Have you ever been stressed about college or graduate school before? Fearful of the stress, challenges, and unknown of where you want to go, what you want to study, and anxious about the new experience? Something that I can recommend to you would be reading a book specifically and intentionally giving you specific and strict advice on the topic; moreover, on what you want to study and work for. Think about those books like “Physics for Dummies” but surrounded by the graduate school or college because that would be a perfect book. For me, I am set and stone on going to college and then law school; yet, despite my excitement, deep inside I am apprehensive and uneasy about the tests, grades, studying, passing, and constantly questioning myself if I am intelligent enough to conquer one of life’s most unique challenges. Before reading a book prepared me, I was still prepared. Sure, I may be scared and have much more areas to learn, but I can at least say that I was far from how most high school students are.
Many studies and surveys have shown a minimum of 40% and others have shown that up to 75% of all high school graduates are not prepared for college or work. To be frank, that is just sad. Not only is our “normal” education system failing many but also, causing a sticky situation for so many young people that affects the rest of their lives. Therefore, books that strictly send advice to anyone on graduate schools or colleges are world-changing. We need a change. We must help those who have a wonderful life ahead of them but don’t know what they want to do, how they get there, and the things they need to be equipped with. If you feel stuck like most high school students, I implore you to read a book similar to the one I read, Letters to a Law Student by Nicholas Mcbride.
Nicholas Mcbride is a professor, lawyer, and author in the United Kingdom. He has published over five books and all of which teach other aspects of law and advice. He is very well known for his excellent teachings and most for his book, Letters to a Law Student. In fact, in an article called mcbridesguides, there are many testimonials in comment sections where people have noted the extraordinary ways Mcbride has affected their lives. A few examples are: “Never felt more confident after reading your book many thanks. A wealth of information that will be useful to any nervous potential law student”, “Read your book and I don’t think I will ever find a comparable and avid teacher and author in one”, and “This book is a classic and should be required reading for any high school senior or college freshman – and not just academically but even for how to live a good life.”
As you can see, Nicholas Mcbride is an intelligent man and his book has greatly impacted lives, saved grades, rescued many from endless stress, and helped many improve not only how they work in school, but also, at work!
I may be fairly prepared for my life, yet, I still read Letters to a Law Student because I knew I needed to read to help me conquer the detrimental challenges when going to law school; luckily, this book lived up to my expectations! I learned many different lessons that I believe will not only help me in school but in life. While there are many, here are my top lessons:
Research / Case Reading
Mcbride had many “letters” and lessons on what is good researching, what should you research, how to read a case thoroughly and excellently, and how to even save yourself time yet get more information than you would have if you read the whole story. To be more specific, something he stressed to us what not reading certain articles and cases word-by-word. Instead, do two run-throughs. The first one, you’ll quickly read through it and get the jist of it by asking yourself certain questions like “who is the complaining party?” or “what are the charge(s) or what is the issue?” Afterward, it is suggested you read again but search for answers to different questions. Even better, Mcbride organized all of this information and specific question into different areas of law. There was a lot of information provided on reading cases and researching and because of it, I now know that when I study cases, I should read through the case or an article twice with different kinds of questions each run-through, take thorough but concise notes, and ask myself questions!
Studying and Avoiding Stress
Something I deal with is burnout. It has hit me hard at times when2 I push and pushes meanwhile that light and spark slowly begin to fade. Something I know I am likely to face in law school is exactly this. Many studies, articles, and polls have proven that law school students are at high risk for depression and other mental issues. - The stress, work, competition, and idea of perfectionism are detrimental. Thus, I knew that it was perfect for me to hear out what Mcbride had to say on this matter.
Mcbride pushes out the advice stating that you can’t overwork yourself. You have to take the occasional break and watch out for yourself; or else, you end up in a really bad situation where your work will inevitably decrease in excellence and everything will be so much harder on you. However, while he does express the importance of breaks, he still values focus. “Any student who is restless and easily distracted will tend not to do very well in studying law.”
Essays / Problem Questions / Assignments
I was honestly quite impressed with the amount of information Mcbride included about assignments you would be given in law school. He taught me that problem questions will be tricky to get just right. You are judged harshly and it is overwhelmingly easy it get a bad grade off of the tiniest mistake. Thus, if you have an option, you should almost always choose to write an essay over a problem question. In other words, you should choose the option that you feel most confident about and the one you feel like you’ll succeed with.
Being a Successful Lawyer
To lightly touch on this, Nicholas Mcbride included many extra details in the book that gave you a few extra tips on how you can succeed in law school and outside of it. I appreciated these extra touches of advice! While I learned many things, these were definitely my top, selected few.
This book really opened up some questions in my mind that I wish could have been answered. The biggest one I still have would be “how long does it take to master these skills?”
I thought that the author did a very excellent job at organizing and simplifying practically everything in the entire book. Mcbride organzied his advice and lessons in “letters” which were chapters and he sectioned each secondary main parts into sectioned areas of the overall main subject. This helped me learn better and his simple wording and explanations truely left me learning everything he was trying to teach. The only negatives or feedback for the book that I have would be that the author was from the United Kingdom and therefore, there were many pieces of valuable information that I would have liked to learn if only it was related to the United States; however, I don’t think that it would be fair of me to say that the author was in the wrong for doing this since he was from the United Kingdom. Thus, if you were to read this from the United States, you may just want to skip those chapters! Finally, I thought that Mcbride did repeat himself multiple times when I think it could have been more concise and still have gotten his point across perfectly!
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has a passionate or minor interest in law simply because I think that this book tells you the truth which could steer you away or pull you in deeper and it prepares you for law school, college, work, and many life aspects in general. Overall, I rate this book a solid 8/10. I found a few areas where the book could have been improved; yet, it was still very educational and helpful!