(1L) All of my professors are new and have no old exams...What to do next? Forum

[breakfast]

Hello all! As I mentioned in the subject line, none of my professors have old exams in the exam bank at my law school. I really wanted to practice with old exams before heading into finals week and was hoping to get some advice on what to do from here. Should I practice with exams from other professors teaching the same course? (Civ Pro/Crim Law/Contracts) Any advice is appreciated!

[Mullens]

You can ask your professors for their old exams. Many of my 1L professors just gave us the exams and they weren't in the school's exam bank. You can also try to find students at your professors' prior law schools and see if their old exams are in the old school's exam bank.

If neither of those work, then you'll have to rely on other professor exams and E&E's because doing practice exams is, IMO, the most important part of studying for 1L finals.

[KissMyAxe]

I know this goes against the normal, neurotic, gunner TLS wisdom, but you really shouldn't be considering any of that yet. Adjusting to law school takes some time, and you essentially have to learn a new language. I'd slow down, and just adjust. Worry about the exam come November.

That said, when November does come, if these professors have taught at other institutions, I would first ask the professor for their exams, and if they refuse, reach out to students of those schools, and try to get exams/outlines from them. If they've never taught before (which I highly doubt you'd get 4 brand new professors), then I think it would be fine to take other professors' exams. I doubt many new professors make exams in a vacuum, and would likely use others' exams as their templates. Even if they don't, then at least taking other exams will make you more comfortable with taking a law exam, and increase your confidence and speed.

[thetravelinglawyer]

First of all, it's WAY too early to think about this. I didn't listen when people told me that as a 1L so I don't expect you will either, but just for the record, give it at least a couple of months before you start thinking about practice tests. You would be wasting your time any earlier than that, because you have to get more of an overview of the whole class before the pieces start fitting together in the way you need for the exam.

Ask your prof what type of test it is. Most of them will say so on the first day of class, but if not, it can't hurt to just ask about the type of test so you know how to target your class note taking. You can focus more on big-picture stuff for issue spotters, but for multiple choice/tf/fill in the blank you may need to be a lot more detailed in your notes.

If it's an issue spotter essay, seeing an old test is not likely going to make THAT much difference, issue spotters are pretty standard. The biggest thing it will tell you is how much of a typing race it will be, but you should just assume going into it that it will be one and prepare for that. In this case, taking other prof's tests may be able to help you prepare for tackling an issue spotter. But later - MUCH MUCH later.

If it's multiple choice or true false or some other nonsense, that's trickier. Then it becomes a bit more important to see their style. I had three tests that incorporated multiple choice and they were all drastically different in what we needed to know. You can always talk to upperclassmen and ask them what it was like (or students at their old school if they're really NEW new). For multiple choice, the Q&A and Glannon supplements can be helpful to practice (much much later) but it's really dependent on your professor's style.

If you can't find anything out, don't panic. A lot of my 1L profs didn't have old exams in the bank and told us they wouldn't show us old tests, but in the end they handed out a sample exam question on the last day or two of class. Yours may do that too.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, I had a number of professors who didn't like to release their old exams to the exam bank, but who handed out practice exams in class.

[B90]

I know this goes against the normal, neurotic, gunner TLS wisdom, but you really shouldn't be considering any of that yet. Adjusting to law school takes some time, and you essentially have to learn a new language. I'd slow down, and just adjust. Worry about the exam come November.

That said, when November does come, if these professors have taught at other institutions, I would first ask the professor for their exams, and if they refuse, reach out to students of those schools, and try to get exams/outlines from them. If they've never taught before (which I highly doubt you'd get 4 brand new professors), then I think it would be fine to take other professors' exams. I doubt many new professors make exams in a vacuum, and would likely use others' exams as their templates. Even if they don't, then at least taking other exams will make you more comfortable with taking a law exam, and increase your confidence and speed.

+1

[patrick248]

The 1L classes are all pretty standard. I disagree with some of the above advice since it is not too early to start practicing writing an essay exam.
Start by studying HOW to take an exam rather than worrying about a particular class or professor. You may want to get "Open Book: Succeeding on Exams From the First Day of Law School". Here are a couple of links that may also help

http://www.lawnerds.com/guide/exam.html

http://www.law-school-books.com/law-sch ... -exam.html

After that, then there a a number of exam banks online with sample answers. Right now setting up your outline for each course is what you need to
concentrate on and then really work on your essay exams about one month prior to the exam.