At a public meeting in Greenberg Lounge two weeks ago, I saw Professor Samuel Estreicher, who teaches employment law and appellate advocacy here at NYU, defend his position that students should be allowed to sit for the bar after two years of law school and to have the option of walking with a certificate, rather than a J.D.

Most 1Ls, by May, look forward to putting the law library behind them. For research assistants, however, the library soon becomes a second home. Here’s what I thought about my summer pretending to be a law professor in NYU’s research assistant program.

Law students must take a certain number of doctrinal classes to graduate, but otherwise, we have flexibility in selecting courses and creating our own schedules. Seminars, clinics, and simulation courses take law students outside the classroom setting and provide us with skills key to our future careers.

Although law schools have attempted to diversify their student bodies over the years, a recent study casts strong doubt as to the effectiveness of these initiatives with respect to socioeconomic diversity. I offer my perspective on the issue based on my realization that I am among the 5%.

Law and Economics is inescapable your 1L year. It is also perfectly understandable—even for arithmophobes like me.

I woke up this morning and realized that I am a law student. It’s official.

It is all too easy to retreat from life and forget who you were before law school. One student tells how she refused to succumb to the peer pressure of 24/7 studying.

I went out for a jog for a study break–and ended up having another kind of break. Having a supportive law school family has made all the difference as I get back into the swing of things.

I am taking an Eighth Amendment Law and Litigation course, taught by Professor Bryan Stevenson. He is brilliant, and the course is easily the most influential one I’ve taken, ever.

We interviewed the client, researched his case, and repeatedly rehearsed our arguments. We were as prepared as two law students who have never represented a client could be.

I was a consultant, looking for a way to combine my interests in business and the law. The answer: the Jacobson Leadership Program in Law and Business.

Lawyers are highly educated and incredibly competitive. I’ve discovered that I’m not alone in my love of trivia contests.

Looking back to last year and remembering what it was like to be a prospective NYU Law student, I’ve got three pieces of advice for admitted students: 1) Don’t be scared. 2) Find what fits. 3) You’ll be fine. Just fine.

Last summer, I felt pretty prepared for law school. I was confident I could handle hours of poring over casebooks, job-hunting, and even trying that whole work-life balance thing. But like many 1Ls-to-be, there was one thing I dreaded: the Socratic classroom.

I would describe myself as one of those rare law school nerds who enjoys every class, but this semester I am particularly captivated by Constitutional Law taught by Professor Derrick Bell.

The best advocacy that I’ve seen in law school was done outside the courtroom, before students rather than judges. Last week, I watched Burt Neuborne, Inez Milholland Professor of Civil Liberties, debate Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute.