Aspen Publishing
0
Two young women studying together

Buckle Your Seat Belts

Law School Finals Are Coming

Published on

Both midterms and spring break are in your review mirror. That means finals are on the road ahead. By now, you know what to expect. But that doesn’t mean you know how to best prepare. Starting today you need to map out a strategy for success. This is especially important if you are still struggling with key law school class concepts (and who isn’t?) or found your midterm exams challenging.

Follow these rules of the road and put yourself in the driver’s seat for exam success:

Words to the Wise Before Getting Started

Follow these rules of the road and put yourself in the driver’s seat for exam success.

  1. Budget your time.
    Working backwards from your exam dates, set up a daily schedule for studying and stick to it. Evaluate your schedule and rank your courses in order of difficulty. Allot more time for classes you find demanding. The reading assignments will keep coming until the end of the semester, so don’t forget to carve out time to keep up with new ones. You should expect that your professor will test you on everything.
  2. Get your outlines ready.
    Now is the time to constantly update and refine your outlines for each of your law school classes. If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late to begin. Start with the table of contents from your casebook, which can provide the initial framework. Next, incorporate your class notes and highlights from your casebook. Organize your outline around the rules instead of cases, which demonstrate how the rules have been applied to set precedent, then cite the cases. Finally, integrate the policies that bring the rules to life and show how they might be applied. (Tip: If you purchased a Connected eBook, you can jumpstart the process by using the Outline Tool on CasebookConnect.com.)
  3. Practice, practice, practice.
    Answering lots of practice questions will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses so you can fine tune your studying and focus on what you still need to learn. (Tip: If you are a registered Casebook Connect user, be sure to visit the Study Center to take advantage of the practice questions there and get meaningful feedback on your progress.) For access to hundreds of practice questions and insights into black letter law, pick a trusted study aid to help you prep more effectively.
    Pick the Study Aid That’s Right for You

    Glannon Guides offer multiple choice questions and analysis of both correct and incorrect answers, so you learn why a solution does or does not work. Study aids in this series are now available in a digital format, offering you an interactive experience with meaningful feedback.

    Emanuel CrunchTime features flow charts that help you learn how to analyze questions and capsule summaries for quick review of key concepts. You’ll also benefit from sample short-answer, multiple-choice and essay questions with model answers, and exam tips that recap commonly tested issues and fact patterns.

    Emanuel Law in a Flash offers a comprehensive flashcard set that is great for studying on the go. Each card within the set is coded by topic and poses a hypothetical question on one side, with the answer provided on the other. Prefer a digital format? Emanuel Law in a Flash powered by Spaced Repetition provides you with the same trusted content delivered through an award-winning educational platform to help you remember up to 92% of what you’ve learned and save time studying.
  4. Need more help?
    Smart students know when they need a helping hand. If you continue to struggle with course material, be proactive. Visit your professor during office hours to ask questions about course material or hypotheticals discussed in class. You also may want to consider engaging a tutoring service like Law School Toolbox to help you over the rough patches.

    Are you a Casebook Connect user thinking about tutoring? If so, consider LawBoost, a specially priced one-on-one tutoring package available exclusively to Casebook Connect users through a partnership with Law School Toolbox. LawBoost provides students with three hours of consultation with an expert tutor at an affordable price. Students can opt to share their CasebookConnect Study Center work with their tutors to improve ramp up time and focus specifically on their most critical needs.
Close