graduate from Duke or U of Chicago (I forget which) while living in Cancun, and not having purchased any books?

I mean, did he have some clever story behind it, or are we just to assume that he studied like hell before exams and managed to do well?

he graduated from u of chicago as an undergrad, and then got into duke law school. during law school, he lived in mexico for a semester.

i have no idea how he did it.

Perhaps living in Mexico over the summer? Or just taking a break?

Perhaps living in Mexico over the summer? Or just taking a break?

.....

Perhaps, he slightly embellished on the truth as most writers do, or left out certain details allowing the reader to make assumption that are untrue of how the events really transpired.

He could have studied abroad in Mexico.

He could have studied abroad in Mexico.

Perhaps, though that would be a pretty big embellishment of the truth. Someone who went to school with him would probably have called him on it by now.

I mean, it probably is something pretty obvious (ie. he just studied like crazy, or maybe had easy courses that he was familiar with already), but I'd still like to know.

.....

:confused:

From the About the Author section on Amazon:

About the Author
Tucker Max received his BA from University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1998 with lots of the various honors that they bestow on smart people. He received an academic scholarship to Duke Law School, where he graduated amid much controversy with a JD in May of 2001. Max accomplished this despite the fact that he neglected to purchase any of his textbooks for the final two years, spent one semester living in Cancun, and was single-handedly responsible for dropping Duke in the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings from 7 down to 11.

Just spent one semester there. The thing is he doesn't need to be a straight 'A' student to graduate law school after he's got in, he could be right on the verge of failing grade wise (or whatever the minimum for his scholarship was) and still get a JD.

From the About the Author section on Amazon:



Just spent one semester there. The thing is he doesn't need to be a straight 'A' student to graduate law school after he's got in, he could be right on the verge of failing grade wise (or whatever the minimum for his scholarship was) and still get a JD.

A semester is an entire course for most colleges, so it's pretty significant. Also, he apparently wasn't studying abroad there, he was just living there (partying, presumably) while enrolled in classes at Duke.

I mean, the assumption here is that he passed all of courses even though he didn't attend any classes, didn't buy his books, and partied through most of the semester in another city. It may not have happened that way, but since that's the implication, I'm asking how he WOULD have done that.

In other words...if you've slacked off for most of a semester, could you prepare yourself well enough for 5 final exams within a couple weeks?

i suppose it depends on the topic. perhaps he was familiar with law shit from past experiences, friends, or family members. that guy in the movie catch me if you can passed the bar exam after only studying for two weeks, with no law degree. i'd like to think they're bullshitting us on how hard law is.

as for university of chicago...he probably did a major like psychology or philosophy. that plus his assholeness got him good grades somehow.

i suppose it depends on the topic. perhaps he was familiar with law shit from past experiences, friends, or family members. that guy in the movie catch me if you can passed the bar exam after only studying for two weeks, with no law degree. i'd like to think they're bullshitting us on how hard law is.

as for university of chicago...he probably did a major like psychology or philosophy. that plus his assholeness got him good grades somehow.

Psychology isn't easy.

i suppose it depends on the topic. perhaps he was familiar with law shit from past experiences, friends, or family members. that guy in the movie catch me if you can passed the bar exam after only studying for two weeks, with no law degree. i'd like to think they're bullshitting us on how hard law is.

as for university of chicago...he probably did a major like psychology or philosophy. that plus his assholeness got him good grades somehow.

Well, according to the bio, he no doubt wrote himself, his slacking off occurred in law school. He did well enough at university to graduate with honors, and qualify for an academic scholarship. He, if I recall correctly, majored in Economics.

A semester is an entire course for most colleges, so it's pretty significant. Also, he apparently wasn't studying abroad there, he was just living there (partying, presumably) while enrolled in classes at Duke.

I mean, the assumption here is that he passed all of courses even though he didn't attend any classes, didn't buy his books, and partied through most of the semester in another city. It may not have happened that way, but since that's the implication, I'm asking how he WOULD have done that.

In other words...if you've slacked off for most of a semester, could you prepare yourself well enough for 5 final exams within a couple weeks?

Well, who the fuck knows? He's probably full of shit. To good to be true, and all that. Perhaps, he actually took a leave of absence in the midst of law school. But let's assume he got one over on the law school. He would need for there to be no mandatory attendance and for his final grade to be weighted heavily on his final exam. Perhaps he's actually as smart as he claims, and he simply studied for the exam. Maybe he thought it out before hand, and made sure all of the classes were easy and set up to depend on the final exam. Most law schools allow the student to set up their own program after the first year, suppose he took advantage of this.

Are you asking so you can replicate this? Am I misreading and you are actually seeking study tips to recover from neglecting classes?

Tucker Max is generally full of shit.

That's how many college courses are structured. Usually the higher level the course, the more it becomes an issue of "can you pass the final".

[quote]
Perhaps he's actually as smart as he claims, and he simply studied for the exam. Maybe he thought it out before hand, and made sure all of the classes were easy and set up to depend on the final exam. Most law schools allow the student to set up their own program after the first year, suppose he took advantage of this.


Yeah. Occam's Razor and all that.


Are you asking so you can replicate this? Am I misreading and you are actually seeking study tips to recover from neglecting the class?


I just think it might be an interesting story. I posted because I was curious if anyone had read an actual explanation. And yes, I think if a guy can party for a semester in Cancun, and then pass all of his courses without having bought the books or went to any classes, that's worth looking into.


Tucker Max is generally full of shit.

