did was I had my money deposited in my savings account instead of my checking account. I did this because 1. my savings account has a higher interest rate than my checking so I earn a little money each month and 2. because I know that if I check my account and see $4,000 in there, I will blow that all in a matter of weeks. Now, each month I move over $2,000 and don't let myself transfer any more unless it's necessary. If you do this though, I'd check with your bank to see if they have a limit or fees for transferring money between accounts. Mine does, but it's less than the interest my money earns in a savings account so for me it's worth the little fine. 

Making a Budget

Before I came here I always had a part time job and a little help from my parents so I never had to budget, I just watched to make sure I never overdrafted. But now I've had to get smart about my money real fast. After I'd been in class for about a month, I looked up my bank statement and calculated where all of my money was going to. This was a big eye opener for me because spending $7 and $9 there seems like nothing at the time, but it really adds up over a month. That's how I somehow ended up spending $200 (!!!) just on fast food alone. 

I used what I had spent in each category and created a budget. Then after November, I went back through and looked to see where my money had gone again. I went over what budgets I'd exceeded to see if they were because I hadn't budgeted enough initially (I thought I could go a whole month spending only $100 on food) and what I had just gone over because I wasn't paying attention ($60 just on getting my nails done). By comparing my two month's spending, I could see my spending trends enough to come up with a solid budget that I stick to now. 

 

Sticking to the Budget

Like I said above, I typically spend $1,000 a month on rent and utilities and another $1,000 on everything else from groceries to makeup and even paying on my loans. Moving my money over a little at a time has really helped me because if I have $5 in my account then I make it last until the next time that it's time for me to transfer money. I know I have to do this because although there's a lot of money in my account, it technically isn't mine and I keep having to remind myself of that. I also went to my Mint account to set up budgets and also set up reminders. So now I'll get the occasional text telling me how much I've spent that month on a certain category and how much I usually spend, so I'm aware of when my spending is getting a little out of hand

A few things that've helped is that I've almost completely stopped eating out. I'm talking maybe 2-3 times a month. The good news is that I've lost some weight once I cut out all those Whataburger trips. I've also given up little luxuries, like now I only get my nails done for special occasions. Another thing I did was at the beginning of the semester I went to Costco and bought necessities in bulk—paper towels, laundry detergent, trash bags, shampoo... What I like about this is that now I don't have to spend money each month buying these. And recently I've started going to the grocery store in more frequent, but smaller trips because I realized that if I go once a month I get in stock up mode and just start throwing things in my cart that I don't actually need.

For my loans, right now I pay an even $100 a month on my 1% interest loan. As for my 7% interest loan, I'm enrolled on a $25 a month autopay and I also had started paying $100 a month on that. A few weeks ago I decided to call them and see if there was any way that I could be making these payments go towards my initial principal instead of paying the interest. I was informed that that's not an option, but that I accrue about $160 each month interest, so anything I pay over that will go towards my principal. I read another article about paying back loans that said instead of making one big payment each month, split that into two and pay it every other week. Supposedly because some months have 5 weeks and such, you end up paying more without feeling like you're paying more. So now I pay $75 every other week on top of my autopay $25. And if I have any money left over in my account on the last day of the month, that goes directly towards paying my loans.

Update

Lol, I was just at my desk and looked up and realized that I forgot to mention something. In undergrad, I used this dry erase calendar to keep up with due dates for quizzes and assignments. In law school, I really haven't had any due dates, and especially not since my LRW class ended. A few months ago I realized that I had to come up with some reason to keep this calendar updated, so I started writing out what bills are due when. Admittedly, it is a little disheartening to look at a calendar and basically only see bills; but, it is handy to always know when money is going to magically disappear from my account and why, so I keep it around. Just another way to keep my spending in check and keep me on top of my financial responsibilities. 

Or if you want to make paying your bills a little less painful, you might try a fun bills calendar like what my sorority sister did!

Also, I just found out about this app called Ibotta. Basically what I do is make a grocery list of what I need, and then go through this app to see what deals they have on what I've already decided I need (so I don't end up buying things just because it's on the app). Usually what happens is that it'll give you like a .50 rebate for using a sponsored brand over one you might have initially chosen. But it's not always brand specific and yesterday I got to use it on just the apples, bananas, and bread that I got. 

After you get home from grocery shopping, you open the app and find the store you were just at, then you find any items that they have that you just bought. Then it's as easy as taking a picture of the barcode on your food and confirming it by taking a picture of your receipt, and they'll give you money back. Right now I'm at about $11 that I've got back just from using this app. And if you use this code when you sign up, you'll get an automatic $10 extra on your first rebate!!

There's also another app with the exact same concept called Checkout 51. So if you're willing to do the process twice, you can save extra money because they have different offers so what wasn't on one might be on the other, or you could just get cash back twice. Use this code to get an extra $5 on your first rebate (so that's $15 you just made by reading this post!!)

