Teaching Assistant Application Process - FAQ's

Many of you stopped by our offices or have emailed to ask about the TA program for the Fall, including what is required to become a TA and how to apply. Below you will find the answer to many of the questions that have been asked, as well as how to apply.

What is required to be a TA?
A desire and ability to work well with others and a solid academic record.

What does a TA do?
A TA leads a small study group section in "learning how to learn the law" by showing how successful students go about the process of thinking about and integrating course material.

What is my time commitment?
You must be available to attend one of the required weekly training sessions; and you will need to be available for a TA session (100 minutes) one day a week.

How do I apply?
Please send an email to Nancy Chanin expressing why you are interested in becoming a TA. Attach your resume, and include a phone number and email where you can be reached over the summer. We accept applications now and through the summer.

What is the review process and when will I be contacted?
We review the applications following the release of spring semester grades. We contact all applicants and may ask to meet with you. While grades and class performance are very important, you must also be able to work well with others, show initiative, direct group discussions, and have a genuine interest and ability to help other students develop their analytical skills.

Hierarchy of Concepts in your Outline

Several students have stopped by our offices this week to get advice about outlining. Sometimes, students include a wealth of information that is in paragraph form, and I suggest they use a traditional outline format instead of paragraphs because this format differentiates between levels. The structure of an outline forces you to rank concepts and identify main topics and sub-topics. Remember, the law is essentially a set of categories: each principle you learn belongs “somewhere” in the scheme which you need to create.

A failure to properly understand and define the hierarchy of concepts in your outline often manifests on the exam with difficulty in identifying and sequencing issues for discussion. There is a logical sequence to follow in analyzing a problem based on the construction of the rule and it’s essential that this hierarchy be worked through in the process of creating your outline. The ranking system inherent in an outline format forces you to arrange the material in a hierarchy.

One way to get started in creating your hierarchy is to look at The Table of Contents in your casebook. It’s written in outline form. Some casebooks include a Summary of the Table of Contents which is even better for your purposes since it contains only the main topics and sub-topics, eliminating the cases and notes. From here, you can really see the big picture.

It also might be useful to coordinate the Table of Contents with your syllabus to find your starting point and use it as a template to form your skeleton outline. Of course you’ll need to make adjustments based on how your professor presents the material, but the Table of Contents provides the overview you need to begin putting things together. This should give you the major headings.

You may also want to consider a hornbook to help you identify the sub-headings. This is the real work of outlining: synthesizing the material so that you can differentiate between main and sub-issues. Don’t be afraid to go outside your casebook and class notes for help in this regard. Most of us need the help to be found in hornbooks. A hornbook will explain the material in a way that is incredibly valuable in helping you understand it.

Once you have a sense of the main topics and sub-topics, you can begin to fill in the pieces to provide substance and meaning.

Studying with Hypotheticals

Writing out hypotheticals is an important way to study during the course of the semester – not just during finals time. As you prepare for class by reading and briefing the assignment, you need to prepare for exams by writing out essays. Familiarity with the structure of essay questions and how to respond to them will go a long way in alleviating your anxiety on exam day. The key to success on exams is to engage in this practice on a regular basis and to begin well before the final examination.

By now, you should know that your law professors expect an exam answer that is a well-reasoned and well-organized, and should contain an articulate analysis of the relevant rules of law with respect to the facts. This demonstrates your mastery of the material covered during the course of the semester and your ability to write in the language of the law. The best way to do get adequate preparation is by writing out and practicing from prior exams – this is why many professors have copies of their old exams on file. You should begin writing sample answers as soon as you have covered enough “law” to analyze a factual situation. This practice should continue throughout your law school career; it is not simply for first year law students.

When asked if it is too soon to start working through hypothicals, remember:

1. Don’t delay. Begin working with practice questions as soon as you have covered a topic.

2. Start simple and build to the complex. Begin with single issue problems and work your way to increasingly more complex problems until you have covered every principle that has been studied in your course.

3. Vary the type of essay that you answer when practicing. Be sure to work with both short essays and long, complex fact patterns with multiple issues and parties. Each presents a different challenge in issue spotting and organization.

4. Use exam questions to let you see the relationships between concepts and how topics come together. As you proceed through each area of doctrinal law, you’ll often find it necessary to take a very narrow, focused approach because there is only so much information you can assimilate at a time. But the same tunnel-vision that lets you navigate enormous amounts of knowledge limits your consideration of other perspectives. Here’s where hypotheticals can help by showing you the connections where all you’ve been focused on are the distinctions.

5. Develop your reading skills as carefully as your writing skills. Pay attention to the directions that accompany exams – specifically with respect to what you are asked to do in the question. The only way to know exactly how your professor expects you to address a question comes from experience in reading your professor’s exams and in asking what she expects in an answer.