These are all great tips! Thanks to everyone who posted!

are law school exams all hypos? This worries me, because I took a pre-law class before in which the exam was all hypos + philosophy questions and definitions. On the hypos I did the worst. I still got the highest grade in the class, but I really did bad on the hypos. If it is all hypos, then I will probably only be able to get a B in the best case considering law school exams are much harder and cover much more material in a greater depth... :[

Generally, yes - most exams are dense fact patterns. Policy questions are frequently used, too.

TLS for Life!!!!!

great advice...

Lots of helpful stuff.

Anyone have any insight as to whether the Barbri or PMBR 1L material is more helpful? Looks like there hasn't been a new PMBR since '06 - that a big deal? Also, PMBR appears to have two volumes, what's the deal there?

Thanks

Tip for 1Ls.

1) Get commercial case briefs that are keyed to your textbook to supplement your reading. Do not use these as a substitute. These briefs do not hide the ball like most profs do. High Court is great, but case notes are good too.

2) Turn off internet on your computer at least for a couple weeks (if prof is useless resume internet to de-stress, so you can hit the books hard after class).

3) Do all of your work at the library (people who work anywhere else are generally less efficient). Do not fuck around while you are in the library on gchat, news, etc. Get your work done and go home where you can be away from law. Efficiency is king in law school. Those who stayed in the library for all hours (and might brag about it) but were fucking around half the time were usually more stressed because they did not get a chance to relax away from law.

4) Get 8-9 hours of sleep every night. Maybe make exceptions here and there, but this should be a general rule. Coffee is not a substitute for sleep, it is a short term fix that should only be used on occassion.

5) Exercise and try to avoid just watching TV/movies in your down time. I found TV/movies made me sluggish.

6) If you know 2Ls and 3Ls who did well, try to get their outlines.

7) Go out with friends who are not law students at least once per week (although some weeks you may have to forego a late night and/or drinking).

8 ) Do not use alcohol to reduce your stress, especially around exam time. Lots of people medicate during reading week with sleep meds and/or alcohol. Some people might need it, but I would avoid these at all costs, it dulls your sharpness which is so necessary for exam time. Meditation, dancing, playing music, walking, sex, exercise, etc. is a much better alternative.

9) Eat healthy. Fatty/sugary or large meals will kill your productivity. Save those for dinner (if you must eat them) not lunch.

10) During reading week, or maybe a week or two before at the earliest, start doing old exams with friends WHO ARE SMART. Don't waste time with fuck-offs, find a polite reason to not study with them. If there are examples of answers that the professor (or past students) provide, review them very carefully. Go over old exams with professors if you get confused.

Of course I don't have all the answers, but these seem like universally helpful tips from my experience.

Do all law schools have the same exam?
How do you know these websites would help?
Do test similar things?

bump

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Exams are different, but the usefulness of putting up exams from other schools is to get different pact patterns in your head and help tease out the legal issues. The best exams are always your professors but there is still value in looking at almost any similar law school exam.

If you have a closed book test, is it ok when starting to take practice exams to use a outline. I was just thinking about using an outline for the first two questions I take under timed conditions, and then doing it completely closed book. Would this be a bad idea??

I don't think that its a bad idea. It will help you memorize your outline. As test time gets closer work on taking tests w/o your outline.

When is a good time to start practicing exams?

cool thread

I shot to have my outline up to date with the class 3 weeks from the final. I started doing limited practice exams and updating the outline. During the reading period I was exclusively doing practice exams.

How often would you take them? Every day?

lishi, as long as you don't grow completely reliant on the outline.

Personally for prac exams I wouldn't actually write the answer out, rather I would issue spot and talk about the analysis with friends. I was never that worried about a time crunch though, because I am a fast test taker. For others writing it out might be helpful.

I usually would only do 2 prac exams a day..unless I was cramped for time, then I would sometimes go all out.

Save the prac tests until you know the material really well though.

Every day leading up to the day before. I usually screwed the pooch the day before the exam so I went in fresh.

Are you saying you took the entire day off before an exam, like people do for the LSAT?

Seems like it might be a good idea, but kind of scary.

I love u all. I only wish I'd seen this before my midterms...

Yes, exactly. I also made it a rule that I wouldn't talk law the day before the exam or with my classmates on the day of the exam. There was a lot of exam hysteria so I made it a point to joke around before the exam and have drinks after. I'm not sure if that's every school, but at my 1L school the exam period was intense.

Also, I'm sure this has been covered but doing exam breakdowns after the exam is insanity, don't engage in that type of shenanigans.

Taking a day off is a nice luxury if you can afford it, but that requires preparing very far ahead of time. In my experience I didn't know anyone who could pull it off. I would also concur that avoiding law talk after exams and before exams is a good thing.

If it's a morning exam, don't try to learn anything that morning. I had a routine where I was home by 6 or 7pm at the latest the night before the exam, watched some tv and fell asleep by 11pm or so.

My school had a 7 day reading period and a 10 day reading period and I used it all. After that I had at least a day in between each exam and I used those as well, and studied after each exam. I know other people who did this too, but most people at school did not study to this extent. It's all about knowing your limits though. If I felt like I needed a break, I'd watch a few episodes of a TV show on my computer, or take a long lunch with friends.

We had an extended reading period which helped a lot with taking time off.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.