How to Improve Your Law School Grades

I went from failing 8 classes when I was in law school to getting 3 HD’s (equivalent to A’s) in my last semester.

In this blog post, I’m going to share with you exactly how I picked up those grades which can help you improve yours.

Let’s dive in!

What makes up good grades?

Sure, every university is different. However, when it comes to what makes up your grades, it’s all the same:

• Your Assessments
• Your Exams

Of course, any homework or extra class work that is not being assessed is still important. But assessments and exams take a higher priority because they contribute to your final grade.

Assessments

Step 1 – List down all assessments at the START of the semester

Before you start the semester, gather all your assessment due dates and put them all in one calendar/table. Have it all in one place for easy reference.

For example, this is what mine had looked like:

This is extremely helpful for the following reasons:

1. It helps you see your busiest periods. For instance, if you see that you have a lot of assessments due in a certain week, you know to avoid making plans during that time.
2. It helps you not miss an assessment date. The reason why I started creating a table like this was that there was one assessment that I completely missed that jeopardized my final grade.

Step 2 – Don’t do them last-minute; plan before you start an assessment

It doesn’t matter if the assessment is worth 5% of your grade or 50% of your grade; every assessment matters. This means that every assessment deserves your time to work on it.

Doing assessments last minute robs you of your potential. A difference between a credit and a distinction could’ve been better planning. A difference between a fail and a pass could’ve been better planning.

Plus, you feel more stressed in the process.

So, instead of doing them last minute, plan ahead.

1. Once you review the assessment rubric, break down the tasks and the estimated timeframe it’ll take to complete each task.

For example, let’s say you have a research essay:

• Research – 2 days
• Outline – 1 day
• First Draft – 3 days
• Second Draft – 2 days
• Add AGLC4 referencing – 1 day
• Final Draft and Proofread – 1 day

2. Once you have your timeframes, schedule it in. For example:

Hypothetically, the assignment is due on Friday 24 October.

• Monday 6 October – research
• Tuesday 7 October – research
• Wednesday 8 October – break because I have classes all day
• Thursday 9 October – write outline
• Friday 10 October – write first draft
• Saturday & Sunday – break
• Monday 13 October – write first draft
• Tuesday 14 October – write first draft & try to get feedback
• Wednesday 15 October – break because of classes
• Thursday 16 October – second draft
• Friday 17 October – second draft
• Saturday & Sunday – break
• Monday 20 October – add AGLC4 referencing
• Tuesday 21 October – final draft and proofread
• Wednesday 22 October – Friday 24 October – buffer before submission date.

Exams

Step 1 – Do exam notes as you go

Most times, the timeframe between your last class and your exam isn’t much. Even if you do have a good amount of time, you don’t want to waste it on creating exam notes. You want to focus more on revising, reviewing, and going through challenging concepts.

Plus, during that timeframe, you may also have other assessments for other classes.

It’ll save you so much time and stress when you do it as you go. From my experience, it normally takes an extra 30 minutes per week to gather my reading notes, lecture notes, and class notes, and turn them into exam notes for reviewing (or exam notes if the exam is in person).

Step 2 – Address what you don’t understand immediately

The moment you come across something you don’t understand, address it as soon as possible. This can involve talking with your professors/tutors/teachers about it, doing some extra studying on the topic, going through the readings or the lectures…. whatever you can do to make sure you understand it.

This is important because the things you don’t understand can accumulate throughout the semester. By the time it’s time to prepare for your exam, you suddenly have multiple things you need to review.

It’s also better to address things immediately while they’re still fresh in your mind. When you get it out of the way, you lessen your stress when it comes to exam preparation. Like what was mentioned earlier, the timeframe between your last class and your exam isn’t much, so you want to optimise that time wisely.

You will save time if you address those things as you go.

Throughout the Semester

Finally, here are some things you can do throughout the semester to help you improve your grades. While focusing on your assessments and exams is extremely important, it is also crucial to build good study habits.

Tip 1 – Readings

Review the lecture slides (if available) before you proceed with the full readings. They help you “know what you are getting into” before you start your lengthy readings.

Tip 2 – Lectures aren’t for you to make transcripts

When you attend or watch a lecture, you are not meant to create a transcript. This was one of my mistakes in my first semester of law school.

Lectures aren’t meant to help you with the following:

1. Pick up the repeated concepts: if there are repeated concepts, they are likely to be in your final exam/assessment.
2. Add onto your readings: for example, you may have read the principle in the readings, but the lecture may mention some examples to help you enhance your understanding of that principle.

Tip 3 – IRAC is your main guide

You may have heard IRAC many times, but it’s for a good reason.

Every single exam or assessment question requires you to identify an issue and its solution, and then back it up with case law or legislation. Ultimately, in law, you always need to back up what you’re saying with case law and legislation.

That’s why IRAC isn’t just some cliche thing you come across in law school. Instead, it’s a guide to help you prepare your answers, whether it’s an exam oran assessment.

When you get into the habit of using IRAC, you end up automatically needing to find legislation or case law to back up what you’re saying. Of course, there may be assessments where they require research sources (e.g. journal articles). Nonetheless, that is still “backing up what you’re saying”.

Sadly, in law, you can’t just say something and not back it up. You can’t simply say “Jane should do X”. You have to back up on that and say “Jane should do X, because in the case of Y v Z, they did ____“.

To Wrap Up

Overall, these are the steps to help you improve your grades:

Assessments

1. List down assessments at the start of the semester.
2. Don’t do them last-minute, plan out every assessment.

Exams

1. Do exam notes as you go.
2. Address what you don’t understand immediately.

Throughout the Semester

1. Review lecture slides before you start the readings.
2. Lectures aren’t for you to create a transcript.
3. IRAC is your main guide.

When you want to improve your grades, you have to focus on the main things that actually contribute to your grades. Being organised, planning, doing things as you go, and being strategic all semester will not only help set you up for semester success, but also lessen your stress in the process.

If you want more law school tips, you can check out the law school blog here and also my Instagram.

Stay tuned for more blog posts.

-Lauren 🙂

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