Rating: 
Summary: Avoid Commercial Outlines and Study Groups
Review: Having graduated with high honors from one of the top five law schools, I can attest to the book's straight-forward approach to law school exams. I applied the book's approach as follows: (1) read only those assignments provided by the professor (ignore commercial outlines, etc.); (2) take extensive notes of everything the professor says in class (and do not write down any student comments or student answers to Socratic questions); (3) organize your notes of the professor's lectures into your own outline; (4) read the professor's prior exam files, including any student answers selected by the professor as "model answers"; and (5) practice taking the professor's old exams in the few days leading up to exam day. The rationale is that your professor will be looking for you to spot those issues that he or she views as important. The more of these issues you spot, the higher your exam grade will be. Ditch those commercial outlines and study group meetings. In addition to Acing Your First Year of Law School, you should also prepare for law school by conditioning yourself to what its competition will feel like. Two excellent books that accomplish this are Scott Turow's One L (Harvard in the 1970s) and Scott Gaille's The Law Review (2002 book about competition at The University of Chicago Law School). Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Avoid Commercial Outlines and Study Groups
Review: Having graduated with high honors from one of the top five law schools, I can attest to the book's straight-forward approach to law school exams. I applied the book's approach as follows: (1) read only those assignments provided by the professor (ignore commercial outlines, etc.); (2) take extensive notes of everything the professor says in class (and do not write down any student comments or student answers to Socratic questions); (3) organize your notes of the professor's lectures into your own outline; (4) read the professor's prior exam files, including any student answers selected by the professor as "model answers"; and (5) practice taking the professor's old exams in the few days leading up to exam day. The rationale is that your professor will be looking for you to spot those issues that he or she views as important. The more of these issues you spot, the higher your exam grade will be. Ditch those commercial outlines and study group meetings. In addition to Acing Your First Year of Law School, you should also prepare for law school by conditioning yourself to what its competition will feel like. Two excellent books that accomplish this are Scott Turow's One L (Harvard in the 1970s) and Scott Gaille's The Law Review (2002 book about competition at The University of Chicago Law School). Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Acing is sound, effective and simple advice
Review: Having read many of the law school primers, I can say that this book is the simplest, most practical advice if you want to get good grades in your first year of law school. It tells you what to do and what not to waste your time on. Unlike some other books, the authors claim to have graduated near the top of their classes in law school so they seem to speak from experience (Plus they claim to know Julia Roberts!). Having read this, I am confident that I know how and when to outline for exams and how to write a great exam answer. I would recommend this to other first years.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read
Review: I am a recent law school graduate. This book is solid and easy to read. The info on outlining and study guides is generally excellent. I disagree with the authors that you should wait until the semester is half over to start outlining, however. That will lead to unnec. anxiety, too much work at once, and possible procrastination or non-completion of the outline--the worst possible thing a 1L can do. I started outlining right away and made outstanding grades (when I was finally smart enough to outline). At least start by end of the first month. Just look at the syllabus or the textbook's table of contents to see the big picture.
Also, this book excessivley discusses legal research and writing. You will get all you need on that subject from your LRW class. Just keep up, and knock out assignments ahead of time. Your LRW textbook ought to discuss strategies as to timely completion of assignments. That is the most important thing with LRW. Oh, and stop doing research and start writing sooner rather than later. Hand in complete, organized rough drafts, and your instructor will point you in the right direction. You aren't expected to know everyhting as a 1L. Believe in yourself throughout the entire law school experience, reflect daily on your goals and situation, seek to quickly master new challenges, and minimize outside noise and distractions, at home and at school.
Rating: 
Summary: direct, organized and helpful, but some extraneous stuff
Review: I am a recent law school graduate. This book is solid and easy to read. The info on outlining and study guides is generally excellent. I disagree with the authors that you should wait until the semester is half over to start outlining, however. That will lead to unnec. anxiety, too much work at once, and possible procrastination or non-completion of the outline--the worst possible thing a 1L can do. I started outlining right away and made outstanding grades (when I was finally smart enough to outline). At least start by end of the first month. Just look at the syllabus or the textbook's table of contents to see the big picture.
Also, this book excessivley discusses legal research and writing. You will get all you need on that subject from your LRW class. Just keep up, and knock out assignments ahead of time. Your LRW textbook ought to discuss strategies as to timely completion of assignments. That is the most important thing with LRW. Oh, and stop doing research and start writing sooner rather than later. Hand in complete, organized rough drafts, and your instructor will point you in the right direction. You aren't expected to know everyhting as a 1L. Believe in yourself throughout the entire law school experience, reflect daily on your goals and situation, seek to quickly master new challenges, and minimize outside noise and distractions, at home and at school.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read
Review: I am going to law school next fall, so I don't know if the material is "right on" to law school success. However, I have read a few books on the "law school experience" and I enjoyed this one for a couple reasons. First, there is no legalese here -- they write in simple, plain English. As such, it is a very easy read. Second, the strategies are very straight-forward. For example, they outline a 4-step process for briefing cases that is succinct, easy to follow, and describe what to focus on (and, what not to focus on). What strikes me unusual about this book is that is both very informative and very readable. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A Brief of a Law School Guidebook
Review: I bought this book shortly before beginning law school, and while it seemed adequate at first, it seemed less so once I was actually taking classes. Different professors expect different things: one suggests briefing your cases for "at least the first few weeks of class," not a whole year; another demands that your case briefs be so exhaustively detailed that you wonder why you're bothering to write briefs at all when they end up almost as long as the cases themselves. The case that the authors brief in the book is much shorter and more straightforward than most of the cases I've had to read so far. The authors might have served their audience better if they had also included an example of their approach to a longer, more confusing case.Another shortcoming of this book is that it gives no advice on multiple-choice exams. Of my four classes this semester, one will have a final exam that is exclusively multiple-choice and another will be half multiple-choice. State bar exams have also moved toward more multiple-choice questions. Including a strategy for taking this type of test would have been helpful to readers. The rest of the information in this book is appreciated, especially the advice on thinking for yourself, using study aids, outlining, and preparing for essay exams. The dicta columns help you know what not to worry about. The authors' repetition of "You know better" gets a little old, but it doesn't detract too much from the what's valuable in this book. Follow-up: Waiting until six weeks into the semester to begin outlining is a mistake. It's best to do it weekly, while the information is fresh. It's overwhelming to feel behind on outlining when you've got other pressing things, like writing assignments, to worry about.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful
Review: I read most of this book just before law school orientation. It introduces the basics and is an easy read. I would recommend reading it before starting law school, but wouldn't waste your time after your first day of class, unless you really need the advice.
Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners and a quick read
Review: I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. It is a really helpful book for pre-one L's, and for one L's. It contains great explanations about course work and tests in law school ,that are not typically taught by Law Professors. I am so much more aware of what to expect during my first year.
Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners and a quick read
Review: I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. It is a really helpful book for pre-one L's, and for one L's. It contains great explanations about course work and tests in law school ,that are not typically taught by Law Professors. I am so much more aware of what to expect during my first year.
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