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I told someone the other day that I've never done them, and they looked as if they've never met anyone who's said that.

Not really. I've gone over old exams with friends, but never really took a strictly timed practice test.

It's the only way I studied. I didn't outline, just took old tests and would take note of the things I didn't know and look them up.

I got similar reactions, but because of the fact that I didn't outline.

I took practic exams for my first round of exams but after that I just would study by getting an old outline and scanning over a few of the old model answers.

Yes. I've found that professors are pretty predictable.

Practice exams (in a group) were really helpful for me because just reviewing my notes I could pretend I really knew the material when I didn't - having to actively produce it for a mock exam showed me what I did and didn't know. And every (real) exam I think I encountered stuff I wouldn't have remembered except that I'd had no idea what it was when a classmate mentioned it going over a practice exam.

But I should add that we usually just outlined the exam and allowed less time than the real thing, just for efficiency's sake.

First semester 1L, yes. Second semester, I just read the model answers. Never looked at one again after 1L.

It sucks to do them, but definitely the most valuable thing I did.

No, but I'm admittedly the laziest student I know.

Just taking them means nothing, grading/analyzing them (yourself or with others) is where it's at. Every year there are sob stories in January from people with meh grades who approached law school like the LSAT and took 50 practice exams per course. Unlike the LSAT though, you can't get meaningful feedback from an answer key, and so they never actually got anything useful out of the exercise.

Yes. They are incredibly useful if they have a model answer and you do them with friends. Especially since many professors will use similar questions. Plus, if you take them with the right friends, they'll think of arguments you'd never have thought of. And that first practice exam always convinces me to study a bit harder because it's sobering to see how much I missed.

I'm shocked people don't take them. IMO, they're the best way of prepping for exams. Then again, I also create my own outlines which many people don't do either.

You must.

Think of law school like "car school"......

In class, you will learn all about braking, internal combustion motors, ignition, fuel, the history of the crankshaft, steering control, speed, roads, etc..
Oh, you will know these facts and backgrounds like a champ !
You will study like a madman to learn them.

You will know "the car"

But the final exam... is a driving test.

The only way to get good at what you know... is to practice the way you will be tested on it.

Those who practice the right thing, the right way, will be rewarded.

Onward !

..

I am convinced that the old contracts exams on Berkeley's website, and especially their model answers, got me an A. They are extremely helpful.

Damn. I guess I'm in that minority. I neither outline nor practice exam.

I need a yes and no option. For some classes I did them (because there were model answers) and others I didn't (because at that point I felt I already knew how to write an exam).

As far as whether someone should do them, it's tough to say because only good practice will help you (hence using model answers). I knew plenty of people who did practice exams that still just couldn't figure out what a professor was looking for. A group can help you spot issues, but they can't grade your paper like a professor would so you never really know if you're doing the right thing.

RE: Outlining

I did outline, but I think it was more to curb the neuroses that is the weeks leading up to finals.