Wanted: Exam Writing Tips

Posted by K at 7:58 PM

So I had two midterms last week: property and torts. They were both ungraded and just for us to get a sense of what an exam looks like. I have another one this week in Civil Procedure, but it's more of a review session and not an exam. They went well for the most part. My only concern was that I didn't utilize the tort elements well enough. For example, making sure I discuss intent for each intentional tort. I swear there were at least twenty potential causes of action and we had two hours to play with.

So, in your opinion is it more important to get through as many potential causes of action as possible? Or should I take the time to (somewhat) thoroughly discuss each cause of action I see it and not worry that I may not get to each issue I find?

This is where I realize that reading Getting to Maybe would be of great help!

 

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4 Comments:

  1. A. Marigold said...
    October 20, 2008 at 8:03 PM  
    Final exams are kind of like checklists: hit everything (or as much as you can) and go into deep detail on a few issues that you think are the most important (based on being the most relevant, or on the most time devoted to the subject in class!). That oughta do ya.
    Anonymous said...
    October 21, 2008 at 7:06 AM  
    I strongly recommend "The eight secrets of top exam performance in law school" by Charles Whitebread.

    They gave it to us for free in a Barbri session and it includes some of the checklist advice Strange Bird mentioned.

    The gist: have an outline of the course (that mirrors the syllabus/important concepts) and then nail each topic... it helped me a lot for my midterms.


    Oh and the book is short too ;)
    JD-Maybe said...
    October 21, 2008 at 8:04 AM  
    Like strange bird said I used a check list method but I also used the LEEWS approach (google it). I highly reccomend it. (although it didn't work for my contracts class) It's a lil pricey but I went in half with another girl. It really helps you organize your thoughts and write a coherent answer.
    K said...
    October 27, 2008 at 10:01 PM  
    no634: I have that book! I think I prefer Getting to Maybe though. This could be because Getting to Maybe just covers more.

    Rebecca: I just bought the LEEWS approach. We'll have to compare notes.

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