Pre-Writing Exam Answers Forum

[theycallmefoes]

I've seen a few people advocating preparing parts of exam answers ahead of time. What exactly does that mean? Are you just writing out the BLL in sentence format?

[First Offense]

I've seen a few people advocating preparing parts of exam answers ahead of time. What exactly does that mean? Are you just writing out the BLL in sentence format?

I have a hard time believing this wouldn't be a pretty major honor code violation.

[skw]

I've seen a few people advocating preparing parts of exam answers ahead of time. What exactly does that mean? Are you just writing out the BLL in sentence format?

I have a hard time believing this wouldn't be a pretty major honor code violation.

As long as your class is open book, this is not an honor code violation. How is pre-writing parts of answers any different from writing an outline? Answer: It is not any different. It also helps you wrap your head around the concepts and how to think through your answers. Don't overdo it though. I used pre-writing for only a handful of concepts in a few classes during LS (e.g. personal jurisdiction in civ pro, hearsay in evidence). I found it useful in situations where I was certain some topic or another would be tested. When the topic came up, I just started by re-typing my pre-write, then applied law to facts, then moved on. It is not a panacea and could be a waste of effort if you overuse it, but doing some of it along the way is a perfectly reasonable approach.

And to answer the first question -- the best pre-writes are just succinct statements of BLL written broadly enough that you can use them as an intro to analyzing the facts in the hypo you're addressing. It saves you time in not having to think through summarizing a complex body of law by pre-distilling it to the relevant and essential points you need to address in applying that law to the given facts.

[Tanicius]

Dude, you absolutely cannot pre-write an exam answer that you plan to copy paste into your exam answer, even if it's open-book.

What you absolutely can do, though, is pre-write a shit-ton of practice answers to get yourself into the habit of framing essay structures.

[skw]

Dude, you absolutely cannot pre-write an exam answer that you plan to copy paste into your exam answer, even if it's open-book.

What you absolutely can do, though, is pre-write a shit-ton of practice answers to get yourself into the habit of framing essay structures.

You absolutely cannot cut and paste anything because you will be using a locked down word processing software package that won't allow you to copy and paste. But you absolutely CAN re-type pre-writes that are in your outline materials.

[Tanicius]

Dude, you absolutely cannot pre-write an exam answer that you plan to copy paste into your exam answer, even if it's open-book.

What you absolutely can do, though, is pre-write a shit-ton of practice answers to get yourself into the habit of framing essay structures.

You absolutely cannot cut and paste anything because you will be using a locked down word processing software package that won't allow you to copy and paste.

Not all schools use examsoft, especially on open-book take-home tests. The first time I ever used a law-exam-related program to take a test was the bar.

[skw]

Dude, you absolutely cannot pre-write an exam answer that you plan to copy paste into your exam answer, even if it's open-book.

What you absolutely can do, though, is pre-write a shit-ton of practice answers to get yourself into the habit of framing essay structures.

You absolutely cannot cut and paste anything because you will be using a locked down word processing software package that won't allow you to copy and paste.

Not all schools use examsoft, especially on open-book take-home tests. The first time I ever used a law-exam-related program to take a test was the bar.

It would still be acceptable, even in a non-locked down environment, to re-type a pre-written answer in an open book exam, would it not? I cannot fathom a distinction between this and using your outline. Does your school have guidelines mandating you not access your outline on your computer (e.g. you can use it but only a hard copy), or guidelines telling you not to copy and paste? Clearly it would be an honor code violation to not follow these guidelines, but if you can use an outline during an exam, you can type a pre-written answer from that outline.

[First Offense]

Dude, you absolutely cannot pre-write an exam answer that you plan to copy paste into your exam answer, even if it's open-book.

What you absolutely can do, though, is pre-write a shit-ton of practice answers to get yourself into the habit of framing essay structures.

You absolutely cannot cut and paste anything because you will be using a locked down word processing software package that won't allow you to copy and paste.

Not all schools use examsoft, especially on open-book take-home tests. The first time I ever used a law-exam-related program to take a test was the bar.

My school is the same. We just use word and the honor code. Copy/Paste is verboten.

As far as pre-writing answers just to type them... I mean, what's the point? You'd be doing that for basic BLL that's in your outline anyway, so it hardly seems like a worthwhile expenditure of time. What would you do, have "A person is negligent if they have a duty of care, and breach that duty". I mean, anything more specific and it will likely be of limited/no use.

[skw]

Dude, you absolutely cannot pre-write an exam answer that you plan to copy paste into your exam answer, even if it's open-book.

What you absolutely can do, though, is pre-write a shit-ton of practice answers to get yourself into the habit of framing essay structures.

You absolutely cannot cut and paste anything because you will be using a locked down word processing software package that won't allow you to copy and paste.

Not all schools use examsoft, especially on open-book take-home tests. The first time I ever used a law-exam-related program to take a test was the bar.

My school is the same. We just use word and the honor code. Copy/Paste is verboten.

As far as pre-writing answers just to type them... I mean, what's the point? You'd be doing that for basic BLL that's in your outline anyway, so it hardly seems like a worthwhile expenditure of time. What would you do, have "A person is negligent if they have a duty of care, and breach that duty". I mean, anything more specific and it will likely be of limited/no use.

For most BLL, it would be a waste. For complex BLL (hearsay) or where your prof has a clear policy position, pre-writing saves you time bc you know exactly what you need to hit in applying law to facts versus trying to pull it together while writing your answer. At least it did for me. I graduated 6th in my class at a T1. I am about to start as a big law associate in my desired market. Just my opinion - YMMV.

[First Offense]

For most BLL, it would be a waste. For complex BLL (hearsay) or where your prof has a clear policy position, pre-writing saves you time bc you know exactly what you need to hit in applying law to facts versus trying to pull it together while writing your answer. At least it did for me. I graduated 6th in my class at a T1. I am about to start as a big law associate in my desired market. Just my opinion - YMMV.

I know I'm supposed to be SUPER DUPER IMPRESSED that you did well and are now working BIGLAW in your DESIRED MARKET, but how is that relevant to pre-writing answers? Were you just really wanting to brag that you graduated 6TH IN YOUR CLASS at your SUPER PRESTIGIOUS TIER 1 LAW SCHOOL?

[BVest]

Canned answers are one of those things that are clearly allowed if you're exam is open notes (unless specifically verboten), because they are simply the notes you've made during your review about what you would include in any question about X. I'm sure there are special issues that arise at NU and other schools that don't use exam software wrt cut-and-paste, but retyping anything from your notes in an open note exam.

I've even had professors address canned answers directly, though usually to caution you from relying on them too much because of the possibility that you type into your exam a very well-organized and eloquent recitation of the black letter law and that you come to a valid conclusion based on the BLL and the facts presented, but that you still end up at the median because you fail to show your analysis of the facts presented.

I found them to be of limited utility, however. I prepared canned answers for only one of my 1L classes. I tried them for torts, but they were so short and basic that my bulleted attack outline looked better and I discarded them before the exam. For Civ Pro, I prepared very thorough canned answers for various types of jurisdiction, but didn't end up using more than one sentence on the exam. They were more helpful in the fact that I had prepared them -- and thus thought through how to answer the question thoroughly in advance and roadmapped which cases I would call on for different specific jurisdiction questions -- then in actually answering the questions. The rest of my 1L exams were either closed book/notes or were of such a topic/format as to not lend themselves to canned answers.

[Nova]

I've seen a few people advocating preparing parts of exam answers ahead of time. What exactly does that mean? Are you just writing out the BLL in sentence format?

Yes, exactly

& not an honor code violation if open book