Mick Jagger Was Wrong. Time is Not On Your Side: Law School Exam StrategyJun 27 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line In this third and last essay in the series - approaching the exam. The unique nature of law school exams requires a different approach from that of college exams.
Like all good things, this series of law school exam-taking articles must come to an end (Don’t worry, I’m still here.) In this third and last essay, I will discuss how you approach the exam. Because of the unique nature of law school exams, an approach different from that of your college exams is needed. The more prepared and informed you are going into the exam, the less likely you are to make a serious mistake, like I did (more on that later). Reading is Fundamental: Professors’ Past Exams Most, if not all, law schools keep a file of past exams for each professor. This file, either in a library reading room or on-line, has copies of tests from past semester, often including the highest scoring student exam or the professor's version of the perfect exam, as a key. It is essential to, at least, read these exams over before you take the actual exam. However, what I would recommend more, is to take the past exams under real, timed conditions (pausing to see what Carrie is wearing on Sex and the City is not part of the real exam experience) in the month to month-and-a-half before the exam. Then, compare your answer to the answer key. This gives you an idea of what the professor looks for in an exam and highlights any elements or points missing in your analysis. Additionally, if the answer key is the professor’s own work, look at their organizational style. While some professors will tell you what they like to see in their answers, others will not. What do I mean in terms of organizational style? Well, based on what I’ve used in my exams, that could be a pro/con style (argue for one position, then argue for the opposite position and then discuss which position you believe to be stronger) or a style that I really don’t have a name for but one that I prefer – start with the conclusion then present arguments that support your deduction. If a test is needed to support your argument, such as Nollan and Dolan for takings (I have Property on my mind because that is where I made my near-fatal exam error), outline the components of the test, then apply the test to the elements of the hypothetical/exam question. After applying the tests (if applicable), discuss relevant cases, including facts or holdings that are either similar to facts presented in the question or have a holding that supports your conclusion. Then close the essay with your conclusion. Putting Your Ear to the Wall: Listening for Exam Question Hints During the last few weeks of the semester, your professor will be either in the process of writing or finishing the writing of their exams. Like all people, professors, when talking extemporaneously, will say what is on their minds. At this point in the semester, exams are usually a priority and will be your professor's focus. Listen carefully in the last two or three weeks of the semester. If a student asks a question and your professor uses a case or a topic that they haven’t spoken of in months to bolster their argument, make a note of it. While there is no guarantee that those issues will be part of the exam, it will at least give you an idea of what direction they are heading in when writing the exam. Within this same vein, go to review sessions. While many people eschew these for their own study group sessions, don’t do the same. I have found these sessions to be enormously helpful. While different professors conduct them in different ways, they all essentially feature professors answering last-minute questions that others in the class have. These questions are a great source of highlighting areas that you may have missed in your own study and also a fount of information for possible exam questions. One of the most helpful sessions occurred this past semester when one of my professors made a comment at the end of the session that he tends to recycle his exam questions because “there are only so many questions and hypotheticals that I can construct.” Sure enough, his third essay question was a near-mirror of a question that was given on the 1995 exam, with only cosmetic changes made. This is a Timed Exam? I Don’t Do Timed Exams. I have made several references to my exam disaster in this essay and in my prior ones. In my first year, I was taking my Property exam and going along at a nice little clip. I was on my final question, finishing the first paragraph, when my professor walks in and says, “Five minutes left.” Well, to say I was scared mindless, would be a complete understatement of my feelings at that moment. My hand started shaking harder than the paint mixer at Home Depot. I quickly copied the outline of the essay from my scrap paper into my blue book and handed in my exam. How could that have happened, you ask? It’s simple: I had presumed that the exam was 4 hours, instead of the 3-and-a-half hours that it really was. If I had used any common sense or anything resembling knowledge of the English language, I would have seen the time length written on the first page of the exam. So, that is point number one for this section: know how long the exam is. Such a simple thing but so critical. Once you know how long the exam period is, determine how much time you should spend on each question. Do this before you start the exam. This way, you won’t spend too much time on one essay and have no time left to do the others. Some professors will tell you how long they recommend you spend on each question, others won’t. If it is not included, calculate it yourself: simply use the percentages that the exam states that each question is worth. For example: If a question is worth 20 percent of your total score and you have three hours (180 minutes), multiply 1/5 with 180 minutes, which equals 36 minutes. Do that for each question. Then, before you start each question, note the time you are beginning that question (including the time you spend outlining) and add the number of minutes you calculated to that time. That’s your end time. And, when I say end, I mean end. If you haven’t finished the essay by the time you reach your end time, move on to the next question and leave adequate space to continue the answer, if you have time left over. Don’t sacrifice one question for the sake of another. What if you’re on the final question and your professor calls “five minutes?” Simply transfer the outline that you made for that question on your scrap paper and copy it to the space where your essay was going to be. While you won’t receive full credit, it will be more credit than you’ll receive if you write nothing or, a particular law school favorite, “Ran out of time.” Your professor is fully aware that you ran out of time because they see a half-formed essay in front of them. Give them the opportunity to add a few points to your score and write the outline. Outlines: Are Law Schools Paid By Webster’s To Use That Word? Everything about law school seems to revolve around outlines: outlines are used in preparing for exams, outlines for writing your briefs, outlines for your exam questions. There’s a reason why outlines are so prevalent: they work, especially on exams. If you outline your essay before you start, you are less likely to ramble, wasting precious time and precious pages. Knowing what you’re going to say before you say it will make your argument more streamlined and temper the impulse to cite every case you can remember. Professors want relevant arguments and coherent points. They don’t give you points for just remembering the name of a case – this isn’t college. Time Up. Pilot Pens Down Entering with a strategy, you can increase your odds of succeeding on law school exams. Just remember to study and you’ll have the keys to not failing. Oh, and don’t forget to make an offering to the law school exam muses. They like Snickers bars.  |
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