Fall Semester Update

Being a 3L, my classes and coursework are pretty much dialed in for this final Fall semester. With a couple years’ experience, you tend to know what the coursework will be like, what the exams will be like, and how to juggle your outside interests within the framework of being a full-time student.

What’s different as a 3L is your focus isn’t so much on grades, it’s about preparing for the bar exam and your post-school career. At certain times, I did not want to focus on these things so much and just concentrate on school, but it became clear that I needed to. Regarding bar exam prep, it was important to me to pick my 3L classes in a way that doubled as bar prep. Taking the “hard” bar exam courses during school seemed like the right thing to do to save aggravation later. Then I had to shop around and pick a bar prep course, all of which are very expensive and require tons of post-graduation studying.

As for focusing on my long-term career goals, I’m doing what I can to beef up my resume in this last school year. That means keeping my grades up, doing as much practical work as I can, and filling out my resume. I have never worked as a traditional law clerk, so I sought out a part-time law clerk job to fill that experience gap.

Overall, the 3L lifestyle is relatively easy in terms of classes, homework and exam preparation. But the change in focus may be unusually difficult and require some more time and energy than one might expect.