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The Law Schools Where Students Have The Best Social Life

No sleep. No time. No money. No dating. No fun.
Those laments are familiar to most law school students. But would you believe there are schools where law students actually have a life? In these rare places, you can cut loose without binging and develop friendships with peers who aren’t win-at-all-costs cutthroats.
Don’t believe me? Well, check out the social life rankings by graduateprograms.com. Based off surveys from students at over 150 law schools, here are the 5 best law schools for having a social life:
1) The University of Florida
2) The University of Texas at Austin
3) The University of Colorado at Boulder
4) The University of Georgia
5) The University of Virginia
So where do the top schools stack up? Surprisingly, there’s plenty of fun to be had at Stanford, which ranks #8. NYU is sandwiched between the East Village and Greenwich, making it a magnet for merriment. It landed at #12. And what about Harvard and Yale? Well, they come in at #22 and #24 respectively. Surprisingly, none of the D.C. schools cracked the top 25. Somber times in the nation’s capitol, indeed.
Source: Above The Law

Five Ways To Stay Awake In Class

Speaking of social lives…
Maybe you stayed awake until 3:00 a.m. writing outlines. Or, maybe those tequila shooters didn’t wear off quite as fast as when you were an undergrad. Doesn’t matter: You’ll need to get through the next 90 minutes. They could pump Red Bull into your veins, but you’d still struggle to pay attention.
You may suspect that you’re the dumbest person in class, but even you can see this topic is a waste. Not every class addresses the grand issues of the day. Sometimes, you have to suffer through arcane abstracts proffered by some obscure 18th century Frenchman who was basically cribbing John Locke. In these times, you’d rather just zone out or play spider solitaire. ‘I’m never going to use this’, you think. ‘No one else is paying attention. Even the class gunner wouldn’t deign to raise his hand today.’
Your professor may be going through the motions, but there could be plenty of reasons to stay alert. Dry topics have a funny way of popping up on the bar (and final exams). So how do you keep focus when your body whispers ‘sleep’ and your mind screams ‘Facebook?’ Betty Wang, a law school grad from the University of California-Davis and a writer for Findlaw.com, has some suggestions:

• Reward Yourself: Wang suggests treating yourself as an incentive. Just be sure not to indulge until after class.

• Calculate The Costs: You’ll probably find yourself in six-figure debt after graduation. If you calculate that this snoozefest class is costing you $230, you’re more apt to milk it for everything it’s worth.

• The Joy of Learning: Remember that concept? Law school may have beaten all the optimism out of you, but even the most abstruse topics can teach you new ways to understand and apply the law. You never know when that might come in handy.

• Eat: Food equals focus. Just remember the 3 C’s: Cheetos, chocolate, and Coca-Cola (or the 3 B’s – Beets, bananas, and brown rice – if you still care about your health).

• Involve Others: If those don’t work, maybe being accountable to someone else will. Offer to switch off taking notes with a classmate. Guilt (or fearing another’s wrath) will certainly help you keep your mind on class.

Source: Findlaw