How to Prepare for Law School

This post is aimed at those who are preparing to enter law school in the coming fall. No doubt the biggest question on your mind, apart from perhaps financial or moving logistics, is what you should be doing to prepare for law school itself. You've made the commitment, and the cost is sunk, but now you have an opportunity to make the most of your time as a law student and maximize your chances for a successful legal career beginning three years from now.

So, how can you best prepare for law school?

Get a Head Start on Your Courses

While you shouldn't be trying to read ahead or anything that extreme, now is a good time to do a little legwork getting ready for the logistics of your courses. For example, it's a good time to check the law school's profile for each of your professors and see, for instance, when and where they have office hours, whether their prior exams are available online, whether they require you to download any extra course materials (which you can go ahead and do), etc.

While these steps may seem rather minor and insignificant, taking care of them now will save you a significant amount of time later, that you will instead be able to invest in the reading and other requirements of your first-year courses. For anything you can take care of now, it behooves you to do so.

Get All of Your Life Logistics Set ASAP

Unless you happen to already live in the same town as your law school, you are likely moving to a new place and trying to figure out how to commute to and from school, get your rent paid, make sure your utilities (especially power and wifi) are up and running well before classes begin, where the nearest grocery store is, what furniture you need to buy...It's a huge logistical lift to move. Moving actually ranks as one of the most stressful single life events a person can go through in a given year, and throwing it on top of starting law school is a recipe to be overwhelmed.

Fortunately, all of these tasks are things that you can work on now. The peace of mind you'll have on the first day of classes if your stuff is all moved in, your utilities are up and running, you've sorted your commute and other logistics, and can dedicate most of your attention to school—and, conversely, the overwhelming distraction that NOT having any of those things handled will bring into your life—is worth paying a lot of attention and investing a lot of time and energy into taking care of these things now.

Lean Into Your Support Network—And Prepare Them

Just the things listed above can be significantly overwhelming without having started law school. Rely on your family and friends right now to help you get packed and ready, or to remind you to relax, or just to keep you fed. This is also the time to set expectations with the people who care about you for this new phase of your life. No matter what, law school is going to be very busy and demand the overwhelming majority of your time and energy for the next three years. It's ok to let the people around you know that you will be less available than you perhaps have been in the past, and it's equally ok—and important—to let them know you might need more help from them for the duration of law school than you've needed in the past. This will ensure that no one is surprised or resentful at the new dynamics law school will inevitably create.

Make Time Now To Relax and Enjoy Yourself

As we have already emphasized, no matter how busy your past life has been, you will at minimum be adjusting to a brand new time dynamic and will likely be significantly busier than you have ever been before when you enter law school this fall. As such, in addition to all of the prep we have outlined above, make sure you also take the time and the opportunity to enjoy your current life before this huge change occurs. Enjoy the sights and smells of your current neighborhood, spend time with anyone you won't regularly see anymore, and take time for yourself and your interests while you have the chance. You may regret it later if you don't.

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No matter what, your life is about to change in a big way. Our hope is that if you consider all of the issues we've outlined above and take what steps you can now to prepare for the new life stage that is law school, you will have a significantly easier time and a more fruitful and productive first semester. Best of luck to all rising 1Ls from all of us at Vault Law!