Law, Actually: A Beginner’s Guide to Law School
Anata Gliana
Thinking about Monash Law?
If you’re thinking about studying Law at Monash, you’ve probably already completed the classic routine. You’ve looked at the ATAR requirements. You’ve searched “is Monash Law hard?” on a Reddit page. You’ve probably watched at least one TikTok of someone saying they study for 12 hours a day.
And then you’ve thought:
“Am I really going to enjoy this?”
I had pretty much the same thoughts before I started. Now that I’m in second year, I thought I’d give you the version that I would have wanted to read before starting, to calm some first-year jitters!
The first thing I got wrong...
Before I started, I thought studying law meant being incredibly good at arguing. I imagined myself confidently explaining legal principles while everyone else sat there impressed, which was not my reality. My first few weeks involved me staring at cases wondering why a paragraph written in English somehow felt like it was written in another language.
There is definitely a learning curve. You start coming across words you have never heard before and suddenly you're expected to understand what they mean, why a particular case matters and how it applies to a completely different set of facts. At first, it can feel like everyone else understands something you somehow missed.
They don't.
Most people are figuring it out too. I think that's one of the most important things to realise before starting. You aren't expected to walk into your first class already knowing how to read a judgment or write a legal answer. You're there to learn how it’s done!
What is studying law actually like?
A lot of people ask whether law is just memorising cases. Thankfully, it isn't. There is definitely memorisation involved, but the more important part is thinking critically and understanding what you're actually learning. You might spend hours reading a case and eventually realise that the important part isn't remembering every detail about what happened. It's understanding the legal principle that came from it and knowing when you can apply it.
At some point, you stop reading a problem and start automatically picking out the legal issues. You begin noticing things in everyday life that you probably would have ignored before. A contract, a disagreement, something you see in the news. and suddenly your brain starts questioning if it’s even legal…a cool way to apply your studies in everyday life!
The workload is probably what you're most worried about
Yes, there is work. The biggest adjustment isn't necessarily that there is a lot of work or that every piece of work is impossibly difficult, but that your tutors and lecturers won’t chase you regarding it. No one is standing over you, asking if you have completed the readings. You can absolutely choose not to do them. But you can also choose to be extra stressed when exam time rolls around....
I've learnt that being organised is less about having a perfect timetable and more about not constantly putting things off until tomorrow. There will always be another reading, another assignment or another deadline, so waiting for the perfect time to catch up usually means you end up with a not -so-fun weekend.
You realise that everyone is just a person
Every student is different. There are students who know exactly what they want to do after graduation and students who have absolutely no idea. Some students have just graduated high school, and others have had a whole career before starting their law degree. There are people who love every reading and people who would rather do almost anything else. There are people who study weeks in advance and people who suddenly become extremely productive at 11pm the night before something is due (i’m one of them). You'll probably be a combination of all of them at different points!
One of the best things you can do is actually talk to people. Your classmates are going through the same deadlines and the same confusing tutorials as you. The people in the year above you have already made the mistakes you're about to make, which makes them a surprisingly useful source of information - they are scattered around campus and are also in leadership roles in the Law Students’ Society, so definitely reach out!
You don't have to become a lawyer
Another thing I wish I had understood earlier is that choosing law doesn't mean you've signed a lifelong contract to become a solicitor or barrister. You might start university thinking you want to work in criminal law and finish being interested in commercial law. You might discover property, technology, employment, government or something you hadn't even considered, and that's fine!
You don't need to know your entire career path when you're applying. Honestly, you probably shouldn't expect yourself to. University is partly about figuring out what you're actually interested in.
You can still have a life
Studying law doesn't mean you have to spend every waking hour in the law library.
There are definitely busy periods where it feels like university is your entire personality, but this is the case with every degree. Around assessments and exams, your laptop may become your closest friend. But there are also lots of normal weeks where you finish your work, go out, see your friends, work, exercise or spend an evening doing absolutely nothing.
The trick is learning when you can switch off. Monash Law also offers lots of social events, such as Law Ball, Law BBQs and the First Year Camp, as well as countless extracurricular opportunities, including the Monash Law Ambassador Program, mooting competitions and networking events. Sometimes time away from work actually is the biggest help to get back on top of it.
If you’re wondering whether you’re good enough
Don't convince yourself that you aren't capable before you've even given yourself the chance. You don't need to be the smartest person in your class, or have perfect grades in high school. You didn’t need to do legal studies and you definitely don’t need to know every legal term before your first lecture. You're going to struggle with something at some point. Everyone does, that's university! But you'll also have the moments where something finally clicks, and conversations that completely change how you think about an issue. You might meet people you wouldn't have otherwise met or had much in common with. And eventually, you'll find yourself explaining something to a first-year student and realise that you actually know what you're talking about!