legallychic

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Always up before the sun 

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today was nice

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week 3 - tuesday, april 7 2020;

if you could go anywhere in the world for a week, where would you go?

i miss edinburgh, my favorite coffee shop, good tea, and warm pastries

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{02.15.20}

i’ve officially been in scotland for a month now and although the stories of awful rainy weather have come true, that has not stopped me from finding cute stationery stores! 

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{01.12.20}

january is the first month of the year and because my last one was so difficult i am so happy to say that i am starting the year fresh abroad in edinburgh, scotland. i cannot say it enough, but it really does feel like i’ve stepped into a medieval/gothic #cottagecore realm and i LOVE IT!

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I love the clouds!!!! the rain!!!!!! the smell of the rain!!!!!!

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Studyblr Moodboard 6/many

Requested: Law moodboard

(photos not mine)

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Oh where to begin. I’ll start by saying I go to a top 50 school in the states. I get a lot of question about what my typical day looks like as a 1L and for more info about that you can follow me on snapchat @sarahelizabetch. I promise it’s not weird but it is a lot of me complaining about studying.

Orientation week and making friends

Orientation week was.. a lot. It seemed like a ton of information that could have been sent in an email but it was mostly helpful. You’ll soon realize that lawyers have some of the highest rates of alcoholism and depression because you’ll be told repeatedly over the course of orientation. But then after orientation you all go out drinking together. Making friends came pretty easily, actually. My advise: when there is a social event before the semester starts, you should for sure go for it. Be social, dumdum. Being a lawyer (mostly) you’re expected to be able to actually talk to people. Put yourself out there. Law school is hard enough and you need friends. That being said, there will be assholes. Do not befriend the assholes.

Class

Yup. They cold call. And yeah, it kinda sucks. Not all professors will cold call but most do. Do yourself a favor and brief before class incase you’re the unlucky asshole the next day that gets called on, you have an answer. Do the reading before class. Try to actually understand it. Fucking go on Quimbee and look at a summary because that website is damn helpful. Go to class. You would be surprised how many people skip. Don’t be that asshole. Go to class or suffer later.

To prepare for class I briefed (you’ll learn how to do this in orientation) my cases and tried to summarize the other parts of the readings. There will be a shit ton of reading to do. Probably too much. Still do it.

Only ask a question in class if you GENUINELY believe it will either clarify information for you or the rest of the class. Off the wall hypothetical situations that would never fucking happen do not help anyone and you will forever be labeled as a dick if you do this repeatedly.

Go to office hours if you don’t want to ask questions in class. This is a godsend. Go to TA hours if the class has a TA. Try to answer your questions yourself first, though. Professors don’t want you to walk in their office and be like “yeah hi i don’t know things”. Come with specific questions.

I have mixed opinions of study groups. For reading your case book and stuff like that, obviously just do that by yourself. I do recommend getting a study group together with 2-3 other people in your small section (that you don’t hate and are actually smart) and having a weekly review session. Here, add to your outline for your end of semester exams and ask questions over your notes and gets some clarity.

Time Management

So my schedule got weird and it might not work for you. This is because I woke up at 5 am every day and got to campus by 6 am to study before my first class which was at 8:30 am. I know that I’m a morning person so this worked for me to review before class. Basically, you need to plan out your entire week before hand or else your life goes to shit reallyyyy fast. Use whatever planner you think works best for you. Put in all your classes. Then schedule in when you eat, wakeup, shower, stuff like that. Schedule in when you workout, or else you will NOT do it, i promise. Fill in the gaps with studying. You might have to spend less time getting ready or less time working out. If you need to study, you need to study but studying should not be your entire life. That being said, treat yo self. I schedule a night out of the week (usually Friday night) where I go out with my friends or just hang out with them. Drinking is big in law school, ngl. Keep your shit together, but go have some fun because wow life is too short to drive yourself crazy over law school. Find a way to relax.

In general, law school is difficult but not impossible. I’ve met so many amazing friends and people I hope to work for later down the line. Make all the struggle of law school worth it.

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What specifically did you consider when deciding which law schools to apply to?

Oh lots. I was actually pretty picky when deciding where to apply so here is what I thought about when looking at schools:

Fee waivers. You will get some regardless of how much money you have. If they’re willing to take care of 90-ish dollars for you, they warrant a glance at least. Applying to schools is already expensive, I did not fuck with schools that did not get me a fee waiver. To put this into perspective I got a fee waiver from Cornell and Yale. You probably have an automatic waiver via LSAC but sometimes all you have to do is asks someone at admissions for one.

Employment rates. I did not fuck with any school with an employment rate under 80% percent. My reasoning is if I’m going to be paying $90,000 for this program, I need better odds than a B-. 

Where the employment is. Big law? Small firms? Environmental law? Patents? This is shit you should know. Know what cities draw from which schools. 

Where do you want to practice? A city? Probably go to a larger school with more connections because you’ll want a higher likelihood of getting into big law.

Which programs do they offer? If you have a specific type of law you know you want to practice, find the school with the best program for it. Example: IP law is better at Houston law than at Oregon. Most schools offer about the same programs but if they do something particularly well, make note of it if it interests you.

Internships!! I wanted kick ass internships during the summer.

Average scholarship. You can find all of this online on the LSAC disclosure each school has to submit every year. My scholarships ranged from $10,000-$120,000. It varies a ton by program.

Location. I personally hate living in small towns so my law school is in a small city and I’m hoping to practice in a large city. 

Then, and only then, did I apply. Sure median GPA and LSAT are important but these are what I considered before I applied. Hope this helped!

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chai or coffee? pastel or fluorescent? rainy mornings or sunny afternoons? brunch or late dinners? early raiser or all nighters? studying in a cafe or in a library?

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Fav cafe to study torts at, lattes make law school almost bearable 💖⚖️

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Hey pals!! Now that I’m in Chicago I’ve started a food insta! Plzzzzz give it a follow! You’d make my day tbh 💖✨

#mine #f4f

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Back to my favorite Chaucer text 🙌🏻

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may 23 — the last class of the year is today! then it’s just finals, thesis (small detail lol) and then i’ve got a master’s degree in economics??? insane.

we had a graduation event two days ago with drinks and a buffet which was really nice, but also a little sad because everything’s ending and i have no idea what will come next (incoming: anxiety).

unrelated sidenote but the trousers i ordered arrived today (pictured) and they fit perfectly. really made my day ✨

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07.01.2021 ✨ Happy snow day ✨ I hope you have a productive day ✨

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03.04.21

It’s been awhile since I last posted! But I’m so excited to be back! I’m on my last semester at uni and I can’t believe I’m so close to graduating already! Positive note: I made a new friend this week and I know that sounds silly especially as a fourth year student, but when the semester first started I really thought I was going to suffer alone. So it’s been really nice to have someone in my corner dming me about awful group projects and how four hour lectures are absolutely ridiculous 

More exciting news: today I got a letter from Poland!!! I’m so happy to finally have real pen pals and have people respond to me back. In the last few letters I’ve gotten somewhat emotional just seeing how much effort they put into their letters because it definitely takes time to put things together and make your personality shine through!

Listening to: Celebrity-IU