| Author's Note |
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xvii | |
| Foreword |
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xix | |
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Part One: So You Wanna Be a Lawyer... |
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1 | (94) |
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3 | (5) |
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I am a college student thinking about applying to law school, or I'm thinking about changing careers and applying to law school |
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5 | (1) |
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I've already been admitted to law school, and I'm nervous... |
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5 | (1) |
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But I'm already in law school ... I wish I'd found this sooner |
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6 | (1) |
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I'm the parent, friend, sibling, or significant other of someone going to law school |
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6 | (2) |
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The Law School Confidential Mentors |
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8 | (12) |
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Thinking About Law School? Think Again... |
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20 | (19) |
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My relative the lawyer made me do it |
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22 | (1) |
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I can't ignore this amazing LSAT score, can I? |
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22 | (1) |
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I don't have a mind for science, so... |
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23 | (1) |
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23 | (1) |
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This ain't Hollywood, son |
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24 | (2) |
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A Realistic Evaluation of Your Fitness for Law School |
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26 | (9) |
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27 | (1) |
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28 | (2) |
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30 | (1) |
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31 | (1) |
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32 | (1) |
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Taking time off before you apply |
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33 | (2) |
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Plan Your Application Process in Advance |
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35 | (4) |
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35 | (1) |
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36 | (1) |
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36 | (1) |
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37 | (1) |
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37 | (2) |
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Your Five Most Critical Hours: How to Beat the LSAT |
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39 | (7) |
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So What Is This ``LSAT'' Anyway? |
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40 | (6) |
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The reading comprehension section |
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41 | (1) |
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41 | (1) |
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42 | (1) |
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The minutiae and related suggestions |
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42 | (2) |
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So what about the test prep courses? |
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44 | (1) |
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I bombed it---I know it---Should I cancel my score? |
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45 | (1) |
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Applying to Law School: Bait the Hooks Carefully and Cast the Nets Wide |
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46 | (29) |
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Interview with Richard Geiger, Cornell Law School |
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47 | (28) |
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71 | (1) |
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Try to decide where you want to practice before you apply |
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72 | (1) |
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Apply Early Action wherever possible |
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72 | (1) |
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73 | (1) |
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Visit your top schools and keep in touch with the admissions office |
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73 | (2) |
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Choose Your School Wisely |
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75 | (9) |
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The school's regional and national reputation |
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75 | (3) |
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Pay the greatest attention to a school's placement record |
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78 | (1) |
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79 | (2) |
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81 | (2) |
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83 | (1) |
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An Investment in Your Future: Funding Your Legal Education |
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84 | (11) |
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85 | (1) |
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86 | (1) |
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Some terms they'll throw around in your aid package |
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87 | (1) |
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88 | (1) |
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Stafford Loans (formerly the ``Guaranteed Student Loan'') |
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88 | (2) |
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Perkins Loan (formerly the ``National Direct Student Loan'') |
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90 | (1) |
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90 | (2) |
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92 | (1) |
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92 | (1) |
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93 | (2) |
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Part Two: The First Year, They Scare You to Death |
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95 | (138) |
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The Ten Things You Must Do Before Classes Begin |
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97 | (19) |
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Before You Arrive on Campus |
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98 | (9) |
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Read this book from cover to cover |
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98 | (1) |
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99 | (4) |
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Use the summer to get in shape |
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103 | (1) |
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103 | (1) |
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Buy a computer and become computer literate |
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104 | (2) |
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Check in with the registrar |
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106 | (1) |
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After You Arrive on Campus |
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107 | (9) |
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107 | (2) |
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Learn the ``lay of the land'' |
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109 | (1) |
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110 | (3) |
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Get your books, study aids, and other supplies |
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113 | (1) |
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Recommended commercial outlines |
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114 | (1) |
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Bonus: Go to orientation! |
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115 | (1) |
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Contacts for commercial outlines |
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115 | (1) |
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So What Is a Tort Anyway? A Brief Overview of the First-Year Curriculum |
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116 | (12) |
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117 | (11) |
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117 | (2) |
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119 | (1) |
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120 | (1) |
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121 | (2) |
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Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure |
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123 | (2) |
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125 | (1) |
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126 | (2) |
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Getting Out of the Gate---Applying the Lessons of Futures Past |
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128 | (15) |
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Case briefing---their way |
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129 | (2) |
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Case briefing---my way (The five-step plan to success) |
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131 | (1) |
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Step One: Start each night with a lesson from your commercial outline |
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131 | (2) |
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Step Two: Brief in Technicolor |
