What is your worst law school finals experience? Forum

[Kobe_Teeth]

During our section's first exam, the student sitting next to me, his examsoft software malfunctioned and everything he wrote disappeared with 10 minutes left to go. I have no idea how it turned out. After time was called and I turned my materials in I was trying to make him feel better when I was instructed to leave and that "there was nothing that I could do." I felt like I was leaving him dead on the operating table. And I barely knew the guy....

[Charles Barkley]

During our section's first exam, the student sitting next to me, his examsoft software malfunctioned and everything he wrote disappeared with 10 minutes left to go. I have no idea how it turned out. After time was called and I turned my materials in I was trying to make him feel better when I was instructed to leave and that "there was nothing that I could do." I felt like I was leaving him dead on the operating table. And I barely knew the guy....

[drdolittle]

During our section's first exam, the student sitting next to me, his examsoft software malfunctioned and everything he wrote disappeared with 10 minutes left to go. I have no idea how it turned out. After time was called and I turned my materials in I was trying to make him feel better when I was instructed to leave and that "there was nothing that I could do." I felt like I was leaving him dead on the operating table. And I barely knew the guy....

This kind of thing really worries me about using a computer. During the middle of an exam typing frantically, somehow I must've pressed the exit button and was led to the confirm exit screen. Luckily you can cancel that and get back, but it was not a pleasant moment...Now as I think back, I didn't even reread what I wrote to make sure everything got saved before the mistaken exit, but it looked about the right length.

[squirtle]

My Con Law final was so hard that I had to go in the bathroom and cry for 2 minutes.

Massey?

Our section got lucky with Little...he is pretty easy.

Faigman. He based his ENTIRE exam on his "MIA minutes" which were like recaps of his opinions on things. My friend who just had a baby got an A+ because all he had time to study were those handouts. the exam was just... I mean... idk. It didn't click for me.

I know what you mean. Leshy for Property was the same way with the handouts. Little's CrimPro multiple choice questions this semester were pretty arbitrary. There were several "opinion" questions like "Which of these two Supreme Court cases of the last 10 years will be most revolutionary?"

Hey, I have Leshy for Property. Hastings, right? How was the exam, and have any tips for me? I am a sad 1L who hates life right now, and I'm pretty sure I completely got fucked by K with Dodge, and got somewhat fucked my Jung for Torts. I'm scared. I don't know what it feels like to get Cs and lower =(

[kimber1028]

Yep. 2. I've had a lot of bad luck this semester. Imagine my frustration when I found that both my laptops broke down within weeks of each other. They're both fixed, but I'm not taking any chances.

I had the same issue last year -- I went through like 3 computers in 6 months. I took an extra laptop to finals, too, and kept my outlines on USBs to go back and forth between the two systems if I needed to. I didn't have a problem, but I definitely felt better having taken so many precautions. I hope your main computer holds up!

[usuaggie]

this thread makes me glad that my school doesn't use any exam software. They just tell us we have to use microsoft word and it's on the honorcode not to cheat.

[kasparov]

our exam software autosaves every so often (im not sure what the time is). thank god for that.

[OGR3]

our exam software autosaves every so often (im not sure what the time is). thank god for that.

Every 60 seconds at Pitt.

[traehekat]

this thread makes me glad that my school doesn't use any exam software. They just tell us we have to use microsoft word and it's on the honorcode not to cheat.

yeah i mean, that isn't really even that crazy if you think about, unless you are the guy in the last row of the class with no one behind you to see your screen. otherwise, who would have the balls to start pulling up other windows when tons of people can easily see your screen.

[SmittenMitten]

During our section's first exam, the student sitting next to me, his examsoft software malfunctioned and everything he wrote disappeared with 10 minutes left to go. I have no idea how it turned out. After time was called and I turned my materials in I was trying to make him feel better when I was instructed to leave and that "there was nothing that I could do." I felt like I was leaving him dead on the operating table. And I barely knew the guy....

This is absolutly terrifying and depressing

[keg411]

this thread makes me glad that my school doesn't use any exam software. They just tell us we have to use microsoft word and it's on the honorcode not to cheat.

yeah i mean, that isn't really even that crazy if you think about, unless you are the guy in the last row of the class with no one behind you to see your screen. otherwise, who would have the balls to start pulling up other windows when tons of people can easily see your screen.

