r/LawSchool • u/WrongSaint • 11h ago
Cold Call Blessing
I got cold called early on in one of my big doctrinal classes. When it happened, I thought "wow terrible luck, of course I got called early." BUT I'm realizing it's a huge blessing. The class is so big that I probably won't get called again (you get taken off the list once you're called, and the class is so big I probably won't get put back on). So now I can read for understanding what I need to know, rather than trying to sound smart in class lol. It also opens up more time for my other classes so I can prioritize differently. Good stuff.
71
u/Accomplished_Cost396 11h ago
I know it sounds hard, but do this with every class. Spend time on studying instead. Preparing for cold calls is a massive waste of time.
33
u/TheMainEffort 2L 10h ago
To add- cold calls are about the lowest stake event in law school, and are often zero stake events.
19
u/kurama3 10h ago
Rhetorical—When you hear someone else get cold called, what’s more embarrassing, “I didn’t read the case,” or terribly fumbling through the cold call
I always choose the former
5
u/TheMainEffort 2L 10h ago
One time I did read the case but carefully, and stated a fact wrong. I just decided to answer in the affirmative when the professor asked me if I was sure.
3
u/Ok-Technician1713 8h ago
Needed to hear this. I find myself anxiously reading my case brief in class in case I get called on.
1
u/DJstaken 1h ago
My school grades participation and appearing “unprepared” on cold calls at all has a harsh impact on the participation grade. Is that a valid reason to prepare?
5
u/AbstinentNoMore 6h ago
I was the one person in my con law class who was never cold called. The professor simply skipped over my name.
3
u/Always_Bardownski 6h ago
The simple trick is to purposefully bomb the shit out of your first cold call so your professor just stops calling on you. I personally did not do this but I witnessed it happen and it really did work. The downside is that you will likely lose out on a 10% grade buff but for some folks that’s benign
6
u/dedolent 10h ago
one of my classes isn't huge, maybe 50 people, and i've been cold called three times and we've only had four classes, so..... don't get too cozy ;) also it's BY FAR my worst subject so far and today i had a particularly humiliating moment of pure mind-blank-emptiness that was so mortifying that i completely shut down for the rest of the day. i know i didn't handle it well but it was really emotionally devastating for me.
7
u/WrongSaint 10h ago
this particular class is 90+ people and the professor literally said he would take us off this list until everyone else goes. he only calls on like 2 people per class. so mathematically it probably wont happen
3
u/PeachBlue986 JD 9h ago
yea from what i can tell the odds of u getting called again anytime soon are super low, itlll probs happen at most once again at the very end if not at all
2
1
-3
-10
u/OneTrueAsWell2 8h ago
Think of the time you spent posting this message, which you will never get back. You did not identify anyone who cared so you told the Reddit world.
•
u/AutoModerator 11h ago
As a reminder, this subreddit is not for any pre-law questions. For pre-law questions and help or if you'd like to ask a wider audience law school-related questions, please join us on our Discord Server
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.