The Law School Advice Thread

[mksese]

i am having difficulties understanding cases, wala pa kami sa digest niyan. there are times na hindi talaga ako mkacomprehend dahil sa mga hindi ko mawaring mga distractions. is it natural for a first year student? i read the book for 7 hours, and when it is time to recite, wala man lang ako nasabi. it is very frustrating. is it natural? nagkaganito din ba kayo?

kailangan ba imemorize in verbatim each provision of crim law, consti and on the civil code?

[pristonpiker]

i am having difficulties understanding cases, wala pa kami sa digest niyan. there are times na hindi talaga ako mkacomprehend dahil sa mga hindi ko mawaring mga distractions. is it natural for a first year student? i read the book for 7 hours, and when it is time to recite, wala man lang ako nasabi. it is very frustrating. is it natural? nagkaganito din ba kayo?

kailangan ba imemorize in verbatim each provision of crim law, consti and on the civil code?

ang aga ng pasukan niyo ah? saang law school to, sa bagong dlsu col o sa ateneo, or sa de la salle lipa?

oo naman nangyayari yan, yung buong magdamag ka nag aral tapos kapag recitation na wala kang masabi. Sa kaba kasi yan, yung takot mapahiya at mabokya. tsaka minsan hindi pa ganoon ka developed sa mga first year yung skill na maexpress mo yung nabasa mo orally.

May mga 4th year na na nagstutter or nabobokya pa rin sa recitation. at kahit si cong. tupas nabobokya!

Mahirap talaga ang first year, adjustment period, pinakamahirap sa lahat, tingin ko.

dahil sa ibang year pwede ka namang hindi mag full load at makaconcentrate sa pag aaral sa ibang subjects gaya ng ginagawa ng ibang law students

[waldner]

any freshman here who can share their syllabus for Stat Con subject? kindly include also election law subject. tia

[nikkilove]

i am having difficulties understanding cases, wala pa kami sa digest niyan. there are times na hindi talaga ako mkacomprehend dahil sa mga hindi ko mawaring mga distractions. is it natural for a first year student? i read the book for 7 hours, and when it is time to recite, wala man lang ako nasabi. it is very frustrating. is it natural? nagkaganito din ba kayo?

kailangan ba imemorize in verbatim each provision of crim law, consti and on the civil code?

yung friend ko dati, may study group sya, mga 5 sila sa grupo and they would divide the cases into summaries,

imposible mo naman mabasa yung ganun kadaming cases, tapos yung mga textbooks pa.

I saw the cases na binabasa nya, easily understandable naman, voluminous nga lang,

kahit naman mga prof di nabasa yan noh.

nasa style na lang yan.

[dashingdevonair]

Hello guys. I am a incoming 2nd year law student. I am thinking to stop for this school year because I felt, I lost the determination/motivation to continue law school. I think, I need to contemplate and practice/enhance my reading comprehension and improve a well balance study habit. Is it okay to stop for awhile? What will be the consequences? If ever, I will continue, I prefer to continue law school in Manila. Is it okay? What do you guys think? And what other law schools there in Manila, you can recommend? Excluding Ateneo, U.P, U.S.T, Arellano and San Beda. Thanks.

I would suggest that you take a leave of absence and get a job. If you still don't feel the urge to go back to law school and you're actually happy with your work then congrats.

[Diend]

I would suggest that you take a leave of absence and get a job. If you still don't feel the urge to go back to law school and you're actually happy with your work then congrats.

AWESOME! Thanks for your reply. I'll just ask this, is this normal for every law student to experience this kind of doubt? And is it okay or still plausible if I'll take a break for a year? One of my peers told me that I am just wasting my time by skipping a year. :/ I am kinda confused right now.

[vicmesar]

AWESOME! Thanks for your reply. I'll just ask this, is this normal for every law student to experience this kind of doubt? And is it okay or still plausible if I'll take a break for a year? One of my peers told me that I am just wasting my time by skipping a year. :/ I am kinda confused right now.

if you are sure with your plan to finish law, then, skipping a year is indeed a waste of time;

but

if you have doubts and you want to truly resolve the Doubting Thomas in you, then, take a break.

Di biro biro ang law study, you should not have doubts about it while pursuing it .

I took a year of absence in law school before (masyadong napagod working student kasi), but balik agad after gathering enough energy again.

[dashingdevonair]

Mas waste of time kapag tinuloy mo iyan till fourth year tapos tsaka mo lang narealize na ayaw mo pala. An acquaintance of mine pursued law all the way until LL.M only to realize later that she didn't want to practice law. It wouldn't hurt so much to take a leave for a year.

And yes normal lang yan. The summer right after first year is the "cracking point". Most people would reflect on the past two semesters and many wouldn't be able to feel any sense of achievement even though they sacrificed a lot of time, money and energy.

Just don't take a leave of absence without any alternative work in mind. A leave of absence from law school should give you the chance to explore other possible career options, hindi parang nagextend ka lang ng summer vacation mo.

[dashingdevonair]

The sooner you get rid of your "doubts", the better. The longer you stay in law school, mas lalo kang manghihinayang umalis kahit na feel mo di mo siya masyado gusto. Marami ka na kasing nainvest na time and effort.

[dashingdevonair]

i am having difficulties understanding cases, wala pa kami sa digest niyan. there are times na hindi talaga ako mkacomprehend dahil sa mga hindi ko mawaring mga distractions. is it natural for a first year student? i read the book for 7 hours, and when it is time to recite, wala man lang ako nasabi. it is very frustrating. is it natural? nagkaganito din ba kayo?

kailangan ba imemorize in verbatim each provision of crim law, consti and on the civil code?

1. You'll get used to it after a few weeks. Technique diyan is to read digests first before reading the original SCRAs so you'll know what's important.

