[Serious] Law students, do you have a life?

[melsc]

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Why not just start a double degree with law, if you don't like it you can always drop to the single degree?

[iniv]

Really easy to study law and have a life

- as many have mentioned, far less contact hours in law than most other degrees
- open book exams (at UNSW at least). still requires a fair bit of preparation, but certainly makes things easier
- can be a lot of dense reading. but its not too bad. also, depends on the subject and the lecturer you have, but sometimes no big drama if you don't get them done eg in contracts this semester i've done like 2 sets of readings, but still have a really good understanding of the course and a decent set of notes by just listening and taking notes in class- possibly as I have the most amazing lecturer ever
- It can require a lot of effort to get real top tier marks (but that's the same as any degree) but if you don't have such high aspirations, and have decent writing skills you should be able to coast through pretty easily- I know heaps of people who have failed commerce/maths/science/engineering courses, yet to meet anyone who has failed a law subject.

oh yeah also- if you make an effort to get involved, unsw law has pretty awesome social scene

[Kalashnikov47]

Honestly, law school is not easy. However neither it is as horrible as it is said to be by many people nor do the law students have "no life" like people say. If you are one of those postgrads or some other random idiots at UWS you probably find law school incredibly hard, but this is certainly not what I found after spending a couple of months in a law school. Those who say "law students have no life" because they envy our achievements and the very fact that we are all smart.

[spence]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov47

Honestly, law school is not easy. However neither it is as horrible as it is said to be by many people nor do the law students have "no life" like people say. If you are one of those postgrads or some other random idiots at UWS you probably find law school incredibly hard, but this is certainly not what I found after spending a couple of months in a law school. Those who say "law students have no life" because they envy our achievements and the very fact that we are all smart.

Why would postgrads find it incredibly hard?

[Kalashnikov47]

Also, for those who are saying "law school is easy because all exams are open-book", can I just say: stop misleading people. Open-book exams do not mean exams are study-free, and in fact since exams are open-book, you are expected to learn beyond the content of your textbook, that is to say, to learn how to apply the law rather than mere knowing the law. One of my seminar leader actually said what they are looking for in the exam is not the how much case or statutory provisions you can memorise, but how well you can grasp the legal concept and apply it in given cases.

So law school is hard, but I think it is rewarding.

[Kalashnikov47]

Originally Posted by spence

Why would postgrads find it incredibly hard?

Sorry, what I actually mean was some "random idiotic postgrad in UWS"

Seriously, some postgrads and matured students in UWS are absolutely retarded, even though most of them are charming and smart.

[solomarc20]

Law requires a lot of reading, so the time at uni u have is generally 3-4 days a week (i.e. 12 hours). In terms of workloads, science and engineering degrees are the degrees that have the most contact hours.

[melsc]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov47

Also, for those who are saying "law school is easy because all exams are open-book", can I just say: stop misleading people. Open-book exams do not mean exams are study-free, and in fact since exams are open-book, you are expected to learn beyond the content of your textbook, that is to say, to learn how to apply the law rather than mere knowing the law. One of my seminar leader actually said what they are looking for in the exam is not the how much case or statutory provisions you can memorise, but how well you can grasp the legal concept and apply it in given cases.

So law school is hard, but I think it is rewarding.

People weren't saying it was easy because its open book, they were illustrating that open book means the exam is focused more on the skills than the content. Yes the content is important, and yes you need to know your stuff quite well but you don't have to memorise everything. You wont have time to read through the textbook too much, but it is there as a back up.

[Strawbaby]

I'll agree that I don't find it as hugely easy as some of the first posters, more with certain subjects than others, and I definitely spend more than 3 hours on each subject per week reading and getting my head around cases. That said, I still have a social life - you have to. If you don't take at least a few evenings off to go to dinner, see a movie and grab a drink, you'll go insane.
And I have more contact hours for law than for creative arts...

[neo o]

Originally Posted by izzy88

no it isn't. It is a MAXIMUM of 40% on D and HD grades. HD is between 3-10% and D between 5-30%.



my contracts exam was not open book (or a take home exam).

edit: someone got there before me while i was looking for percentages

http://suls.org.au/index2.php?option...0&%20Itemid=28

The new marking policy mentioned by previous posters took effect from Semester 2 2008, so I doubt that there are detailed statistics available. Under the past policy which (and my bad here) was changed because it was far too generous, the combined D+HD rate was 42.64% on average and over 50% in electives. However, considering the low standards of Usyd marking in the past, I'll consider any anecdotal claim that marks are at the low end of the spectrum under the new system totally bunk until I see concrete statistics from last semester, which is the only semester you guys have had under the new system. That document is quite funny though, SULS isn't happy at all that the faculty tried to improve the standard that it marks at.

law students at Sydney form the brightest cohort of students in the country

We're clearly the smartest in the country, just look at the high marks we've been getting!

[twistedtigers]

Wow. I must be doing something wrong to the rest of you.

I spend about 15 hours per unit a week and increase it as much as possible in the month before exams. If I have a compulsory assignment, that is done on top of the standard study.

