Law school orientation is approaching fast, which means that in just a few weeks thousands of new 1Ls will be making important first impressions with their classmates and professors. Whether you came straight from a huge undergrad university, the workforce, or from a year backpacking in Europe, law school is a different animal socially. Even the biggest and most uptight law schools are like high school, to some degree.
Jansen has five good tips about law school orientations and how to avoid common pitfalls. Briefly, and with some commentary, they are:
- Dress appropriately Yes, but I disagree on business casual as a rule. You can dress like a student: jeans and t-shirts are fine. But you can never go wrong moving up a notch or two. Just don’t wear a suit unless you plan on always wearing a suit.
- Don’t sleep with your classmates Agreed. The biggest danger is that you have no idea who’s discrete and who isn’t.
- Know that everyone is as smart as you Jansen seems to focus on your peers, and he’s right. Don’t forget professors. You know nothing about the law during orientation, don’t claim otherwise.
- Don’t tell everyone everything about yourself I think this is increasingly less relevant since most people will put a lot on display on Facebook or Twitter. Don’t go on and on about plans for the future. No one cares about your brilliant study tactics.
- Watch your liquor intake Absolutely. Nothing to add.
I’ll add five more for an even 10
- Go to Everything One basic thing idea through Jansen’s tips is that first impressions stick with you for a long time. In my experience, that long time is only the first semester. What really shapes how people see you is repeated impressions. So if you go to one or two orientation events, you run the risk of making one bad impression and not taking the opportunity to make other impressions that overwhelm the negative. You also have no idea where your career is going, so you shouldn’t assume something won’t be interesting or helpful.
- Do the Assignments There are two types of orientation assignments. Some are real assignments for your 1L courses. The others are fake assignments designed specifically for orientation to teach law school skills. You might get one or both. Do all of them. Repetition is an underrated tactic in law school. Don’t throw away a chance to get in some swings during the lowest pressure time in law school.
- Plan Something Yourself If you take the advice and go to lots of orientation events, don’t take it so literally that you’re booked solid for the entire first week of law school. You should spend a bit of time getting to know people outside of law school and exploring your new home. So go out for dinner, have a run, or go see a band with law students where you aren’t talking about law school or getting a sales pitch from a student group.
- Take Care of the Little Things If you just got into town, don’t assume that you’ll be able to open a bank account, set up cable, or find a good coffee shop. Wrap up all these things before the law school machine gets going, because if you get sucked in, it’s hard to get a breath of air, let alone find out where the Farmer’s Market is.
- Be Personal Way too new law students embrace an idea of professionalism that says you need to network rather than hang out and amass contacts rather than make friends. If you just see your classmates as potential contacts to get a job, then that’s all they’ll ever be if that. A professional contact might help you get a job. A friend will save you when a law school crisis hits.
Above all, remember that this is school. You’ve started at new schools before. A lot of law school advice will tell you to walk on eggshells during orientation because you don’t want to damage your reputation. You certainly don’t want to do anything like that, but you’d be surprised what people will overlook when everyone is worried about how they are coming off. You’d also be surprised how powerful an impression you make if you’re the person who is enjoying meeting new people and getting ready to start a new adventure.
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Absolutely, couldn’t agree more. Especially #4 – because it’s not enough stress to be starting this new, mysterious thing called law school most people are also moving and that adds its own barrel of stress. Just try and enjoy it! If you are friendly and have a smile on your face, you’ll make friends. Almost everybody is intimidated. Be on your best behavior, but don’t be something you’re not (unless your normal behavior is more Cancun on spring break, in that case…watch it).