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Rachael

August 29th, 2022

What I have learnt as a first-year law student at LSE

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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Rachael

August 29th, 2022

What I have learnt as a first-year law student at LSE

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

It has been a fruitful year where I have learnt a lot and have met so many amazing people, so I thought I would write a blog post about the advice I would give to myself a year ago before I started at LSE. There are certainly things I can do better and things I wish I knew earlier. I hope this is useful for incoming law students!

How to read?

This is a very broad heading but a very difficult question that I am still struggling with, to be honest. It is quite important to remember that it is going to take time to get used to reading large amounts of information, and be able to understand what bits are useful. Although highlighting might be useful for a reader, it is highly unlikely that you will re-read all the textbooks the month before exams. As most teachers go through class questions, I recommend structuring your notes based on either textbook heading or those questions. I also recommend reading through past papers to get an understanding of what is usually asked, and asking your teachers for note-taking advice. Developing good reading techniques is not easy and I am sure many of us struggle. Although note-taking might be hard at times, don’t give up, your future self will thank you later!

Time-management

Good time management is super important for law students, that I cannot stress enough. It is therefore important to develop a routine that is well structured, but at the same time flexible enough to adapt to changes. One suggestion would be to set up a weekly timetable that allocates the slots for you to watch your pre-recorded lecture and incorporates reading time. Other than work, it is important to eat well. Cooking might take up a lot of time for self-catered students, but eating out can be expensive sometimes. I suggest meal-prepping over the week, as it is a good way to save money and time – there are microwaves around campus(LSESU building, Old Building etc), it doesn’t have to be sandwiches everyday!

Networking

Networking may seem daunting at the beginning, regardless of whether it’s just getting to know seniors at LSE during society events or networking with corporate lawyers. I remember in the first few weeks in the Michaelmas term when everyone was attending law firm networking events that I did not manage to sign up for. If you don’t know much about people’s work, you can ask them about what a typical work day is like, why they chose specific working areas or what is the most enjoyable part of their jobs. Setting up a Linkedin account would be a good way to stay in touch with people professionally (if you wish to)!

Don’t panic too much about first year, LSE provides plenty of support for students. You can speak to LSE LIFE and your academic mentor, older law students are happy to help too!

About the author

Rachael

Hi, I am an undergraduate law student at LSE.

Posted In: Student life

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