| Topic Name: |
Open book vs closed book exams |
| Message Name: |
hmmm |
| Date Posted: |
05/11/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
If you want to get to the top of your class, you will study just as hard for open-book exams as you will for closed-book exams.
The truth of the matter is that you do not have time on a well written exam to do original research in a book. The more you know before going into the exam the better.
I have taken both open and closed book exams. I am at the top of my class, but only because I know the material better than other students. Open-book exam does not equal "easy" exam. Even in open-book exams, I rarely consult the material I have brought into the exam. If you don't know it whent the clock starts, I'll be damned if you will have time to learn it in the time alloted for the exam.
Also, the advise about top tier schools is bullshit. I attend what is considered a top-tier school. I have not been impressed. The most impressive student I have met is from a fourth-tier school. He made a perfect score on his LSAT after graduating from college in 2 1/2 years.
Not everyone cares about top-tier schools. And I can tell you -- when you go into court, negotiations, etc... you had better take more than your diploma with you. Even people from "shitty" schools will kick your ass if you aren't ready. At the end of the day, the booty goes to the person who wins, NOT the person with the best diploma.
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| Message: |
For someone at the top of his class, you sure don't have a lot of common sense.
First of all, the tiers everyone is referring to is law school tiers, not undergrad tiers. BIG difference. Top law schools look for geographic diversity, test scores and (often) racial and ethnic diversity when populating their student body. This means that where you went undergrad is not as important. Don't get me wrong, all else being equal, a Harvard grad will likely get into law school before a grad from Middle Tennessee State, but it's not a huge difference.
In law firms, where you went to law school makes a HUGE difference. The hiring partner could give a shit about test scores, geographic diversity and other factors. All he or she wants to know is where you went to law school because, it is the best and easiest available indicator of ability.
Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying that where you went to school determines how good of a lawyer you'll be, but I am saying that law firms do look at it that way. You're right that your diploma doesn't matter in the courtroom or in the conference room, but it is much harder to get into the courtroom or the conference room as a lawyer in a top firm if you did not go to a top school.
Now you can go ahead and throw out examples of one or two success stories from lower tiered schools, but these are generally the exceptions, not the rule.
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