What Is Law School Like?

So, you want to go to law school? But you’re not sure what it entails. Look no further! Here’s our law school “blueprint” (pun absolutely intended) on what is law school like and what to expect during each of the three years of law school.

Note: The different years of law school, and the students in them, are often referred to as 1L, 2L, or 3L. So, when we talk about “1L,” we mean the first year of law school, and so on.

1L: The Foundations

Ah, 1L. The year most look back on and think, “I’m glad I never have to do that again!” It’s arguably the hardest of the three years. But don’t worry, it’s not as miserable as people make it out to be. In fact, you might even have…fun? Let’s dive in and see what law school 1L is like.

On the first day of class, you meet your section. Also called pods, mods, or any other name for a group, sections are composed of the students you take most (or sometimes all) of your first-year classes with. They generally range from 30-80 students, depending on the school.

As you take your seat in class, you know you’re experiencing the same course load as most 1Ls across the country. Though the order in which they’re taken may vary, 1Ls take the same core subjects:

Contracts
Torts
Property
Criminal Law
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
A course focused on legal writing and research

After class begins, your professor calls on you unprompted. She asks you for the facts of a case from your reading. You’re nervous, but it’s okay. Everyone else isn’t thinking about what you’re saying. They’re just glad they weren’t the one called on.

And that, my friend, was your first cold call. You learn that law school professors make their teaching points by eliciting answers from students. Sometimes who they call on is random, and sometimes there’s a schedule. Regardless, cold calls get easier each class because you learn your first cold call was no exception–everyone else really is just thinking, “Thank God it’s not me.” Every. Time.

Law School Workload

When you’re not in class, you’re reading for class. Because you’re assigned anywhere from 15-50 pages of reading per class per day. The more the class meets during the week, the less reading you’ll have for that class each night and vice versa.

Yet this reading is not like college. You can’t skip it. To be prepared to talk about the cases in class, you create case briefs: a written summary of the important facts, issues, holdings, and reasoning by the judge in your own words. Thankfully, the skills you learned while studying for the LSAT come in clutch. You can parse through dense language to understand the arguments just like with Reading Comprehension passages. You can spot when the parties make flawed arguments, just like in Logical Reasoning. At first, each brief takes you a long time. But you get faster the more you do them.

Law School Exams

With all this preparation, class participation must be part of the grade, right? Wrong. You learn your final exam is 100% of your grade (though some professors may also include a relatively small midterm).

So, following the advice of 2Ls and 3Ls, you start finals preparation in October. You do so by outlining. Outlines are documents of all the material you learned in class condensed into one master study guide of rules, cases, and concepts. You quickly learn outlines are long, usually 50-150 pages. However, you also see that the process of synthesizing the material is what helps it all click.

After Thanksgiving, it’s all about practice exams. Just like with the LSAT, the best prep is doing actual problems. Luckily, most of your professors post prior exams and model answers to which you can compare your answer. And you find a great handful of students from your classes to form a study group to review exams together.

However, the exams don’t look like the case briefs you’ve been writing for class. Instead, they look a lot more like that writing section of the LSAT you probably spent a little amount of time on. Because class is where you learn the rules of the law, and the final is where you apply them to hypothetical situations.

Exams roll around. You’re nervous, but you’re ready to crush it. All of a sudden, your first term is over!

Preparing for Summer Law Jobs

There is one more thing to note about 1L. While learning how to do law school, you’ll also start preparing for your first legal jobs. Job applications for both of your law school summers start to open towards the end of your first term. (Yes, both!) That’s why your 1L grades, especially first semester, matter so much. A lot of schools even restrict extracurricular involvement during 1L because of it.

Each legal career path has slightly different timing. You can meet with your law school’s career counselor to help you track deadlines, attend networking events, and target positions that fit your interests.

Now the first year is done. It was challenging–no sugarcoating that. Your grades mattered, your workload was heavy, and the learning curve was steep. But it was also incredibly rewarding. You built consistent study habits just like you did when studying for the LSAT. You found classmates you enjoyed working with. And you studied subjects that, perhaps for the first time, actually apply to the career you want to pursue. And just like that, that’s what law school is like in your first year.

2L: Finding Your Path

2L is your time to explore new areas of law and get involved beyond the classroom. Join a journal or law review, compete in moot court or trial team, participate in affinity groups, and start completing externships or internships. The law school is your oyster. But be careful not to overcommit. Just because you can do everything, doesn’t mean you have to.

As for classes, you finally have full control over your schedule. A balanced one usually includes:

One bar-tested class (a subject that will appear on your state bar exam)
One exam-based class
One seminar (paper-based final)
One experiential course, clinic, internship, or externship

Of course, that’s just a guideline. You might take more classes now to lighten your 3L year, or vice versa. You may also choose to start tackling other graduation requirements this year, like any substantial writing requirement your school imposes and/or the MPRE. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam is an ethics exam required to become an attorney.

If you haven’t secured a 2L summer job yet, this is also the year when you continue or ramp up your search.

2L is busy, but it’s also when you begin personalizing your law school experience. You know how to study, you’ve built friendships, and you finally get to dive into subjects that interest you most.

3L: Preparing for Your Career

You blink, and suddenly it’s 3L. You’ve made it to the home stretch.

So, what is law school like in your last year? You still have flexibility with your schedule. So take any classes, clinics, or externships you’ve been meaning to try. You’ll also want to finish up any lingering graduation requirements.

By now, law school feels more comfortable. If you front-loaded your classes during 2L, you might finally feel like you can breathe. Many students already have job offers from their 2L summer positions; if not, 3L fall is the time to apply.

This is also the year to savor. It’s your last before stepping fully into the professional world. So don’t stress too much about bar prep just yet. Most people don’t start studying until spring or after graduation.

Enjoy it. Take in every moment. You’ve earned it.

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve read through all three years, you have a realistic picture of what law school is like. All that’s left is—you guessed it—applying and getting in!

Blueprint LSAT has helped thousands of pre-laws reach their law school dreams. A competitive LSAT score will help you stand out from the rest! Blueprint LSAT students increase their LSAT scores by 15 points on average. Whether you want the flexibility of a Self-Paced Course, prefer to navigate the LSAT with instructors in a Live Course or 170+ Course, or even private LSAT tutoring, we have the study method that fits your learning style.

Start your LSAT prep for free!

Get instant access to a free study plan, diagnostic exam, office hours, Self-Paced Course modules, and more.

When you’re ready to apply, our Law School Admissions Consultants are here to help you build a strong application that powerfully highlights your unique strengths and enables you to secure that acceptance!