Exams used to give me so much anxiety, especially law school exams.
Pre-covid, they were in person. During COVID, they were online. Post-COVID, they were back in person.
I had failed exams before, failed 8 classes in law school total, and then got 3 HD’s in my last semester. This included a HD in my very last law school exam.
So, in this blog post, I’m going to share 5 tips for your in-person law school exams to make you feel less nervous (as best as possible).
1 – Do Exam Notes as You Go
One of the best preparations you can do for yourself for your in-person exams is to take your exam notes as you go throughout the semester. So, once all your classes are done and it’s time for your exam preparation, you have notes ready to go.
You can then actually focus on studying and reviewing the content, especially the topics that you need to understand better. Because when you understand it better, you feel better heading into an in-person exam.
RELATED: How to Manage Your Law School Readings
2 – Add a table of contents page numbers to your exam notes
It is expected that you will have hundreds of pages of notes for one unit. That’s normal in law school!
One way to make your life easier, especially if you can’t bring your laptop, is to add page numbers and create a table of contents accordingly.
So, if you need to quickly refer to something, you can find it in the table of contents. IF you are overwhelmed and stuck, you can still refer to the table of contents as a quick guide to find something to refer to.
3 – Use IRAC as your fallback
IRAC is repeated a lot, and it’s for a good reason.
For every exam, assessment, or law-related question, you are required to include:
- Issue
- Relevant Law – whether it’s legislation or case law
- Application
- Conclusion
When you get stuck and have a mind blank, you can refer to the IRAC template and simply fill in the gaps. You don’t have to start writing long paragraphs right away; you can simply fill in the template.
You at least have something to start with during moments when you feel like your mind is blanking.
RELATED: 5 Tips for Starting Law School
4 – Bring in blank pieces of paper for the brain dumping
Continuing from point 3, it’s also worth bringing blank paper for brain dumping.
This is where you can use IRAC as your fallback, do a brain dump of whatever is on your head, so you can put it together when you write your exam answer.
Sometimes it’s good to have a place to let it all out and then put your answer together from there.
5 – Break down the exam question
The blank pieces of paper are also good for this one.
If the exam question feels overwhelming, it is helpful to break down the exam question and deal with it bit by bit.
You can cross out what’s irrelevant (because some questions put irrelevant random facts in there that have nothing to do with the question), so you can focus on the important parts of the question, the main thing you need to answer!
With most law school exams, it can feel complex, but once you break it down and simplify it, it’ll make the answering process easier.
To Wrap Up
Overall, these are the tips to help you with your in-person law school exams:
- Do exam notes as you go
- Create a table of contents for your notes
- Use IRAC as your fallback
- Bring in blank pieces of paper with you in the exam for brain dumping
- Break down the exam question
Law school exams can feel terrifying, and that’s why you want to simplify things as best you can. Whether that’d be organising your notes with page numbers, starting with the IRAC method for every answer, or breaking down the exam question in micro-steps, these things can help you relieve your stress.
If you want more law school tips, you can check out the law school blog here and also my Instagram.
-Lauren 🙂
P.S I suggest reading these blog posts next:
- 5 Tips for Your Law School Exams
- How to Improve Your Law School Grades
- How I Went From Failing 8 Classes to Getting 3 HD’s
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, this is Lauren! I’m a lawyer from Melbourne, Australia.
I failed 8 classes when I was in law school, got 3 High Distinctions in my last semester, and now I’m a lawyer. I know how overwhelming law school can feel.
That’s why I have created this little space for aspiring lawyers on my blog!
About laurenbarri.com: I create content on all things personal development, productivity, self-care, and habits! There is also a law to lawyer hub specifically for those who want to be lawyers and thrive in law school.
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