The importance of going to class…

[anc1991]

A question for current students and graduates: how important is it to attend class?

I plan on attending as many classes as possible, but I have a commitment preventing me from attending all classes. Will this be a significant problem? This commitment is, unfortunately, not negotiable.

I have heard of some students never going to class and still doing well…

[BlockedQuebecois]

In 1L? Pretty vital. I don’t know anyone that regularly missed 1L classes and did well. 

[OzLaw16]

The answer will somewhat depend on what school you go to. For example, Osgoode profs are required to record all of their lectures and post them online, so you can watch the full lecture after class (I personally find it much easier to concentrate in a live class, but if you have an immovable commitment during class time, recorded lectures will give you the same content). I believe that policy is pretty unique to Osgoode, though - it seems that most other schools either only provide recordings based on accommodation needs or don't require lectures to be recorded at all.

In general, I'd take stories about people never going to class and still doing well with a grain of salt. I did quite well in 1L and I attribute most of that to going to every lecture and paying attention. Especially in 1L when you're likely unfamiliar with what to take away from cases/readings, lectures are an essential part of knowing how your prof interprets the law and what your prof will expect you to do on an exam.

Edited June 16, 2021 by OzLaw16

[Toad]

19 minutes ago, OzLaw16 said:

 

In general, I'd take stories about people never going to class and still doing well with a grain of salt. I did quite well in 1L and I attribute most of that to going to every lecture and paying attention. Especially in 1L when you're likely unfamiliar with what to take away from cases/readings, lectures are an essential part of knowing how your prof interprets the law and what your prof will expect you to do on an exam.

 

I think for some people and for some courses (depending on the professor) it is possible to miss a large number of classes and still do well. A major issue is that you have no way to knowing if you are one of the people capable of doing well without attending classes until after grades have already been released. The cost of taking the gamble and being incorrect is that you torpedo your first semester grades.

Even when a student does miss a large number of classes and do well, there is no guarantee that they wouldn't have done even better if they attended all the classes.

@OP:  What percentage of classes do you think you will have to miss?

 

 

[anc1991]

51 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

In 1L? Pretty vital. I don’t know anyone that regularly missed 1L classes and did well. 

It only makes sense. Thanks!

7 minutes ago, Toad said:

 

I think for some people and for some courses (depending on the professor) it is possible to miss a large number of classes and still do well. A major issue is that you have no way to knowing if you are one of the people capable of doing well without attending classes until after grades have already been released. The cost of taking the gamble and being incorrect is that you torpedo your first semester grades.

Even when a student does miss a large number of classes and do well, there is no guarantee that they wouldn't have done even better if they attended all the classes.

@OP:  What percentage of classes do you think you will have to miss?

 

 

It’s a huge risk to take, but the other option would be to defer going to school for a few years - at which point I will probably give up.

I think I would be missing a couple of classes a week!

Edited June 16, 2021 by anc1991

[anc1991]

42 minutes ago, OzLaw16 said:

The answer will somewhat depend on what school you go to. For example, Osgoode profs are required to record all of their lectures and post them online, so you can watch the full lecture after class (I personally find it much easier to concentrate in a live class, but if you have an immovable commitment during class time, recorded lectures will give you the same content). I believe that policy is pretty unique to Osgoode, though - it seems that most other schools either only provide recordings based on accommodation needs or don't require lectures to be recorded at all.

In general, I'd take stories about people never going to class and still doing well with a grain of salt. I did quite well in 1L and I attribute most of that to going to every lecture and paying attention. Especially in 1L when you're likely unfamiliar with what to take away from cases/readings, lectures are an essential part of knowing how your prof interprets the law and what your prof will expect you to do on an exam.

Thanks for your detailed reply.

I did not know that lectures at Osgoode are recorded. That would make a huge difference - I would likely miss a couple of classes a week.

I was waitlisted at Oz! (never lose faith)

[TobyFlenderson]

A couple of classics a week? I don't know what Osgoode's 1L schedules look like, but missing a couple classes of week for me (at Western) would have meant missing either one class in its entirety or half of 2-3 classes. 

If your lectures are recorded and you can make up the time elsewhere, that's one thing, but keep in mind that listening/watching your classes outside of scheduled class time means you have less time to do readings/ECs/socialize/relax. 

If you can adjust this commitment you have, I would explore that option. Even if it's just for 1L, or even just first semester so you can get your feet under you. 

[LMP]

Who knows how this will play out in reality, but for now it seems like many schools are either online or are offering all online options for 1L. Would doing that help in your situation? 

[chicken]

Students who did great without attending class are normally upper years. You learn the ropes in 1L. Then in 2L you can skip a bit, and finally in 3L, you'll know how to navigate everything, so class won't matter so much. 

[Renerik]

I wish I could go back in time and strangle younger me for skipping classes in first year undergrad... I'll try not to give my future self the same desire when I look back on my law school experience.