The exams are open book, but in my experience, you have to have great notes and know them inside out. According to our lecturers, our exams are purposely set so they will be very difficult to comprehensively answer in the 4 hours. There is not time for page flipping, trying to find answers or gentle staring into the space. Part of the teaching is forcing you to think quickly, logically and coherently.

I'm a D/HD student (so far anyways), so maybe I'm more anal retentive than the average student?

That said, although my law studies are the most stressful thing I have ever done, they are also the most rewarding, enjoyable and worthwhile things I have ever studied too.

[jellyback]

I'm overwhelmed by the response, and appreciate the input. However, I need to re-state my initial question:

"As a Law student, do you find your coursework, and the corresponding quest for good grades, hindering your ability to enjoy life beyond school?"

First, I know Law is an intensive but satisfying course. I do expect a lot of hardwork, and also understand that more time spent on (effective) studying will correlate with better results.

My query isn't about whether Law is difficult. I just want to learn if the workload is heavy enough that it consumes most of your time? I want to hear from ex/current Law students how you manage this choice of study with your other pursuits.

[circusmind]

Originally Posted by jellyback

My query isn't about whether Law is difficult. I just want to learn if the workload is heavy enough that it consumes most of your time? I want to hear from ex/current Law students how you manage this choice of study with your other interests.

Depends how good you are, and what you want.

I aim for Ds and HDs. Law school hinders my social life, but only because I actively choose to prioritize good marks over going out during the semester. I imagine that I could cruise by on Cs with a whole lot less work and a whole lot more socialising. Conversely, I am sure that there are people much smarter than me getting the same marks as me with a whole lot less work.

It is easier to maintain social life with those who are also at uni, obviously. I find it hard to keep tabs on friends who have gone to other unis or have gotten jobs. It's real easy to find hours during the day to hang out on campus, but I like to study at night.

Exam time and the month before it for me is a washout.

No one can tell you how much time your uni will take up. It is a full time job, though, and if you are very serious about it, it will be like any other all-consuming job. Bear in mind that many of your competitors are Type A workaholics, plain and simple. If you have insane time-management skills and zero procrastination, you can work smarter than these kids. Don't expect to be wildly successful without making sacrifices, though. I don't know anyone who kills uni without sucking it up and hitting the library in a significant way. That goes for all faculties.

[melsc]

Originally Posted by jellyback

I'm overwhelmed by the response, and appreciate the input. However, I need to re-state my initial question:

"As a Law student, do you find your coursework, and the corresponding quest for good grades, hindering your ability to enjoy life beyond school?"

First, I know Law is an intensive but satisfying course. I do expect a lot of hardwork, and also understand that more time spent on (effective) studying will correlate with better results.

My query isn't about whether Law is difficult. I just want to learn if the workload is heavy enough that it consumes most of your time? I want to hear from ex/current Law students how you manage this choice of study with your other pursuits.

I think most of us answered the question (especially at the begining before things got a little side tracked) the problem is though we can't tell you what you want. I think most of us are answering your question indirectly as its difficult to do directly, we are answering my telling you how hard it is so you can access how much time you think it will take.

Its impossible to know how much time law studies will take YOU. First of all, it changes at yu get used to studying and even the most experienced of us have misjudged the time an assessment would take (hence me working on one this morning). We all learn in different ways and at different paces so we cant tell you if you will be one of those people who need to study extra hard or just do the minimum.

One variable is reading speed, you will read much slower in first year as you are getting used to legal lanuage and academic language and thus it will take you longer. You will also start to learn what is important and what is what can be skipped or skimmed. Some people just read slower generally, my boyfriend and I can be doing the same subject with the same book and finish at completely different times.

Some people find lectures dont work for them and thus need to write their own notes, others find they are capable of running of the lecturers notes and doing the reading.

Basically there will be some sacrifice, that being you either have perfect grades and a limited social life, decent to average grades and a moderate social life or passes-fails and a crazy party all night every night social life.

With me, I want somewhat of a social life, I work about 16hrs a week and I have a boyfriend. Both my friends and boyfriend are either students or law students and understand uni study...it does mean some I dont see much during semester because they all go to separate uni's but others I may see once a week (limited funds contributes to this) and having a job also means there is some sacrifice to my grades, but I am happy to have decent grades, some solid work experience and a limited social life...

[Cookie182]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov47

Sorry, what I actually mean was some "random idiotic postgrad in UWS"

Seriously, some postgrads and matured students in UWS are absolutely retarded, even though most of them are charming and smart.

Haha I just had to laugh there...Postgrad's ace it like no-on else!

I mean, who do you think is going to kill first yr law more? A bunch of high school kids or the girl who just graduated with honours in philosophy/english/sociology etc and has already taken uni law electives for interest in her BA?

I also disagree with neo that accounting is easier then law...perhaps its just me, but 2nd/3rd yr accounting subjects particularly Financial Accounting courses covering tax rules, business combinations etc are quite difficult and have a huge failure rate at my uni, I know many ppl also who go very well in Law and have failed first yr accy courses.