By request, here are my 5 simple rules for law school orientation:
5. Dress appropriately.
How you present yourself1 during orientation will shape how people think of you for the rest of the semester.
The appropriate style? Business casual: Banana Republic, Zara, Express, and Arden B.
And no, I’m not saying go out and buy designer clothes – the point is that you can look put together without wearing your church clothes, or looking like a Kinko’s manager (no high-water khakis please.)
My experience: There was a girl who wore the same thing throughout orientation: ass-cheek exposing shorts, a red tank top, an oversized hoodie, and her greasy hair in a sloppy bun. She was a super-smart girl, but she looked like she smelled, and was called uncharitable names (like slutty hobo) for the rest of the year.
Some classic dressing tips are here, and female law students who need extra help should check out Huma’s tips. When in doubt, women should check out their local Forever21 for a quick cheap but put-together look or Banana Republic for personal assistance on what is flattering your body type.
Edit: More specific fashion advice is here.
4. Check the hormones.
This isn’t Undressed, Raising the Bar, or the first day of college. Bedding your classmates will come back to haunt you. Well, unless you’re this guy:
3. Check the ego.
It takes people a while to understand that in law school, the playing field is level. Unless you ditched a full ride at Harvard for Nowhere University, you are probably not the smartest kid in your class. So be careful, because the section-mate you are bragging to just might be a PhD or getting a dual degree in Rocket Science.
Also, no one cares how much time you spent reading hornbooks during the summer, how prestigious your undergrad was, or how much money you made in your former job. You are in law school. Save yourself the ego-check and humble yourself before you get to school. The grades are based on finals, so you don’t get any points for muscling your classmates during orientation.
My experience: During orientation, the entire 1L class was in an auditorium. Some prestigious lawyer gave us a lecture about his experience and this girl raised her hand, preceded to tell the speaker (and the entire 1L class) about a lengthy book she read on a completely irrelevant subject, and asked the lawyer for his thoughts on the book.
The presenter’s mouth said: “Uh, I haven’t read that one.” His face added: “You crazy bitch.”
She was “that girl” for the rest of the semester. (that post is here)
2: Don’t overshare.
Your classmates will get to know you in time. Disclosing things too early will just earn you a reputation as a socially inept. We don’t need to know about your DUIs, roaring undergraduate drug habits, or thoughts about your weight. We also don’t need your blog address. We’ll stalk you when we add you on facebook.
1: Hold the hooch.
This happens at every school outside of Utah: after orientation, you will head to a local pub with your section-mates, someone will get crunk for jesus and embarrass themselves.
And in law school, no one bothers to stop a social train wreck. Law students will just stand by and chuckle nervously as the disaster unfolds – and because no one ever says anything, this behavior is repeated throughout the year. Don’t be that guy.
And remember it is not too late to get the essential law school summer reading:
- First Impressions: What You Don’t Know About How Others See You by Ann Demarais and Valerie White
- Overachievement: The New Model For Exceptional Performance by John Eliot
1Some schools have formal orientation dress codes, most don’t.
Do you really think business casual is necessary for orientation? What about nice jeans?
The nice jeans would have to be dressed up…and many girls (At least in Minnesota) don’t know how to do that.
Amen and Amen. Oh, my Orientation memories. Every single one of “those” guys and girls made an appearance. And it seriously sticks to you throughout the year. And the people in OTHER sections never get to really know you, all they see is your Orientation-Self. Be on your best behavior
I will even add, if professors are socializing with you during Orientation, they will have impressions too…and they shouldn’t be up on the gossip of who drinks too much (but they sure do know if you put it out there!).
@Valentina – I would say, yes. Business casual. As always, check in your orientation materials though…they will probably have a recommendation. For us, we started out BizCaz the first day or two, and by the final day people were wearing nice jeans and nice shirts. My philosophy is to dress your best, feel good about your outfit, and take your cue from everybody else.
I prefer to be slightly over dressed than underdressed.
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Oh geez, I thought I could check my work clothes at the door until summer interviewing begins. Oh well…thanks for the advanced warning!
Fortunately, I have a pair of skinny dress pants just for such an occasion.
Wait a second…
Good Post! I didn’t make any of those mistakes but there are many slutty hobo’s at my school.
[...] be that kid – at least, not on the first day. [No634 and Fearfully [...]
Great advice – I was thinking of wearing jeans to orientation too, but now I think I’ll go a little more formal to be on the safe side.
Jeans are fine as long as you dress them up with a nice top and/or heels.
This is dumb. As long as you don’t look like a total idiot, for whatever reason, nobody will care by next day, week, month, or year. Seriously.
Sorry for the typo. But seriously, you folks are overthinking this whole thing.
Welcome to the party.
[...] Remember my five tips for orientation: [...]
Brilliant (and desperately needed) advice. Much appreciated.