Dear 1L: Read Sample Essay Answers to Prepare for Law-School Exams

Dear 1L, I wanted to share a short-cut that helped me learn, memorize, and save time during the final hours before an exam. I hope it can help you.

Sometimes, when a final (or bar) exam was just days away, I was still trying to (re-)master a lot of concepts and then memorize rules. I just didn’t have it in me to take practice tests. So I didn’t try.

I just read a lot of model essay answers. I hardly looked at the hypos. I just read the answers passively.

Seeing how essays were written on hard topics brought things into focus. Often, on exam day, I would remember a sample essay and be able to regurgitate it. Stories from model answers “stuck” more in my head than lists of rules.

I would write the model that was fresh in mind, plugging in the facts from my own exam hypo, plus any cases stressed in class.

If you read enough answer essays, you start to see patterns. You also have models in your head for how certain analyses might go.

Reading passively takes a lot less brain power than cramming rules into your head or taking practice exams. It was productive when my brain was too spent to “study” more at night.

I thought you might try it. I will try to think of anything else to recommend.

I am thinking of you and hope you are hanging in ok!

Fondly,

💌 Amanda