Related: My Favorite Law School Apps

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Frequently Asked Questions About Law School

I have one friend who is a Junior and considering going to law school and one friend who has just applied for law school. They both asked me a lot of questions, so I figured that if they were wondering then someone else out there might have the same question! As always, if you have any more questions feel free to comment below or use the email feature on the right side to ask me anything! 

Law school is surprisingly not that boring. Most of the cases have a very interesting story behind them and are pretty amusing. It also helps that you're reading about something that you're interested in. Classes can get a little boring when you don't have these entertaining cases but then you move on to a more interesting subject after a few classes.

Studying for finals is actually easier because you've been reading all semester so all you have to do is review instead of relearn concepts. But in some ways it's harder because the questions make you think but you don't have time to think. This is especially true for an issue spotter, which is basically just a mini story that you have to read and figure out what rules from class apply to this situation. They're also somewhat harder because the final is 100% so you don't know how you're doing in a class until the next semester when you get your grades.

Related: Law school finals tips

Law school is a big step up from undergrad because there is no way that you can not read or skip class and still survive. And when you go to class, you can't be on Facebook or texting either. That being sad, law school truly isn't as bad as you worry. You just have to read every night, and that's totally manageable.

Related: Managing your time as a law student


Don't worry that you have to spend hours overanalyzing everything the book mentions or writing down every word your professor says! Just put in some effort and you'll notice that you're actually learning a lot.

Related: What law school classes are like

A lawyer came to my Pre-Law fraternity and gave us some advice about this. He said it's better to study during the summer so that you can focus just on the LSAT and make sure that score is as high as you can get it and also it keeps your GPA up since you're not spreading yourself too thin. My biggest regret is that I took the course online. It's very easy to not pay attention when you're not there in person, and this is one thing that you don't want to mess up on.

Related: What I wish I knew before taking the LSAT

I personally took a Kaplan class to study for the LSAT. Every now and then you'll hear a person say that these classes are a waste of your time and money because you can just buy the book and do it on your own. Most people can't just teach themselves concepts like this and really master how to do it correctly. I really encourage people to actually take a class. Yes, it costs about $1000 and takes a few months, but it can really make a difference. And this is important because one or two points on your LSAT might make or break your acceptance chances. Prepare for the LSAT as if you have a 2.0 GPA and your acceptance relies on it! 

One thing that I didn't realize during my undergrad is that any grade replacement you do might boost your undergrad GPA, but for your LSAC GPA both grades will actually appear. That means that if you replace a D with a B, your LSAC GPA will have both factored in. The higher grade obviously helps, but not as much as a replacement. Try in your classes as if you can only make a 130 on your LSAT and that your GPA depends on you getting in!

• Login to lsac.org

• Click the Apply tab

• On the bottom left under My Applications, click on Search for Schools

• Click Search Official Guide

• Enter in your raw GPA and LSAT score and click Search Now

It will give you your percentage of being accepted to every accredited law school based on your grades and score. Then you can also see how much you need to raise your grades or scores to increase your changes of getting into a particular school!

For big firms yes, for little firms, not as much. Big firms will go to the major schools and offer jobs to their top 20%. For smaller firms it really helps that there's alumni there so the bigger schools have a bigger alumni base. 

Related: Choosing a law school that's right for you

Studying abroad in no way gave me a leg up, but it did give me something interesting to throw into my personal statement and add to my transcript. But it is in no way necessary and don't feel like you have to do it!

LSAC says it wouldn't recommend you sending in a copy of your transcript because you didn't achieve enough hours to substantiate actually receiving a transcript from abroad. But some schools ask that you send them all. It will probably depend on how many hours you took. A few classes probably won't be enough that a transcript is required, but if you were ever a full time student you'll probably need one. If you're ever unsure, you can ask your specific law school.

Definitely don't think that not going to a major university will hurt your chances of getting into law school! Admissions only looks at your grades and doesn't say oh well Student A got a 3.0 from Harvard and Student B got a 4.0 from a community college, so we'll let in Student A since Harvard was harder. And if you took any summer classes or anything at a JuCo, you might not have to send in a transcript if it was only a few hours.

Books are pretty expensive in law school. However, almost all of my classes were year long instead of semester long, so one book lasts two semesters. And you can get a used book that has some highlighting already done for you. I definitely recommend not renting a book. My first semester I rented a book and ended up paying fines because I highlighted too much. 

Related: Which law school books to buy used, buy new, rent, and get free

All 1Ls take the same classes. And your school will divide you into sections, and you and your section will all have the exact same schedule. You don't have to sign up for anything and are automatically enrolled in every basic class. But if you drop by a professor's office hours, they're probably give you a good recommendation for a professor of a class that you're interested in for next year.

