I am watching it for the millionth time right now. If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest watching it before you go to law school :) It should scare the heck out of you. If you still want to go to law school after watching it, it is a good sign that you are ready to face your fears of the dreaded Socratic Method....
Ah, the Socratic Method.... picture your first day of college.... you know that your professor is going to give a lecture about what is going to happen during the semester... you don't even really have to attend that class... it is basically a free day.... right?
Now picture this... first day of law school... you've tried your best to read your assignments for the first day of class... you really have no idea how to read a case correctly, let alone know what a professor would want you to say about it.... you walk into class and try to figure the best place to sit... the front row definitely gets you noticed, right? You don't want to be noticed on the first day, right? So the front row is no good.... the back row makes you look like you don't want to be noticed, which is not good, either... The middle probably gives you the greatest odds of being called on so that's no good either, right? But you have to sit somewhere.... So you find a seat and pray. (I spent a lot of time my first semester praying not to be called on.) And inevitably... it happens... "Ms. So and So... tell us the facts of Some Guy v. Some Other Guy"... and with your heart in your throat you stumble through your first experience with the Socratic Method... no matter what you say with a lot of your professors, they will never tell you if you're right... they just ask you questions until you have no clue anymore if you're even talking about the case you read.... It is a lot of fun... really....
But you know what? It doesn't kill you. There are times where a professor can really embarrass you, but that typically only happens if you're not prepared for class. When I would get scared about being called on in class, my father (who is an attorney) would tell me, "What's the worst that can happen? They can't kill you, they're not allowed to hit you, and they probably don't want to eat you...." lol I still think about that when I get nervous about something.
The Socratic Method is a rite of passage... you will never be as nervous as you are the first time you are called upon to brief a case. Just remember that everyone else is as nervous as you are! If you want to chat about your fears about the darn method Socrates created, give me a holler :)
Cheers.
Dara
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2 comments:
Hi Dara,
I was recently accepted into the STU’s school of Law. While I am somewhat nervous about attending law school, I feel that I can and will be successful. During my undergrad I took three courses that deal somewhat in the field of law. They were business law, International law, and administrative law. In these classes we were required to be prepared to brief cases if called upon. We needed to know things like facts, Issue, Holding, Reasoning for the courts ruling, etc. I was wondering if this is the format that professors require for the case briefings?
Additionally, I recently visited STU (for the prospective student information session) and fell in love with the ambiance at the school. The only concern that I have in attending the university is the low percentage of students that pass the Bar of the first attempt. I was wondering if you have any idea why this trend is materializing with law grads at the university. Thanks for your posting of this blog.
Future Law Student @ STU
Hi Future Law Student at STU :)
First of all, congratulations on your acceptance! I, too, fell in love with the ambiance at STU at a prospective student information session. Feeling nervous is absolutely normal. Law school is a tremendous undertaking, and not feeling nervous about it would strike me as being somewhat odd.
As far as your case briefing experience... you are sooooo much better prepared for the Socratic Method than I was lol You will be fine, and yes, you will be asked for the facts, issue, holding, and reasoning, etc. Some professors are more Socratic than others, and you learn how they like cases briefed in their classes.
On to the topic of Bar passage... I worried about this before I decided to go to STU. While I do not have any concrete statistics, what I can tell you is that the last two years have shown an upward trend for STU students. The professors and administration here have been working very hard to tailor our course work and exams toward Bar passage... professors have completely revamped their exam questions in order to allow the students better practice on Bar style exams. I am confident that our passage rate will continue to go up. I hope this helps, and I am looking forward to meeting you when you get here!!!!
Cheers,
Dara
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