You got into law school! Congratulations! 

Now what?

It’s a fair question. After all, law school has a reputation for being, well… law school. So it makes sense to wonder if there’s a book you should read, a skill you should master, or some secret summer assignment everyone else somehow knows about.

Now, with one year under my belt, I can confidently report there wasn’t a secret summer assignment after all. 

In fact, my own summer looked pretty ordinary. I wasn’t exactly backpacking across Asia the summer before law school. (Turns out that requires a budget.) Instead, I worked two jobs, one of which involved helping a criminal defense attorney prepare for a trial. If anyone was going to accidentally “pre-study” for law school, it felt like it would’ve been me.

It wasn’t.

None of it put me in any noticeably better position once classes started. And looking back, I never found myself thinking, “I really should’ve spent more time reading case law in July.” I did, however, appreciate having gotten my doctor’s appointments out of the way beforehand. Future you will thank present you for that one.

The funny thing is, my friends had completely different summers. Some spent a few weeks in Portugal. Some wrapped up their jobs with a couple of months to spare and took full advantage of the break. Others worked part-time right up until orientation, and many perfected the art of spending as much time at the beach as possible. Then, we all showed up to BC Law with wildly different summer stories, but we all came to the same conclusion.

There was no secret. If there’s one thing you have to do the summer before law school, it’s relax. 

And believe me, if I could’ve spent a month traveling or finished work early, I absolutely would’ve. 

So, just relax. BC Law will let you know if they need anything from you.

They’ll send along information throughout the summer about the handful of things you actually do need to complete before classes begin. You’ll get reminders about administrative tasks, instructions for setting up your accounts, and information from Career Services about creating your first legal resume. The good news is that none of these are tricks or tests. The school does a great job of telling you exactly what you need to do, when you need to do it.

Technically speaking, keep an eye on your inbox. Then, please go back to relaxing.

Law school will challenge you soon enough. You’ll spend plenty of time reading cases, preparing for cold calls, outlining, and wondering how it’s only Wednesday. You don’t need to spend your last few weeks before classes trying to get ahead. There isn’t really a way to do that anyway.

Until then, savor your summer.

Read a book because you want to. Travel if you can. Spend time with your family and friends. Pick up a hobby. Sleep in. Go outside. Do absolutely nothing for an afternoon and don’t feel guilty about it. Whatever it looks like for you – make the most of the flexibility you have right now.

When you get to BC Law, you’ll learn everything you need to know. Orientation is designed to get everyone on the same page, whether you spent your summer in a courtroom, on a hiking trail, behind a cash register, or in a beach chair. You’ll meet classmates from every imaginable background, and before long you’ll realize nobody arrived with a secret advantage.

The truth is, you’re already prepared for the most important part.

You got in.

BC Law admitted you because they believe you’ll succeed here. Trust that. Take care of the emails as they come in, then enjoy what’s left of your summer.

We’ll see you in the fall. There will be plenty of questions then, and thankfully, plenty of people to answer them.

---

Bella Calise is a rising second-year student at BC Law. Contact her at calisei@bc.edu.