Aaron Parnas. Courtesy photo.

If this year's crop of first-year law students looks especially fresh-faced, it might be because some of them have yet to finish their second decade.

At least three teenagers are heading off to law school this fall, when most of their high school classmates are showing up at the undergraduate dorms. The youngest looks to be Haley Taylor Schlitz, who will begin at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law at the tender age of 17. But she has some company.

Fellow 17-year-old Braxton Moral just collected both his high school and college diplomas and is charting a course to law school, though he is still finalizing which campus he'll attend. Columbia Law School is his top choice.

Brittany Reaves already has that part figured out. The 18-year-old is starting her legal studies at North Carolina Central University School of Law this fall.

So what's it like being a teen in law school, when most of your classmates are in their 20s? To find out, we reached out to Aaron Parnas, who enrolled at George Washington University Law School when he was just 18. Parnas, now 20, recently completed his second year and is working as a summer associate. He declined to name the firm in an effort to minimize attention to his unique circumstances.

We asked Parnas how classmates react when they learn his age and his best advice for navigating law school when you're the youngest one in the classroom. His answers have been edited for length.

Tell me about your transition into law school. How did that go? It was pretty smooth. It was as if I was just a regular law student. I didn't advertise my age, because there was no reason to. And when people found out, we already knew each other and it didn't really matter.

So people weren't surprised to find out you were a teenager? Not really. Obviously there were a couple people who caught on to it before ever meeting me. Or there would be people who say something like, “Oh, you did look kind of young,” when they found out. Honestly, everyone at my school took me in, and it was really awesome.

What advice for other teens going to law school? The No. 1 thing is just to be yourself and forge your own path. Everyone will tell you how they did it. But really, figure it out for yourself. And just be a regular law student. Don't try to be the young one in the class. Don't try to impress people because of your age. Just be normal. Try to fit in.

You moved from your parents' house in Florida to your own apartment in Washington, D.C., at 18. What was that like? It was definitely difficult at first, having never lived alone. But that's a transition everyone has to go through, just at different points in their life. Living alone in an apartment—not in a dorm setting—and having to pay bills and pay rent and have more responsibility was definitely different. It wasn't the easiest transition. But after a month or two, it became second nature.

What do you enjoy most about the academic side of law school? I really enjoy my peers in the classroom. At [George Washington], we have such a great communal and cordial environment. Everyone knows everyone. My section didn't have that typical gunner. Everyone could contribute and progress the classroom discussion. I really enjoyed that.

What has been the biggest challenge so far? Just like any law student, it's learning to read cases from the late 1800s or early 1900s, learning how to write like a lawyer, how to think like a lawyer. That was all a challenge, but I think that was a challenge for everyone, not just me.

Do you think any part of law school has been more difficult for you because you didn't have that traditional undergraduate experience? I'm not sure I would say harder. I would just say that as far as the networking side of law school and learning how to be in an office setting, I probably had to adjust more to that. That's just because I had never worked full time before or I had never had to attend those networking receptions and socialize in a more professional setting. That, I would say, is more of an adjustment than the actual law school stuff.

Right. Because so many law firm networking events are cocktail receptions and you can't legally drink yet. It was interesting, but it's fine. It all worked out.

You are now a summer associate at a large firm. How did that come about? That was through the regular [on-campus interview] process at [George Washington]. I fell in love with the firm.

When we spoke two years ago, you mentioned being interested in politics. Is that still something you would like to pursue? Who knows. A lot has changed in the past two years. Right now, I'm just taking it day by day and learning what it's like to be an attorney at a law firm. I'm really enjoying it. We'll see what the future brings.