Hello, CLEO Family. I am here to continue my discussion of Exam Review, which is important, particularly, for the first-year law student, who has been in the law school community for a single semester.
In my last post, I provided some things that you should consider when "thinking" about your grades and the final report. I mentioned positive thinking and that grades, regardless of alphabet, do not reflect the skills you possess and the lawyer you will become. Continue to keep that in mind.
All around my law school are sign-up sheets for those students that want to review their exams, dates and times are available for anyone willing to wait in line for some of the professors' time to review their work, and to obtain advice from the professor on how to get better.
What Should You Expect From An "Exam Review" Meeting? Wait a minute. Let's Answer Two Questions? What should you expect from an exam review meeting and what you should not expect from an exam review meeting.
1. You should expect to enter the meeting prepared to discuss the exam and your performance with the professor. That will require you to have read the examination and your answers to the exam prior to coming to the professor's office. Like everyone else, the professor has set aside a small measure of time for you and similarly, for the colleagues following directly behind you. You do not want to dawdle.
2. You should expect not to have to pull teeth from the professor to understand where your analysis went wrong on an exam. Some teachers are close mouthed when it comes to reviewing and giving specific information on exams because they (sometimes) want you to get to the answer on your own. It is almost like if it is a real struggle to find the "tort, or contract, etc." then it makes you work harder, and see the damage must easier as well. Professors want you to grapple with the material, however, it is not the true nature of law schools to force feed someone with all of the findings of fact and conclusions of law. Otherwise, when will you be able to receive the number that you want (and, information) when a question is placed before you.
3. You should expect to learn what is important to the professor on an exam. Try very hard not to tell the professor your version of the answer. Instead listen to her tell you the version she created when she wrote the question. The professor will explain to you why he or she wrote the question a particular way. Then slowly, he or she will explain why all roads lead to a particular answer. This is a golden moment for you as you have the professor's full attention. Write down what she is telling you. Why? You may be forced to return home with all of the information, but without the best reason why X is the answer. And, it has nothing to do with you, so don't take it personally. Time was probably up, and the professor had to move on to the next student.
4. You should not expect that the professor will draw you a complete map about the answer to a question, but you should be able to draw a complete map for the professor about how you got to your answer. Remember, this person has looked at tons of exams; there is no reason why he should remember yours specifically. Help your reviewer understand what you did and if the professor does take extra time explaining to you where you went wrong AND what you need to do in order to get it right, then you should be still. Very still (as the earth has come to a stop). It takes a lot of work to be a law school professor, and there are never enough minutes in the day to help all the students we would like to assist. So, when an opportunity to actually help someone in school presents itself, we take it seriously. You should too, as you now know that a full, well thought out answer and explanation can crop up at any time.
Think about these "meeting" suggestions. They should help you when you meet with the professor. It is not that they have the upper hand or are better than you; it's just that they have information you want and you are trying to figure out how to transfer it from their minds to yours. For this year's set of final exams. Go class of 2011!
Thank you,
Prof. Smith
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