[VanCity250]

Missing a few classes here and there throughout the semester will not be the end of the world as long as there are recorded lectures/powerpoints from the prof that you can use to teach yourself the material. Keep in mind that some profs might not post the full live lecture and you could miss some vital information/clarification of specific cases or concepts. 1L is already difficult enough even with attending every single class. 

If this commitment is something that is going to force you to miss a significant number of classes, I would seriously start working with your school's administration and adjust your schedule (like switching class sections). 

[anc1991]

Thank you so much for your advice. There is only a little bit of flexibility with this commitment, but with your input, I think I can definitely make this work.

Waitlisted at Osgoode - would definitely attend if accepted because of the recordings.

Provisional acceptance at Western - I will contact school administration to see if my schedule can be changed, if necessary. I didn’t know this was an option.

Thank you again!! Really appreciate it

[ZineZ]

13 hours ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

In 1L? Pretty vital. I don’t know anyone that regularly missed 1L classes and did well. 

Funnily enough, I do at Osgoode. But the person showed a lot of discipline in terms of ensuring that they listened to every lecture recording and attended any classes that didn't have a recording available (breakout sessions etc). Had one of the highest GPAs at the end of the year. 

However, I don't think this is an option that necessarily works for everyone in 1L. There's something to be said about starting off law school properly before swapping to lecture recordings later on. 

 

[SlytherinLLP]

You should ask your profs if they allow recordings. Have a colleague record lectures you can't attend.

Definitely as a general rule you should attend classes.

That said, it is neither sufficient or necessary to attaining good grades. I know 1L students who were basically ghosts but still killed it. They read the material, did their own summaries, sought help with confusing concepts and took lots of practice exams. 

[QueensDenning]

1L is class and readings - skipping either is a gamble that could have serious consequences. I would think very hard about that commitment and whether it's worth (possibly) doing a lot worse, grades wise. I had some classes in 1L that I could have skipped the majority of and been fine. I also had some where I would be totally screwed if I had missed more than one or two, as some profs test more on their criticisms/own interpretation of cases, which you can't get unless your in class. For me, torts was like this. I knew people who didn't really pay attention and ended up with B/B-'s while the rest of their grates were in the B+/A range. 

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 minute ago, SlytherinLLP said:

Have a colleague record lectures you can't attend.

It generally violates school policy to record lectures without the consent of the lecturer. 

And it should be noted, for others in this thread, that not all classes at Osgoode were recorded and publicly available before the pandemic. Osgoode’s recording policy allows profs to opt out for pedagogical reasons, and a fair number of professors did so during my years. 

I know that people here don’t really have a “reputation” yet, but I was well known on the prior forum (and am well known in real life) for thinking law school was easy and didn’t need to be prepared for much. 

The exception to that is 1L. You should do the most work you’re going to do in 1L, because those grades are often determinative of the early portion of your career. First semester grades decide if you’re a 1L hire, first year grades decide if you get an OCI job, and those grades plus first semester of 2L decide if you’ll get a clerkship at any level during your articling year. At Osgoode, your grades will be determinative of your involvement in various upper year clinics (though not all the clinics are grades-focussed). It’s tough to overstate how many opportunities rely on your first year grades.

If you don’t attend class and get good grades, that’s great. Honestly, I probably could’ve done that and been fine. But if you don’t, you’re going to be wondering for the foreseeable future about whether or not you could’ve gotten better grades, and thus had more options, if only you’d actually attended.  

[SlytherinLLP]

2 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

It generally violates school policy to record lectures without the consent of the lecturer. 

And it should be noted, for others in this thread, that not all classes at Osgoode were recorded and publicly available before the pandemic. Osgoode’s recording policy allows profs to opt out for pedagogical reasons, and a fair number of professors did so during my years. 

I know that people here don’t really have a “reputation” yet, but I was well known on the prior forum (and am well known in real life) for thinking law school was easy and didn’t need to be prepared for much. 

The exception to that is 1L. You should do the most work you’re going to do in 1L, because those grades are often determinative of the early portion of your career. First semester grades decide if you’re a 1L hire, first year grades decide if you get an OCI job, and those grades plus first semester of 2L decide if you’ll get a clerkship at any level during your articling year. At Osgoode, your grades will be determinative of your involvement in various upper year clinics (though not all the clinics are grades-focussed). It’s tough to overstate how many opportunities rely on your first year grades.

If you don’t attend class and get good grades, that’s great. Honestly, I probably could’ve done that and been fine. But if you don’t, you’re going to be wondering for the foreseeable future about whether or not you could’ve gotten better grades, and thus had more options, if only you’d actually attended.  

Yup, I mention he/she should first ask for consent. Most profs will allow it, but not all. 

Also you won't really get the most out of law school if you don't attend class. Class discussions in torts and crim were the highlight of law school for me.