So what can you do? This week, we'll discuss taking practice exams and outlining.
Outlining Is Good
In brief, outlining is how many students study. You can get lots of outlines, of course. There are older student outlines from people who have taken a given class before, and there are the commercial outlines. Indeed, you will most likely even be studying outlines for the bar exam.
I do recommend getting outlines from one or more of these other sources. Someone from last year who took the class and did good outlines is a great resource, since the class will likely be the same or very similar. And on those days you miss a class, another outline will help fill in the blanks.
So why should you bother to do your own outline? Because when you do your own outline, you are doing it from the professor and cases, and you are putting your own spin and what you think is important. Relying solely on someone else's notes is not the greatest strategy. Supplementing your own efforts with someone else's views is great, but your own work is better suited for you.
Get some good outlining software. Microsoft Word's outliner is not the best, not by a long shot. Something like OmniOutliner on the Mac, or some part of ACTA would be great.
But don't overdo it, either. A pass/fail class doesn't need that monster 250-page outline — that kind of class simply doesn't deserve the effort a class on the curve needs.
Practice, Practice, Practice on Practice Exams
As you are doing your outlines, take a long look at practice exams. You can usually get them from the law library. See what the professor likes — her ''catch phrases'' as it were. Dropping the keywords will help you out.
Getting good grades means starting early.
And knowing what kind of questions and issues the professor likes while you are studying and taking the class will help you know what is important and what isn't.
Don't forget what's most important in your first-year classes: analysis. The actual substantive law isn't hard. It's easy enough to memorize the elements of assault, for instance, or what consideration is. What's important is learning how to analyze things, or spotting issues in torts. You probably don't need to know the facts of the cases you study, except con law. The facts of what exactly happened in Pennoyer really don't count. I myself don't remember many fact patterns, except the more entertaining torts cases (and, of course, the hairy hand case in contracts). What counts is getting the principle and seeing how it was applied to the fact pattern.
On your exam, you will get fact patterns. What principles apply, and how they would apply, is what is important. And taking a practice exam, or at least looking over one earlier rather than later, can help. I would recommend not taking the practice exams until later (early November is a great time), but look over them now, just to get a feel for what is going on.
Don't panic, of course. If you can't remember what the sun looks like on Christmas because you spent the whole semester in a study cubicle, you are working too hard and probably inefficiently. Study smarter, not harder!
And don't shut out the outside world. When you see legal issues on TV or in the news, then you are doing better.
When you do take a practice exam, don't skimp. Really take the exam — time pressures included. And write full answers, don't just outline it. If you are used to writing a full essay, that puts you ahead of those who can't.
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