ryegye87 wrote:I was looking through books to read before starting classes and I came across one entitled "The Eight Secrets of Top Exam Performance In Law School" by Charles H. Whitebread. Has anybody ever read this? I'm familiar with the other books (getting to maybe, Law School Confidential, and P.L.S.), but was just curious about this one as it received a few good reviews on Amazon and I couldn't find any posts about it anywhere on TLS. Anybody ever read this? If so, did you find it useful?
I AM DEAD SERIOUS.
THIS BOOK IS THE SINGLE REASON I WAS NUMBER ONE IN MY CLASS FIRST SEMESTER 1L YEAR.
It is great to be intelligent and prepared (which I was), but if you do not know how to organize your answers, none of that comes through. It is one thing to be intelligent - all of your peers will be intelligent, that is how they got into the seat next to you. The difference will be, who knows how to play the game better? Exams are a game. There is a mixture of skill and luck involved. It starts with knowing the law, but it ends with working the system properly. This book will tell you exactly how to attack the typical law school exam. More than that, it actually tells you how to structure and boil down your outline so, come exam day, you aren't suffering from information overload. You will wonder, "how the hell am I supposed to remember this immense volume of information for a 3 hour exam?" The book will tell you. Now, maybe you could pick up similar tips elsewhere from disparate sources, but it is short, cheap, and invaluable.
Every semester my 2L and 3L year, just before exam time, Law Review would give a "test tips" presentation to the 1L class, and in addition to all my usual advice to the scared and stressed out looking 1Ls*, I always made sure to cite this book directly. My 3L year, several of the new 2L Law Review members who didn’t think I was full of shit specifically noted they read this book and attested to it's value.
The title seems so cliché, I am sure many people think it’s a gimmick and worthless. Good for you that they ignore it. You want to simplify come finals time as much as possible. This book makes it straight forward. Read it cover to cover, its only like 90 pages.
I re-read this book before finals time at each semester through 2L year (after that, you get it).
I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HIGHLY ENOUGH.
Caveat – don’t read it until after Thanksgiving. Just focus on learning the law up to and through Thanksgiving. After then, when you switch gears to test-prep time, read the book. I am also serious about this. Until you learn a little law, you may not understand what he is even getting at. Until you understand what an "element" of a cause of action is, focus on your class. Law school has a special vocabulary that you cannot quite get until you sit through hours and hours of class. Read this shortly before exams.
*(My favorite advice to give was, "just remember, every time you are not studying, someone, somewhere, still is." Oh the groans and panic! "How do you have enough time," one 1L asked. I responded, "you make time," as I thought to myself, "that guy is not going to do well." He didn't make Law Review.
I should have added: Stop socializing. Give up on hobbies. Eat at your desk. Watch TV while you study (it helps relieve the inevitable bordem and accompanying mind numbness). Nap!!!!!!! Never fight the urge to nap, it is your brian saying it needs to chill. You will not study effectively if you feel nap-ish. Then wake up and keep studying.
People may disagree with my view, but you should be afraid of exams, because failure will doom your career prospects, so harness the fear and study like hell. I would purposely delay starting to outline, just so I always felt I did not have enough time. That kept me going, because I hate fucking losing, and panic is a fantastic motivator. This may depend on how you are as a person, but stress will either cause you to collapse or excel. The more stress, the better, I say. If you thrive under stress, you will do well as a lawyer. It'll be over soon enough.)