anyone done well only writing 2200 words/ hour? Forum

[fathergoose]

cool. so the range seems to be 350 to 10,000. noted

oh law school. such a crapshoot

[cubbiesyear]

cool. so the range seems to be 350 to 10,000. noted

oh law school. such a crapshoot

OL here. super confusion.

[fathergoose]

cool. so the range seems to be 350 to 10,000. noted

oh law school. such a crapshoot

OL here. super confusion.

That confusion will last well into your 2L year.

[evilxs]

Then the I don't give a damn kicks in.

[cubbiesyear]

cool. so the range seems to be 350 to 10,000. noted

oh law school. such a crapshoot

OL here. super confusion.

That confusion will last well into your 2L year.

haha great. I just thought I'd read before that sufficient length for answers was 2500ish words. And now I'm reading 5000+. It just seems like a lot to type in a few hours.

[jess]

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[fathergoose]

haha great. I just thought I'd read before that sufficient length for answers was 2500ish words. And now I'm reading 5000+. It just seems like a lot to type in a few hours.

Your threshold for what you think is a lot of writing flies right out the window 1L year. As a business ug major, I never wrote much before law school but now the thought of typing 1500-2000 words an hour on an exam seems entirely normal.

[lalala21]

I honestly feel like this is professor dependent. In two of my classes the top exams from last year were all about 4000- 4500 words total

[ph14]

I think it depends alot on the exam and professor and test and everyone of the million of factors that make such a general question as the one you asked ridiculous. But I understand that this question arises from your exam anxiety so I will just say 4,000 words is more than sufficient to do well on an exam.

[Ty Webb]

Typed 8800 words in 2.5 hours on my Torts final last year. Got an A.

Typed 12,000 words in 4 hours on my Con Law final last year. Got a B.

Typed 8500 words in 3 hours on my Ks final last year. Got an A.

Typed 9000 words in 3 hours on my Crim Law final last year. Got a B+.

I think it helped me in the classes where it helped me. I don't think typing a lot was the cause of either of the poorer grades (did well on some of the questions that were longer). I think it's dependent upon the professor as others have noted.

Also: it's more important to think fast than to type fast. I've done a lot of writing, so I can think about as fast I can physically type. Typing speed is overrated. Ability to just put your mind in 5th gear for 3 hours is underrated.

[lawschool1234567]

I think it depends alot on the exam and professor and test and everyone of the million of factors that make such a general question as the one you asked ridiculous. But I understand that this question arises from your exam anxiety so I will just say 4,000 words is more than sufficient to do well on an exam.

thank you. and thanks to everyone who provided their experiences. i'm not trying to be a douche TLS poster, I'm trying to compare my experience with others -- especially since I have more exams and I wanted to figure out if I need to change my approach. And yes, I am suffering from exam anxiety and i don't really want to talk about it with my classmates.

[dabomb75]

Typed 8800 words in 2.5 hours on my Torts final last year. Got an A.

Typed 12,000 words in 4 hours on my Con Law final last year. Got a B.

Typed 8500 words in 3 hours on my Ks final last year. Got an A.

Typed 9000 words in 3 hours on my Crim Law final last year. Got a B+.

I think it helped me in the classes where it helped me. I don't think typing a lot was the cause of either of the poorer grades (did well on some of the questions that were longer). I think it's dependent upon the professor as others have noted.

Also: it's more important to think fast than to type fast. I've done a lot of writing, so I can think about as fast I can physically type. Typing speed is overrated. Ability to just put your mind in 5th gear for 3 hours is underrated.

This. I can type somewhere between 70-80 words/hr, but I'm only busting out 1200-1500 words/hr right now. Kinda worried. But it's increasing every practice test I take, so hopefully it's just from me learning the material better and better that this is happening from.


As far as my professors this semester:

model answers for one of my prof's exams so far have been: 4500, 4700, 7200, and 3800 words for a 3-3.5 hour exam

Other prof said his exams have word limits, probably going to be 2500-3000 for a 2 hour issue spotter

Torts prof said that he thinks we should spend 1.5-2 hours of the 4 hours he gives us, and there really aren't that many issues on his practice tests, so I don't think a huge amount of words is going to be much of a boon.

