Monday, October 31, 2016

Being Young In Law School

I am one of the youngest people in my law school class. As far as I know, I am the second-youngest person in my law school class, as far as I know. Like many law students, I cam to law school directly out of undergrad - I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Political Science in May of 2016, and began law school the following August. However, I actually only attended undergrad for three years. By some luck and apparently overloading on classes, I was able to get my degree an entire year early. Not only that, but I have always been young compared to my classmates - I turned eighteen the July after graduating from high school. So, all things considered, I began law school barely a month after I turned twenty-one.

Being young in law school has definitely contributed to a unique experience among my peers. There are a handful of other twenty-one year-olds in my class as well, so I am not alone. However, the majority of my classmates are at least a year or two older than me, and some even more than that. However, being young in law school hasn't been detrimental to my law school career in any way, and if anyone else is in a similar position, I advise you not to let it deter you.

Most people associate being twenty-one with a year of partying, fun, and free-spirited shenanigans. Being in law school, this is clearly not an option. I've replaced bar crawls with bar prep, hangovers with early morning study sessions, and spontaneous roadtrips with well-planned library trips. Law school isn't necessarily boring, but it is serious. If you want to spend your time partying and having fun, I recommend you get that out of your system before taking the plunge into your 1L year.

Another way being young might impact you while attending law school is lack of life experience. Some of my classmates have used their time in undergrad to study abroad, other have years of work experience, and others just seem to be better adults. I didn't have time for any of that - I spent three straight years studying in undergrad, and then came straight to law school to study some more. Sometimes this makes me feel a little intimidated - like I am less of an adult than my classmates. But then when it comes to reality, I feel like I have a better grip on most things like paying bills, handling insurance claims, going to the DMV, etc. So it's all about how you handle things.

Overall, I wouldn't change my experience of being one of the younger ones in my class. Sure, it brings a variety of challenges. But it also brings an opportunity for me to prove myself. Unless I tell people, they usually don't realize how young I am, and I certainly don't act like a typical twenty-one year old. So don't let being young hold you back from going to law school. If you have an experience anything like mine, it won't matter a bit. I'm not ready to let go of my immaturity yet - I still have stuffed animals and toy trinkets stacked on top of my law books. But I'm ready to be a law student, and nobody but me knows the difference.


  1. Hey! I'm currently in the summer before 1L and am starting to feel intimidated by all of my future, definitely older, classmates. I'm in the same situation as you, I graduated a year early and wont be 21 until December (after first semester). Do you have any tips for "feeling more adult" if that makes sense? I definitely don't FEEL as old as most of the people I've been meeting. Thanks!

    1. Hey, Kenzie! Graduating a year early is AWESOME - but it can definitely be intimidating at first. Basically, I would say my biggest advice is just portray yourself the way you want others to see you and be as mature as possible. Don't fall into the college party scenese, don't create adolescent drama. Just work hard and study hard, and nobody will notice how young you are!

  2. Hi! I am looking at a bunch of blogs right now because I start Law School in Fall 2020. I finish my undergrad this year because I overloaded courses and am finishing 2 years early. So I will be starting a few months after turning 20. It makes me a little nervous being at least 2 years younger than most people in my class.

    1. Congrats on being motivated and graduating early - it's totally awesome and I am so glad I did it. Occassionally, I wish I was older starting law school just for my own personal journey. However, I didn't find much of a struggle being younger than the rest of my class. One thing you might run into is that a lot of law school social events take place at bars, so that might be somewhat difficult. However, you shouldn't have any issue making friends - you may be younger, but you will be going through similar life experiences.


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