1L Exam Prep and Motivation Thread Forum

[dreakol]

I read ahead in the class and then read 2-3 supplements for each class and made an outline off of those notes and older outlines I got from 2Ls

during class, if the professors says something that isn't completely obvious to me about a subject, I add it directly to the outline.

with that said, 2 outlines done out of 3 since the third didn't give syllabus and posts the readings only a week in advance. i've been doing practice hypos/exams since the beginning of the semester, so now it's just time to work on memorization of the bll/policy and keep on doing practice problems. i've also been practicing my typing for 30 min a day, which i feel is my biggest weakness.

I don't see any change in my schedule though with regards to putting in more hours, which is nice

seriously? that seems like a waste of time to me, doing practice exams before you even are familiar with the material.. when so much of an exam is issue spotting aren't you kind of wasting that exam by doing it before you can spot a lot of the issues and can fully explain them?

early on in the semester, I only used hypos that focused solely on one issue. I didn't start tackling practice tests until a few weeks ago. It also helps that the exams my professors give don't involve one long, complex hypo but rather a series of short questions that only address a specific issue but still require a long, complex answer. Example: my contracts professor's exam consist of 8-10 questions, that, technically, all have the same facts in common, but he breaks it up after every paragraph and specifically requests what to focus on for that paragraph.

I also had a surplus of exams to work from, so I wasn't concerned with doing them knowing i wouldnt spot all the issues since i had yet to learn all the issues and just worried about spotting the issues we had covered in class.

[istara]

Checking in.

A on a torts midterm that I think is making me overconfident and freaked out all at the same time
Torts outline is almost up to date with plans to completely update it this weekend.
I got a good start on the contracts outline yesterday (closed book and terrifying). Maybe 20% done.
Civ Pro.. I can't even think about.. it may be time to break out a supplement. Maybe 10% done on the outline.

Final draft of the memo is almost due, huge research project gets assigned tomorrow, 2 more papers due for Civ Pro, and 1 more for writing before the semester is over.

I'm going to get sooo drunk on December 15th.

[Voltaire]

how do you guys feel about study groups? i feel badly saying this, but a good friend here wants to start a study group, but i'm not so sure i want to study with her. she hasn't done most of the reading, she hasn't read any supplements, and in my opinion seems to be way too relaxed. she's a great friend, but i really feel like i wouldn't benefit at all from forming a group with her. i'm not as gungho as some of you (don't have all of my outlines done, haven't started practice exams, haven't read 100 supplements), but i'm definitely more with it than she is. At the same time, i know most other people have already formed them, so it might be this or nothing for me.

Sometimes teaching the material to someone else helps you a lot if she is like your friend and hasn't kept up. And going over practice exams with someone should be helpful. She may recognize something you don't even if she's not as caught up as she should be. I don't do study groups of over 3 though.

[Magnolia]

Grudgingly checking in. Outlining starts on Saturday. Realized I only have 12 more class sessions for each of my classes. Holy shit.

[NeighborGuy]

how do you guys feel about study groups? i feel badly saying this, but a good friend here wants to start a study group, but i'm not so sure i want to study with her. she hasn't done most of the reading, she hasn't read any supplements, and in my opinion seems to be way too relaxed. she's a great friend, but i really feel like i wouldn't benefit at all from forming a group with her. i'm not as gungho as some of you (don't have all of my outlines done, haven't started practice exams, haven't read 100 supplements), but i'm definitely more with it than she is. At the same time, i know most other people have already formed them, so it might be this or nothing for me.

Sometimes teaching the material to someone else helps you a lot if she is like your friend and hasn't kept up. And going over practice exams with someone should be helpful. She may recognize something you don't even if she's not as caught up as she should be. I don't do study groups of over 3 though.

Teaching someone else about the law can be helpful, but going into a study group arrangement with friends is likely to turn into an inefficient use of time. What I do is just extend my offer to help explain stuff to my friends if they are lost or have questions. That way you get to bolster your own understanding by teaching while staying free of commitments, schedule problems, and drains on your study time.

[ph14]

Semester is definitely starting to pick up. I'm working on staying on top of everything and i've been outlining as I go but I am going to polish them up considerably.

[bostonlawchick]

Also checking in... I'm laughably behind everyone here, but our midterms are starting next week. None of them count, but I'd like to have outlines completely up to date by then. Too bad I haven't started any...