Only exam I think it will help is for my property prof, who seems to do a classic issue spotter exam, time crunch and all. In that class, I think just knowing the material down cold is the difference between a B and an A because of just being able to regurgitate more info on to the paper by knowing the material better. So typing a lot will probably be a factor in this class

[goosey]

i got an A- on an exam that I wrote 2800 words on [it had multiple choice first half though...so it wasnt a 3 hour essay..prob 110 min essay]

i think 6k-7k is solid but probably 8k of quality will get an A.

my fam law exam has 2700 word limit he literally just wants you to answer whats there..none of that "every fact is there for a reason stuff"---no reading into things. the issue are there right in front of you..and thats it. oddly enough, thsi should be the easiest exam I ever take but I feel like it will be th ehardest because I am so conditioned to be on the defense with fact patterns trying to hide hidden issues and on thsi exam, if you try finding hidden issues you are screwed

[ph14]

FWIW, none of the model answers i've seen are past about 4500-5000 words. Admittedly a small sample size though.

[thexfactor]

i thin 5k is pretty good for a 3 hr exam. I noticed that the more I write, the higher grade i tend to get.

THe reason why the model answer is 4k is because they spotted the same issues as the professor. Some people are able to write 3k and also get an A. Those people seem to be able to zero in on the issues that the professor wants. Most professors have a rubric. If you spot x issue and apply it you get x pts. If you spot something that isnt on the list, he will generally not give you any pts.

I like the dump and apply style where you bring up every issue possible and apply it. AKA shotgun approach. There is less risk involved if you bring up more issues. You never know what theprofessor is thinking. Ive calied 2 classes and for those 2 3 hr exams i wrote 8-9k words in 3hrs.

[AVBucks4239]

i got an A- on an exam that I wrote 2800 words on [it had multiple choice first half though...so it wasnt a 3 hour essay..prob 110 min essay]

i think 6k-7k is solid but probably 8k of quality will get an A.

my fam law exam has 2700 word limit he literally just wants you to answer whats there..none of that "every fact is there for a reason stuff"---no reading into things. the issue are there right in front of you..and thats it. oddly enough, thsi should be the easiest exam I ever take but I feel like it will be th ehardest because I am so conditioned to be on the defense with fact patterns trying to hide hidden issues and on thsi exam, if you try finding hidden issues you are screwed

I have the same thing for contracts. We have a multiple choice section, an essay with a 1,050 word limit, and another essay with a 600 word limit. Anybody have any tips for exams with word limits? I'm assuming you're just supposed to not look too deep into the question and simply answer what's there right in front of you.

[alicrimson]

I think it depends alot on the exam and professor and test and everyone of the million of factors that make such a general question as the one you asked ridiculous. But I understand that this question arises from your exam anxiety so I will just say 4,000 words is more than sufficient to do well on an exam.

I think so too. It really depends on the prof. On some big open-ended, who can sue who question some big 10,000 word monster may be the ticket. Some profs have word limits. I know my torts teacher says he doesn't give a F*ck about rule statements but that he will dock you for going over word limit. There were 2 parts on last year's torts exam. One with three questions and one with two. The three had a 900 limit Q1, 600 Q2, and 250 Q3. Part two Q 4 500 and Q 5 700. SHORT. I think he's just making it easy on himself. I can't really blame the guy though because if you can address what he wants addressed, short is best. He also docks points for over-long answers. Sad days.

[alicrimson]

i got an A- on an exam that I wrote 2800 words on [it had multiple choice first half though...so it wasnt a 3 hour essay..prob 110 min essay]

i think 6k-7k is solid but probably 8k of quality will get an A.

my fam law exam has 2700 word limit he literally just wants you to answer whats there..none of that "every fact is there for a reason stuff"---no reading into things. the issue are there right in front of you..and thats it. oddly enough, thsi should be the easiest exam I ever take but I feel like it will be th ehardest because I am so conditioned to be on the defense with fact patterns trying to hide hidden issues and on thsi exam, if you try finding hidden issues you are screwed

I have the same thing for contracts. We have a multiple choice section, an essay with a 1,050 word limit, and another essay with a 600 word limit. Anybody have any tips for exams with word limits? I'm assuming you're just supposed to not look too deep into the question and simply answer what's there right in front of you.

Ask if he wants a rule statement. My torts prof has some brutal word limits and he says (and I've confirmed with the model answers for the past four years) that he just wants you to get to the point and slam facts where the rule should be. Granted, this is a closed-book exam but still...I would ask your prof for help on this.

[c3pO4]

i just wrote 3.5k-4k for a 2.5 hr exam, feelin' OK about it. some prof's like clarity and conciseness more than verboseness.