Good afternoon! Following up from the email you received from the Dean of Students Office last week, I wanted to introduce you to Academic Excellence at GW Law. Academic Excellence is the office that assists all students in their pursuit of strong academic performance and potential. Academic Excellence offers workshops, 1-on-1 counseling, and tutor matching. While this email is pretty long, it is full of helpful information, and I recommend you keep it saved for quick access!
Summer Workshops
Academic Excellence annually hosts summer workshops for incoming students that are designed to demystify the law school experience and jumpstart the orientation to law school. The programs cover topics such as “preparing for class” or “fundamentals of the legal system.”
Some programming will be offered virtually in a live webinar series. No RSVP will be required. Each of these webinars is hyperlinked to the WebEx event. Simply click the link to join. You should not need a password, but if prompted, it is gwlaw.
- Wednesday July 21, noon: Preparing for Class
- Wednesday July 28, noon: Introduction to Legal Analysis
- Wednesday August 4, noon: Succeeding Inside the Classroom
- Wednesday August 11, noon: Beginning Your Academic Excellence Journey (in order to prepare, students may prepare questions to ask current students and DOS staff members)
- Wednesday August 11, 7pm: Strategies for Part Time Students
There will also be an in-person opportunity to receive additional class preparation/case briefing information. This will be held at the law school on Wednesday August 18 from 10a to 12p. Students must register for the in-person workshop by completing this Google Form.
All 2021 summer workshops will be recorded with links made available for later viewing.
2020 Workshop Recording Links
The 2020 Academic Excellence pre-orientation programming was recorded. Substantively, that content is still very helpful, and similar content is being disseminated in the 2021 live virtual workshops. If you are interested in preparing for the live 2021 summer workshop by viewing the 2020 workshop recordings, the links are below.
- Preparing for Class Wednesday July 15, 2020
- Introduction to Legal Analysis Wednesday July 22, 2020
- Succeeding Inside the Classroom Wednesday July 29, 2020
- Beginning Your Academic Excellence Journey Wednesday August 5, 2020
Summer Reading
You need not "pre-learn" legal doctrine! Your faculty will take great care to explain the substantive law once you arrive in class. There are about a thousand books written that discuss success in law school. I’ve read most of them, and would encourage you to take anything you read with a grain of salt. If you're resolved to read a couple of books like these before you begin law school, I like these three the most: The Law of Law School(Ferguson/Newton), Succe
Harvard's 0L
GW Law has partnered with Harvard Law School to make 0L available to its students. 0L is an online course designed by Harvard Law School to introduce incoming law students to the American legal system, the vocabulary of law school, and what it means to be a law student in the U.S. Self-paced, with engaging video lessons, vocabulary flashcards, and optional knowledge checks, the course is designed to ensure that all incoming students, whatever their backgrounds and previous areas of study, start with foundational knowledge that enables them to thrive at law school.
In order to register and participate in 0L, GW Law students should complete this Google form. Students will then be contacted by Harvard Law School directly to enroll in 0L. Please reach out to [email protected]
Contact
Visit the Academic Excellence webpage for many additional resources. I invite you to contact me directly with any questions you may have by emailing me at [email protected]. If you are interested in scheduling a virtual meet-and-greet, you can do so here.
Congratulations on beginning law school! Be excited!
Andrew D. Realon, Esq.
Associate Director for Student Academic Development