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133 | (3) |
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Step Three: Supplement your notes and tab your statutes in class |
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136 | (2) |
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Step Four: Write your own outlines |
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138 | (2) |
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Determining your work schedule |
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140 | (1) |
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A word about study groups |
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141 | (2) |
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The Unspoken Code of Law School Etiquette |
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143 | (14) |
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144 | (6) |
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It is your duty to follow the honor code |
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144 | (2) |
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Share your class notes, hornbooks, and outlines with anyone who needs them |
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146 | (1) |
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Phrase in-class comments as questions---not statements |
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147 | (1) |
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The wrong way to make a point |
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147 | (1) |
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A better way to make the same point |
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148 | (1) |
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When you're speaking, speak up, and when you're not, shut up! |
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149 | (1) |
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When referring to cases or statutes, provide page or section numbers |
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149 | (1) |
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Reign in your electronics |
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150 | (1) |
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Maintain a sense of humor |
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150 | (1) |
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150 | (7) |
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Resist the urge to make unsolicited, tangential, or politically charged comments during lectures |
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150 | (2) |
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Don't boast about your study habits |
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152 | (1) |
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Safeguard your reputation |
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153 | (1) |
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Adhere to your school's recruiting guidelines |
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154 | (1) |
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Avoid all postmortem discussions about exams |
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155 | (1) |
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156 | (1) |
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The T-Minus One Month Checkpoint: How to Arrive Ahead of the Competition |
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157 | (9) |
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I've missed a couple of classes, a couple of reading assignments, and I'm two weeks or less behind in outlining for each class |
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158 | (1) |
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I've fallen way behind in my outlining---what do I do? |
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159 | (1) |
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160 | (1) |
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Read Legalines to catch up, and find four good student outlines for your courses |
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161 | (2) |
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What Else Do I Have to Do Between Now and Exams? |
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163 | (3) |
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163 | (1) |
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Clarify exam rules with each of your professors |
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164 | (1) |
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Send query letters to potential employers |
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164 | (2) |
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Making Your Summer Plans: How to Win the 1L Recruiting Lottery |
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166 | (15) |
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168 | (5) |
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173 | (4) |
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Working for a public-service organization |
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177 | (1) |
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Researching for a professor |
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178 | (1) |
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179 | (2) |
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Your First Semester Endgame |
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181 | (22) |
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It's time to find an off-campus location to study |
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181 | (3) |
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184 | (1) |
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How to create a ``case map'' |
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185 | (2) |
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Creating a bullet outline |
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187 | (1) |
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188 | (2) |
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190 | (2) |
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192 | (1) |
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192 | (1) |
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193 | (3) |
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But wait ... my exam is closed book! |
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196 | (1) |
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The ``doomsday scenario'' |
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197 | (1) |
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The Performance Self-Examination: Part One |
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198 | (5) |
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Looking Behind and Looking Ahead: Assessing the Damage and Charting the Course for Your Second Semester |
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203 | (10) |
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I got straight As, mostly As and B+'s, or I am ahead of the curve in most classes |
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204 | (1) |
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I got a mix of grades, some ahead and some behind the curve |
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205 | (1) |
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One grade is widely disparate from the others |
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206 | (1) |
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All grades at or below the mean |
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206 | (3) |
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The Performance Self-Examination: Part Two |
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209 | (4) |
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First-Year Endgame: Succeeding in Exams and the Law Review Competition |
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213 | (10) |
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The law review competition |
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215 | (5) |
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220 | (3) |
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Working for Free or Working for Pay, Your First Summer Paves the Way |
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223 | (10) |
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For those clerking for a judge |
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225 | (1) |
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For those going to a firm |
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226 | (4) |
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For those going into public-service jobs |
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230 | (1) |
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Thoughts about your 1L summer |
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231 | (2) |
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Part Three: The Second Year, They Work You to Death |
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233 | (112) |
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Charting a Course for Your Upper Years |
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235 | (11) |
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The bar exam preparation approach |
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236 | (1) |
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237 | (3) |
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The major or career-focus approach |
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240 | (1) |
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241 | (5) |
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244 | (1) |
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245 | (1) |
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Your Survival Guide to Recruiting Season |
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246 | (12) |
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How to decide where to interview |
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247 | (1) |
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How to prepare yourself for the screening interview |
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248 | (1) |
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248 | (2) |
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250 | (1) |
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250 | (1) |
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So what are they going to ask me, anyway? |
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251 | (4) |
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When a ``stunner'' goes over the line |
