Law school is where you won’t necessarily be able to coast through on your intelligence like you have been able to for your entire life. If you haven’t been coasting, then congratulations: you have a work ethic going into law school, which is a step ahead of a lot of first-year students.

Depending on the school, you’ll probably spend a little less than four hours a day in classes, and the rest of the time doing homework. Most schools recommend anywhere from three to five hours spent preparing for class for each hour you’re in a class. This is a reality for first-year students, because everyone is bad at law school at first.

Law students have time for part-time jobs starting in their second year, but the first year is hilariously frantic, and I wouldn’t advise working at all. Social lives take a severe hit, but you can usually find a few hours at the end of the week to go out.

The funny part of law school is that there are no grades all semester: your only exam is at the end of the semester, and that constitutes your entire grade for the class. I’ve heard of some law students who completely blow off the first month of every semester, and then work hard down the stretch to make up for it, but I’ve never met one.

Essentially, your social life will take a marked hit once crunch time begins, and you’re trying to cram as much information into your brain as possible. That’s usually a couple of weeks before exams, and it will always be while that band you wanted to see is in town. (Seriously. It sucks.)

If you have any more specific questions, I’d be happy to answer them.