1L Exam Prep and Motivation Thread Forum

[ilovesf]

first final isnt until dec 12, last one is the 22nd...

wow that's late, when did your semester start? it kind of sucks that your last final is so near to christmas time

[alicrimson]

Received final memo rough draft from prof. Really can't believe its November now. Only two weeks until the final. Despite the fact that pretty much everyone gets a B+ in my class, I really want to do a good job on it. Have also semi formulated a plan of attack. Outlines are up to date and have decided to rope off three hours a night (during the week. thurs-sunday are a whole other animal) besides reading for the next two weeks to work on typing/memorizing outlines, doing flashcards, and reading E&E's. I'm certainly hoping this will be enough of a foundation for practice tests. I just get nervous because of the uncertainty of it all....like every other 1L or atleast, many of them. What do your study plans look like? I know the whole "do what works for you" is popular philosophy; however, I never saw anything wrong with benchmarking off of other students.

[northwood]

first final isnt until dec 12, last one is the 22nd...

wow that's late, when did your semester start? it kind of sucks that your last final is so near to christmas time

we started august 25th, ish... Its just how the finals period was made this year. We have a week or so off from the end of classes till finals. my first one is closed book, no help, and my last one is take home, so while im not too worried, im not taking any shortcuts. Spent this past weekend finishing up my memo, all that is left is some bluebook citing, which i can do at lunch, then get it checked out by the prof and turn it in asap. Ive started an outline for my midterms ( which we havent gotten back yet) and have completely read all of my crim assignemnts, and are a week and a half ahead in the rest of mine, so i like where i am. It was kinda sad knowing that saturday was my last big hurrah, until 12/22, but my bank account will be happy. As for studying, im going to just study with one other person whose as anal as i am and paranoid about not doing well ( and well is defined as to 15%). best of luck everyone... this will be a great pick me up as the true fun of law school is upon us now.

[TheFutureLawyer]

4 substantive classes, had a midterm for 1 a couple weeks ago so I have that. Going to start on contracts this weekend. Definitely the class where I'm most lost, so I figure it's the best place to start.

Also, graded LRW is the worst idea ever. Not only do we have memos to worry about, but we even have an exam to test our citation skills.

edit; also, just saw my exam schedule. It's about as dope as anything I could ask for.

[ilovesf]

4 substantive classes, had a midterm for 1 a couple weeks ago so I have that. Going to start on contracts this weekend. Definitely the class where I'm most lost, so I figure it's the best place to start.

Also, graded LRW is the worst idea ever. Not only do we have memos to worry about, but we even have an exam to test our citation skills.

WHAT? I'm sorry man.

[TheFutureLawyer]

4 substantive classes, had a midterm for 1 a couple weeks ago so I have that. Going to start on contracts this weekend. Definitely the class where I'm most lost, so I figure it's the best place to start.

Also, graded LRW is the worst idea ever. Not only do we have memos to worry about, but we even have an exam to test our citation skills.

WHAT? I'm sorry man.

So I don't make my school sound too harsh, I will say it's only 10% and it's 3 weeks before finals (so it doesn't cut into the really super serious study period or anything).

[FeelTheHeat]

Reading occasionally

[shock259]

We have to do citation exercises too. Fortunately they are only pass/fail and not factored into graded LRW.

Anyway, I'm sort of struggling with what to do with this last month. I said before that I'm done with reading for the semester and I've outlined to the end as well. I'm having an extremely hard time finding tests of my old profs. 2 are new, and 1 just started teaching this course last year (Leg-Reg). 1 is old and has plenty of tests, but they seriously depart from the things we are focusing on this semester (she used a different casebook, supplements, etc).

So I'm just going through my class notes and working more on my outlines. My school abandoned our CALI subscriptions, so I can't use those without forking over $250. I think I'll check out some of the Acing Series, Exam Pro series, and some multiple choice guides. Meh.

[adonai]

Anyway, I'm sort of struggling with what to do with this last month. I said before that I'm done with reading for the semester and I've outlined to the end as well. I'm having an extremely hard time finding tests of my old profs. 2 are new, and 1 just started teaching this course last year (Leg-Reg). 1 is old and has plenty of tests, but they seriously depart from the things we are focusing on this semester (she used a different casebook, supplements, etc).

So I'm just going through my class notes and working more on my outlines. My school abandoned our CALI subscriptions, so I can't use those without forking over $250. I think I'll check out some of the Acing Series, Exam Pro series, and some multiple choice guides. Meh.

I've also finished reading/outlining for the semester. It is a weird feeling knowing you don't have much to do, but yet you still have so much to do. Kind of lost and don't know where to start, and it has really reduced my work hours while everyone has been ramping theirs up significantly. I guess it wouldn't hurt to do the E&E's even though I feel like I don't need to do them. There's still CALI for me as well. But I found both of these to not really fit with what I'm learning in class because my professors are so unique/distinct compared to traditional profs.

