how much harder is law school than undergrad?

[GGrievous]

What a sick joke from God. “Gretzky you will be an athletic hero. Blocked you will be exceptional at spotting issues “ 

[lawschoolcanada22]

On 12/25/2021 at 4:55 PM, BlockedQuebecois said:

I was a much weaker undergrad student than law student.

Was that the best you could do due to limits in innate ability in your major, or could you have done better?

On 12/25/2021 at 7:04 AM, BlockedQuebecois said:

it required essentially no work for me to do well. In fact, I know from experience that I could do no work and get an A.

One would think that "work" includes doing readings, synthesizing and reviewing class notes, doing practice exams, etc.

You consistently got As without doing any of those things, just attended class and then showed up for exams?

Surely that kind of brilliance can't be limited to the study of law, and would enable one to ace the LSAT and any undergrad major with the possible exception of theoretical physics.

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 hour ago, lawschoolcanada22 said:

Was that the best you could do due to limits in innate ability in your major, or could you have done better?

I think I could have done better, but I didn't, so HYS were off the table. I wouldn't have gone if they weren't, because they didn't line up with my career goals at the time, but I'm not going to pretend I would have gotten in if I'd tried.

And talk is cheap—lots of people think they could have done better in school and in reality they probably couldn't. So who knows if I could have.

1 hour ago, lawschoolcanada22 said:

You consistently got As without doing any of those things, just attended class and then showed up for exams?

It's cute you think I attended class. I did in first year, though I rarely paid attention. But by second and third year I was pretty routinely not in class unless there was some reason to go (I didn't skip smaller classes or those taught by practitioners, for example).

Look, there's no real way for you to understand this because you're not even in law school yet, and even if you get into law school who knows if you'll have any innate ability for it. But the law just makes sense to me.

You can ask me a legal question that I have no clue about the answer to and I will probably get the answer right, not because I am some kind of genius but just because what I think the law should be is generally what the law is, more or less. There are obviously quirks that can trip me up, and I would never advise a client on the basis of my gut feeling about the law, but for the purposes of a law school exam my gut feeling and a decent summary are more than sufficient. 

My friends in law school used to actually come to me with legal questions about courses they were in that I was not because they found it helpful to have me explain what I thought the law should be if they were finding something unintuitive.

Nowadays, my colleagues will pick my brain about legal issues even where I don't know anything about the law. Somebody asked me a question about shipping law the other day, for instance. It's hard for students to understand this, but it's pretty common for lawyers to talk to each other about issues where only one of them knows the actual legal matrix of the issue, and the other is reasoning from some combination of experience, analogy, and innate ability.

1 hour ago, lawschoolcanada22 said:

Surely that kind of brilliance can't be limited to the study of law, and would enable one to ace the LSAT and any undergrad major with the possible exception of theoretical physics.

Well, I did quite well on the LSAT without preparation. But while I appreciate you calling me brilliant, I unfortunately did not find my ability to instinctively know what the law is to be particularly helpful in learning quantum chemistry. 

Edited December 27, 2021 by BlockedQuebecois

[Lawstudents20202020]

29 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

I unfortunately did not find my ability to instinctively know what the law is to be particularly helpful in learning quantum chemistry

I'll take admin law over sorting through proofs in quantum any day. 

[lawschoolcanada22]

@BlockedQuebecois So it turns out you would not have gone to Harvard even if they wanted you, you got As without even going to class on top of not studying, and you studied quantum chemistry in undergrad. Now you spend your precious time writing ego-boosting essays on this forum. 😂

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 hour ago, lawschoolcanada22 said:

@BlockedQuebecois So it turns out you would not have gone to Harvard even if they wanted you, you got As without even going to class on top of not studying, and you studied quantum chemistry in undergrad. Now you spend your precious time writing ego-boosting essays on this forum. 😂

Yeah, that’s a pretty accurate summary.

Your reaction is rather revealing of your limited experience as an applicant. Going to Harvard is a pretty inefficient way to become a Canadian lawyer. Taking courses in quantum chemistry is pretty common for STEM students. And getting good grades without significant work is pretty common amongst those who get top grades in law school. 

I spend my time here giving advice and engaging with the community because I like the community. 

You’re free to think that makes me a loser, I don’t particularly care. We have lots of people like you come in and act like only losers would bother engaging with this community, and I assure you none of us regulars are bothered by a trolling undergraduate student.

Anyways, have a good holiday and best of luck with your admissions cycle! 😊

[AMG]

6 hours ago, lawschoolcanada22 said:

Now you spend your precious time writing ego-boosting essays on this forum. 😂

Almost as much of a waste of time as annoying the very people who could help you and provide you insight into your future education and career.

[Judgelight]

OP, I'm sure you've already gotten the answer you needed, but I'll echo what (I'm sure) someone has already said:

Law school can be easy as heck if you ride the curve.

Its all open book. I think I got an A- not really doing much at all (although to be fair I did an arts undergraduate and didn't student much at all either).

Don't worry about it honestly.