2. For the commentaries, read the commentaries and read a bar review book later on. The commentaries would give you depth of discussion while the bar review book would summarize the concepts and highlight the important ones.

3. Verbatim? Depends on the prof. I never memorized codals in verbatim except for some civil law subjects.

[neinsager]

i am having difficulties understanding cases, wala pa kami sa digest niyan. there are times na hindi talaga ako mkacomprehend dahil sa mga hindi ko mawaring mga distractions. is it natural for a first year student? i read the book for 7 hours, and when it is time to recite, wala man lang ako nasabi. it is very frustrating. is it natural? nagkaganito din ba kayo?

kailangan ba imemorize in verbatim each provision of crim law, consti and on the civil code?

1. it's natural. tao ka lang naman. nadi-distract, nawawalan ng focus, nagkakaron ng failure ang memory. di mo pa lang siguro ganun ka-sanay para malaman mo kung anong study method ang pinaka-effective for you. for most people, it's a trial and error process.

2. no, you don't have to memorize every provision, except for a few very important ones (ie laging lumalabas sa bar exams and law school exams, or the prof requires it). most of the time pwede na yung iexplain mo in your own words, using of course, key words from the provision itself. pero if it would take you more than 5 sentences to explain the provision, especially kung important, memorize it na lang. halimbawa, definition of immovable property under art 415. imposibleng ma-explain mo succinctly and accurately in your own words yun kaya imemorize mo na lang.

[Diend]

if you are sure with your plan to finish law, then, skipping a year is indeed a waste of time;

but

if you have doubts and you want to truly resolve the Doubting Thomas in you, then, take a break.

Di biro biro ang law study, you should not have doubts about it while pursuing it .

I took a year of absence in law school before (masyadong napagod working student kasi), but balik agad after gathering enough energy again.

Thanks for the reply and yeah. I am sure to finish law.But after I just repossess that determination and acquire a better level in reading comprehension. After my first year, some doubts of mine arise and I really wanted to enhance my techniques, gather secondary resources and to developed a very good study habit. When I first started attending law school, I was kinda cocky and with it comes to exams and recitations, I felt I am about to go down. So, I think that the best way is to stop.

Mas waste of time kapag tinuloy mo iyan till fourth year tapos tsaka mo lang narealize na ayaw mo pala. An acquaintance of mine pursued law all the way until LL.M only to realize later that she didn't want to practice law. It wouldn't hurt so much to take a leave for a year.

And yes normal lang yan. The summer right after first year is the "cracking point". Most people would reflect on the past two semesters and many wouldn't be able to feel any sense of achievement even though they sacrificed a lot of time, money and energy.

Just don't take a leave of absence without any alternative work in mind. A leave of absence from law school should give you the chance to explore other possible career options, hindi parang nagextend ka lang ng summer vacation mo.

The sooner you get rid of your "doubts", the better. The longer you stay in law school, mas lalo kang manghihinayang umalis kahit na feel mo di mo siya masyado gusto. Marami ka na kasing nainvest na time and effort.

Oh. I am going to work as a secretary in a law office. I am thinking to practice, observe and to learn technicalities in legal writing. (Which of course, I already took up.) I think this will be the best alternative with a connection to law studies.

So guys, after a year, My plan is to transfer and continue my law degree in F.E.U.

[dashingdevonair]

If you're just going to work as a secretary for a law office you're better off continuing your law studies in my opinion. Doing so would simply prolong your agony hehe. You work for a year and you come back as a second year student fully recharged. After a year of studying you'll experience the same fatigue all over again haha.

I'd suggest that you look for a job unrelated to your law studies.

[Diend]

If you're just going to work as a secretary for a law office you're better off continuing your law studies in my opinion. Doing so would simply prolong your agony hehe. You work for a year and you come back as a second year student fully recharged. After a year of studying you'll experience the same fatigue all over again haha.

I'd suggest that you look for a job unrelated to your law studies.

Oh I see.:O It never crossed my mind about that.:P I am thinking, well, in addition to be fully recharged as well as being organized etc, I really thought it would enlighten me or give me a bird's eye view what will be going on the next succeeding years. XD and I wanted to start anew, like a new school, new environment etc. I guess, I need extra money for that. So, just wanna ask, is F.E.U. Law well, strict on grooming? Like sporting a long hair is prohibited etc? :O

[Master Thief]

question lang po.

Is there any other Law schools na pwede for a working person such as myself, aside sa Arellano? I want to take up law but I can't be a full time student ):

[neinsager]

^ UP has a good evening program.

[miranda05]

ano ba ang mga specific articles sa consti na kailangan kabisado mo by heart?

[neinsager]

^ these are the ones i memorized in law school.

*bill of rights - obviously
*citizenship - maikli lang naman yan and laging tinatanong sa law school and bar exams
*definition of judicial power (art VIII sec 1)
*jurisdiction of the supreme court (art VIII sec 5) - useful sa remedial law, pag na-memorize mo yan, the modes of review under the rules of court will be easy to understand

yun lang. di naman sila ganun kahahabang provisions so kayang kaya yan. if your professor requires more, go lang. i think professor la viña requires his students to memorize the entire constitution. that's good. it can certainly be done. and in a perfect world, all law students should do that. pero kung di ka naman ganun ka-hardcore, you don't have to force yourself to memorize word-for-word the whole thing.

[miranda05]

thanks neinsager! So plus points yun sa ibang law subjs kung kabisado mo consti? (di lang sa consti law,polilaw)

[neinsager]

thanks neinsager! So plus points yun sa ibang law subjs kung kabisado mo consti? (di lang sa consti law,polilaw)

especially sa remedial law. pag umabot ka ng crimpro or evidence and you have not memorized the bill of rights, you will most certainly wish you have.