1L Workload and Study Schedule

[SmallBart]

As a potential future law student, I'm interested in hearing from current law students and grads about their study routines and time spent on class and schoolwork in 1L. I'd want to do as well as possible but I'm aware that there's a point of diminished returns in terms of time spent studying and a need to avoid burnout. Is (per week) 15 hours of class, 40 hours of reading/assignments/studying/making CANs plus 5 hours of ECs a realistic estimate in terms of commitment?

I am aware of forum posters who profess to have cruised through law school with straight As without showing up to class purely through natural aptitude for the law, but I can't rely on being one of these rare, genetically endowed superlawyers 😀.

[BlockedQuebecois]

3 hours ago, SmallBart said:

Is (per week) 15 hours of class, 40 hours of reading/assignments/studying/making CANs plus 5 hours of ECs a realistic estimate in terms of commitment?

Unless there is a reason you would expect to be significantly less efficient than your peers (e.g., you have a learning disability or your English language skills are below average), 60 hours per week is going to be excessive for all but a couple of weeks leading up to exams. It will almost certainly lead to burnout. 

Realistically, attending class and studying should not take more than 40 hours per week. That is more than enough time to complete your readings, attend class, and tidy up your notes. 

[GoatDuck]

I don’t think you’ll need more than 60 hours to get everything done, and you might end up needing less time than that. I’m a slow reader and an ESL and my first term schedule was something like 9:30am-9:30pm for everything during the workweek and no school-related work on weekends. I added to that about 5-15 hrs/weekend in the month leading up to the exams to allow myself more time for exam prep and written assignments. However, I felt like I was spending more time on that than my peers were and maybe more time than I needed to spend.

Edited January 22 by GoatDuck

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 hour ago, GoatDuck said:

I don’t think you’ll need more than 60 hours to get everything done, and you might end up needing less time than that. I’m a slow reader and an ESL and my first term schedule was something like 9:30am-9:30pm for everything during the workweek and no school-related work on weekends. I added to that about 5-15 hrs/weekend in the month leading up to the exams to allow myself more time for exam prep and written assignments. However, I felt like I was spending more time on that than my peers were and maybe more time than I needed to spend.

Were you actually working during every minute of your 12-hour day, though? Or did you take time to have lunch and dinner, check reddit/discord/CLF, grab coffee with friends, etc.?

I obviously can't speak to your circumstances, but I suspect most law students would be shocked by the amount of time they lose to non-productive activities. 

[GoatDuck]

36 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

Were you actually working during every minute of your 12-hour day, though? Or did you take time to have lunch and dinner, check reddit/discord/CLF, grab coffee with friends, etc.?

I obviously can't speak to your circumstances, but I suspect most law students would be shocked by the amount of time they lose to non-productive activities. 

That's right, I wasn't working every minute of it. It included lunch/supper breaks and frequent distractions by social media, occasionally needing to reread the same case twice because I didn't understand what was going on there, etc. If I were to count just the time spent doing schoolwork, but excluding class time, I probably spent 4-6 hours/day reading, writing briefs, creating outlined etc. Most of it was done after my afternoon classes ended.

I'm sure I wasn't as efficient as I could've been though. OP, here's a better way to phrase my original reply. Given my idiosyncratic study habits and time spent>productivity conversion rates (which might be different for others), I felt like once my day started at 9:30am, it ended at approximately 9:30pm, allowing for all distractions and necessities of life. This being said, at the end of the day I subjectively felt like I worked (I.e. spent time in the classroom, did the readings, ECs, case briefs etc) most of this time outside of lunch/supper breaks. Also, I think many of my peers have spent less time doing school work and did well in their first semester. 

[Toast Viking]

7 minutes ago, GoatDuck said:

lunch/supper breaks and frequent distractions by social media, occasionally needing to reread the same case twice because I didn't understand what was going on there, etc.

Felt this one.

I agree with everything that has already been said. If I were able to sit down and do work uninterrupted without becoming distracted, I would say I spend about 3-4 hours per day (outside of class) doing readings and school-related tasks any given semester. This usually ends up being spread across a full day, as GoatDuck said, because I occasionally have the attention span of a squirrel. If I had a midterm or final deadline approaching, it usually becomes more. Some weeks it would be much less. It truly varies on a weekly basis. My study habits did not change much from undergrad to law school, aside from having generally more reading to do. I have always kept one weekend day (Saturday or Sunday) reserved for relaxation unless I need to do something, and I have been able to do fairly well so far as a law student.

Understand that everyone is different, and some people may need significantly more or less time to feel prepared for their classes. As type A students, I feel like we generally overestimate the amount of work we need to do to be successful, but take that as you will 🙂.

[Pantalaimon]

OP, it appears from your post history that law is a career change. If you've worked a full time job, law school should be less demanding on your time than that.

[ls.ca]

I'll preface what I'm saying by cautioning you that this question varies for everyone and YMMV with any perspectives on this topic.

As a mature student who has worked both as a bartender & in a white-collar role, I found that law school is much less work than either of those, so long as you are disciplined in your routines. 

You may find yourself doing 60 hours in the first few weeks, as you get used to the volume of readings & are learning what to look for in courses. You might also be in that 60-hour range as you try different studying methods in different courses - such as trying to create your own CANS/Frameworks for courses. I think that's the "type A" coming out in many of us.

I found myself doing the 60hrs in the first 3 weeks of school. I then realised I was burning out, as that amount of constant attention to readings & synthesis is unsustainable for me. My focus shifted to doing what gave me the gist - skimming readings, supplementing with pre-existing CANS & classes - while reserving a few hours a week to review & write flashcards for recall retention (nothing fancy, just the gist). The lead-up to exams is where the 60 hours kicked in again, albeit in a less intensive way, as I wasn't learning anything, but instead reviewing content and doing practice exams. 

As a 2L, this has been refined further. The best advice I received in law school is that the whole schtick is about preparing for the exam. Ask about the test parameters from your professors early on. Look at their past exams. Try and study - whether that be in doing your readings, creating CANS/Frameworks, or otherwise - in a way that works towards the goal of dumping coherent answers on the exam. I now prepare with that in mind, and as such, only do school for about 30 hours a week, all in (and including classes). This includes the distractions that others have mentioned which take away from truly doing the "work" throughout the day. It works for me to get Bs and the odd A. 

The rest of my time is spent working out, doing extracurriculars that I enjoy, and spending time informally networking. 

[SNAILS]

The key, for me, is staying on top of everything. It's still January. Papers and exams are a while away for most courses. 

If you are working more or less steadily at your school work, you should be able to be caught up on all of your readings and have a good start on your assignments.

Try to enter March being ahead on everything rather than behind. Law school books are big, but not THAT big. I have often had all readings done for every class well in advance of exams, so that I am reviewing them for the exam and classes leading up to the exam rather than reading them for the first time.

40 hours a week of actually working (and not on social media, taking breaks) is enough to be caught up on everything and attend class.

And sleep a lot. That's my biggest advice. Be well rested at all times, then get back at it when you are not sleepy. Never study while you are sleepy.