Question: “I attended a top undergraduate university where I excelled, and I will be attending UVA Law in the fall. I never took a ‘college preview’ course, so why is a law school preview even necessary?”
Great question. A lot of students don’t take a college preview course; however, the difference is that law school is not college.
In college, your professor likely spent the entire first class (or two) providing an overview of the course and then proceeded to spend the rest of the semester lecturing you about how his or her view matched the original overview.
In law school, you get none of that. Your professor will expect that you arrive on the first day having read one or two cases in your casebook. Without any introduction or overview, your professor will take the cases you’ve read and help you distill them down to a fine point of law; you’ll spend the rest of the semester reading/discussing other cases that build upon the law that you’ve already learned. So, if everyone does their job, you’ll arrive at the end of the semester with a cohesive framework for what the body of Contracts or Property Law looks like and how the various rules fit together.
If you haven’t realized it already, the problem with this approach is that it requires students to read individual cases, trusting that they’ll later see how (and where) the various rules fit together within the context of the entire body of law.
BARBRI helps students see the big picture starting with our 1L law school resources: BARBRI 1L Mastery and BARBRI Law Preview. These resources are designed to teach you the rules of law outside of the classroom, so you are prepared to apply what you’ve learned during class discussions – the moment when the professor calls you.
Just like following a map (or GPS) makes you a more efficient driver, a comprehensive overview of the subjects you study will ensure you never feel lost during the semester. It’s a preview that will set you up to conquer 1L year and beyond.
Interesting in reading more? Fill out the form to read the full article.
Your blueprint for 1L success.
Barbri’s Law Preview course gives you the tools you need to become a top law student. Learn core 1L material, exam-taking strategies, academic skills and more, all before your first day of law school.