Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success, Third Edition

This popular book helps students make the transition from their undergraduate experience to law school learning. Unlike other “introduction to law school” texts, Bridging the Gap offers a different approach because it: Explains the “why” of law, providing students with the context necessary to understand why law school is taught in a certain manner. Explains the “how” of the law, setting out a step-by-step process that will help students adapt to the law school setting. Explains the “what” of the law, giving students the opportunity to practice the problem-solving process by providing numerous exercises in a variety of subject matter areas.Rather than giving only general advice, or black letter law and some practice problems for a specific subject, Bridging the Gap provides the context, the process, and the problems. Written by two former law school professors who used these techniques with thousands of students, Bridging the Gap is a guide to what really works in law school.“The first year of law school is the toughest, and the most important. But the law school learning process is different, and the skills that worked for you before may not work for you now. Stropus and Taylor draw the curtain and let you see the Wizard turning the wheels. They show you in plain English what works in law school, and why. And they do it in a warm, friendly, funny style. Bridging the Gap is a realistic, accessible and humane guide to starting law school right.” — Kenneth A. Rosenblum, Associate Dean for Administration, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, Touro College, Central Islip, New York“Stropus and Taylor have revolutionized academic support. For four years, I watched them, over and over, take students who were confused, resistant, or lacking any sort of grounding in the fundamentals of analysis and turn them into successful, problem-solving thinking machines— which is what a person needs to be to make it through the first year of law school. What’s really extraordinary about the Stropus/Taylor method of academic support, though, is not just that it helps students get through law school (though this, in itself, is enough); what it does goes far beyond the educational framework: it provides students with the foundation they need to survive and thrive in the legal world. Simply put, their system works; it is unparalleled!” — Susan Thrower, Associate Professor of Law and Director of Legal Analysis, Research and Communication, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois“Bridging the Gap is an essential guide for any serious law student. Stropus and Taylor demystify all the mysteries of the first year.” — Rod Fong, Assistant Dean for Bar Exam Services, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, California“Stropus and Taylor have an uncanny knack for explaining the complexities of learning the law clearly and yet in a way that is both funny and entertaining. Any book by Stropus and Taylor will be a ‘must use’ resource for first year students, academic support professionals, and legal writing teachers.” — Judith Rosenbaum, Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Communication and Legal Reasoning Program, Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois