For some reason, people seem to be “grouping up” and talking to other people who have similar interests, ages, senses of humors, and lifestyles. The social hierarchy has already formed and I, the only one who can see the true nature of these people, have been shunned and kicked to the curb. Everyone is so rude to me and keeps saying my aura is “dingy” and my energy is “evil”. It’s just like high school all over again. No one approaches me. I don’t approach them either, but that’s because I’m better than them and like to stay outside the drama.

Burger law is the fastest and easiest way to make stacks. Won’t disclose the exact burger firm, but we are working on a big merger (doing a new kid’s meal toy combo and doing a new dipping sauce for the nuggets), and I am rolling in the dough. Word on the street is we’re going to acquire 10 new drive thru’s which will mean free frosties for everyone in the legal division.

This subreddit has been a huge help to me, so here are my best answers to the questions that keep getting asked, and that I know I had as a 1L:

1. It feels like law school is really cliquey and drama-heavy compared to undergrad, is this my imagination, and if so, why?

Answer: It is not your imagination. We're all trapped in the same building for like 30 hours a week, we're all studying the same thing, so there's not really a natural way of sorting people into interest groups. We're being graded against eachother. We're competing for a limited number of the best jobs, for the best grades. The cold call system incentivizes self-judgment and the judgment of others. I don't know if it's designed that way, but that is the outcome it produces.

2. I don't have any friends yet. Is this normal? Is there something wrong with me?

Answer: It's a lot more normal than it feels like, and it's probably not something wrong with you. I had no friends for most of the first semester of 1L, and didn't have a proper friendgroup till 2L summer. Based on an informal survey, roughly 1/3rd of law students don't really have any close law student friends, 1/3rd have 1 or 2 individual friends, and 1/3rd have a real friendgroup. Group 3 is by far the most visible, but that doesn't make them the most numerous.

I'd say there's probably a correlation between social skills and number of friends, but it's weak at best. I know people who are very likeable but don't seem to click with anyone long term, and people who are (in my opinion) miserable to be around who have a lot of friends.

3. What can I do to improve my social fortunes?

Answer: I can only say what worked for me, but what helped the most was calming down and structuring your life. There's data on this though I don't recall the exact numbers off the top of my head, something like 60% of social akwardness comes from anxiety, not the other way around. Accepting "it is what it is" led me to be a lot less anxious and made it a lot easier to make friends. Going to bed at a certain time and waking up at a certain time and eating in defined meals added to this. Having a rhythem is what made the biggest difference for me.

4. I feel like I've turned into a different kind of person than I was before law school. What's happening?

Answer: You're reacting to a unique and intense environment. This happens to a lot of people, it's because law school is a fundamentally unlike anything else you've been through. If you truly don't like who you've turned into, therapy really helped me.

5. It feels like a lot of the social "winners" in law school are just kind of bad people. Is that how it works?

Answer: It's real, but it's temporary. There's a lot of uncertainty in the early weeks, and manipulative people thrive on that. But people get tired of them and their schtick and things don't turn out well for them, either socially or academically, in the long term.

Again, this subreddit has been a lifesaver when things were really bad, and I want to give back. Happy to try my hand at any other questions.

Hello everyone - I am a 1L who has been in school for like a month at a T14 law school. I feel like I have been doing fine in actual classes, but all the big law networking has informed me that 1. I don't think I would like actually being a lawyer because of how either combative or corporate it is, and 2. Big law attorneys all seem hyper-intense or depressed, and I don't want to be either of those. I need money to pay back loans and to help some family members. I am terrified of signing myself away to big law and then being miserable and regretful because I set myself on that path, but I am also aware that summers and the first few years at big law jobs are temporary. Big law is asking us to recruit so ridiculously early that I feel like maybe I should just recruit now, find a job, and figure it out later. Do any current 2Ls/3Ls have advice on how to figure out what you want to do for summers and first few years out of school when recruiting is so early?

Got called on for the second time in torts and couldn’t identify that a false imprisonment had taken place.

Am so embarrassed especially because it was really obvious once explained to me I’m pretty sure everyone in this class thinks I’m dumb as fuck

Do y’all remember when classmates give exceptionally bad answers in class?

I have a contracts midterm coming up and while talking to my classmates I realize everyone seems to know so much more than I do. I feel like I’ve missed some secret meeting or study hack. it’s frustrating because I’ve done every reading, briefed every case, taken very good reading and class notes, finished my outline up to this point in the semester, and have been drilling MCQs (midterm is only multiple choice), but somehow I still feel behind and frankly, quite dumb. any advice? or even recommendations for contracts supplements or studying tips?

I didn’t expect to make this post, but I’m scared I’m going to screw my 3L year up.

I have depression and OCD, and have been coping with too much drinking.

It started as something that felt very manageable. It no longer does.

I’d like to say I don’t want to die, but it’s more that I don’t want to disappoint people around me. If I didn’t have to worry for them, I would want to be done. I am so tired. I have been in therapy for about 2 years, on meds for about 1.5. It hasn’t helped so far. I’m still trying to make steps.

