Thoughts of Spring Break conjure images of beaches, tropical paradise, and non-stop fun. Family and friends think the break requires no studying or school work. For many 1Ls, the reality is setting in that Spring Break is nothing like undergrad spring break.
Spring Break for 1Ls can be daunting. Many schools have one of the large LRW assignments due at the end of March or first of April. Classes have mid-terms, and outlines begin lagging behind. The number of tasks seems overwhelming. I will suggest a few ideas to ensure the most effective Spring Break.
- Rest. I know everything I just listed makes Spring Break seem like another non-stop week. However, this is the last major break of the semester. For 1Ls, you won’t get another long break until May. If you have class on Fridays, then you have a 9 day break. I suggest taking 2-3 full days off. Enjoy friends and family. Do non-law related activities. Depending on your location, enjoy the weather. Just don’t worry about law school.
- Catch up on outlines. Spend 1 day on each substantive law course outline. The 1Ls at my school only have 4 substantive law courses because they have LRW II. Wake up early and treat the day like a normal law school day with approximately 8 hours of work. Complete 2 tasks when working on the outline. Create the large synthesized outline with the case illustrations, and begin the small skeletal or attack outline that shows the process for analyzing each issue.
- Work on the major LRW assignment. Students should definitely plan to spend time on the LRW assignment. Creating a good research plan and starting the process is great. However, the mistake I see many students make is to spend 7-9 days delving deep into LRW. While I believe LRW is one of the most practical classes in law school, the time tradeoff may not be beneficial. 7-9 days on 1 class probably won’t have as big of a statistical impact on GPA as spending time on each class.
- Complete practice questions and seek feedback. Either spend a full day or the hour at the end of each substantive law day writing answers to practice questions. Contact your professor or Academic Support person to get feedback on the answers.
Spring break is a great time to catch up. My suggestion is to spend time on each class getting ready for the stretch run. You can make adjustments based on how far along you are in each class. If you are already caught up on some (or all) your outlines, then spending more time on LRW would work. Be flexible, but make sure you are ready for each class going into the last month. Hopefully, you can catch some of the fun as well.
(Steven Foster)
