I went to law school some 25 years ago and finished in the top 10% of my class and passed the bar exam on the first try. I started in a night law school that was not even accredited in my state, and after i year, I finished in a law school that was not ABA accredited. the advantage to this is that I had no high school diploma or college and was able to attend (not true in California today where you need 2 years of college or a college equivalency exam).
As for law school I don't think it matters where you go to school, except if you can afford an ABA school, or have a big law firm awaiting you, go ABA. You end up having to learn the law on your own anyway and according to your drive and determination you can do it. I went to full time law school my final two years and ran a business with employees throughout so it can be done.
I guess I succeeded in school. I did it by listening to the teachers, doing the home work and in short doing everything they said to do as they said to do it. I used commercial course outlines to supplement. I didn't keep a personal course outline and although I took notes in class I rarely referred to them. I learned mainly by repetition and saturation, not memorizing. The key is to understand the principles, and be able to identify what's important. If you do it that way you'll be able to regurgetate what has almost has become a part of you.
A lot they teach in school is irrelevant to practicing, like the history and precedent cases that formed the existing law. However, by knowing the progression you are better able to understand the issues and the law in that area. Always keep an overview of the subject and how it relates to society's attempt to control itself. Its actually very interesting.
I never really had a hard time with it. I disciplined my time so that I could devote that portion of time to law school and nothing else. On the other hand when I was doing other things I forgot the law and focused on them. One problem is I had massive insecurity about succeeding. I always thought the other guy knew more than I did. I never went into any exam thinking I knew anything. There's a lot of ego involved ie. the professors want to trick you with hidden issues that may be important to them but which there is little coverage in class. Don't assume anything. You can't out-guess them but if you pay close attention you can find out what they want from you in an exam and you then try to give them what they want.
After practicing law for 20 years (I.m retired now) the only thing I wish was that I had paid more attention in school. In school you tend to be confused half the time because you don't know where these principles fit in. however, I have sat in front of many a prospective client who has a knotty problem, and sometimes I would remember back to some obscure issue from law school that would be instrumental in solving his problem. It gives you a starting point where you can begin to search the existing law for a solution.
As far as classroom intimidation, its not as bad as made out. But to be successful in that area you need to know what the teacher was trying to get across so you can intelligently banter with him for a while. Your grade depends 95% or more on the exam anyway.
I found law school very interesting and fun. Of course I was over thirty years old when I started and already had a decade or more of life experience. I also liked to practice law. It's all in how you allot your time to avoid burnout. I took vacations, worked as little as possible on Saturdays and always took Sunday off when I was practicing but not in law school. I took off the time between semesters. ( I was always self-employed).
Look at law school as a privilege and look at it positively. Don't believe the horror stories. You will be fine and the best thing it will all be over sooner than you think.