The Big Push

And so it has begun....

Halloween has come and gone which means law school students have begun the push for finals.  For the last couple of weeks, the tutors have given their advice on the study schedule.  The gist of every recommended schedule is to study 40 hours per class prior to the exam.  This works out to equal about 6 hours per day of study.

One tutor recommended getting the rest of the school year reading and briefing complete so each day all you concentrate on is the studying.  Another said to do what you normally do, just budget your time accordingly.  In other words, make a plan that works for you.

Something which might seem odd is the actual schedule.  Every one of the schedules started with the last exam.  In other words, you study first for your last exam, working backwards such that you are studying the first exam last.  At first, the concept was counter-intuitive to me but the more I thought about it the more it made sense.  You study intensely for the last exam first.  Then when you get to the first exam, you've studied intensely for the first exam the week before the exam.  The next exam is a day and a half away, meaning you refresh for each exam.  At least one exam is studied the week prior to the exam.  The rest are only refreshed.  If you studied in the order of the exam, none of the exams would be studied the week prior to the exam.

I've realized I didn't mention, the most popular plan is studying one full week per course.  This means for the next week I will study 7 straight days of Property.  The next full week will consists of Civil Procedure, and so on.  Another study plan mixes up the days in a 3 or 4 day segment, repeating so in the end 7 full days are dedicated to studying.  Again, make a plan which is right for you.

Well I made a plan and, in true fashion for me, I'm already behind my own plan.  But I planned it this way.  WHAT?! I'm sure you're asking or screaming.  Why would I plan to fall behind in my plan?  Well I knew my plan was aggressive, but I planned in a buffer for not working as efficiently as I could.  And today, I did not work as efficiently as I could.  I'm sure as the days wear on, I will get more efficient.  Thus, I will complete my plan even though I might not complete all the hours scheduled.

The key though is "make a plan that works for you."  Not everyone can read ahead the rest of the subject, brief every case, and then review prior to class so you might have a clue if you get called upon.  Not everyone can spend hours in the library studying until late at night.  Do what you do best.

I will admit, I have completed the reading for three of four classes.  I've also briefed all the cases for one of four.  And I definitely don't recommend doing this to everyone.  I'm not even sure it was right for me.  I guess I'll find out in four weeks when I take the exams.  Either I'll be ready or I won't be.  I'm hoping (and planning) for the former.

Today I worked a couple of hours on my legal skills paper.  This is a tedious chore - necessary, but tedious.  I've planned to work on this every week for about 3 hours per week.  I already know it is not enough, thus I'm changing my plan to work on it about one hour every day.  This is an important paper and I must have it perfect!

Today, I also studied for about 2 hours.  I started my outline for Property.  You are supposed to complete your outlines as you go along.  I have not.  I hope this doesn't hurt me.  But, I took a test out of a property book in the library.  I completed 18 multiple choice questions and outlined an essay question.  I did okay.  My errors were caused by two main reasons:  I didn't fully read the question (my Achilles heel) and a difference in the way the Professor teaches the material and the way the generic question is worded.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the results.  My plan, although behind, is right on schedule and right on point.  Good thing I budgeted an hour a week for this blog; otherwise, I might fall behind.

The Big Push has begun, and I am behind.  But all's well.  I'm not alone.  My fellow students are in the same boat...