Law Like the young antelope climbing up its first snowy slope, resilience is the key attribute that will get you through law school.
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Not The University of Sydney
The no-bullshit guide
There will most likely be a lot of pain, enough tears to fill a small fish tank, and many a drunken night staring at the stars wishing you had formed a Cold Chisel tribute band that played at rural RSLs instead. This struggle doesn’t necessarily mean that your tutors are bad or the university is failing you, so try not to fall into the easy trap of blaming the university. Rather, it is instead a reflection of the fact that your cohort is very intelligent, your teachers want to push you, and for the first time in your life you may feel stressed and out of your depth. Keep in mind as well that, unlike school, the university is trying to make you self-sufficient, not dependent. Pep talk aside, in the Law School you have seventeen core units and seven electives, the latter of which you don’t touch until your later years. You can’t choose the core units, but electives with positive feedback have included ones involving international study (ie. the Himalayan Field School) or practical experience (ie. Social Justice Clinic).
Yes, we win moots. So many moots. So many that we’ve made mooting great again.
Another thing to keep in mind is deadlines and timetabling. Generally, it is a ten per-cent penalty for every late day, and often your assignments will be due at very similar times. Although it takes self-control, stay on top of your notes from the first weeks. If you can keep up to date for the first four to five weeks, it will make the rest of the semester incomparably less stressful. As another side tip, even if you think you are a student who learns best at home, going to lectures and actually listening to the lecturer explain the concepts in class will go a long way at the end of semester.
Get involved with SULS (Sydney University Law Society). This society is one of the most involved on campus. Sports, debates, revues, textbook exchanges (use these!) casual lemonades on a Wednesday afternoon – there is a lot to do, and plenty of people who want to meet you. Getting involved in SULS, or just making an effort to talk to people in class, won’t just add fun to your degree but also improve your marks. As law has a large workload, study groups will be vital to help you get through unscarred. There have been various issues raised about the law school. Special Consideration can be hard to get, and the Law School can also be very inflexible in helping you timetable classes to meet work/personal commitments. More so, instead of feedback coming directly to you, you will often have to make an effort to get any form of feedback (ie. completing past exams early and asking tutors for advice), which can be tough at busy times in the semester.