| Topic Name: |
What does it take to get in top 15%? |
| Message Name: |
My Two Cents |
| Date Posted: |
11/03/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
One thing I have to add (btw I also finished my first year within top 5% of my class) is that you should talk to students who did well--by that I mean top 1-2 students in your professor's class (even if they did not necessarily make law review--every professor is different--you want to learn each's nuances--ant these people are the ones who clearly knew what the professor wanted in the exam). You'd be surprised how many top 5 or 10% of the students in your class got a B in the particular class you're taking, or by luck just made it in that class because other people might have messed up (or it might even be strategic--i.e., why kill yourself for a 3 credit class, when you can get an A in a 6 credit class if you study twice as hard for that class)--and I believe despite their credentials, they can't really help you. Getting model answers from the professor might help, but everyone will have them, and they don't tend to be very detailed--rememvber that even if a professor distributes a student's answer, the student was under exam pressure, so even if you hit all the same points in a practice exam, there's no guarantee you'll hit them with the exam pressure. Get real answers from these people--don't settle for "study hard, know the material, and you'll do well!"--It's not that simple. Many upperclass(wo)men are extremely helpful and will agree to review your practice exam answer with you and recommend how to tailor your answers to a particular professor.
Besides that--I did brief every case and outlined the notes cases (many of my professors claimed they didn't care for case names--but when reviewing my graded finals, I saw they did and citing note cases scored me many brownie points)--but this isn't true for all professors--the key is: find out early and gear your study methods toward that goal!!! Remember, no one cares after your first year how well you know contracts--they want to know how well you did on your exam! |
| Message: |
As someone who is is around the top 6% mark (no official intra 10% ranking is done), I I would like to share what I think helped immensely. Pasted below is an E-Mail I wrote to my TA section (I'm giving myself away now, if they are reading this site):
Going into the exam with a balanced mind and confidence about your
abilities is, as far as I'm concerned, 3/4 of the battle. In a class like
this, most will know the "law". Many will be analytically competent. Only
a few, however, will SHOW that knowledge and competency on the piece of
paper. Remember that your WHOLE goal here is to have the professor pick
up your bluebook in a few days when he or she is grading and say to
herself: "This is a lawyer's mind at work, weaving facts together and
making arguments about the situation at hand." Keep that in mind as you
write your exam. Here are some tips:
1. READ THE DIRECTIONS! I screwed up one part of my elements exam because
I didn't read the directions. Do you know how horrible it feels to KNOW,
walking out of the exam room, that your grade is compromised because you
screwed up procedurally?
2. ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS. 98% are going to plunge into the test, pen to
paper the whole time, and ended up with a jumbled, diorganized mess. Even
if you make profound points and sophisticated arguments, the lack of
organization will counterbalance that brilliance. As you will learn in
legal writing, powerful arguments are made more powerful by the tight and
clear writing used to explain them.
3. WRITE NEATLY. Remember, exam grading is psychological, as point 2
attests to. You can be the next Justice Marshall, and still be missed
among the pile of bluebooks if the professor can't READ what you write.
Professors don't liek to strain when they read. The brilliance of
arguments are lost when every other word take minutes to decipher. And
you know what I read many professors do? They stop reading.
4. USE HEADINGS IF APPROPRIATE. I've found this to be the most powerful
of tips. Why? Because the professor will plunge into your writing after
having read the title, and a descriptive title will guide him through any
disorganization and inadequecies of your writing. You knew I was going to
talk about Headings in this bullet point before reading the text, didn't
you? Or another example: Which situation do you think will get you a
higher grade, when he plunges into your writing knowing thata claim of
assault will be discussed, or finding out that your are discussing a
claim of assult after reading halfway down the page? Again, you'll see
the same use of Titles in Legal writing
5. SKIP EVERY LINE UNLESS TOLD NOT TO: By writing on every other line in
the bluebook, you will automatically make your writing, no matter how
neat, even neater. For you chicken-scratchers, this is an absolute MUST.
It looks clearer, and as we discussed, make the professor happy, and
-presto - your writing seems better. :)
6. GET A COMFORTABLE PEN. I learned early on that investing in one of the
6$ pens with the rubber grip was essential to my handwriting. I am
usually a neat writer, but I hold the pen tightly by nature, and after an
hour or two, my handwriting goes down the drain. I use "Dr. Grip" (its at
staples) because it has an insanely cushiony grip, almost as if it was
made for bluebook exams.
7. USE BLUE INK. I don't have stats to back this up, but supposedly BLUE
ink has a better impact on people. It could just be BS, but it doesn't
hurt.
Okay that's all I know, and I know that some of you will develop your own
tricks, but I think the above things were instrumental to my success, and
as I've learned recently, many others' as well. But beyond all this,
remember, this is your first try, so don't beat yourself up over it if
things don't go as well as expected. Not everyone picks up "the game" as
fast as others.
With that, I'll end this shpiel. Good luck, guys, and show your stuff.
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