We don't use exam software either. Just a download/upload system. We also haven't had any closed book exams so no one's pulling up windows either. The only thing I see is that some people might do the take home exams together, but that doesn't guarantee A's if everyone else you're working with gets the answer "wrong" too.

[chicagolaw2013]

During our section's first exam, the student sitting next to me, his examsoft software malfunctioned and everything he wrote disappeared with 10 minutes left to go. I have no idea how it turned out. After time was called and I turned my materials in I was trying to make him feel better when I was instructed to leave and that "there was nothing that I could do." I felt like I was leaving him dead on the operating table. And I barely knew the guy....

This kind of thing really worries me about using a computer. During the middle of an exam typing frantically, somehow I must've pressed the exit button and was led to the confirm exit screen. Luckily you can cancel that and get back, but it was not a pleasant moment...Now as I think back, I didn't even reread what I wrote to make sure everything got saved before the mistaken exit, but it looked about the right length.

This happened to me twice when I was working on multiple choice...I think it was because I wasn't typing and it was like "hey, write something...".

[12262010]

During our section's first exam, the student sitting next to me, his examsoft software malfunctioned and everything he wrote disappeared with 10 minutes left to go. I have no idea how it turned out. After time was called and I turned my materials in I was trying to make him feel better when I was instructed to leave and that "there was nothing that I could do." I felt like I was leaving him dead on the operating table. And I barely knew the guy....

This is absolutly terrifying and depressing

Most exam software autosaves every few minutes, though, so the IT people were probably able to recover it.

[JOThompson]

My friend's exam software randomly closed halfway through our property final and he had to complete the test by hand.

[rdcws000]

Finishing the exam with 15 minutes to spare. Looking back over the essay facts trying to discover what I must have missed. Drawing a blank. Feeling like I did OK.

The next night (not the night of mind you, a full 24+ hours post-test) laying in bed and suddenly: HOLY CRAP! I missed a very obvious point that I could have written for 20 minutes on, and may very likely have been the whole point of the question.

The sad part is, my first instinctual though was "Maybe I can email him and write this paragraph of the essay, explaining to him that I missed it during the final and could he please consider giving me at least partial credit. I mean I know it, isn't that what matters?" Now I'm trying to put it out of my mind since I can't control it, but it sure sucks. I understood the class pretty well, and missed a major point. Dangit.

It would have been much better for me if I would have just not realized it, and gone on in ignorant bliss.

[uwb09]

Finishing the exam with 15 minutes to spare. Looking back over the essay facts trying to discover what I must have missed. Drawing a blank. Feeling like I did OK.

The next night (not the night of mind you, a full 24+ hours post-test) laying in bed and suddenly: HOLY CRAP! I missed a very obvious point that I could have written for 20 minutes on, and may very likely have been the whole point of the question.

The sad part is, my first instinctual though was "Maybe I can email him and write this paragraph of the essay, explaining to him that I missed it during the final and could he please consider giving me at least partial credit. I mean I know it, isn't that what matters?" Now I'm trying to put it out of my mind since I can't control it, but it sure sucks. I understood the class pretty well, and missed a major point. Dangit.

It would have been much better for me if I would have just not realized it, and gone on in ignorant bliss.

this has happened to me on both of my finals so far, the last one literally kept me up all night, and was still making me sick to my stomach the next morning....

the feeling of knowing you KNOW the material well enough to get all the points, but just making bone-headed in the pressure of the moment mistakess is just the most disgusting feeling ever

If i don't know something because I didn't study it enough, I can get over it really easy, but when I go into that room and leave points on the table because of momentary brain lapses, ya... fml

PS - our examsoft does auto-saves every so often, it actually freaks me out because i'll be in the middle of typing a huge response, and the program will freeze for a split second while auto-saving, every time it does it I think my comp is about to lock up and crash

you think i'd get used to it by now, but no

[megaTTTron]

1L Civ Pro. Notorious speed exam, professor doesn't want the best answer, just the best answer we can give in the time allotted. Hand written. Kids regularly do not finish.