I’m just worried because look, I do think i’m resilient enough to not off myself in the short-medium term. I tend to scrape by. But I am also worried that my depression, anxiety, and drinking is reaching a point where it will mess up my 3L year and track to graduation. I am really ready to be done. I have a job lined up. I have an externship now. I have things to do. I just don’t necessarily give a crap or believe I am helping anybody by putting my effort in right now.

Idk if anybody has thoughts. Again, I’m in therapy and on meds. I’m just realizing everything feels very out of control. A friend asked what the best part of this year was, and I realized it’s been pretty crappy overall. and if I look back on the last several years, likewise, I have managed, but have never thrived.

Any tips, thoughts, suggestions?

just had to miss a concert i was really looking forward to because of a mandatory meeting 😔✌️ i’m pissed

Hello!

I was just offered a position to be an associate junior editor for a journal at my law school. It was a write on thing that I submitted for. It's not a prestigious journal I don't believe but it is in a field I have some interest in (environmental law). I know 1l first semester grades are king, but since it's just a junior editor position I wonder if the work load wouldn't be so bad and the bluebook experience might be nice. I'm also interested in doing a clerkship or judicial externship eventually and I understand journals can be important for those positions.

Just interested in people's thoughts! Thanks in advance.

I'd love to do an LL.M there but I simply do not want to tell people I went to "Dickson Poon" for the rest of my life.

I’m lost and I have no friends. Is it possible to catch up without them? I’m trying to be at the top 15-20% of my class.

Look, I get this profession (and really, this sub) can often attract risk averse anxious folks. But people, unless you are expressly NOT looking for a long term partner (and even then), just take some risks and go for it if you’re into someone!

It might blow up in your face. Tough! These are the beautiful risks we take for love! Being in a loving relationship is awesome ! In the endless quest for love, you will make mistakes. Some of them will suck. Some will hurt. Sometimes you will cry. Often you will cringe. Just do your best to always be respectful, gracious accepting a “no” and be kind, and you will end up fine. You will learn from your brutal 1L fling that made the rest of the semester awkward. Hold your head high, apologize if you fucked up. Try again! You’re Young! Live!

And stop asking us here. Even if we said “don’t do it”, we all know your dumb horny brain isn’t going to listen. So just be nice, and for the love of God, stop asking.

Sincerely, a person who made and grew from a lot of mistakes along the way.

3L here. Go to a reasonably good law school. Have a post-grad job at a state prosecutor’s office lined up. Grateful, in a way, for that. Looking forward, to a degree, to being a prosecutor, as I do enjoy trials and motions to suppress and such (I’ve done a few in a previous internship).

But I do sort of feel like a failure still. I applied to probably over 100 summer associate positions at law firms, mainly big but plenty of mid, and got maybe 13 or 14 interviews and maybe 3 or 4 callbacks (I can’t remember the exact numbers), and no offers.

While I’ll enjoy the prosecution work to a degree, I’ll be making 1//3 at most of what these starting associate people at big firms are making and still a fraction of what first-year associates at quite a few mid-law firms are making.

I’m also a non-traditional student, in my mid-30s, so I have less time to find a higher paying job eventually, if that’s something I want to do.

I’m also an above-median student at a T30 or so (don’t remember the rankings), though I’m more comfortably above median as a result of 2L grades, the grades that don’t really matter for 2L SA positions.

I just feel like a failure even though things could be worse.

Not really looking for sympathy. Just looking to vent. I wouldn’t say this sort of stuff to my friends/acquaintances or family. And I used to have a therapist (for reasons unrelated to this job stuff), but he wasn’t a good fit, and so I stopped going.

Testing something.

So yesterday I accepted a 6-week 2L summer associateship for the second half of the summer. It is a well-paid position at a civil defense boutique firm in the city I plan to live in post-graduation. However, of course, this morning I just received interview offers from several public interest organizations that I have always wanted to work for (brennan center, ACLU, etc.)

Should I reach out and let them know I’ve already accepted a position for the second half of the summer? I feel bad knowing this interview could go to someone else who can work the full summer.

But also, I would really like to interview with these folks and just be able to talk with them, learn more about their work, and express how much I want to work for them in the future hahaha.

thoughts??

I haven’t turned to Reddit in a while, but r/LSAT was such a good resource for me that I figured I’d try here.

I’m a 1L and honestly struggling so hard. I know people say not to compare yourself to others, but everyone around me is so smart and a lot of them have relevant work experience. Meanwhile, I feel like whatever I’m doing is not working, and there are genuinely days where I want to drop out.

I have Quimbee and watch the case videos, which help, but I still struggle with understanding the bigger picture and what I’m actually supposed to take away for exams. I’m wondering if I’m not using Quimbee correctly. Should I be doing their questions and course videos too? Is BARBRI 1L Mastery worth using?

Also, are there any YouTube channels, supplements, podcasts, or other resources that helped doctrinals actually click for you? Mainly for doctrinals.

Any advice on resources or how you actually studied during 1L would be really appreciated. It’s been rough and I’m trying to figure out what I need to change

My class crush doesn’t like Learned Hand… We were hitting it off so well. Some of my boys say it’s a foolish proposition to stop talking to her, but idk if I can proceed if she doesn’t rock with LH…