How to get over a brutal final Forum

[desperate4lawschool]

How do you get over a brutal final? I am naturally slow, but out of 76 questions, I literally guess on at least 15. I've studied an entire week for it, outlining, doing everything I thought would prepare me, and I think that's what kills me....working hard and still failing, sigh

[dailygrind]

bourbon.

[sundance95]

bourbon.

Haha, I literally came prepared to post a photo of a bottle of Jim Beam.

[Baylan]

Because of the possibility of sleeping in this:

--ImageRemoved--

[BriaTharen]

Have yourself a good cry if necessary, drink a glass of wine, and then hit the books for the next one.

[nealric]

Don't worry too much. One of the finals I thought I had done terribly on 1L year ended up begin an A-.

[uwb09]

How do you get over a brutal final? I am naturally slow, but out of 76 questions, I literally guess on at least 15. I've studied an entire week for it, outlining, doing everything I thought would prepare me, and I think that's what kills me....working hard and still failing, sigh

I know how you feel man, but you can't let it drag you down, gotta keep moving forward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM1RChZk1EU

[kalvano]

Don't worry too much. One of the finals I thought I had done terribly on 1L year ended up begin an A-.

I hate hearing that. I've taken enough tests in my life to know when I did well and when I completely boned it.

Of course, I will send you an apology if I make a "B" or better on my property test.

[FlightoftheEarls]

Don't worry too much. One of the finals I thought I had done terribly on 1L year ended up begin an A-.

I hate hearing that. I've taken enough tests in my life to know when I did well and when I completely boned it.

Of course, I will send you an apology if I make a "B" or better on my property test.

Maybe, but I doubt you've had anything quite like these. Everything comes down to the curve, so your thoughts on how you did or did not do may be, and frequently are, completely irrelevant. Our school had a Ks professor last year who gave like a 35-part MC question test, and the median number of correct answers was something like 7. If you get 9, you're doing damn well even though you're convinced you've failed. It's all relative.

OP: Watch a movie for 2 hours, shake it off, and forget about it. Nothing will change, except that the more time you spend tripping over this exam is the more time you spend not focusing on your next exams. Take that little break, take a deep breath, and keep pushing. It'll be over before you realize it.

[nealric]

I hate hearing that. I've taken enough tests in my life to know when I did well and when I completely boned it.

I thought the same thing after that one. Law school exams are strange.

[emorystud2010]

.

[ToTransferOrNot]

The First Law Of Law School Exams

Grades on law school exams are inversely related to how you feel you did on said exam.

[XxSpyKEx]

The First Law Of Law School Exams

Grades on law school exams are inversely related to how you feel you did on said exam.

TCR.

If you think you did great, you probably did terrible. If you walk out thinking you failed and are desperately hoping for some kind of a C, you probably had the highest grade in the class. This is all a direct consequence of the grade curve.

In other words, OP, go celebrate because you probably got an A+ on that exam.

[chicagolaw2013]

Tequila shots.

Duh.

[LSHPFL10]

The First Law Of Law School Exams

Grades on law school exams are inversely related to how you feel you did on said exam.

TCR.

If you think you did great, you probably did terrible. If you walk out thinking you failed and are desperately hoping for some kind of a C, you probably had the highest grade in the class. This is all a direct consequence of the grade curve.

In other words, OP, go celebrate because you probably got an A+ on that exam.

Is this the case because everyone else also feels bad about how they performed, but your "bad" was just better relative to their "bad"?

I've heard plenty of times that how you did is inversely related to how you actually do, but I have always been confused on the reason for this relationship.

Anyone care to elaborate? Or is it an as-yet unexplained phenomenon?

[FlightoftheEarls]

The First Law Of Law School Exams

Grades on law school exams are inversely related to how you feel you did on said exam.

TCR.

If you think you did great, you probably did terrible. If you walk out thinking you failed and are desperately hoping for some kind of a C, you probably had the highest grade in the class. This is all a direct consequence of the grade curve.

In other words, OP, go celebrate because you probably got an A+ on that exam.

Is this the case because everyone else also feels bad about how they performed, but your "bad" was just better relative to their "bad"?

I've heard plenty of times that how you did is inversely related to how you actually do, but I have always been confused on the reason for this relationship.

Anyone care to elaborate? Or is it an as-yet unexplained phenomenon?

The general theory is that most professors put far more issues into an exam (specifically, issue spotter questions) than any one person can spot and address in the allotted time. If you leave distraught and feeling like you had a ton of stuff you didn't get to, you probably spotted a fair number of the smaller issues. If you leave feeling like you just dominated the exam, you've probably missed a fair number of points.

[seespotrun]

Don't worry too much. One of the finals I thought I had done terribly on 1L year ended up begin an A-.

I hate hearing that. I've taken enough tests in my life to know when I did well and when I completely boned it.

Of course, I will send you an apology if I make a "B" or better on my property test.

Law school is different - the curve settles all. My 1L Civ Pro exam was half multiple choice, half essay. I got 15 out of 20 MC correct - 75%. Getting a 75 in UG sucks. Apparently, my 15 out of 20 is tied for #1 in his exam hall of fame. He's been teaching Civ Pro here since 1974. I'm tied with two other people.

Although I've certainly capitalized on this opportunity to shamelessly brag, the point is that law school exams are not meant to be "aced." Law school exams are like being stuck in the woods with your classmates and a few hungry Grizzly bears. You don't have to be faster than the bears; in fact, you can't - they run close to 30mph at top speeds - you just have to outrun your classmates.

