LAW SCHOOL : FIRST-YEAR, THE FEAR, PART I

"The first year they scare you to death."

Below are three reasons that contribute to the fear that many first-year law students experience. Although this article does not provide solutions to addressing the fear, those familiar with fear know that being aware of it and what causes it is often the beginning of the solution.

The fear is not something that law school administrations and faculties intentionally want students to experience, instead it is caused by the dynamics that exist at just about every law school in the country. Those dynamics begin first with the make up of law school student bodies.

Law students are very hard working, and although undergraduates also exhibit this quality it is not to the same extent as law students. My guess is that only about twenty percent of undergraduates are giving it their all to get the best grades possible.

It is these top twenty percent from the thousands of universities and colleges nationwide that are funneled into approximately just two hundred law schools. So instead of only twenty percent of the first-year class striving to get the best grades possible, it is more like eighty percent of the class that is giving it their all. This results in an intense environment.

The second thing adding to the first-year's fear factor is that first-year law students take all their classes with the same group of high achieving law students. In the undergrad experience students have the opportunity to take courses outside their major and meet students with totally different interests. Doing this helps break the intensity experienced within each major. This getaway opportunity is not available to first-year law students, which leads to an intense little bubble of law talk by law students all day every day.

The third factor that contributes to first-year fear is that grades are often based on a final exam only. After your first semester you will become accustomed to this, but in the first semester it can cause anxiety. Anxiety because you don't know if your interpretation of the law is correct, or if the way you write is the way the professor wants the answers written. Sitting in a seat for many weeks with no way to tell if you are on the right track makes for an anxious situation.

Below are a couple of websites that discuss the first year of law school.

http://www.princetonreview.com/law/research/articles/life/overview.asp

http://lawschool.westlaw.com/shared/marketinfodisplay.asp?code=so&id=2&subpage=3

Other related articles on this website include The Law School Experience: Fear, Work, & Boredom, Law School: First Year-The Fear Part II, Law School: Second Year-The Work, and Law School: Third Year-The Boredom.

Good luck in your first year!

Michael Santana

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.

© 2006 Michael Santana