Reddit reviews One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

I didn't take BarBri before law school. I did fine. So I don't think it's necessary. (And I can't speak to whether it would be helpful.)

In the summer before I started law school, I met a law school professor. I asked him if he had any advice for law school.

He said to read 1L, by Scott Turow, which references another law school book: The Paper Chase, by John Osborne. Not because law school is really like that -- tension and pressure so thick it hangs in the air like a fog -- but because it will give you some idea -- albeit a dramatized one -- of how the Socratic method works in class.

His 2nd tip was: study more after class than before class. Most law school students are so freaked out about being called on in class that they spend way more time preparing for class, than they do studying the material you learned in class. He said to read all the cases and be prepared for class, but the point is to do well on the tests, so you need to learn the material. Spend more time preparing for the test than preparing for class.

His 3rd tip: Read what your professors have written. It will give you an idea of how your professor thinks, and what he thinks is important. And if you can somehow work it into class discussion -- or better yet, a test answer -- then the professor's ego probably can't help but be stroked a little bit.