[dabomb75]

thanks. One more question for those willing to give feedback. I've slipped a little in my civ pro outlining. A 2L who had the same prof. last year sent me her huge outline, as well as a skeleton outline. I'm thinking about using a big chunk of her larger outline and then cutting it down in my own way, in the interest of time. Does any one think this is REALLY harmful? I've gone through and made sure all of her info is correct and am inserting things here and there, but this seems like a major time save so i can focus on doing practice questions and outlining for all other classes. Thought?

i''m doing this now and i really don't care what anyone says, whether it be good or bad. my only advice is make sure that person did well and the outline is 100% correct and be sure to add any new things your professor may have added/changed from the year prior.

i changed some things but for the most part i've just simply memorized their outline. people say the process of making an outline is where you learn the material, and i can see that it is valid for many people, but it isn't necessary. i have no problem committing things to memory if i want to; i just sit down, and memorize the outlines cold. i know the law, and i know the things brought up in class. i've saved so much time that way (took me about 2-3 full days to go through and memorize an outline) and i just need to focus on applying it on an exam. if i don't do well on exams, it won't be because of the outline, that's for sure.

Yea, I'm doing the same, but going even further for one of my classes. I'm not going to do my own outline and I'm not going to read anymore for the class either. I'm not sure how awful of an idea this is but here's my reasoning if anyone can see any flaws in my plan. The professor pretty much lectures straight from the book, so everything in the book is covered in class. And he's been teaching the class for 10 years so his class hasn't changed at all in the past few years. And he talks slow enough that you can write down exactly what's said. So the outline I have from someone who got an A in the class last year covers the book and his lecture pretty much word for word but just in a much prettier and organized format than I can.

I don't really learn by writing down stuff from outlines myself, but learn much more better by doing practice tests, so I'm just going to do a ton of practice tests with the time I save not reading or outlining on my own for this class.


On a different not, god I love P/F legal writing. Open memo outline started at midnight and finished in 2 hours, while the rest of my classmates can't let go of their inner gunner type A personalities and have spent multiple days working on theirs. Can't imagine what a huge time sink it would be if it was graded. But then again we have 4 substantive classes, so that kinda makes up for it

[theavrock]

http://vimeo.com/27933991

Need motivation? Watch this...

[crossarmant]

http://vimeo.com/27933991

Need motivation? Watch this...

That just makes me think I should go to the gym.

[SupraVln180]

4 substantive classes, had a midterm for 1 a couple weeks ago so I have that. Going to start on contracts this weekend. Definitely the class where I'm most lost, so I figure it's the best place to start.

Also, graded LRW is the worst idea ever. Not only do we have memos to worry about, but we even have an exam to test our citation skills.

WHAT? I'm sorry man.

So I don't make my school sound too harsh, I will say it's only 10% and it's 3 weeks before finals (so it doesn't cut into the really super serious study period or anything).

Lol we have a legal research class here at ND, where they test us on how well we use Lexis, Westlaw and the Bluebook. It is graded as a 1 credit class. We have a final in 3 weeks where they give us multiple choice questions on natural language searches v. terms and connectors searches. And I'm not fucking with you guys.

[northwood]

that should go in the rant thread... that sucks king kong balls

[ph14]

that should go in the rant thread... that sucks king king balls

+1

[SupraVln180]

that should go in the rant thread... that sucks king kong balls

I don't go in the rant thread.... too distracting.

[jess]

.

[gdane]

I'm almost done with my torts reading for the semester. I just have about 105 pages left for products liability.

My goal by the end of sunday is to have this reading complete and to update my civ pro and property outlines with the material from this week.

I want more time though.

[queenlizzie13]

I'm almost done with my torts reading for the semester. I just have about 105 pages left for products liability.

My goal by the end of sunday is to have this reading complete and to update my civ pro and property outlines with the material from this week.

I want more time though.

This. Seems like there is never enough.

[adonai]

Got midterms and memo draft back. I guess I'm doing something right here, which is relieving, but there's always room for improvement.

[paulinaporizkova]

lots of fail this semester, hopefully some win left to go. also, fuck all of our lives

[ilovesf]

lots of fail this semester, hopefully some win left to go. also, fuck all of our lives

if there's no win left we're all fucked

[r6_philly]

lots of fail this semester, hopefully some win left to go. also, fuck all of our lives

What's wrong with your semester? My school seems so much more laid back

[ilovesf]

We had an ungraded midterm a couple of weeks ago for property, and I'm pretty sure most people studied a lot and tried pretty hard. Our prof said he would grade them just to see how we would all do. We haven't gotten the grades yet, but he said in class today everyone got around a B- or a C.

[Eugenie Danglars]

[quote="dabomb75"

On a different not, god I love P/F legal writing. Open memo outline started at midnight and finished in 2 hours, while the rest of my classmates can't let go of their inner gunner type A personalities and have spent multiple days working on theirs. Can't imagine what a huge time sink it would be if it was graded. But then again we have 4 substantive classes, so that kinda makes up for it[/quote]

4 classes AND graded LRW. FML. And a new girlfriend.

Fortunately, I'm not behind in anything (yet), and I just have to keep it up for another six weeks O_O Can't believe we're picking classes for next semester already. Where did the semester go?