The Final Stretch: Exam Season
We are right around the corner from everyone’s favourite time of the year. EXAM SEASON!!! It is a joyous time filled with sleepless nights, takeout, coffee, and energy drinks. This time of year brings on a tremendous amount of stress and doubt, but the upside is that you are not alone, and you will get through this, even if you are not sure how.
When approaching exams, I have a few tips that always help me get through the season!
1. Attend Extra Study Sessions!
Professors tend to hold an exam review. Attend them! By the time your professor hold the review they have written the exam. This allows them to drop more subtle hints on what to concentrate on and what sections to ignore. Furthermore, this is an opportunity to ask any outstanding questions or to hear your peer’s questions that may be helpful to you while studying.
2. Do the Practice Exams
Practice exams are beneficial in many ways. First, they show you how your professor structures your exam. This can help reduce the surprise, shock, or confusion you may feel when you first see your exam. Second, if your professor gives you last year’s exams, the topics focused on in that exam will most likely not be of prominent focus on your exam. So again, this is another excellent way to narrow your study focus.
3. Grandmother or Kindergarten Test
Many of you have probably heard your professors say write as if you are explaining this to your grandmother or for someone in Kindergarten. Keep your answer clear and simple. This is possibly one of the most important rules. In my first year, I did not do as well as I thought on an exam, not because my answer was incorrect, but I was told that my exam responses sounded like I was “too educated.” You can imagine how flustered I was, but I have been keeping my answers simple and to the point ever since. Maybe even call your own grandmother up and practice explaining some legal concepts. I am sure she would love to hear your voice!
4. Pre-Write Your Answers
Another popular law school trick is to pre-write some sample answers regarding certain legal concepts or tests. This saves a ton of time, and you reduce the risk of incorrectly applying a test or sounding incoherent.
5. Have your Outline(s) Ready!
Since exams are online, we have the luxury of using Control F. USE IT! This can help you maximize your exam writing time and carefully draft an articulate and well-thought response to your exam question.
6. Create a Checklist
Have a checklist that may outline steps you need to consider when dealing with a particular legal issue. For example, what do you need for there to be a valid contract? On my list, I would have offer, acceptance, consideration etc. If there were any cases brought up or any outlier situations to look for, have them listed beside your listed item so you can refer to it while writing your exam.
7. Correct spelling and case names
This is self-explanatory! It can be pretty embarrassing if you misspell a legal term or case name. There are no excuses, since most, if not all exams, will be written on a computer with spell check. Your professors will be less understanding of these types of mistakes.
8. DO NOT OVERTHINK HOW TO APPROACH YOUR EXAM!
There are a million exam tips articles, and for many people, most of my tips are not new. It is important to trust yourself and to prepare yourself for the ways that best work for you. You got into law school, so clearly, you did something right in your past. Trust yourself because you have all the tools to excel this exam season!
