Three Tips for Learning From Your 1L Law School Mid-Term Exams
Matt received his JD from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2018 and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2019. He finished in the top 8% of his graduating year, was a Dean’s Fellow, and offers tutoring services for Canadian law school students. You can find more about him here!
Writing mid-term exams in one’s first year of law school is often one of the most stress-inducing moments of the school year because this is the first time that students are exposed to the way they will be evaluated on their ability to analyze legal issues. Although these mid-terms are usually for a completion mark or on a “no-downside” basis, mid-term exams should be a moment of powerful learning that, when viewed properly, form the basis of one’s preparation for final exams. Here are three tips to make the most of your mid-term exams.
Review: The first step after you have received your mid-term back is to review it to assess your performance. Your first concern should be identifying whether or not you addressed all of the issues that the questions raised. This is particularly true of fact pattern questions which demand that you spot the legal issue raised before addressing them. Your second concern should be reviewing for structure to see whether or not your answer logically identifies the issue, states the legal rule, provides analysis using case law to assess the arguments of both sides of the issue, and, finally, provides a conclusion where you come down on one side of the issue. Writing with good structure is one of the most important skills that will enhance your exam technique, so reviewing your work with a critical eye to structure is important to ensure that you are conveying your ideas in the clearest manner possible.
Receive Feedback: The second step after you have received your mid-term back is to review any feedback given to further assess your performance. Your professor will often give you feedback in the margins, and this is valuable in determining what stylistic and structural changes to your answers and writing style you will need to make. Reviewing a rubric, if provided, is also a valuable way to tell how your professor will assess your answers and will give you a useful indication of what manner of writing and analysis is expected from you. Finally, it is useful to seek out additional feedback from your professor if possible to understand exactly what skills you should be working to develop to better equip yourself to answer exam questions. You can also seek out a study group, trusted upper-year students, or even a tutor, to help you break down your answers and determine the best way to improve.
Re-Write: The final step after you have received your mid-term back is to re-write the mid-term. After having the benefit of careful review and feedback, writing the mid-term again with an eye to structuring your analysis appropriately will help provide you with practice organizing your answers and rigorously analyzing the issues using case law. Nobody starts as a master at writing exams — law school exam writing is a skill that must be practiced, and using the mid-term for the basis of developing the skills you will be applying further as you prepare for your final exams will be a productive use of your time.