Angela Vorpahl: Hey, guys, if you're heading into your first, second or third year of law
school or just considering the possibility of law school, then you probably have heard
a ton of information from a lot of different people, gotten a lot of advice, and are wondering
what part is true and what part isn't.
I'm Angela Vorpahl of the Law Tribe Network, and in this video I'm going to teach you the
top five myths about law school.
So if you're interested in insider secrets, in openly known information from people who
have come before you but may have never shared with you, then go ahead and hit that like
button and let's get started.
Angela Vorpahl: Myth number one: being competitive is the key to law school.
So it is definitely true that law school is inherently competitive.
You are graded on a curve, which means that you are not just graded on how well you do
on the exam, but on how well you do as compared to your classmates.
There's only a limited number of high grades and not everyone can get one.
That being said, if you go into law school with the mindset of being competitive to the
exclusion of everything else, you're not going to do well because you are going to be in
a position at some point in time where you need to borrow somebody's notes or you have
a question you don't understand or you're going to need a ride to class because your
car breaks down or to borrow a laptop charger.
Something's going to happen where you need help.
Angela Vorpahl: And so you want to be the person that's giving that kind of help to
other people as well.
And I'm not saying let everyone walk all over you, completely take advantage of you.
I'm not saying hand out your class notes and your outlines and your canned answers, all
of your work product, to everyone in your class.
But I am saying that in those moments when somebody can use your help and you're in a
position to help them, help them.
They're going to remember that.
Angela Vorpahl: Myth number two: handwriting is just as good as typing.
Wrong.
And I know that I have driven this point home in other videos, but it's just so important.
I feel so strongly about it.
Handwriting will put you at such a disadvantage as compared to your classmates who are typing,
and that includes typing notes in class and that includes typing exams at the end of the
semester.
Angela Vorpahl: And the reason is that the goal in law school exams at the end of the
semester is to issue spot as many legal issues as you possibly can so that you can analyze
as many legal issues as you possibly can so you can get as many points as you possibly
can.
And just by virtue of how quickly you can type as compared to hand-write, you are going
to have such a bigger advantage if you're typing 'cause you can just get more words
on the page, you can just make more arguments in the specific limited time that you're allotted
for that exam.
And usually the concept of typing law school exams isn't very controversial, but the issue
of typing law school class notes is really controversial, and this comes a lot from the
professors.
The professors hate having laptops in their classrooms because all the students are just
so busy typing down verbatim what they're saying in their lectures and aren't really
understanding or comprehending the information.
But the reality is that understanding and comprehending the information that you hear
in class the first time you hear it is not the point of class.
You are not supposed to and you're not expected to show up to class and understand every single
legal concept.
Angela Vorpahl: That's impossible.
The point of class is to type down every single thing the professor is saying so that you
have that very, very valuable information saved somewhere and can use it as you go through
the steps of the studying process, outlining, canned answers, and studying for law school
exams because there's just too much information.
There is no way that four months down the line when you're preparing for exams that
you're going to remember what a professor said on day one of class or day 15 of class.
You're going to need that written down and memorialized somewhere.
So that is what is behind the typing down every single thing the professor says in class
strategy.
Angela Vorpahl: Myth number three: what happens in law school stays in law school.
Absolutely wrong.
What happens in law school will be remembered for the rest of your life.
People in law school are going to remember what you did, what you said, how you acted
for the rest of their lives.
Angela Vorpahl: So if you were a jerk, if you were overly competitive, if you were pretentious,
if you were rude, if you were a mean girl, they're going to remember that.
And when you reached that point in your career, which is going to be not that far down the
road, when you're looking to change jobs or looking for new clients or referrals or promotions,
you are inevitably going to cross paths with people you went to law school with, even if
that's only on LinkedIn or social media.
And so what they think of you and what they remember from law school is going to be the
first thing they think of when they see your name or see your face.
Angela Vorpahl: And so one piece of advice that career counselors at law schools love
to give is to tell you that your reputation starts the moment you walk on campus and that
your reputation takes a lifetime to create and only a moment to lose, and so be very,
very careful with it.
Now, that is extremely overused advice, but it doesn't mean it's bad advice.
In fact, it's pretty on point.
If you think of the people that you hated in high school or in college, you still remember
them, and that could be five, 10, 15, 20 years later.
And so the perception that people build of you when you're in law school is going to
carry over into the rest of your life, into the rest of your professional career.
So always opt to be a cool, nice human.
Angela Vorpahl: Hey, guys.
If you're still with me through this part of the video, congratulations.
You are going to know law school inside and out before you even start.
So let me know if you made it this far.
Drop a comment in the comments section below.
Let me know what year of law school you're heading into, if you're just thinking about
it, and also what's your greatest question, fear, or worry.
I would be more than happy to share with you everything I know.
Angela Vorpahl: Myth number four: study groups are the best.
That could not be more wrong.
Speaker 2: More wrong?
Angela Vorpahl: Study groups are the worst.
And I know this is going to be a really unpopular opinion and some people are fiercely loyal
to their study groups, but I would be doing you guys a disservice if I didn't let you
know that study groups are a total waste of time, and law school is all about using your
time efficiently.
There are concrete studying steps that you need to go through from the first day of class
all the way until the final exam.
And I'll link the video up here that goes through those studying steps from the beginning
of the semester all the way to the end.
And the problem with study groups is that they don't move the ball forward on any of
those studying steps.
Instead, they sort of add this extra setting step that doesn't add any value.
It doesn't need to be there.
Angela Vorpahl: What study groups really tend to be are emotional download sessions, where
you talk about your professors and how difficult law school is and how terrible the other people
in your class are or whatever it is you want to talk about, which can be healthy and can
be helpful as long as it's viewed as what it is, which is downtime, which is relaxing
time, which does need to be factored into your schedule but just at very strategic limited
portions, right?
It can't overshadow and overcompensate for the actual studying that needs to get done:
the reading for class, the taking of the notes, outlining and canned answers.
Angela Vorpahl: Myth number five: this will never end.
It is so easy to fall into that belief in law school that it is such a stressful, overwhelming
anxiety-ridden experience that this is just going to be your life from now on and this
is how it's always going to be, especially during exam times when there's that crunch
in time and you know that something important is coming up and something that you've been
working so hard for for months is on the line.
But just remember that everybody feels this way.
It doesn't matter how prepared you are.
It doesn't matter how great of a student you are.
You will feel this, so don't think that you're going to perform badly just because you're
sort of in this black hole and you don't feel like you're going to be able to come out of
it, because everybody is right there with you, and the good news is that it is a limited
period in your life.
Angela Vorpahl: You will live through it, you will work through it, and it will make
you stronger, and when you have something difficult happening in your life later on,
when you're at work and it's 3:00 AM and you have a brief to finish, as difficult and as
stressful as that is going to feel, it will never compare to what being in law school
and going through law school exams is going to feel like.
Angela Vorpahl: That's it for this video.
If you guys liked it, let me know by giving it a big thumbs up and consider sharing it
with someone who might benefit from it.
Also, if you guys are interested in joining a community of lawyers and aspiring lawyers
just like you who are looking to connect to others in the industry, get answers to questions
and just be there for each other for moral support, then consider joining the Facebook
group Law Tribe Network.
Angela Vorpahl: Being a lawyer is a difficult profession, no doubt about it, and there are
no dumb questions as you make your way through this career.
And so that's what the Facebook group is all about is connecting like-minded people and
helping each other out to create legal careers that you love.
So consider joining that group.
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And that's where I'll see you guys.
Have a great week.
I'll see you next time.