Now you're just sounding like a typical, angsty, pessimistic Totsean. His stories are wild, but a) he usually has pics or some other evidence, b) he challenges anyone to dispute him and c) the stories are still plausible. Assuming he's full of shit for no reason is a pretty jackass thing to do.

Now you're just sounding like a typical, angsty, pessimistic Totsean. His stories are wild, but a) he usually has pics or some other evidence, b) he challenges anyone to dispute him and c) the stories are still plausible. Assuming he's full of shit for no reason is a pretty jackass thing to do.

He usually has pics? And evidence? Really? Are you sure, or are you thinking of the single instance with the pageant girl? I'm not saying his stories didn't occur, I'm saying he spices them up. He keeps the players in his stories anonymous, people can't sue unless Tucker makes it clear who he is defaming. This doesn't matter to your topic, and I'm not going to slight you for buying every word of his stories. They're entertaining.

I don't know the specifics of how Tucker Max partied away in Cancun for an entire summer, then no doubt, aced all his finals, and I doubt there are specifics.

There are too many unknowns because his story is unspecific. The phrasing could make his claims technically true, but are vague enough to give a false impressions of what he actually did. And actually if you go back to this:

Max accomplished this despite the fact that he neglected to purchase any of his textbooks for the final two years, spent one semester living in Cancun, and was single-handedly responsible for dropping Duke in the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings from 7 down to 11.

It gives the time frame of his final two years. So he could have totally bombed a semester and made up for it some way before graduating from the school. It doesn't actually say he spent time in Cancun and came back before the end to pass his classes. It only claims despite all that he graduated.

edit: Unless there is a more detailed story you are referencing that I am unaware of.

Now you're just sounding like a typical, angsty, pessimistic Totsean. His stories are wild, but a) he usually has pics or some other evidence, b) he challenges anyone to dispute him and c) the stories are still plausible. Assuming he's full of shit for no reason is a pretty jackass thing to do.

wait... you actually believe all his stories are true?

I mean they're funny, but hardly true.

He has a wild imagination though.

And WHAT evidence?

wait... you actually believe all his stories are true?

I mean they're funny, but hardly true.

He has a wild imagination though.

And WHAT evidence?

There's no reason not to believe they're true. That's the point.

He has also put up a video of part of one of his stories, and pictures, and more importantly, he's invited anyone to challenge him on anything.

What, you think he could have made himself a borderline celebrity, wrote tons of stories about himself, his friends, and girls he's dated, and get away with it if he lied? Maybe he takes some liberties with events while writing them, who knows, but the fact of the matter is there's no reason to assume he's a liar.

Your reaction is really amusingly pathetic: "Omg there's no way he could possibly do stuff that cool." Yeah, because getting drunk, being an asshole, having friends, and fucking women is beyond belief. You can find equivalent people on just about any college campus.

Does it matter if they are true or not? If it really affected anyone if they found out his stories were lies they need to re-evaluate their priorities. He can tell a good story in my opinion, end of.

There's no reason not to believe they're true. That's the point.
Yeah, and there's no reason to not believe in a giant pink dildo orbiting Mars, either. :p

What, you think he could have made himself a borderline celebrity, wrote tons of stories about himself, his friends, and girls he's dated, and get away with it if he lied?
No way that could happen! (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey1.html)

I don't doubt that they're wildly embellished, though I'm not sure I'd say they're completely fake, but they're (mildly) amusing either way.

Yeah, and there's no reason to not believe in a giant pink dildo orbiting Mars, either. :p


No way that could happen! (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey1.html)

I don't doubt that they're wildly embellished, though I'm not sure I'd say they're completely fake, but they're (mildly) amusing either way.

Yeah yeah. I understand taking stories and information with a grain of salt, but actually disbelieving things for no good reason is obnoxious. Tucker Max's stories are realistic, hardly require suspension of disbelief, and there's no evidence pointing to them being embellished. So, I wouldn't treat it as some infallible source of truth, but I wouldn't assume he's lying just because he has a wild life.

Yeah yeah. I understand taking stories and information with a grain of salt, but actually disbelieving things for no good reason is obnoxious. Tucker Max's stories are realistic, hardly require suspension of disbelief, and there's no evidence pointing to them being embellished. So, I wouldn't treat it as some infallible source of truth, but I wouldn't assume he's lying just because he has a wild life.
Yeah, I was just thinking about the stories of his that I've read and they're not really that far out there. I don't like Max as a person, but I might not call him "full of shit" either.

Fraternity brothers?

Your reaction is really amusingly pathetic: "Omg there's no way he could possibly do stuff that cool." Yeah, because getting drunk, being an asshole, having friends, and fucking women is beyond belief. You can find equivalent people on just about any college campus.

I never said that, but it IS hard to believe that a guy that does that ALSO carries a voice recorder, and makes a fucking timeline of events next day.

Plus, people who do that don't keep a fucking blog.

It just doesn't go that way.

Thing is, of coure it's possible all his stories are true... I've heard/seen/done much wilder things myself... It's just the fact that the guy is a writer, kinda makes him reek of bullshit...

I never said that, but it IS hard to believe that a guy that does that ALSO carries a voice recorder, and makes a fucking timeline of events next day.

Plus, people who do that don't keep a fucking blog.

It just doesn't go that way.

Thing is, of coure it's possible all his stories are true... I've heard/seen/done much wilder things myself... It's just the fact that the guy is a writer, kinda makes him reek of bullshit...

he has proof about one of his stories where he dated a former miss vermont. she sued him for it...but he proved it was all true and the case was dropped.

though i wouldn't be surprised if, on some occasions, facts were embellished.