What does a typical law student schedule look like?

One very frequent question I get asked is what my schedule in law school looks like. When do I study? for how long? How many classes do I have each day? Well, here’s the answer!

Class Scheduling. During 1L, you don’t get any choice on which classes you can take. Everyone takes the same courses, so you will likely just be handed a schedule. I usually had 2 or 3 classes a day, but only one class on Fridays. After 1L year, you get the choose your courses and schedule them on your own, similar to how you would in undergrad. You will be picking a mix of courses you need for the bar exam and then courses you are interested in. How you schedule them is up to you! I like to have mine concentrated on a few days to free up others and give myself three day weekends when possible.

Typical Daily Class Schedule.

During my 1L year, my schedule for the most part went like this:

Wake up, eat, get ready, head to campus.

10AM to Noon: first class of the day.

Noon to 2PM: lunch break (where I also try to catch up on some assigned reading or take a walk).

2PM to about 5PM: another class or two, and then I headed to the library. I would stay in the library for 1-3 hours to get my reading done for the next day.

7PMish: I would head home and eat-sleep-repeat.

This would obviously fluctuate based on how many classes I had on a particular day, and how much reading I had to get done. Everyone’s schedule will look different depending on what courses they are enrolled in and what school they go to, this was just an example of what mine looked like!

Here’s a screenshot of my classes from this past semester (2L Spring) for a better idea of what a weekly schedule could look like. As I mentioned, every day is a little different based on how many classes you have. This is very similar to undergrad!

What is “studying” in law school? As I mentioned, I spent somewhere between 1-3 hours in the library almost every day doing reading. “Studying” in law school generally consists of reading cases. Reading is about 90% of what we do. You also write papers if you’re in a course with a writing assignment, which is not a lot of them. Other than that, we start to make our outlines and complete practice tests later on in the semester.

Scheduling time to study. I just want to stress that everyone studies differently. What works for some might not work for others. Here’s what I do: I for the most part do not do any studying on the weekends. I like to unplug from law school on Saturdays and Sundays (the exception is final exams season). Monday through Friday is when I do all of my studying. I usually just read for a few hours after my classes are over for the day. Once it is time to start outlining, I will do 1-2 hours of outlining on Fridays every week or every two weeks to keep them updated throughout the semester.

Fall 2021 update: here is a look at my upcoming fall schedule and how I would schedule in readings and class. Keep in mind I work as a TA on fridays (and am still planning on keeping sat/sun clear of school).

i hope this helps illustrate what a daily law school schedule looks like! feel free to message me on instagram or tiktok with questions.

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