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Students Study Hardest at Villanova Law School, Survey Finds

Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:21 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Students at Villanova University School of Law apparently study the hardest, putting in an average of 7.5 hours a day, according to a survey by the Princeton Review.

TaxProf Blog developed the list from data published by the Princeton Review in its report, Best 172 Law Schools. The top five law schools for studying are:

1) Villanova (7.5 hours)

2) Loyola-Chicago (6.6 hours)

3) Campbell (5.7 hours)

4) Baylor (5.57 hours)

5) Cornell (5.5 hours)

The law schools where students report studying the fewest hours per day are Yale and Illinois, where study time averages only 1.5 hours per day, according to the findings.

TaxProf Blog cautions that the schools didn’t release their response rates to the survey, so it’s unclear how many students at each school determined the average. Princeton ranked law schools in 11 different categories based on surveys of more than 18,000 students and data from administrators.

Other findings: Law students are most competitive at Baylor, report the best quality of life at the University of Virginia, and have the best classroom experience at the University of Texas at Austin.

Comments

1.

M
Oct 19, 2009 2:21 PM CST

Only 7.5 hours of studying?  Time for me to stop studying!

Average day:
6:00 AM, wake up
6:15 AM, breakfast, bathroom, etc.
6:30 AM, read news
7:00 AM, start reading for class
9:00 AM, leave for class, continue reading on bus
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM class
12:00 PM lunch
12:15 PM more reading for class
1:00 PM 15 minute news break
1:15 PM writing, notes from morning
2:00 PM more reading for class
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM class
5:00 PM more reading for class
6:00 PM head home, read while traveling
7:00 PM dinner, attend to wife
7:30 PM notes and writing from afternoon
8:00 PM summarize day, make flash cards for day
8:15 PM start reading for next day
11:00 PM take a break
11:15 PM transcribe notes from evening reading
11:30 PM study notes, flash cards, do non-required reading
1:00 AM transcribe notes from night of reading
1:30 AM check world news
2:00 AM go to bed

Rinse, wash, repeat.

Students at Villanova are obviously lazy compared to this ongoing schedule.

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2.

associate
Oct 20, 2009 11:07 AM CST

M, buy a CaseNotes book.  No thanks necessary.

There’s no need to read 50 pages of drivel to find the three sentences hidden in the footnotes.  In practice, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.  I’m still baffled that they teach that in law school.

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3.

Bean Counter
Oct 20, 2009 3:06 PM CST

M. - average means average.  Some people - like me - need to study more hours than others.  But some are fast learners.  Buy commercial outlines or Barbri materials will help you big time. 

Also, spend more time with family.  Divorces and break ups are very common among law students.

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4.

Steve
Oct 20, 2009 3:16 PM CST

This particular stat is meaningless.

Is it a measure of work ethic and dedication to learning?  Or maybe it’s a sign of which schools have their students panicked.  Maybe some students are just slow learners.

To the first poster:  If you are putting in THAT much time, you need to evaluate your methods or your aptitude.

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5.

Jeremy
Oct 20, 2009 8:26 PM CST

The real question for the first poster is, what grades are you getting?

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6.

Jack
Oct 22, 2009 6:23 PM CST

To the poster number one, I have a few questions…
1. If your schedule were accurate, it means you are posting on this website during class….you haven’t allocated any time to be on random websites…
2. Why are you reading/ watching the news for an hour a day, if you really are so busy?
3. I am seriously bringing into question your ability to function on four hours of sleep a night….

Any way, if this was an attempt to impress us, the fellow readers of this site, you should probably try harder… you should also probably try harder at time management, just my opinion

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7.

Jeremy
Oct 22, 2009 9:55 PM CST

Also, just half an hour a day for your wife? And even then she has to compete with dinner. What law degree is worth that?

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8.

kilroy
Oct 23, 2009 7:56 AM CST

Who studies 7.5 hours in addition to class?  Law school isn’t that hard at least compared t other graduate programs. 

I was married while in law school.  I managed to get up by 7, in class by 8, finished with class usually by 1 or 2, did work for next days class until 5 and did nothing after 5.  Treat it like a 40 hour week job, and you’ll be fine.  Law students like playing the martyr and are drama queens.  It isn’t that hard people.

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9.

GTL
Oct 23, 2009 8:40 AM CST

If you spend your entire lawschool life studying, you will surely miss the most important lessons.

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10.

juan carlos
Oct 23, 2009 9:28 AM CST

M ...  seriously, if you’re studying that hard there’s something wrong.  go on craigslist, get the barbri books, use those outlines….  and do something for recreation.  don’t kill yourself, it’s only law school.

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11.

KM
Oct 23, 2009 9:57 AM CST

All great comments except that first guy that posted.  Anyone know a good divorce attorney?

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12.

SR
Oct 23, 2009 10:32 AM CST

Post 1….you sound like the typical law student martyr…while the rest of us were finished with class and spending time with friends over a few beers and the ball game.

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13.

Careful Reader
Oct 23, 2009 12:23 PM CST

13 posts, and no one has noted the most glaring point: students at YALE study the least of everyone???  For a top-3 school???  Now I really wish I’d gone there, crushing debt load or not….

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