I didn't study for exams Forum

[NotMyRealName09]

[quote="Lettow"]Maybe I just never developed a knack for or interest in memorization, but I didn't sit down and "memorize" anything during law school or for the bar. For studying strategies, I think I really do hate mnemonics more than anything.[/quote]

To be clear, I didn't advocate for memorization over substantive understanding. For me it was more about organizing the material, a way to recall the minutia by remembering where it all fit into the structure of the class. It's so much material to digest especially at first, making my own outline right before the exam forced me to take all the scattered shit I learned and fit it into an order. Once I'd completed my main outline (20 pages more or less depending on class) I'd have it in my brain where all the random fit in. The one pager outline I mnemonic'd for the exam was basically my whole full length outline distilled to the main headings / elements. It helped me structure my answers because I didn't have to jump around trying to remember all the disparate potential avenues for answers- for example, if I identified a no-fault auto accident, a death, and cops ignoring a guy in their backseat having a diabetic freak out, I knew the prof wanted to see me hit on elements to no fault claim, death benefits under no fault law, government immunity, and (I don't remember, maybe joint tortfeasors because guy was arrested and injured in a car accident while in cops backseat).

I never used mnemonic devices before lawschool. But for me, that one pager I knew I could recreate and not miss a word, it totally worked for me and got me those all important first year A's. But I only came up with this approach by sampling, considering, and ultimately rejecting a bunch of different methods, so you gotta do you.