First question, we get 1 hour, I see A, B, and C. I allot 20 minutes to each and begin. I finish C right on time and start to feel a little confident. I turn the page and see D. Heart attack.

[Zindras]

Finishing the exam with 15 minutes to spare. Looking back over the essay facts trying to discover what I must have missed. Drawing a blank. Feeling like I did OK.

The next night (not the night of mind you, a full 24+ hours post-test) laying in bed and suddenly: HOLY CRAP! I missed a very obvious point that I could have written for 20 minutes on, and may very likely have been the whole point of the question.

The sad part is, my first instinctual though was "Maybe I can email him and write this paragraph of the essay, explaining to him that I missed it during the final and could he please consider giving me at least partial credit. I mean I know it, isn't that what matters?" Now I'm trying to put it out of my mind since I can't control it, but it sure sucks. I understood the class pretty well, and missed a major point. Dangit.

It would have been much better for me if I would have just not realized it, and gone on in ignorant bliss.

this has happened to me on both of my finals so far, the last one literally kept me up all night, and was still making me sick to my stomach the next morning....

the feeling of knowing you KNOW the material well enough to get all the points, but just making bone-headed in the pressure of the moment mistakess is just the most disgusting feeling ever

If i don't know something because I didn't study it enough, I can get over it really easy, but when I go into that room and leave points on the table because of momentary brain lapses, ya... fml

PS - our examsoft does auto-saves every so often, it actually freaks me out because i'll be in the middle of typing a huge response, and the program will freeze for a split second while auto-saving, every time it does it I think my comp is about to lock up and crash

you think i'd get used to it by now, but no

One second I'm thinking I did fine, then the next I think, wait the past oral agreement wasn't in the writing but it can be implied by the UCC provision so maybe it was in the agreement and then it wasn't a parol evidence rule issue but an interpretation issue and fml now I can't sleep.

[dakatz]

Realizing right after the test that there was a clear issue I could have spoken about in great detail for a solid chunk of time. It was the biggest question on the test, and we were asked what X could do to get the case dismissed. I picked out one thing and wrote a really detailed and nuanced analysis of it. However, this ended up taking so long, that I didn't speak about one of the other objections X could raise to get the case dismissed. Now I'm sitting here praying that its not like I will straight-up lose half the credit for the biggest question on the test. I mean, I feel like the depth and understanding of my analysis on the main issue I chose to write about will cover for a substantial portion of the points on the question.

[mmmadeli]

Y'all have proctors too?

Yeah, my torts exam it was some old lady I've never seen before. It took her about 5 minutes to write "30 MINUTES REMAINING" on the board in weird loopy old-lady cursive.

[eandy]

Lesson learned: Make absolutely sure your laptop is not in power save mode when you start to take the exam. If you start outlining an answer or otherwise not typing, disaster will occur AKA your laptop will go to sleep and you will have a mini-heart attack trying to wake it back up without turning it off.

[MBZags]

Computer inexplicably crashed one minute into an exam. My computer has never crashed before. I was so frustrated that I don't even know what I ended up writing and probably just got a big fat C in Contracts.

[somewhatwayward]

just had a terrible civ pro exam

then i opened my e-mail to see that the professor sent us an e-mail last night telling us we'll have "plenty of time"

i hope no one else feels like we had plenty of time!!

[joobacca]

mine is probably secured transactions. that's the one that got away... i should have absolutely nailed it, but i blanked. i'm usually a good exam-taker and keep myself calm, but there was half a question (out of two total exam questions) that i just didn't know about at all. i didn't study for it or knew that there are for the situation in the question. that rattled me badly. my preparation should have been more thorough.

[danidancer]

At this point, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I got straight As or straight Cs this semester. If this were undergrad, I would be very confident in at least a B+ on the two exams I've taken so far, but with the curve, who knows. Every time I talk to someone, I start second guessing what I wrote or what side I picked or what cases I forgot to cite/distinguish. Ack. Trying not to care, but really, I'll be crushed if I finish below median.

So far I thankfully haven't had any total disasters, no software malfunctions at least (KNOCK WOOD!). Having my computer crash is one of my biggest nightmares. Exam4 seems to be pretty solid though, and backs up every two minutes.