OFFICIAL 1L Exam Prep & Motivation Thread (CSWS) Forum

[LetsGoLAW]

Ugh. Checking in now that I'd doing work, but I have the distinct feeling I'm behind. I'm trying to get through my property readings for the term (should finish tomorrow) and I'm hoping to finish Crim by the weekend. I haven't started outlining as I like to have my shit together first.

Con Law scares me senseless.

I hear ya. But, the handful of friends I've talked to are in no better shape than you, so I don't think you're too far behind. Still plenty of time to catch up.

Don't worry bro. You're absolutely fine. I took the opposite approach. I finished the supplements early and added them to my outline (while looking at other outlines). I realized last semester no matter how I read the cases, my professors changed everything. I figured it's better to wait to see what they say.

[Raiden]

Gotta love the love in here.

I be grinding on that dem der memo. I can see the sparks already.

But man, gotta balance with outlining as well

[LetsGoLAW]

Gotta love the love in here.

I be grinding on that dem der memo. I can see the sparks already.

But man, gotta balance with outlining as well

CSWS, baby.

[brotherdarkness]

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[Jsa725]

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[Bronck]

I think I may just be doing a half day as well. Was really tired and napped all afternoon. Have put in some good work this week too, so I don't feel guilty

[Jsa725]

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[MauriceGains]

Third of three interviews I've done so far emailed me back today: still no jerb. Feels Batman.

[stillwater]

I think I may just be doing a half day as well. Was really tired and napped all afternoon. Have put in some good work this week too, so I don't feel guilty

It's all preparation for what really counts...April!
Enjoy the relaxation!! Lets Beast out these exams! CSWS

Measured pace my friends. Like Jsa said, you don't win awards for scrambling your brains in March.

[Jsa725]

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[mephistopheles]

fuck i am dying this week.

i've been keeping up, but man spring break threw off my rhythm. i basically took today off, even though i didn't.

[LetsGoLAW]

Roughly, how many pages did your Con Law OLs come out to? It's just so much.

[mephistopheles]

Roughly, how many pages did your Con Law OLs come out to? It's just so much.

hahahaha.

i have a multi inch stack of papers from conlaw.

[LetsGoLAW]

Roughly, how many pages did your Con Law OLs come out to? It's just so much.

hahahaha.

i have a multi inch stack of papers from conlaw.

I was hoping to keep mine under 25. Haha. Guess that's not happening. I just can't walk into an open notebook exam with a 75 page document.

[stillwater]

the saving grace with con law is at least its all SCOTUS cases and there are limitless resources on them.

its those common law cases for torts, ktts and property that are a pain in the ass because materials are scant.

[brotherdarkness]

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[LetsGoLAW]

Roughly, how many pages did your Con Law OLs come out to? It's just so much.

hahahaha.

i have a multi inch stack of papers from conlaw.

I was hoping to keep mine under 25. Haha. Guess that's not happening. I just can't walk into an open notebook exam with a 75 page document.

I still have a couple more topics to cover and I'm right around the 100 page mark.

Fuck.

100 pages?!? Oh my. How do you intend to memorize that? I'm just happy my Civ Pro outline is >20 pages.

[stillwater]

Outlines are a farce

[brotherdarkness]

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[stillwater]

I'll be spending quite a bit of time cutting down the document, but the process of writing everything out helps me learn the material. I finished the reading for the semester already and ran through an old exam from another professor (mine isn't providing any old exams) and, without the outline, I was able to get through a fair number of issues. Though it was far from quality work on my part, it showed me that I have some understanding of the material.

I agree with stillwater, to some extent. Making the outline is useful, but relying upon it is ridiculous. I pulled an A+ in Civ Pro and touched my outline once or twice during the entire exam.

I think making one is useful, in the same vein as typing up your notes and figuring out what you need to brush up on, etc. Come exam time the material should be automatic.

[Bronck]

I'll be spending quite a bit of time cutting down the document, but the process of writing everything out helps me learn the material. I finished the reading for the semester already and ran through an old exam from another professor (mine isn't providing any old exams) and, without the outline, I was able to get through a fair number of issues. Though it was far from quality work on my part, it showed me that I have some understanding of the material.

