Hey guys, I have been fortunate enough to receive the outlines from people who got the highest grades in the classes I am currently in. The whole semester I have not been able to get myself to outline b/c the ones I have are so great and it seems like a complete waste of time to me. I have been reviewing the outlines. Additionally, I have been combining the outlines I have (I have a couple for each class) and have been creating my own flash cards.

One month before finals and I am still a little shaky with my method. I have a feeling I am getting the big picture idea for everything so I still can't get myself to sit down and outline b/c it seems like a waste of time for me retype information. It just seems like a better use of time for me to create and learn my flashcards.

Is there any method to this madness? Am I doomed for finals? Has anyone used a similar method and have been successful?
I keep hearing do what works for you, yet I keep hearing YOU HAVE to make your own outlines. Hence the nervousness a month out from finals.

Thanks everyone.

The most useful part of outlining is actually making the outline itself.

This. You must know your outline and your outline must know you. Don't see your outline as a reference point during the exams but as a partner. You build a healthy relationship with it by making it yourself. Good luck!

Not really on topic but I've found it useful sometimes:
http://www.flashcardmachine.com/law.html
Some good sets of flashcards, some sets where the creator of the flashcard doesn't know wtf they're doing.

And I agree with the previous posters. Learning from flashcards without actually writing out the law may work well for you, but I have a feeling that you will get to the exam and realize that you don't know as much as you thought. Passive learning by reading from flash cards will not defeat active learning by writing out the law and applying the law in past exams.. not to say that you have to create your own outline but you should spend some time typing out the bll before test day.

Well, like I said I am combining multiple outlines, so it's definitely not a passive process. To me, outlining seems like a completely passive process. What exactly am I missing out, I just don't get it?

Can anyone else offer any advice? I did start outlines but eventually realized it's not helping me, so i reverted to making flash cards. All of our tests are closed note, so it seems the most efficient thing to memorize as much as possible as a way to get ahead, if this makes sense.

I have a friend who is a 3L. He used this method, and did pretty well. It really depends on your method of learning, I think. Making an outline is just one way out of many to make sure you get all the information in your head. If you are using flashcards to memorize information, then I don't see how that could hurt you. If you are learning the information by syncing different outlines together and filling in the gaps, then that is fine too. The only thing that matters is that you learn the material, not how it is done. Just make sure you test that knowledge by taking practice exams and doing hypos, otherwise, you will not have a very good idea as to whether your method is working or not.

I've been doing the same thing. I feel like if I can get an A+ outline with EVERYTHING on it then, through making notecards, I can memorize the material as I would have if I made the outline from scratch.

At this point, you may not have time to make your own outlines.

That said, it's almost always a better idea to make your own outlines if you can.

As far as flashcards go, I don't think they're really that useful. If you make your own outline and do lost of practice exams, eventually your brain will memorize what you need to know even if you have a lot of material to cover. Flashcards basically encourage memorize and regurgitate, which is not how law schools exams work. You need to take the concepts you've memorized and apply them to hypos in an analytical fashion. At the school I attended 1L year (I transferred) all of our exams were closed book, closed everything. However, none of the people who were heavy on flashcards made the top of the class.

Exactly. Flashcards and solo outlining are both great means to the end of 'knowing the law', but will give you vastly different capacities when it comes to applying. I'm not normally one to endorse anecdotes, but what you mentioned about how 1L went is exactly what I would expect.

Sorry, I'm confused by what you're saying. On one hand, outlines are useful because they help you memorize the concepts, yet flashcards are not helpful because they help you memorize?

If you understand and know the concepts, why does it matter how you learn them?

I don't think the two posts preceding yours say that flashcards are not useful. They're just stating that flashcards and outlines are great to study to know the BLL, but won't do you a bit of good at applying the law if you don't weave flashcard/outlines with practice tests. Memorization is not the same as application.

Oh of course, I am using supplements (and their hypos) and using old exams to practice. I am definitely not relying on memorizing rules alone!!

Basically, do practice tests.

I find that applying principles to real-world examples help me. This doesn't work too well for civ pro, but property, contracts and especially torts can benefit from it. Even if you have no idea what the actual outcome would be, it helps to think about it. Like when there is a news story about someone getting hurt in an accident, it helps me to go through all the necessary elements and see if they're all there, or if I would need more info. Trying to always apply the principles has helped me keep all the stuff straight.