Related: Choosing law school classes

Related: Essential law school supplies

Fitted Pant Suit

    I've already used mine for when I volunteered to help my professor's contracts convention, moot court, and an interview. Make sure that you buy from the same brand instead of mixing and matching pieces, because black can be a hard color to match. Getting it tailored sounds expensive but that $30 really makes you look like you have your life together. 

Related: Building a lawyer wardrobe

Backpack

    I personally would recommend an old-fashioned backpack, just make sure it's roomy enough to fit your laptop and a few 800 page books. An oversized purse just isn't as easy to carry. I've seen people with carry-on type briefcases and rolling backpacks, but I don't really think those are any easier to lug around your books.

Related: Law school backpacks

Light Laptop

   You're going to have some hefty books to lug around, so the extra weight of a laptop will just add to this. I'm in LOVE with my MacBook Air because of how light it is!

Highlighters

     I never used highlighters in undergrad, and now I use a TON of them. Even if you don't think you'll use them, go ahead and buy a pack that has a pretty large variety of colors. Same goes for colored pens. Trust me, you will find reasons to use them!

Related: The best highlighters for law school 

Printer and Paper

    I got this wireless printer and I LOVE IT! You never know what you're going to have to print out at 2 AM, so trust me that this is a good investment.

Updated Wardrobe

    I had to stand up and discussed a case wearing an oversized sorority shirt and from that day on I always made sure that I was dressed nicely for class. It doesn't have to be business casual, but I'd advise that you look put together.

Related: Law school capsule wardrobe

Study Space

    When you have around 80 pages to read each night, you're going to want to have a few really good study spaces set up. I read at my little desk, on my couch, and at the library most often. 

Related: Study space redo and Turning your bed into a study space

If you applied for a FASFA, you will get a basic $10,000 loan per semester. I also got a loan through Sallie Mae to cover the additional costs. Major banks and credit card companies will give you better rates on loans if you already use them, so you might consider that. You also should see if your parents will co-sign your loan so that you can get a lower interest rate. Right now I'm saving a little money each month to pay back on my loans to try to keep my principal as low as possible. 

Related: How much I've spent on law school 

Staying Motivated the First Month of Law School

Read everything, skip nothing 

So I finally fucked up this past week and it was the scariest thing of law school so far. The night before class, I was tired and I was trying to finish my 60 pages of readings so I skimmed over the last few pages of my last readings. In the notes of one case, another case was mentioned. I highlighted the main point of the case and finished. In class, my professor called on another student and had them stand up and brief the case. Had that been me, I definitely would've stammered through it trying to remember who was suing who and why, therefore definitely pissing off my professor. 

The moral of this story is to brief every case, not just the main ones. At least I had read through the notes of the main case, which you should always do. And read the footnotes. It's awkward in class when the girl besides you asks a question and the professor just says, "If you read the footnotes you would've known the answer." I'm just super happy that I wasn't called on and I hope my professor didn't pick up on my initial oh shit panicked look when he brought up the case. 

About living alone

I've wanted to live on my own for a year now, and law school was the perfect excuse to. There's definitely some pros and cons to it.

Pros

• You can study comfortably at home without being bothered
• Your house is just as tidy or messy as you want it to be
• No one will steal your food
• No one will keep you up or wake you up before you want to
• No one wasting electricity 

Cons

If you do live by yourself, your main concern should be to not be on the ground floor and if you do to not face the street. My window is at ground-level, right by the street and I'm still not comfortable with that yet. Sometimes I'll stay up until 2 AM because my AC kicks on and the rattle makes me paranoid that someone is trying to break in, even though I know the AC is on. 

Also, your bills won't necessarily go down as much as you think they will. The city will charge you for basic amenities such as garbage disposal and sewage in addition to your utilities. You also won't have anyone to split the cable and wifi bill with. I've found the easiest way to save money is to unplug all your crap! Little things like leaving your straightener plugged in all day still uses electricity, even if it's not on. In my living room, I have a power strip with my TV, DVD player, cable box, wifi, and printer all plugged in so I can easily flip off the switch on my power strip before I go to bed and flip it back on when I get home from school the next afternoon because I use none of that in the mornings.

It can be pretty lonely at first. When you first get to a new town and know no one, you get home and might not talk to anyone unless someone happens to call you. This doesn't exactly help you adjust to your new life. 

Getting in reading shape

My classes are thinning out a little. The first day of class there was only maybe 10 seats empty in each class, and now there's almost complete rows that are empty. Twice already a professor has called someone from the roll sheet and they weren't in class. And when signing in, I noticed that a good number of people had only signed in only 1 or 2 times. I don't know if people are dropping like flies because they decided that law school isn't for them or if they're already skipping class. 

