U of T Reading Week - study time or chill time?

[parlay]

Hello all!! U of T Law admit for 2022 here. 
 

Wondering if any current U of T law students can provide some POV as to what reading week is like in law school? Do most people tend to use it for relaxation/trip time, or are students expected to be studying hard throughout? 
 

I know most classes are just final exam, so in theory you don’t need to use reading week if you keep up to date with readings regularly. I also know there’s probably some folk who use every hour of reading week to study and get ahead. However, curious to hear what the spread between these two modes is and how most students are using the time!

 

thanks 🙂 

[lawstudent6000]

It depends. I can't speak for other people, but from my perspective almost everyone I knew used reading week to catch up with missed readings, work on small group assignments, read ahead, or attend interviews (in 2nd semester). 

For me, taking the week off was not something I was in a position to do in either semester. While it was nice to not have to read for class everyday, in both semesters I had no choice but to work: in first semester with readings and starting summaries, and in second semester there was also job search stuff to do on top of all that + an assignment. Anecdotally, reading week this semester was actually busier than any week of classes all year in terms of hours worked.

Also, another consideration is that some people had interviews for the recruit during reading week second semester, which I'm sure does not make for a relaxing time. 

In my opinion, reading weeks are needed to recoup, so that when you come back you can handle the already onerous reading list with added summary work and final assignment responsibilities. A balance of working ahead and resting is probably optimal, but depends on how lucky you get with your schedule!

[ruthlessfox]

In 1L, I don't know many people who actually took the week off. I personally used most of the week to get a good chunk of my small group paper finished, and then start my summaries for my exam courses. I do know of a few folks, but I can't say if it impacted their grades or not. As much as it sucks, in 1L you are still getting used to law school and 1L grades are important, so I would probably recommend doing work and being safe rather than sorry.

In upper years, unless you are participating in a recruit, people are way more likely to take a real break. I know of some students who went to Disney World, Central America, etc. during their reading weeks. Hell, it's not unheard of for people to take month-long trips during the semester.

[SNAILS]

I used my reading weeks for studying. I feel chilling and relaxing is something you can only do in 1L briefly to refresh your brain, then get back at it. I don't attend U of T, but I cannot imagine that it is less demanding than Oz, where I go.