[random5483]

As mentioned above, guessing on 15 questions out of 76 won't kill your grade. In fact, if you got 61 questions right and a few of those 15 guesses right you might just get the high score on the exam.


None of my exams had a lot of multiple choice (one essay only, 2 were 80% essays, and one was 50/50 split). But in the class with the 50/50 split, in the profs 10-15 years of teaching, no one has had a perfect score. The average high score each year is like 80%.

[Mroberts3]

The First Law Of Law School Exams

Grades on law school exams are inversely related to how you feel you did on said exam.

TCR.

If you think you did great, you probably did terrible. If you walk out thinking you failed and are desperately hoping for some kind of a C, you probably had the highest grade in the class. This is all a direct consequence of the grade curve.

In other words, OP, go celebrate because you probably got an A+ on that exam.

Is this the case because everyone else also feels bad about how they performed, but your "bad" was just better relative to their "bad"?

I've heard plenty of times that how you did is inversely related to how you actually do, but I have always been confused on the reason for this relationship.

Anyone care to elaborate? Or is it an as-yet unexplained phenomenon?

As a 1L I have no experience with this, however, I suspect its a product of selective memory. Its the same reason poker players have "lucky hands" like Jack-4 off suit and hate AA because "they always lose."

When you feel you did well and you do, you forget about it. If someone asks about the exam you say "thankfully i did well." If you think you bombed and get an A- and someone asks you say "wow, I thought I failed but somehow i did well." Your brain is literally doing a double take and so you remember it very clearly and the rest gets lost.

The 2nd explanation that combines with the 1st is the curve. If you thought it was easy, then maybe others did too and all of a sudden a test you rocked nets you a B. Not bad, but certainly not what you expected. Again, you remember it because it didn't conform to expectations.

Anyway, I'm highly suspicious of the correlation people claim is going on here. I don't know how to feel about the 2 tests I've taken so far, but if I had to choose good or bad I'd say good because I knew what the issues were and applied law to fact as much as I could. I wouldn't be totally surprised to be median, though. I'm sure I'll remember it more clearly if I am median or below, however, because I conceptually don't know how I would have done any better.

[Mroberts3]

Don't worry too much. One of the finals I thought I had done terribly on 1L year ended up begin an A-.

I hate hearing that. I've taken enough tests in my life to know when I did well and when I completely boned it.

Of course, I will send you an apology if I make a "B" or better on my property test.

Law school is different - the curve settles all. My 1L Civ Pro exam was half multiple choice, half essay. I got 15 out of 20 MC correct - 75%. Getting a 75 in UG sucks. Apparently, my 15 out of 20 is tied for #1 in his exam hall of fame. He's been teaching Civ Pro here since 1974. I'm tied with two other people.

Although I've certainly capitalized on this opportunity to shamelessly brag, the point is that law school exams are not meant to be "aced." Law school exams are like being stuck in the woods with your classmates and a few hungry Grizzly bears. You don't have to be faster than the bears; in fact, you can't - they run close to 30mph at top speeds - you just have to outrun your classmates.

haha, so doing well on a law exam = living an extra 30 seconds longer than your classmates in pure terror?

[sissyclark]

How do you get over a brutal final? I am naturally slow, but out of 76 questions, I literally guess on at least 15. I've studied an entire week for it, outlining, doing everything I thought would prepare me, and I think that's what kills me....working hard and still failing, sigh

That sucks. But to be fair, studying a week for a final in law school actually isn't very much at all. I know tons of people began outlining a month and a half before exams, and had been taking practice tests several weeks before exams. Sorry if that's not what you need to hear right now, but it might make next semester easier for you to start earlier.

[theskippa10]

Remember the wise words of Lt. Gen Hal Moore: "Three Strikes and you are not out. There is always one more thing you can do."

Remember that, and dominate the rest of them

[zanda]

I hate hearing that. I've taken enough tests in my life to know when I did well and when I completely boned it.

I thought the same thing after that one. Law school exams are strange.

lol I also thought that.

best 2 grades from 1L year were the ones I thought went the worst.

[zanda]

The First Law Of Law School Exams

Grades on law school exams are inversely related to how you feel you did on said exam.

TCR.

If you think you did great, you probably did terrible. If you walk out thinking you failed and are desperately hoping for some kind of a C, you probably had the highest grade in the class. This is all a direct consequence of the grade curve.

In other words, OP, go celebrate because you probably got an A+ on that exam.

Is this the case because everyone else also feels bad about how they performed, but your "bad" was just better relative to their "bad"?

I've heard plenty of times that how you did is inversely related to how you actually do, but I have always been confused on the reason for this relationship.

Anyone care to elaborate? Or is it an as-yet unexplained phenomenon?

As a 1L I have no experience with this, however, I suspect its a product of selective memory. Its the same reason poker players have "lucky hands" like Jack-4 off suit and hate AA because "they always lose."

When you feel you did well and you do, you forget about it. If someone asks about the exam you say "thankfully i did well." If you think you bombed and get an A- and someone asks you say "wow, I thought I failed but somehow i did well." Your brain is literally doing a double take and so you remember it very clearly and the rest gets lost.

I disagree. There are only what, 6-8 final exams during 1L year? I remember all of mine quite clearly.

[Mroberts3]

I don't mean the exam itself, I mean the difference between expectations after the exam and the results you get months later. Maybe that's what you meant, but I can guarantee a incongruous exam will stand out more than one that met expectations (either good or bad).