The Importance of Study Groups

I do believe it’s important to lean on your peers in order to endure the challenges of law school, but I have never participated in study groups. For me, it’s just based on a personal preference. For me, solo study seems to work best.

That said, it seems self-evident studying in a wide variety of contexts is very valuable. Writing material by hand, doing practice tests, watching YouTube videos on law school subjects, etc. all seem to increase information retention throughout the exam study period. There is also value in explaining things to others throughout the study process. For me, I tend to use my wife or a friend as a sounding board for topic explanations. I will basically start explaining the law as I understand it to them, in the hopes that speaking the words out loud will further etch the information into my long-term (or at least middle-term) memory.

I think participating in study groups is a great way to use your voice and social skills to enhance your studying. For me, though, I have chosen to utilize my time in other ways that have worked for me. Overall, there are many different ways to understand complex material and retain it, and it’s important to explore many methods rather than just reading your computer screen or the pages of your textbooks.