People who finish exams 1hr early Forum

[jjlaw]

What's the general consensus on these people? Legal eagles, or below median? I'm torn.

[DCDuck]

Tends to be both. You can't tell.

[AlexanderSupertramp]

I finished my property exam an hour early. No grade yet. It's killing me because I am so scared I missed something but I honestly spent that entire hour trying to pulsomething out and just could not do it. Hopefully I am just awesome at Property and I didn't miss anything!

[Rocketman11]

I finished a 3 hour exam in 45 minutes.

Also, I got an F on it. But A- in the class.

[Guchster]

I finished a 3 hour exam in 45 minutes.

Also, I got an F on it. But A- in the class.

Hmm... your icon is iconic. I must create something that is worthy to bask in its epicness.

[jjlaw]

I finished a 3 hour exam in 45 minutes.

Also, I got an F on it. But A- in the class.

Was it not a final exam?

[Rocketman11]

I finished a 3 hour exam in 45 minutes.

Also, I got an F on it. But A- in the class.

Was it not a final exam?

Midterm

Also, master's class not law school

[jjlaw]

Tends to be both. You can't tell.

I understand if people finish early if the bulk of the exam is MC, but what about exams with all issue spotter essays? Especially for a complex subject matter like CivPro?

[chihuahua12]

My civpro exam was 4 hours - 2 issue spotters, 1 policy question and 1 question surveying a topic in civpro. I would say about 10% of the class finished by the time I finished at about the 3 hour mark. The questions were really straightforward, even the policy question was super easy. I could see how people might get stuck on the survey question, but overall I think if you prepared well you didn't need the full 4 hours....idn. Guess I'll see when the grades come out.

*I should've added that we didn't cover a lot of different areas during the semester, so I guess I didn't find it hard to exhaust all the issues :/

[Ludo!]

On a standard issue spotter I couldn't imagine ever finishing early. Those exams are designed to have too many issues to cover in three hours. But if its not a traditional issue spotter then I'm sure its fine. Especially if everyone else is finishing early. I don't think i would ever leave the room early though. You could always spend the extra time editing

[ben4847]

I have finished every law school exam I have taken with at least 30 minutes left. But I never left early. I go back, and fix things, and think about things I hadn't thought about so much, and add points.
I could just do it slower, but this is how I like to do it. I like being able to not have the pressure of trying to answer a question with only few minutes left.

[quiver]

Probably depends. In my 3 semesters of law school I have yet to finish more than like 5-10 minutes early, usually I have no time left. Worked out well last year.

[shoeshine]

There is a guy who hand writes and finishes in about half the allotted time in my section. He really confuses me.

[thesealocust]

I finished a 3 hour exam in 45 minutes.

Also, I got an F on it. But A- in the class.

I did a double take when I saw you in the law student forum, and a triple double take when I saw you posted about school. Then I realized you were an imposter.

IMPOSTER!

[Grizz]

Some exams are too easy, everyone finishes early, and the curve is a mess.

I will say, if you're the only one who finished early, you're probably missing something.

[jjlaw]

the curve is a mess.

When grades come out for a particular exam/class, do they tell you what the curve is? (e.g. 85 = B, 90 = A-)

[crEEp]

What's the general consensus on these people? Legal eagles, or below median? I'm torn.

That happened in a few of my exams this semester. On a typical issue spotter, someone "less than brilliant" left an hour early; this person was the only person to leave early. Everyone else wrote until the last possible second. I guess sometimes you just need to cut your losses and let the Titanic sink.

[MrKappus]

With the way 95% of law school exams are graded, where professors do not subtract points and only add them up, it is idiotic to finish early by more than a few minutes. Every single policy argument or tiny, insignificant issue could be another check mark in the margin, and it is humanly impossible to run out of those in 4 hours.

[Grizz]

the curve is a mess.

When grades come out for a particular exam/class, do they tell you what the curve is? (e.g. 85 = B, 90 = A-)

Depends on your school

[094320]

..

[memo2partner]

If it's all multiple choice, I can see finishing early and still getting a good grade (although, i'd use that extra hour to double check my answers). If the exam is essay, finishing an hour early is a recipe for disaster. Even if you spot all the issues, you can always refine your answers to separate yourself from the other students (e.g. clarify circuit splits, if something was dicta, distinguish cases, etc.

[Cupidity]

It is inadvisable to ever finish an issue spotter early, because it is always possible to earn more points by talking about interplay, obscure points, or policy. However, when it comes to word-limited exams and multiple choice exams, there was a dude in our section that would finish them in half time and made out just under top 10

[keg411]

Some exams are too easy, everyone finishes early, and the curve is a mess.

I will say, if you're the only one who finished early, you're probably missing something.

Eh, I always finish early and I've done well so far. Although I usually go back and check my work as many times as possible afterwards because I've missed something or changed something before. The only exam I ran anywhere close to up against the clock on was my worst exam.

[Pretzel_Logic]

Some exams are too easy, everyone finishes early, and the curve is a mess.

I will say, if you're the only one who finished early, you're probably missing something.

Eh, I always finish early and I've done well so far. Although I usually go back and check my work as many times as possible afterwards because I've missed something or changed something before. The only exam I ran anywhere close to up against the clock on was my worst exam.

Same. I either know it or I don't and sitting there pretending to work for another 30, 40, 45 minutes...is the most annoying thing ever. I don't outline before I start typing though, so I have a jump start on just about everyone on virtually every test. There are times I've left exams after about 5 edits per question and I have absolutely no idea what the hell everyone else is still doing, and I get pretty good grades back, so who knows.

I've always worked quickly on tests, though, and I'm a fast reader/typist. That helps a lot. Not being verbose helps too, especially on exams with word limits.

[MrPapagiorgio]

With the way 95% of law school exams are graded, where professors do not subtract points and only add them up, it is idiotic to finish early by more than a few minutes. Every single policy argument or tiny, insignificant issue could be another check mark in the margin, and it is humanly impossible to run out of those in 4 hours.

My K's professor subtracts points.