So I hear all these horror stories about law school, especially 1L, and how hard it is to do well. But the stories seem short on detail - what is hard about law school? Is it the amount of reading? The professors' expectation? The competition of other students? All of the above?
All of the above sums it up quite well, but there is more to it than that.
Okay, take your most time-intensive class in undergraduate, multiply it by 3--that's the average law school class. Honestly, the reading itself is not that voluminous, but the attention to detail necessary in the reading is nothing like any other level of education one experiences outside of law school. Reading and briefing a case isn't that difficult, but often times there are a dozen notes after the case, each of which mention a case. You are expected not just to read the notes, but prepare to discuss each of the cases and how they are different from the case you read for class. Thus, one case requires you to remember over a dozen other cases, at least well enough to discuss. Considering many classes will cover 3 cases, you need to be fairly fluent in 36 cases, for one class. At my school, which is fairly typical, the average time spent in class and prepping is 70 hours per week, more during exam time. To those who say it can be done in 40 or even 50 hours...whatever...
Ever read a book of the length and complexity of "War and Peace" and have a professor ask you what the author meant on the bottom of page 365 and contrast that to the book you read in 8th grade english class? That is kinda what law school classes are like. Because of the detail of answers professors demand, there is NO WAY you can go to class without fully preparing (unless you enjoy being humiliated by 70 other students, each of whom think they are smarter than Da Vinci). Believe me, you'll read a heck of a lot more deliberatly next time. This takes an incredible amount of time, and drains the mind quickly. It ain't exactly light reading. In fact, tax code can be more stimulating. Classes are pretty intense, especially when you factor in the nervousness of being grilled in front of others for what seems like an eternity. You are intellectually naked in a way that no other experience in life captures. If you have ever seen The Paper Chase...yes, many students head for the bathrooms after class!
The result is, predictably, to spare embarassment, students will prepare, overprepare, and over-overprepare for classes. This, equally predictably, leads to all-nighters and poor outlines, but at least you won't be embarassed (too badly) in classs.
Law is a regulated profession. Thus, it is not unreasonable that professors demand students are accurate. Unfortunately (in my view), this lends itself to sadistically long assignments, are mind-draining nuance wars between professors and students. Thus, the workload is tremendous, and the detail with which you must prepare is equally demanding.
Remember in high school, there was always that one student in class who always liked to show up everyone else by thrusting his hand into the air, and with an aire of confidence based largely out of insecurity, spewed whatever nonsense was in his head? Now, remove the other 30 kids from class, and make 30 carbon copies of the class conceited jerk. That's law school. (Okay, I generalize). Law students make medical students look human and uncompetitive--and that takes a lot.