The acceptance letters are out and the 0Ls  are announcing themselves. Hi.

As a crusty rising 3L, I don’t blog about school much anymore. Law school lost its new car smell about a year ago. The pedals stick, and the engine leaks.

But I remember how useful law student blogs were to me during the summer before law school, so I feel obligated to throw some unsolicited advice out into the interweb. Grab your salt, and guard your loins.

And don’t worry. I’ll be concise. Here are 5 points:

1. Reconsider going to law school.

Now, when I tell an accepted law student to read Philalawyer’s letter, I get the same response: “Oh, well, gee, that sounds TERRIBLE! But well, it’ll be different for me.”

I have three things to say to that:

1. You may be smart, but you are an idiot.
2. You are the equivalent of the 18 year olds signing up for the military during a war, many of whom turn out not to be bulletproof.
3. You could do worse.

Just like joining the military is preferable to say, doing meth, law school is also not a terrible mistake for most people. It may be a waste of three years of your life and a lot of money, but again, it’s not meth. You’ll be fine. Maybe.

So, for those of you soldiering on,

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2. Summer reading

If you only read one thing, then read “First Impressions: What You Don’t Know About How Others See You” by Ann Demarais and Valerie White.

The most jarring thing about law school is the amount of unchecked douchebaggery going around. It’s absolutely shocking and needs to stop.

I am pretty sure that classroom etiquette sessions are part of my school’s orientation schedule next year, but the vast majority if schools don’t offer these sessions, so it is your duty not to be “that student” during orientation.

Also visit student blogs and go through the archives. Law student blogs are best orientation you can get.

Some of the classic law student blogs include: But No Thanks, Butterflyfish, and New Kid on the Hallway. But check the rest of the blogs linked on the left side of the page, and those linked at Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground.

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3. Orientation: I’ve written about this before, and I think my 5 rules are pretty solid:

1. Dress Appropriately. Advice and debate is here, but the gist is that you need to wipe the ramen from your shirt and look put together.
2. Check the hormones, aka, fluid exchange should not be a part of the greeting process in professional school.
3. Check the ego, or your classmates will know you’re an asshole.
4. Don’t overshare, or your classmates will know you’re a hot mess.
5. Hold the hooch, because the evidence will be on facebook forever.

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4. Student loan money

Schools are oddly silent about this. Basically, if you take the full amount of student loans you will probably have around $1,000 per month to live on. But student loans can come very late, so make sure you have enough money for your deposit, first month’s rent, furniture, books, and whatever other living supplies you need, like food, if you’re into that. ‘

Considering putting off law school to work and save if you have to, because you are at a material disadvantage to Timmy Trustfund and Sally Second-Career when you are struggling to pay rent during 1L year.

And frankly, if you didn’t get into a top 10 law school and got a full ride to a law school in say, the top 100, then going debt-free is a good idea.

If you are unemployed after graduating from Underwhelming Law School (#70) then at least you are debt-free, whereas if you went into debt for Okay University School of Law (#35) and didn’t get a job, then you’re just a trapeze artist in debt, and, well, screwed.

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5. Blog!

Go to wordpress.com and start your blog today. There are many reasons to blog, including:

1. Journaling your experience, because having an archive of a semester is priceless.
2. Efficiently keeping in touch with your friends and family.
3. Managing your web presence.
4. Networking with lawyers, peers, and a community of law student bloggers throughout the world.

More on that is here. I also have some tips on how to avoid getting into trouble.

That’s it grasshoppers. My duty to offer my one-and-a-half cents is fulfilled, and I will now return to blogging about dogs, drag queens, and music production.

If you do, somehow, have any more questions then tweet me at @dennisjansen or hit up Huma, who is far more competent, although slightly violent, at @huma_rashid.