It's really strange to feel both relaxed because I feel I understand everything going on in class and totally paranoid because everyone else is so frantic. Every hour I change from feeling like maybe I'm missing something to feeling like I'll be fine.

[ilovesf]

Also checking in... I'm laughably behind everyone here, but our midterms are starting next week. None of them count, but I'd like to have outlines completely up to date by then. Too bad I haven't started any...

It's really strange to feel both relaxed because I feel I understand everything going on in class and totally paranoid because everyone else is so frantic. Every hour I change from feeling like maybe I'm missing something to feeling like I'll be fine.

Me too.

[094320]

..

[TatteredDignity]

Checking in. Can't bring myself to read any more, but outlines and PTs are in decent shape.

[ph14]

Checking in. Can't bring myself to read any more, but outlines and PTs are in decent shape.

Are people already taking practice tests? I wouldn't mind taking some already but I only have a pretty limited supply from my professors. Where are you guys getting them?

[thegrayman]

+1 on best place to get practice tests

2 of my 3 professors don't release their old exams and my efforts to track them down have proved fruitless...

[FlanAl]

gonna check in. i've only done one practice test and will be doing another tomorrow (these were given out at my school). I'd like to do more past exams but not a lot of my professors provide them. Have most of you guys gone through the E&E's yet? I haven't even cracked mine open but was planning on starting to hit them this weekend

[ilovesf]

two of my professors are brand new at my school, and one of them has never taught this class before.. so no practice tests there. the other professor has only taught this class once before, so he only has 1 exam. fml.

[Voltaire]

Checking in. Can't bring myself to read any more, but outlines and PTs are in decent shape.

Are people already taking practice tests? I wouldn't mind taking some already but I only have a pretty limited supply from my professors. Where are you guys getting them?

There's a thread stickied in this forum. Have you tried in there? I haven't looked at any of the exams that are linked, but I feel like there has to be some good ones.

[crossarmant]

I know for us, we have a database of past exams from all of the professors. But there are only a few from each of mine, so I think I'm going to try my hand on a couple of other professors' exams as well to just ad variety and depth so I can try to get a bit more experience and flexibility.

[ilovesf]

I know for us, we have a database of past exams from all of the professors. But there are only a few from each of mine, so I think I'm going to try my hand on a couple of other professors' exams as well to just ad variety and depth so I can try to get a bit more experience and flexibility.

I tried looking at other prof's exams, but we've somehow managed to cover completely different topics so it wasn't as useful as I wanted it to be maybe at the end of the semester it will make more sense.

[crossarmant]

I tried looking at other prof's exams, but we've somehow managed to cover completely different topics so it wasn't as useful as I wanted it to be maybe at the end of the semester it will make more sense.

I feel like I remember seeing a post on here a long time ago that acted as a dumping grounds for practice exams from schools all over the nation. I know they may not be your professors' exams, but they'll at least test your knowledge of the material.

[Metaread]

Any practice exam sites that have exams from across the nation would be great. My professors (with one exception) don't release old exams. Which is terrifying.

[crossarmant]

Any practice exam sites that have exams from across the nation would be great. My professors (with one exception) don't release old exams. Which is terrifying.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =3&t=12526

Oops, yeah, it was stickied and all of 3 threads higher up than this one.

[TatteredDignity]

Very few of the links in that thread are accessible. Of those that are, the pepperdine database has by far been the most useful to me.

As for other tests, our school has an online database with a decent number of tests, albeit only 1 or 2 for each of my profs. I've glanced at them, but I'm saving them for the end.

[Metaread]

Yea, and some of them have addresses that aren't linked properly, like Columbia's, which has "..." in the middle.

[ephemeral.bete.noire]

I've created word documents titled "outline" for each of my classes.. there is nothing in those documents as of yet

[Lasers]

i'm not touching practice exams until 2 more weeks from today.

in the next two weeks before i start focusing only on exam prep and making short checklist outlines, i'll be trying to memorize outlines, reviewing cases that i may have forgotten about, and catching up on supplements.

in other words, i'll basically be making sure i understand all the general topics well before i start cramming in the details and prepping specifically for exams.

[Lasers]

two of my professors are brand new at my school, and one of them has never taught this class before.. so no practice tests there. the other professor has only taught this class once before, so he only has 1 exam. fml.

oh geez, that's brutal...