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What four-letter word strikes fear into the heart of law students across the country? Yep, you guessed it: EXAM.
Law school’s odd in that most, if not all, of your final grade will be based on a single exam at the end of the semester.
You won’t get a lot of feedback or practice before the first set of exams, and what you’re tested on bears little resemblance to what’s discussed in class, so it’s critical to understand what’s expected of you as early in the semester as possible.
The first section below explains at a high level why law school exams are so different, and has some basics on how to prepare for them. The next section explores how to stay calm and focused during exam prep. The final section gets into the nitty-gritty of different types of exams, so you’ll be able to prepare effectively.
Enjoy!
Law School Exam Basics
- Exam Prep in a Nutshell Before you start studying, make an Exam Action Plan (booming super hero voice optional, but recommended). If you’re going to do your best, you’ve got to attend to some practical details first.
- 1L Tip of the Day: Start Thinking About the Exam on the First Day of Class Obviously you did well on undergraduate exams or you wouldn’t have gotten into law school. Unfortunately, law school exams are different. Find out what you’ll be expected to know, and how to prepare. Hint, it involves Play-Doh!
- Two Reasons You Need a Law School "Outline" (Loosely Conceived) Lots of people tell you to make outlines in law school, but few people explain why. There are actually two, largely unrelated, reasons you need a law school outline.
- Nervous About 1L Exams? Here’s Advice From a Rockstar Tutor If you’re starting to get nervous about law school exams, it’s your lucky day! Here’s some fantastic advice about getting ready for law school exams from Lee Burgess, co-founder of the Law School Toolbox.
- Podcast: Take an Exam with Alison and Lee In this special podcast episode, Alison and Lee actually take a law school exam, and you can follow along!
Keep Calm and Carry On
- It's Thanksgiving! Should You Be Flipping Out About Exams? Exams start in a couple of weeks. Should you be flipping out? Well, only if you want to drive yourself crazy in a frenzy of unproductive stress and anxiety. I suggest calmly preparing a roadmap for success instead.
- Myths About Law School Exams, From a Tutor Who Knows! So, like, all you should do when you’re studying for law school exams is study, right? Gotta focus! Yeah, not so much. Learn how to avoid burnout (and catch up on your favorite TV shows) with this myth-debunking guest post.
- Law School Exams Getting You Down? The Best (Free) Exam Stress-Buster Elena DuCharme, a lawyer turned performance coach, offers a great (free) suggestion for surviving exams with your sanity intact.
- Struggling with Law School Exams? We Talk To a Law Professor For Tips! Take a nice, deep breath and read on for some exam prep tips from Melissa L. Greipp, an Associate Professor of Legal Writing at Marquette Law School.
- Two Steps to a Winning Law School Exam Strategy Let’s talk big-picture strategy: What two things do you need to pay attention to as you gear up for finals? (It’s not just learning a bunch of law.)
- Law School Truth #1: You Don't Control Your Grades For better or worse, you don’t really control your law school grades. (Whether they control you is another issue!)
- Exam Prep Made Simple: Organize Your Thoughts It’s very simple to prepare for a law school exams — just organize your thoughts. Easier said than done, right? Here are some unique tips, based on different learning styles, for getting organized. Yes, coloring and a mock trial are included!
The Nitty-Gritty of Law School Exam Prep
- What's the Point of Taking "Practice" Exams? Practice exams are the holy grail of law school. Everyone says they’re critical, but no one ever explains why. Learn the four reasons for taking practice exams, and, as an added bonus, read about how I failed my very first law school exam.
- Taking Law School Exams: Ask the Right Questions, Don't Worry About the "Right" Answer This one’s really deep in the weeds — it walks thorough how I’d analyze a sample law school exam question. The takeaway message: ask the right questions, and don’t be afraid of ambiguity!
- Taking Law School Exams the 80/20 Way It’s a truism that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort. In the case of law school exams, this is absolutely true. Find out what to focus on and get some tips for organizing your thoughts in a useful manner.
- How to Prepare for a Closed-Book Exam Personally, I find closed-book law school exams rather uncivilized. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop professors from giving them! Lee Burgess, Law School Toolbox co-founder, has great advice on getting ready for beastly closed-book exams.
- How to Prepare for an Open-Book Exam You knew this was coming! Part two of Lee’s series explores how to prepare for an open-book exam (and argues that your approach should be surprisingly similar to preparing for a closed-book exam).
- 1L Exams Start in a Week! What Should You Be Doing? It’s crunch time! Find out what you can do in the final week before exams starts to optimize your 1L results.
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