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There's no doubt about it, your very first law school class can be an intimidating and frustrating experience. Classes will get easier (not easy, just easier) once you get a few under your belt, but until that time comes we have some tips to help you through. In fact, these are some pretty good tips to keep in mind throughout your three years of law school.

• Even if the thought speaking in class scares you to death, don't be afraid to join the discussion - you've got nothing to lose since professors generally do not take classroom participation into consideration when awarding final grades.
  
  
• Be alert and ready to discuss the reading material; review it immediately before class so that it is fresh in your memory.
  
  
• The goal of a class is generally to analyze, understand, and attempt to resolve issues or problems; correct "answers," if there are any, are of little consequence.

• Learn to state and explain legal rules and principles with accuracy. This will take a little practice, but give it time. It's why they call it law school.
  
  
• Don't lose sight of the "big picture" among the minutiae; ask yourself what the general significance of the case you are reading is and what it adds to your understanding of the rules and principles. You'll read so many cases that trying to recall all the minutiae of all of them will be next to impossible anyway.
  
  
• Accept the ambiguity in legal analysis and class discussion; classes are intended to be thought provoking, perplexing, and difficult.
  
  
• Review your notes from class later the same day. This will help you remember the material and will make preparing for finals easier. Additionally, you should review your week's worth of notes at the end of each week. Clarify anything that doesn't make sense right away. Trust us, your notes are much easier to decipher when half of a semester hasn't passed since you wrote them.
  
  
• No one class session will make or break you. Keep in mind how each class fits within the course overall.
  
  
• Don't write down what other students say. There's only one person in the room who is being paid to be there so concentrate your notes on the professor's hypotheticals and what they think is important, including cases and laws. (By the way, those students who talk a lot first semester tend to be really quiet second semester after grades come out.)

• A simple but effective way of keeping yourself in touch with where the class is at any given time is to review the table of contents in the casebook. For every opinion you read you should also ask yourself, what does this case add to the law I've already learned.
  
  
• If you don't use a laptop, don't sit next to someone who does. The constant tapping on the keys will drive you crazy and you may get a sense that they are writing down more than you. That is probably not true, but avoid the aggravation by sitting elsewhere.
  
  
• If you attend class, you don't need to tape-record it. There are better uses of your time than to spend hours listening to the comments of students who were as confused as you were at the time you first dealt with the material in class.
  
  
• Attend class. This may seem like an absurd piece of advice, but it's not. Chances are, if you have a professor who doesn't take attendance or you aren't prepared for class, you'll be tempted to skip the occasional lecture. Don't. You can do the reading on your own, but you'll miss hearing what the professor feels is important about a particular case. Don't count on your classmates for getting it right.

Remember, it's not just the amount of time you put into your studies, it's how you spend the time you have. If you want to learn more about how Law Preview's law school prep course can show you how to at attack law school efficiently and effectively from the very first day, give us a call at 888-PREP-YOU or visit our website (www.lawpreview.com).