Lately I have had a number of discussions with students about study aids and exam study. Several were on the verge of spending large sums of money on lots of study aids they did not have time to read. So here are some quick tips for using study aids wisely during exam period:
- Read study aids selectively. If I am confused about easements, then reading a commentary on that topic to clarify the law may be very helpful. However, reading an entire 400-page commentary on property would be over-reacting and not an efficient or effective use of my time if all I am confused about is easements.
- Read one study aid for a topic rather than several. If the first study aid that I read to clarify easements does the trick, I need to stop there. Reading two or three extra study aids on the same topic will not add much oomph and will whittle down the time I have to learn other topics.
- Choose visuals that work for you – if visuals work for you. Crunch Time visuals are decision flowcharts. The Finals series has tree diagrams. Gilberts outlines tend to have tables, checklists, and flowcharts. Acing series often has checklists. Making your own visuals is often the most productive for deep understanding. If visuals do nothing for you, then do not use them!
- Choose practice questions to match your exam type. Most professors tell students their exam formats: fact-pattern essays, short-answer essays, objective questions, or a mix. If I have an objective exam, then I want to focus on doing lots of objective questions. If I have an exam that is just fact-pattern essays, then those are the practice questions that I want to focus on during my study. A mixed exam should have mixed practice questions in proportion to the types.
- Increase the difficulty of the practice questions you complete. As you become more adept, choose practice questions that are more difficult. Go from the one-issue ones in an Examples & Explanations book to the multi-issue ones in commercial outlines or other practice question series.
- Always do any practice questions provided by your own professor. It amazes me how many students do very few of the practice questions or old exams provided by their own professors.
- Remember to learn your professor's version of the course. Using your professor's steps of analysis, buzzwords, etc. makes it easier to find points when grading. Plus any study aid will have covered some topics for a national audience that your professor probably did not cover.
Good luck on exams! (Amy Jarmon)
