Top Law Schools

Just got done with my first law school exam. I finished with 2 minutes left. Spent those two minutes reading over my answers, when, to my horror, I found several grammar(!) mistakes. I know this probably depends on the professor, but can anyone fill me in on how much professors take grammar and sloppiness (not of organization, just grammar) into account? All else being equal, of course. Thanks and happy studying!

Flame?

99% chance it doesn't matter, assuming your professor isn't this guy -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4vf8N6GpdM.

Most of my professors explicitly acknowledged the fact that we are under immense time-pressure and noted that mistakes of grammar are to be expected. I think good application of law to fact will outweigh any minor grammatical errors you may have committed.

seahawk32 wrote:Most of my professors explicitly acknowledged the fact that we are under immense time-pressure and noted that mistakes of grammar are to be expected. I think good application of law to fact will outweigh any minor grammatical errors you may have committed.

I agree. Most professors don't care if it's an in class exam, especially if there's no word limit. A take home exam or an in class with a word limit which the professor says is designed to be done in less time than given are different.

Most of my exams are full of typos and grammatical errors. Professors know you are under a crunch. Most explicitly say they don't care. Obviously, it's probably better at some subconscious level if you don't have them, but it probably doesn't matter much.

Spelling errors are more acceptable than grammatical errors, as errors in grammar can affect the thought flow. But more generally -

STOP. Move on, give that exam zero thought now. Seriously, it's in the books, a second spent thinking about it is a second not spent thinking about your next one. You'll be fine.

It shouldn't affect your grade.

I had this sentence on an exam I got an A on:

trhe fact that he says it is the truth wkill likely per [case name] make his opinion as to his dancing enough of a fact ot count as an affirmative misrepersentation for the purposes of estalihsing fraud. As the other elements of fraud were hardt oproof, the case IS distinuisbale from [case name] and as such no fraud

Bad grammar will not hurt you. Amazing grammar (combined with good headings, and a good roadmap) may get you a small bump. But the grammar portion of that is probably the lowest on the "give a fuck" factor for the professor.

shock259 wrote:Most of my exams are full of typos and grammatical errors. Professors know you are under a crunch. Most explicitly say they don't care. Obviously, it's probably better at some subconscious level if you don't have them, but it probably doesn't matter much.

I've never worried about spelling and grammar at all. I dont think professors really care either unless you write so outlandishly that it makes you look like an idiot. Most professors realize exams are an all out sprint for 3 hours and you're not going to have time to carefully proofread or write with lyrical ease.

The only issue I had on my test is that the auto correct on SoftTest would change offeree to offer. I changed it in time, but that probably would have caused confusion when grading.

You didn't shoot yourself in the foot by making a grammatical error, but you may have shot yourself in the foot by writing slowly/carefully enough to feel confident that you didn't.

I'm assuming this is a flame, though. Obviously most exams are turned in with ridiculous spelling and grammar errors.