Succeeding on Law School Exams

Hello all!

I am Professor Ramy and I direct the Academic Support Program (“ASP”) at Suffolk University Law School. I’ve worked as an ASP professor for over a decade, and I have learned that my students have many of the same questions/concerns year after year. With that in mind, here are a few words of wisdom to help get you through your upcoming final exams.

• First, keep in mind that this is not your first experience with law school exams. You have been through this process before, so now you know what to expect. The unknown may cause us stress and fear, but known quantities can be planned for and dealt with in an effective manner.

• Do not rehash your exams with your classmates because it can only lead to more stress. Your classmates are not grading you, so who cares how they answered the first question! In addition, no one sees every issue on a law school exam. So, it is quite possible, even likely, that your classmates saw things that you did not see and vice versa.

• Students are notoriously poor judges of how well they did on law school exams. In fact, most students believe they performed more poorly than they actually did. So, you probably did fine even if you believe you bombed an exam.

• When you walk into your exams, know that you did everything possible to succeed. By the same token, do not let your experience with any one examination rob you of the confidence you spent a whole year developing. Your hard work has earned you the right to be confident, so do not give it up so easily.

• No one gets 100% on a law school exam, so do not beat yourself up over a question you’re sure you got wrong. Remember, most essay exams contain issues that are very difficult to resolve. At times, it does not even matter whether you believe that the plaintiff should prevail or the defendant. In fact, the final answer is often much less important than your discussion of why the issue is difficult to resolve.

• If you struggle to complete the exam in the allotted time, that’s a good thing! Exams are supposed to be hard and often take every minute of the exam period to complete. If you are running out of time and still have a few issues to analyze, consider listing the problems you did not have time to get to. I can’t guarantee that you will receive any credit for this list of issues, but you may, particularly if you did a good job with the other parts of the exam.

• Once an exam is over, let it go. Even if you could have performed better on an exam, it doesn’t make any difference once it is over. Remember, have the wisdom to know the difference between the things you can change and those that you cannot. Obsessing about an exam you just completed expends valuable energy that could be used in preparing for your next one.

Finally, it is perfectly reasonable to lean on others for a bit of support. The ASP folks at your school can give you valuable advice or just listen to your worries. It’s amazing how seemingly intractable problems are cut down to size when you share your concerns with another person.

Congratulations on completing your first year of law school and good luck on your final exams.

Prof. Ramy