As first semester grades roll in a month after finals, students are FINALLY receiving, for the most part, their first real feedback of law school. Congratulations to those of you who met or exceeded your expectations!

But unfortunately for a lot of students, with grades comes a bit of a (or a big) disappointment.

One reader sent this:

I just received my 1st semester grades at Boston College Law...I cannot believe I got a 2.55 gpa. I thought I knew my"stuff" I wasn't lost in class... What happens to the students that graduate in the bottom of the class? Everyone told me that where you place in the beginning is pretty much where you stay. I would love to hear from any BC graduates that weren't in the top of the class Where are they now and how did they get there?

Click below to see the response...

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Professor Bowman of Law Career blog has some more good advice for law school exam takers after reflecting on last semester's batch of exams.

Professor Bowman at Law Career Blog points us to a new (to me, anyway) law student blog called The Legal Scoop: Law Students' Perspective on the Law and to its post about typing in law school. Click to see the Pre-Law Blog's thoughts on typing in law school...

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Lynne Munson of insidehighered.com has a thought-provoking article on financial aid, the high cost of higher education, and the way that congress is currently trying to soften the financial blow of these two. It's an interesting read.

CALI is sending its annual shipment of CALI CD's to law schools by the end of the week. This year we're sending 140,000 CD's...enough for all law students, not just 1L's as in the past!

As an incoming student, or even as a current student, when school starts make sure you ask someone at your school for a free CD if one is not given to you! There should be enough to go around.

Read more about CALI CD's below...

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Lawsagna the blog answers the question, "What foods should a person eat leading up to a test?"

See my meaningful advice below...

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Here are some study tips that could be helpful to law students posted at lifehack.org.

I've been away concentrating on finals the past week or so. As I finished my last final this semester, I finally came to terms with this fact: Some law school exams consist of topics that you do not go over in class.

In your first year you don't know this and it causes panic after the exam. You come to believe that you missed these topics in class or in the reading.

But now I am sure that sometimes exams simply test knowledge that was outside the scope of both class and assigned reading.

The class of which I speak had very little substance to it. It ended two weeks early and I (being a law student who tends to make outlines too lengthy) could only get about 25 pages for a class outline even with the help of a 2002 outline that was basically a word-for-word account of the lectures which had remained unchanged since that time. Additionally, the only reading in this class was four short cases.

But still, topics on the test that were outside of the scope of what we talked about in class. And this test being multiple choice means it is even more of a crapshoot.

So why am I comfortable with this? Because everyone else is in the same boat (and because this professor seems to curve the grades as upward as allowable under our school's policy). There were no old exams to go over (likely because the professor uses the same questions each year as evidenced by example years in questions being all in the 1990's) so there was no way for anyone to guess what to study besides the outline and the readings. So I don't know what else I could have done.

As far as why some professors do this, I do not know. And I'm not saying this is that common or as pronounced as I feel it was in this class. But just know that sometimes you are going to encounter things on the test that were not directly covered in class or in assigned readings.

Once again, it's that time of year. If you are a 1L, you are feeling the pressure of your first law school exams. Lucky for you, I've gathered some of the advice out there.

CALI Podcasts

1) Tips for multiple choice exams

2) Top 10 tips for writing a law school essay

3) Three more conversations with law professors about exams

Other Resources

1) Massive compilation of advice on Top Law Student Blog

2) Advice from Permissive Joinder Blog

3) Advice from a professor on Evan Shaeffer's Legal Underground

4) A post about issue spotting from Evan Shaeffer's Legal Underground

ADDED 12/01/06:
5) Advice from Prof. Greg Bowman of Law Career Blog

6) Advice on how to flunk exams from another law student in Chicago.

Added 12/06/06:
7) Hofstra's Law Library blog posts more exam week suggestions.

Added 12/11/06
8) 1L exam advice from a student with a blog called Shelley's Case.

Added 12/12/06
9) A Hofstra School of Law librarian's blog points to a good article on Findlaw.

Added 2/15/07
10) Professor Orin Kerr of the Volokh Conspiracy offers examples of good answers and bad answers.

That's a lot of advice and I know if you are a 1L that you probably don't have time to go over it all with exams fastly approaching. But hopefully you have some time to look through and/or listen to some of them.

Professor Jennifer Martin has posted on her blog a podcast on the ten most common mistakes students make in taking law school exams.

Professor Martin is a professor at Western New England College School of Law and a very active CALI lesson author She also podcasts many of her classes through CALI's Legal Education Podcasting Project.

We have posted to the Pre-Law Blog several other similar podcasts with law school exam advice from professors. You can find those podcasts here, here, here, and here.

Deb has posted another great podcast over at CALI Radio. This time Douglas McFarland, an author of several CALI Lessons and professor at Hamline University School of Law offers up some advice for incoming law students.

Click here to listen to Prof. McFarland's podcast.

• A Question and Answer session with Prof. McFarland, author of several of CALI's lessons in Tort Law and Civil Procedure. Prof. McFarland has been teaching for over 30 years. His comments in this podcast about the first semester of law school focus on the Socratic method, preparing for class, note-taking during class, class participation, "riding out" that "lost at sea" feel common during the first few weeks of law school, the appropriate use of study aids, advice about law school exams, and general advice on doing well in law school.

Professors Joe Grohman and Ron Brown of Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center spoke about how new law students should study in law school. Deb Quentel, CALI's Director of Curriculum Development/General Counsel conducted the interview (alternatively found at CALI Radio).

Click here to download the mp3 file.

"Professors Brown and Grohman, are the authors of many CALI lessons. Additionally, both teach 1L courses. In this podcast they share their experiences and insights on time mangement issues for law school students, preparing for class, how to brief a case, research tips applicable for 1L writing assignments (and the eventual practice of law), how to develop an understanding of the law, and techniques and tips for studying and preparing for the final exam."

Links:

1. Joe Landsberger's website.

2. Cornell University's list of study resources.

3. Dennis Tonsing, 1000 Days to the Bar (Hein & Co., Inc. 2003).

4. CALI Radio.

Professor Steve Bradford of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law School Posted another great "how to " podcast on law school exams. This in-depth analysis of how to take a law school exam was recorded for his Securities Regulation Course, but is relevant for any exam.

Steve Bradford's Podcast on Exams

Learn more about how to take law school exams with the CALI Lesson "Writing Better Law School Exams."

One of the biggest differences between law school and undergrad is the the manner in which exams are given. Most significantly, in a law school class normally there is only one exam at the end of the semester which counts for nearly all, if not all of the final grade in the class.

These podcasts will give incoming students insight on how law school exams work, how to prepare for/take a law school exam, and most importantly what professors expect from students on law school exams.

From the CALI Radio Blog:
During the week of Oct. 17, 2005, CALI's Director of Curriculum Development, Deb Quentel, spoke with six law professors about outlines, studying for class, preparing for exams, time management, and how professors grade exams. The conversations were recorded as podcasts. While these podcasts are not intended to take the place of a conversation with your professor, the professors hope that these podcasts give law students additional insight into the exam process.

Panel 1: Professors Ron Eades, John Farago, Patrick Wiseman
683-Eades_Farago_Wiseman_exam.mp3

Panel 2: Professors Ron Brown and Joe Grohman
684-Grohman_BrownExams.mp3

Panel 3: Professor Darryl Wilson
685-Wilson_exam.mp3