Tips for Taking Law School Exams

Read The Question Carefully And Answer What Is Asked.

Once you have IRAC down, it is critical to remember that a "good" answer is also one that responds to the question asked. Many law school students make the mistake of writing down everything they know about a particular topic irrespective of the question being asked on the topic. Don't make that mistake. Professors will not be impressed that you know all the material covered in the course. Professors want intelligent, thorough answers to the questions they have asked. Read the question very carefully and make sure you answer it directly.


Read The Fact Pattern Twice Before Answering The Question.

Before you can answer the question most efficiently and effectively, you need to get a general feel for what the fact pattern is about, who the major players are, and so on. To do that, you should first quickly read through the fact pattern without writing anything down. Then go back and reread the fact pattern more carefully. On the second read, mark up the fact pattern and identify all the key issues (in the margins, preferably with different color ink). This second read, when you are determining what the key issues are and how the facts relate to those issues, will most likely determine your grade on the final.

Jot Down A Quick Outline before You Begin Writing.

Knowing where your answer is going before you begin to write is important because you do not want to be three-quarters of the way through and realize that you need to change your conclusion or perhaps add an issue that you forgot as you were busy demonstrating your facility with the Rule Against Perpetuities. As precious as time is during an exam, the time taken to outline an answer is not wasted. In fact, it may save you time by helping you organize your thoughts.

One side note: The outline should not be detailed. It should contain just enough information about the key issues and other insights to guide you in writing your essay. Don't waste time writing an itemized outline that your professor will never see or grade.

Look For The Key Issues Covered During The Course.

Your professor will most likely test you on many, if not all, of the key areas covered in your course. If you have a syllabus or have completed a one-page outline of the key issues, you can check them off as you go through your exam. If your exam is missing one of the highlights of the course, you should glance through the fact patterns again-you may have missed something. Moreover, your professor probably will not have you discuss the same legal issue in two separate fact patterns, so watch out if you are spending most of your time discussing the same issue twice.

On Policy Questions, Use "Buzz" Words and Catch Phrases.

If you were a non-science major in college, you should light up when you see a policy question. The same rules apply here as in your undergraduate exams. If your professor loves certain words or ideas, this is the place to use them and even to underline them. Even on non-policy questions, your professor's scoring sheet may actually contain certain "buzz" words or key phrases. Don't keep the professor guessing. If a "buzz" word is warranted, write it down!

Write On One Side of the Page and Skip Every Other Line.

You are bound to forget something as you work through your test. By leaving lots of room, you have space to go back and add important issues or insights. If you do add something to an earlier section of your test, don't worry-the professor is not going to grade you down for a lack of symmetry on the page. By the way, if you choose to follow this method, ask for extra blue books before the exam starts. You don't want to be scrambling to the front of the room for extra blue books with only minutes left.

Remember your Audience.

The professor who will eventually read and grade your exam should be no stranger to you. You have spent an entire semester looking at this subject matter from her or his vantage point. Get into that professor's head. If there are certain doctrines and/or policies that your professor has stressed in class, make sure you incorporate them into your answer. Professors are humans too, after all. At bottom, they are sometimes humans with a penchant for appreciating those who agree with their point of view. Knowing the law and how to apply it means you will do well. Applying it in precisely the same manner as your professor would means you will do even better. If you want to disagree with your professor on an exam, make sure that you have adequately shown that you fully understand the professor's viewpoint before delving into your take on a key issue.

Write Down Something.

Many students will run out of time before finishing one of their first-year exams. The key is not to panic. Monitor your time carefully. If you do not have enough time to finish one of the questions, do not leave it blank. Your goal in these situations is partial credit. Write down your outline. Write down the key issues. Write down something!

Most professors understand the time crunch and will take pity if they see that you understood the key issues in the question. But they can't take pity on you if there's nothing staring at them on the page.