I agree with stillwater, to some extent. Making the outline is useful, but relying upon it is ridiculous. I pulled an A+ in Civ Pro and touched my outline once or twice during the entire exam.

I think making one is useful, in the same vein as typing up your notes and figuring out what you need to brush up on, etc. Come exam time the material should be automatic.

I think this is more-or-less right. Although, I did reference my outlines a handful of times during exams, and that didn't hinder my performance.

I found the process of creating attack outlines before exams to be especially useful in understanding things

[LetsGoLAW]

I'll be spending quite a bit of time cutting down the document, but the process of writing everything out helps me learn the material. I finished the reading for the semester already and ran through an old exam from another professor (mine isn't providing any old exams) and, without the outline, I was able to get through a fair number of issues. Though it was far from quality work on my part, it showed me that I have some understanding of the material.

I agree with stillwater, to some extent. Making the outline is useful, but relying upon it is ridiculous. I pulled an A+ in Civ Pro and touched my outline once or twice during the entire exam.

I think making one is useful, in the same vein as typing up your notes and figuring out what you need to brush up on, etc. Come exam time the material should be automatic.

I think this is more-or-less right. Although, I did reference my outlines a handful of times during exams, and that didn't hinder my performance.

I found the process of creating attack outlines before exams to be especially useful in understanding things

Credited. I make my outlines to synthesize and memorize the material. Except, I don't read too far ahead into the casebooks. I finish the supplements weeks in advance. The supplements include cases and information from class discussion, so it allows me to be familiar with both. Plus, my professors constantly change the case holdings to their preferences.

For professors who require case names on the exams, what is TCR for putting facts in outlines? I find it useless.

[stillwater]

Credited. I make my outlines to synthesize and memorize the material. Except, I don't read too far ahead into the casebooks. I finish the supplements weeks in advance. The supplements include cases and information from class discussion, so it allows me to be familiar with both. Plus, my professors constantly change the case holdings to their preferences.

For professors who require case names on the exams, what is TCR for putting facts in outlines? I find it useless.

For cases, it is the law that's important. Naturally, you could analogize facts of a case to a given fact pattern on an exam or distinguish them. But usually the law will be the important thing. So I'd probably ditch the facts.

[Bronck]

Credited. I make my outlines to synthesize and memorize the material. Except, I don't read too far ahead into the casebooks. I finish the supplements weeks in advance. The supplements include cases and information from class discussion, so it allows me to be familiar with both. Plus, my professors constantly change the case holdings to their preferences.

For professors who require case names on the exams, what is TCR for putting facts in outlines? I find it useless.

For cases, it is the law that's important. Naturally, you could analogize facts of a case to a given fact pattern on an exam or distinguish them. But usually the law will be the important thing. So I'd probably ditch the facts.

Good to know. Do you use the cases as shorthand for rules? E.g., The Hadley rule. Or, do you actually explain the rule? e.g., In Hadley, the court held that X --> proceed with discussion.

[stillwater]

Credited. I make my outlines to synthesize and memorize the material. Except, I don't read too far ahead into the casebooks. I finish the supplements weeks in advance. The supplements include cases and information from class discussion, so it allows me to be familiar with both. Plus, my professors constantly change the case holdings to their preferences.

For professors who require case names on the exams, what is TCR for putting facts in outlines? I find it useless.

For cases, it is the law that's important. Naturally, you could analogize facts of a case to a given fact pattern on an exam or distinguish them. But usually the law will be the important thing. So I'd probably ditch the facts.

Good to know. Do you use the cases as shorthand for rules? E.g., The Hadley rule. Or, do you actually explain the rule? e.g., In Hadley, the court held that X --> proceed with discussion.

If the rule is "canonical" in the sense it is widely accepted, then I'll just state the rule. I found cases very helpful as shorthand/useful analogies in personal jurisdiction for example. Where the law gets really muddled and amorphous, sometimes all you can do is rely on the case law and try to see how it fits with the fact pattern you are given. In ktts and torts, sometimes the prof will have a fact pattern thats reminiscent of a case's facts so you can use that case to either argue its analogous or distinguish the case and give grounds for why the legal outcome is appropriately different.