Also, did I mention that 80% of law school is reading? 

I'm an avid reader and have even been in a book club before, but I've never done this much reading in my life. I've heard the advice to start reading scholarly books and other hard books the summer before law school to get you used to it, but honestly I think that'd just burn you out. Reading for class every day is like making yourself get in shape. You run and you run and think wow I must've ran like 2 miles by now at least, and then you realize it's only been two blocks. There should be a term for getting in reading shape. 

More money, more problems

So I finally got approved for another loan, and it's making my head spin. I'm very upset that I would be borrowing $27,000 and paying back almost $50,000. And that's not including the government loan I already took out! Or my other two years of school!! Holy crap I'm going to have to sell my soul and be a corporate lawyer just to pay off these loans. My sister mentioned that after I get a new car, my parents will be putting the title in my name so maybe next year I could put the title of my car up to get better interest rates. But gambling with a new car is scary too! These are my rate and payment options from the Sallie Mae site, and that's with my dad cosigning.

Snapchats

Law School Keyboard Shortcuts

1L Week 2 - if only reading burned calories 

52 pages just for Civ Pro and another 22 pages and those briefs for Property. And a research assignment and case briefs for Legal Research & Writing. All due tomorrow. Yeah my life revolves around reading, highlighting, and briefing cases. That's it. I think when people say that law school is hard, what they really are saying is that law school is very time consuming and requires more dedication than you'd like to put into school. 

In undergrad I got A's in without even opening my book, or only opening it the night before a test or two days before a final. In law school, you can't get around this because just like in Legally Blonde and The Paper Chase, a professor will usually just pick a name and have you talk about what the reading was about so there's no way to BS your way out when they're asking you stuff like "what was the plaintiff's defense, and what was the defendant's argument against that? 

Faster notes

I've found that I like book briefing/ highlighting better because it's easier for me to just highlight as I go instead of rewriting and paraphrasing what the book says. If my professor asks what's the plaintiff's defense, I just look for what I underlined in pink. And for the defendant's argument, I look for what's underlined in baby blue. This is easier than awkwardly skimming through my note's for what I wrote about them.

I can't tell if I'm getting more innovative or just more lazy, but I'm really working to streamline my note-taking process because when you have this many pages to read on a Wednesday you kinda have to get a system down so that you don't waste hours writing down what you just read. I've fallen victim to the Apple cult, and it's really helpful to have my laptop and phone on the same page. What I did was on my phone go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement and set up some shortcuts that sync to my laptop. Or on your laptop, go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Text and add them there. All I have to do now is type the shortcut and press space and my word pops up. And although I have "dd" to say defendant, if I type a word that has that in it like "add," it won't do it. It's the little things that really help. I'm sure I'll add lots more, but here's what I have so far:

ac - appellate court
amt - Amendment 
atty - attorney
bc - because
bt - between 
cl - common law
cm - criminal
cn - Congress 

cr - copyright
cv - civil

dd - defendant
fed - federal
exec - executive
gr - general rule

gov - government

hs - hearsay
info - information
jd - judicial
jt - judgment 
jx - jurisdiction 
kk - contract
litg - litigation 
lege - legislature
mgr - majority rule
mnr - minority rule
neg - negligence
njc - injunction
pj - personal jurisdiction
rap - rule against perpetuities

reg - regulation
rs - Restatement Second
sc- Supreme Court
sg - something

sof - Statute of Frauds
sol - statute of limitations
st - state
sm - statement

smj - subject matter jurisdiction  
tc - trial court
tt - testator
wt - witness

also, here's some built-in shortcuts
∆ - option + J on a Mac/alt + 8710 on a PC
π - option + p on a Mac/alt + 227 on a PC
 § - option + 6 on a Mac/alt + 0167 on a PC

The Bar has an expensive cover charge

Yesterday, we had people from the Texas Bar come talk to us about submitting a Declaration of Intention to Study Law. I didn't expect to be filling this out so early, but the way they explained it to us is that they do this so that if you have any problems you can get them fixed before you apply for the bar. The application seems pretty daunting considering that you need rec letters and everything. Oh and it costs a nice $190 so that's cute that I have a month to come up with that. I know I keep going on about money, but I swear that every time you turn around in law school there's another fee for something somewhere. 

2 week milestone!

But hey, it's ok because I've made it a full two weeks and only cried once! And that was because I was homesick and missing my old school. Luckily though, this weekend is a 4-day weekend and just so happens to be the weekend before I turn 23, so that's enough for my best friend to come visit me so I'm super excited. Having four-day school weeks is really nice because I get done with my Tuesday classes and realize that I'm halfway done for the week. Then I get done with my Wednesday classes and just have one more day left. Any I spend all day Thursday telling myself that I just have to make it until 2 and then I'm home free :D

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