We are almost at the end of classes! I hope everyone has some sort of plan for the holiday to take time off before we get back to campus for our reading period. Personally I have been fantasizing about my mom’s butternut squash soup along with nine straight hours of Thanksgiving football. However, I know that will be a fleeting moment before I roll over and get back to my outlines. 

As we gear up for the last push, I am going to take a crack at some tips that have kept me sane and some advice from 2Ls and 3Ls.

Tip #1: Plan ahead.

Map out when each of your exams are and plan your time. If you have an exam towards the 16th, plan backwards and allocate time to polish your outline and try it on some practice exam questions. This also includes planning out study breaks (see Tip #5). If there are last minute office hours or TA sessions, include those.

Tip #2: Know what your professors want.

I know Professor Hillinger would cringe if I were to dare cite a case name on her final. I know this because she told the whole class. However, I know my torts professor would like me to cite Palsgraf maybe once. Ask around and see what professors want from you on your exams. If your civil procedure professor spent two weeks discussing personal jurisdiction, expect that to show up on the exam – not the random note case they only spent five minutes on before the end of class.

Tip #3: Do what works for you. Not what doesn’t.

I see too many of my classmates force themselves to make flowcharts when they prefer big walls of text on their outline. I have also seen the inverse. If you are a visual learner, try the flowchart and see if it works! If it doesn’t, move on! No sense in forcing a square peg into a round hole. We all made it this far in our academic careers by doing what worked best for us. Do not leave your common sense at the door when trying to experiment with your study habits.

Tip #4: Try the free library study aids.

If you’re finding a certain concept hard to grasp or cases that your briefs are lacking on, the law library has a plethora of free study aids on multiple subjects for you to leaf through. Head to the “Student Survival Kit” at the bottom of the BC Law Library homepage and you’ll find the study aids there. Be careful and use these as supplemental materials, not the core of your outlines. They will not always emphasize the same points as your professor. What your professor emphasizes is more important (see Tip #2).

Tip #5: TAKE A BREAK, AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

I put this in all caps for everyone in the back. Yes, grades are important. Exams are important. But you know what’s more important? Sleep. Eating. Drinking things other than coffee or energy drinks. All your studying will not pay off if you are delirious on exam day. If you need a gym break, take it. Read something other than your casebooks, dance it out. Build these breaks into your schedule (see Tip #1). 

Tip #6: Done is good, good is a bonus.

I was told this mantra as a Bryn Mawr freshman. The idea is that at the end of the day, getting the exam or final paper done is what’s important. Done is good. Yes, we want to do well but getting them done is the real goal. Good is a bonus. Do not let perfect be the enemy of good. I’ve heard from many 2Ls and 3Ls that their first semester 1L exams were rough and their outlines were bad. What’s important is they went through the process and learned for next semester what to tweak and what to keep. 

Good luck everyone. Please take care of yourselves. Please be kind to each other. It will be over before we know it, and we will all go back to our couches in due time.

---

Catherine Beveridge is a first-year student at BC Law. Contact her at beverid@bc.edu.