How to Bounce Back After a Bad Law School Midterm

How to Bounce Back After a Bad Law School Midterm

The moment has come – you’ve received your law school midterm grades and things didn’t go as you hoped. First and foremost, take a deep breath. Remember, law school is a journey, and your midterm grades are just a single step in that process. The question now, though, is how do you learn from this experience and ensure a better outcome on your final exam? Let’s explore actionable steps to bounce back after a disappointing law school midterm.

How to Bounce Back After a Bad Law School Midterm

1. Leverage Office Hours

Come Prepared with Questions: Before stepping into the professor’s office, make a comprehensive list of specific questons. Did a particular concept throw you off? Were there questions in the exam that you found especially confusing? Pinpointing these will allow for a productive discussion.

Engage in Your Writing: Clear and concise writing is crucial in law. Seek feedback on the clarity of your arguments, the structure of your answers, and the persuasiveness of your points. Professors can guide making your writing more precise and easy to follow.

Seek Tailored Feedback: Many professors are willing to offer specific feedback on how you answered and where the gaps in your analysis or understanding were.  Don’t be afraid to ask for specific feedback on points of improvement so you can work on your writing and analysis prior to final exams!

2. Self-Evaluation: What Worked and What Didn’t

When you stumble, the best course of action is to pause and evaluate. Understanding what went wrong will enable you to make effective changes for the final.

Understand the Material: Ask yourself, did you truly understand the topics covered? Sometimes, it’s not about how much you study but rather the depth of your understanding.  If there were concepts that didn’t click or rules you could never quite grasp, take note.  Brushing up on some of these difficult points can put you on more solid footing as you head into final exams.

Memorization vs. Comprehension: How was your memorization? Law school exams are notorious for testing a broad swath of material. But, equally crucial is comprehension. Aim to not just remember, but truly understand the legal concepts.  Make sure you’re engaging in active study techniques so you can better commit key concepts to memory.

Outline Effectiveness: An essential tool in your law school arsenal is your course outline. Was it structured? Detailed yet concise? Did it effectively guide your revision?  Spend some time reviewing your outline and make sure that it is formatted in a way that is conducive to studying and memorizing for exams.  Not sure where to start?  We have a great post on how you can create a law school outline!

3. Strategize Your Path Forward: Acing the Final

Focus on Your Outline: Now that you’ve evaluated what didn’t work, focus on refining your outline. It should be your roadmap, detailing each topic while highlighting the critical legal standards and precedents.  Putting together your outlines as you study can put you ahead going into final exams.

Memorization Techniques: While understanding is paramount, the sheer volume of law school material necessitates effective memorization. Whether it’s flashcards, mnemonic devices, or teaching the material to a peer, find what works best for you.  Actively studying can help you better commit concepts to memory, all of which puts you in a better place to excel on your final exams.

Practice Makes Perfect: Consider taking old exam questions or hypotheticals related to the course material. This will not only test your understanding but also improve your issue-spotting skills.  If your professor doesn’t make old exams available, check to see if your law school has a prior exam bank.  Some law schools keep old exams on file, and old exams that your professor wrote can be a great way to see how they test different concepts!

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