Although NYU doesn't rank students, I ended the year with a 3.68 GPA, which means I'm in the top few percent (I'm guessing top 2-3%, since there are only around 10 students out of a class of about 450 with a 3.7 or above). One of my professors emailed to tell me I wrote the best exam in her class this spring. How did Law Preview help? Substantively, I don't think it helped that much, just because each class is really what the professor designs it to be, not some core of legal knowledge. However, I do think it was extremely helpful psychologically -- I took law school seriously from the get-go, didn't get behind with reading/ outlining, and had the motivation and stamina (and luck) to do very well, receiving three A's (out of six grades) in my first year. I'm guessing Law Preview is a self-selected group; that is, people who are gung-ho enough to take a class the summer before law school are the same people who are really driven to study hard and do well. I do think that the exam-taking strategies class was extremely helpful -- this is how I approached law school exams and I ended up doing very well. The research/ writing class was probably not quite as helpful, since this is something that takes practice and experience, but it was certainly instructive as an overview. Overall, I wouldn't ascribe my success solely to Law Preview, but I do think it helped calm me down and get me off on the right foot from the very beginning of the year; and it definitely helped when it came to exams. Now that the first year is over, I'm waiting to hear about journals in a few weeks (fingers crossed), and as a result of my GPA, I will have my pick of firms.

—Anonymous, New York University School of Law, Class of 2008

Law Preview prepared me for the challenges I faced the very first day of law school. While other students were clambering to find balance in their personal and professional lives, I had already prepared a schedule for myself to study. While students were struggling to learn the skills of case briefing, I had already had the experience of doing so. I quickly gained the reputation in class as the student "in the know", and I give Law Preview much of that credit. My experience with Law Preview was invaluable in both preparing me for law school and molding my expectations of what I was ready to face. I finished my first semester with a high GPA and class ranking, the confidence to continue on a successful path, and the respect of my professors and fellow students. You only get one chance at law school, one chance to excel in your first year, one chance to set the bar as high as you can. Law Preview is a tool that any smart student should use to gain that competitive advantage!

—Donald T., North Carolina Central University School of Law, Class of 2010

Law Preview helped me adjust my expectations of law school. Before the first class, I was far better prepared than other students. While my classmates were adjusting to new schedules and strategies, I was already committed to a study schedule, I knew how to effectively brief a case, and I was already introduced to each of my first year subjects. Other students were convinced that I had attended law school previously! Law Preview undoubtedly contributed to my success in my first year. I finished in the top ten of my class, and I clerked for a Court of Appeals judge this summer. I am so convinced of the effectiveness of Law Preview, I'm taking a week off work this summer to act as a student assistant for Law Preview. Thanks, Don, for your commitment to helping law students become better students, and better lawyers!

—Donald T., North Carolina Central University School of Law, Class of 2010

I attended the NY session last year and wanted to give you an update.. . . Once regular classes ended, I was unsure how to switch over to exam mode so I called you for advice. You calmed my nerves and got me back on the right track. I am happy to tell you I graded on to Law Review. Additionally, I received the highest grade on my legal writing brief, which earned me a spot on Moot Court. . . . Thanks again for all your help.

—Richard D., Nova Southeastern University—Shepard Broad Law Center, Class of 2004

3.5 -- Including two As!!! That was my GPA after completing my first semester of law school. Thanks to Law Preview I was able to accomplish what I wanted when I began school; I am at the top of my class and have been invited to join the Law Review. After taking your course, I was relaxed and confident when I entered law school, and I had a clear direction on how to attack my first semester. Most students fail to realize that once they enter law school EVERYONE is on equal ground, regardless of their background. . . . Law Preview provided me with an excellent foundation for law school and I highly recommend the program to anyone who has high aspirations of succeeding in law school . . . Thank you guys for helping me achieve my goals.

—Christine R., Nova Southeastern University—Shepard Broad Law Center, Class of 2003

As a single mother of a preschool child and returning student, Law Preview enabled me to determine what the essential skills needed to get through law school were. My goal, unlike many colleagues, was not to make the top 10%, although Law Preview provided me with those skills. I made the choice to put in the work necessary to keep me going through school with an average GPA, while making time for what was just as important--raising a precocious 5 year old. I learned to prioritize my time, 'clear the deck' before school began, and was given an edge in learning how to brief cases. I am now a rising 2L with a judicial internship and 2 additional second year courses already under my belt based on summer school. I would not have been as prepared to get through law school without Law Preview, and I recommend the course to any nontraditional (if there is such a thing) law student.

—Deborah S., Nova Southeastern University—Shepard Broad Law Center, Class of 2010

I graded on! I attended the Chicago session last summer. I was awfully apprehensive about starting law school at age 52, competing with kids who hadn't started becoming senile yet. The course gave both the skills I needed and the confidence to hit the ground running. I've actually enjoyed my first year at Ohio Northern, and the invitation to join Law Review was such a thrill. Thanks for your help.

—Peg S., Ohio Northern University—Claude W. Pettit College of Law, Class of 2005

Law Preview helped me figure out how to make the most of my time. As a result, I was always one step ahead of the rest.

—Teddie H., Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law, Class of 2009

I believe Law Preview helped me a lot once I was in law school. I don't know my class rank yet, but my GPA for this semester is a 3.7, which, assuming the rankings are a bit higher than the rankings for the class of 2009, my GPA should put me solidly in the top 10% of the class. Law Preview helped mostly because it took away some of the fear of the unknown about the skills I'd need to do well in law school. The work itself this semester was nowhere near as bad as the unknown and having some familiarity with the process of reading and briefing cases, the Socratic method, and exam prep, helped remove a lot of that fear. Plus, it was great to have already read some of the semester's trickiest cases a couple times before the semester began (especially Palsgraph); just thinking about those concepts on my own before the heat of the semester started gave me an advantage. For some courses, it was also helpful to see another professor's views on the same subject matter, as it helped me tailor my outlines to my teacher's take on the law. As tempting as it was to think of the law in terms of right and wrong answers, and to just learn the rules, law preview helped me stay focused on the analysis, and how I would use the rules in new situations. Having experienced other perspectives before the semester began gave me the freedom to play with the rules we'd get from the cases and make them my own; this way, I had the chance to spend more effort on exam time management.

—Anonymous, Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law, Class of 2010

I entered law school with a much better understanding of what to expect than most students. Pepperdine had an extremely helpful, and I believe, unusually long 1L orientation. The orientation definitely provided a lot of information about what was coming and how to handle it. Even with that, most students did not fully understand the importance of actively learning while they read the daily assignments. They may have briefed the cases, but many did not really spend the time going over the material thoroughly enough to teach it to themselves before class. Thanks to Law Preview, I went in knowing the importance of understanding the reading. That skill was a life save for me when November rolled around, and my class-time attention span seriously waned. It also made so that when finals came around, and I had a suffocating amount of stuff going on in my personal life, I was still able to do pretty well because I had much left to learn than a lot of the class.

—Matt R., Pepperdine University School of Law, Class of 2009