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255 | (1) |
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255 | (1) |
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The things you should avoid |
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256 | (1) |
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A few horror stories to calm you down |
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257 | (1) |
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Everything You Need to Know About Callback Interviews |
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258 | (9) |
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So what the heck is a ``callback'' anyway? |
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258 | (2) |
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260 | (2) |
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Tackling the callback interview |
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262 | (2) |
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How to handle the recruiting meal |
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264 | (1) |
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When the callback is over |
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265 | (1) |
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Some horror stories to calm you down |
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266 | (1) |
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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Law Firm Hiring: An Interview with Douglas H. Meal of Ropes & Gray and David W. McGrath of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green |
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267 | (34) |
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The Summer Associateship Itself |
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294 | (7) |
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The Future Is Now: Using the ``Relevance Calculus'' to Choose a Firm |
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301 | (14) |
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How to compare starting salaries |
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301 | (3) |
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304 | (8) |
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Choosing a firm using the ``relevance calculus'' |
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306 | (1) |
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Description of factors in the relevance calculus |
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307 | (5) |
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312 | (3) |
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Back on the Chain Gang: Advice About Journal Membership |
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315 | (8) |
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Writing your note or comment |
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319 | (1) |
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319 | (1) |
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319 | (2) |
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Choose a topic that fascinates you |
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321 | (1) |
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Find a mentor on the faculty |
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321 | (1) |
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Stay organized, and stay on deadline |
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322 | (1) |
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Restoring Balance: Moot Court, Public Service, and How to Reclaim the Life You've Lost |
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323 | (7) |
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Public-service opportunities |
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325 | (1) |
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326 | (1) |
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327 | (1) |
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328 | (2) |
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Keys to Ascension: Turning 2L Summer Employment into a Permanent Offer |
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330 | (15) |
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331 | (1) |
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332 | (1) |
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333 | (2) |
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335 | (1) |
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Using Westlaw and LEXIS at the firm |
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336 | (1) |
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Getting the work you want |
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336 | (1) |
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Getting feedback on your work |
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337 | (1) |
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Escaping the clutches of a possessive partner |
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338 | (1) |
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Confront problems immediately |
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339 | (1) |
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Getting along with the other summer associates |
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339 | (1) |
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Proper etiquette at firm social events |
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340 | (2) |
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342 | (3) |
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Part Four: ... and the Third Year, They Bore You to Death... |
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345 | (48) |
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Demystifying Judicial Clerkships: Hie Thee to the Chambers |
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347 | (22) |
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348 | (2) |
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State trial and intermediate appellate courts |
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348 | (1) |
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State supreme courts (highest court) |
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349 | (1) |
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350 | (2) |
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350 | (1) |
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351 | (1) |
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Federal circuit courts of appeals |
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351 | (1) |
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The United States Supreme Court |
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352 | (1) |
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352 | (1) |
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How to Apply for a Judicial Clerkship |
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353 | (16) |
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353 | (2) |
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355 | (1) |
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356 | (1) |
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356 | (1) |
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357 | (1) |
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How to choose your recommenders |
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358 | (1) |
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Negotiating the new law clerk hiring plan |
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359 | (2) |
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Preparing your applications |
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361 | (2) |
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When you return to campus |
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363 | (1) |
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363 | (1) |
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364 | (3) |
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367 | (2) |
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Opportunity Knocks Again ... A Second Chance at Recruiting |
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369 | (6) |
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How to handle phone calls from people at your old firm |
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371 | (1) |
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If you didn't get an offer from your 2L firm |
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372 | (3) |
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Last Semester Cross-Checks |
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375 | (9) |
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Ensure that you have enough credits to graduate |
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375 | (1) |
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Ensure that you've taken and passed all required courses |
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376 | (1) |
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Cocurricular or extracurricular requirements |
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376 | (1) |
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Verify that your tuition has been paid |
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377 | (1) |
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Register for the bar exam and get your firm to pay for it |
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377 | (2) |
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Register for and take the MPRE |
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379 | (2) |
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Arrange a start date with your firm, judge, or placement |
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381 | (1) |
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Make advance accommodations in your new place of employment |
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381 | (1) |
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Make arrangements for your move well in advance |
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382 | (2) |
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The Final Hurdle---Strategies for the Bar Examination |
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384 | (7) |
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389 | (1) |
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390 | (1) |
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391 | (2) |
| About the Author |
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393 | |
Other versions by this Author
