Anyone who is in law school will tell you that we need to do more than read case law to understand the legal concepts we need to know. We also use different resources to help with our comprehension of law school subjects. I was recently contacted by Crushendo, a law school/bar prep company, with an opportunity to access their resources in exchange for a review on my blog. In this blog I will talk about Crushendo and my experience in navigating the outlines and audio files available at https://crushendo.com/

Introduction to Crushendo’s Outlines & Timelines

Crushendo has detailed outlines with a corresponding audio file that you can listen to for each subject. One thing I particularly enjoyed about these Crushendo outlines is that each outline starts with a page dedicated to describing the best way to use Crushendo as a whole. This page gives users a timeline for how they should progress with the materials throughout their entire law school career as well as when they began to prepare for the Bar Exam. As someone who loves to plan and put things into my planner, this would have been extremely beneficial to me as a 1L for those classes. Luckily, there are a few classes I still have to take as a 2L that are available on Crushendo. I will be able to use these outlines from the beginning of the semester and follow the recommended timeline. I can’t wait!

The Different Levels of The Audio Files

The next page of the outline was also extremely informative and helpful. The page is titled “Making the most of the audio” and goes into detail about the different levels of sensory tolerance and knowing where you fall on that spectrum. I found this particularly useful because often times programs like these can take a one-size-fits-all approach and Crushendo avoids that and gives tips based on where on the spectrum the user falls. It then goes on to discuss the audio flashcards and the color coding scheme the outline follows for certain materials.

Sample Crash Plan (A Good Crash)

After the outline provides the timeline recommendation and audio file descriptions, the outline details a Sample Crash Plan that users can/should follow for the outline and the hours that should be dedicated to each task.  Once I have read through this I am finally able to dive into the outline and see what Crushendo has in store for me.

The Actual Outline

The subject I chose to read about for the purpose of this blog post in Constitutional Law due to the fact that my school breaks the subject up into Con Law I and Con Law II and I have yet to take Con Law II yet. I followed the advice of outline and began by reading the entire outline. I was relieved when I realized that the outline was only about 30something pages, including illustrations. This meant the outline was going to get straight to the point and wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg if I decided to print it out and take notes on it in class (once school starts). The outline provided many mnemonic devices and illustrations to really drive the point home for many of the concepts as well as bolding certain words and italicizing key words (words I would use when writing an exam answer). As a visual learner, I found the illustrations especially helpful and I know during the semester these will be especially beneficial to my studying. At the end of the outline there was a recap of all the abbreviations and mnemonic devices mentioned throughout the outline which I already know will be extremely helpful in that final week before the exams.

Using The Audio Files and Flash Cards

Once I read through the outline without any audio, I decided to read through it again with the accompanying audio files. I forgot to mention this earlier but each audio file has a musical and non-musical version. Crushendo recommends listening and reading the outline without music at first if that’s easier for you. However, they also recommend that you eventually want to listen to the musical version as it will help with memorization, which every law student knows makes the whole law school exam process much easier (if you don’t know by now…lemme be the first to tell you!).  Classical music is used in the musical audio files and this reminds me of my own personal study habits of playing classical music while I study.

Crushin’ On Crushendo

In the brief time I spent playing with the Crushendo outline and accompanying audio files (a couple hours), I felt that I was already able to familiarize myself with some of the concepts for Con Law II in my upcoming semester and memorize some of the mnemonic devices . I’m excited to use these outlines during my 2L year and see how much better it goes than 1L (not that I did terribly in 1L but you know what I mean). Crushendo is definitely a supplemental material and won’t be my end all be all. However, it will absolutely help law students further their understanding of law school concepts and subjects. Thank you Crushendo, for the opportunity to use and review your outlines and audio files!

 If you are a law student interested in checking out Crushendo visit their website HERE.