Top Study Tips for Law School Exams
You might have studied hard all throughout the year and are facing the pressure of turning your hard work into first-class results. Or, you might be hit with the reality that exams are around the corner and have no idea where to start with your studying. Either way, look no further for practical tips on how to ace your law school exams.
1. Be strategic about your study schedule
To make the most of your exam preparation, it is essential to use your time strategically and mapping out a plan can help achieve that. Even if you’re not the type of person to create a study schedule throughout the academic year, you should reconsider when it comes time to organizing yourself for exam season. You don’t have to set out the pages you need to read every day, but creating a general timeline is helpful. For example, your professors are a great resource, but some academics may become unreachable at a certain point, especially during the period between the end of term and the start of summer exams. Knowing that you have to get all your questions answered before a certain date, you might want to set yourself a deadline to finish a couple mock exams for them to mark. Planning ahead of time ensures that you are able to make use of all the resources at your fingertips.
2. Identify the type of preparation you need
Different types of exams require different preparation strategies. For instance, problem questions and essay questions require you to focus on distinct aspects of the syllabus. Additionally, there has been a shift away from closed-book exams toward open-book formats since the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the structure of your exam will enable you to prepare your revision materials accordingly.
Essay questions vs. problem questions
You demonstrate your legal knowledge differently, depending on whether you are answering a problem question or essay question. First, identify which topics commonly come up as problem questions in the exam, and which topics come up as essay questions. Some topics lean themselves to one or the other. If topics come up as both, you will have to prepare your notes in anticipation of both.
When you are answering a problem question in an exam, you should be able to identify and address each legal issue that appears in the fact pattern. A straightforward method to prepare for this is to turn your notes into answer frameworks. By creating a roadmap of how you would answer any possible question, you will have a solid structure when you practice sample questions, and this would improve your pattern recognition and issue spotting skills.
Essay questions focus on key academic debates or legal issues. These key issues can easily be identified by combing through past papers or, if you don’t have access to them, finding the ones flagged by your professors in lectures or on the reading list. With the common theme, turn it into a broad essay question that will encourage you to think about the issue from all angles. By reading contrasting articles, you will be able to decide on the merits and flaws of the arguments presented and reach your own conclusion. Be careful — this isn’t about regurgitating pre-written essays on exam day, but rather to get you to think about how all the readings and arguments fit together.
I have written in great detail about how to prepare answer frameworks for problem questions and broad essay plans for essay questions and have provided examples of such revision notes elsewhere.
Closed book vs. open book exams
Closed book exams come down to memorization. When you are sitting in the exam hall, you need to be able to apply the correct legal principles and cite the appropriate sources from memory. This can be challenging when your notes are hundreds of pages. Create a set of concise revision notes so that the key information is easier to retain. For me, this was in the form of a one-page summary sheet that I could skim right before the exam. This helped me avoid the trap of getting bogged down on the factual details of cases for example. You might also want to try other active recall methods, such as using flash cards to memorize cases or spider diagrams to summarize legal principles.
Open book exams are an entirely different beast to conquer. For these exams, you want to make your notes searchable. Even though you have access to your notes during the exam, you won’t want to waste time searching for the relevant page as the clock is ticking. Organize your notes so that you can quickly find the information you need. Create a table of contents with headers, sub-headings, and page references. You can include key terminology or legal principles under each heading. This way, you can easily “ctrl + f” to the relevant section as needed.
3. Past paper practice
The most common (and truest) piece of advice you will hear is to do as many past papers as you can. No matter how pressed for time you are, make sure to include this step in your study plan. The importance of past paper practice relates to the concept of directing your energy to high-yield activities, a concept which I explain here.
How to use past papers effectively:
- Choose your question: Using past papers to strategically identify exam topics is a game changer. I have previously explained how to use past papers to your advantage from day one of law school here, and they remain all the more important when exam season hits. From your analysis of past papers and class material, you should be able to identify common themes or key legal issues that are likely to come up in the exam. It goes without saying that it would make most sense to practice those questions.
- Do it: Before you go recreating exam conditions, you should try answering the question with full access to your notes and other resources. In other words, create your “perfect” answer. This highlights gaps in your notes, points you in the direction of further research, and allows you to focus on making it a first-class piece of writing.
- Get it marked: Take advantage of any optional formative essays that your professors offer in the lead up to exams. This is where the first tip of planning your study schedule comes into handy. Even if your professors are unwilling to mark an entire essay, you should still use this time to seek clarification. For example, if you have written a first-class answer, your essay likely to include some ideas or analysis that might be deemed “original” or “creative”. While such ideas can boost your grade to a First, it is safer to run them by your professors first.
- Repeat and apply feedback.
4. Timed practice
Timed practice is not just about timing yourself while doing past papers. In addition to reviewing the types of questions that may come up in the exam, you should practice your issue-spotting and signposting skills for problem questions and essay questions respectively. In the exam, understanding the question is key — and demonstrating this understanding should be second nature to your exam-writing self. To improve this skill, you can practice identifying the legal issues in a fact pattern or writing the first sentence of each paragraph of an essay under timed conditions. You might not have time to write entire essays for every past paper, but you can use this targeted method to go through several questions within an hour. Practicing timed essay planning will get you into the habit of thinking on your feet and develop the mental agility needed to tackle the exam with confidence.
5. Embrace the exam mindset
While I am an advocate for taking a holistic approach to studying and making time for your social life in law school (in fact, it can lead to better grades), you have to do things differently when exam season rolls around.
During exam season, it’s important to shift your mindset and prioritize your studies above everything else. This might mean cutting back on social activities, adjusting your daily routine, or dedicating long hours to your preparation. It’s a temporary phase, but embracing this intense focus will help you stay on track and make the most of your revision. The key is to accept that these sacrifices are necessary and remind yourself that your hard work now will pay off when exams are over.
If you ever want to chat, please feel free to reach out here. Good luck!