The Scientifically Proven Way to Get Better Grades in Law School
If you're getting ready for law school check this out: we put together a free e-book called the “Ultimate Pre-Law Checklist.” Just click the link below to download it. It's some of our best tips and strategies for getting ahead before you start law school, and it will put you miles ahead of your classmates, just click here.
What if I told you that there was one thing that you could do in your 1L year that is scientifically proven to improve your grade by at least a third of a grade in all of your law school classes?
Well, that thing really exists and we're going to talk about what it is and how you can use it to your advantage to improve your grades in law school. Law professors love to write academic papers, but unlike other fields, few actually test their theories in the real world.
But professors Dan Schwarcz and Dion Farganis at the University of Minnesota Law School, ran a study that suggests that law students who get individualized feedback from their professors in one subject are more likely to do better in all of their classes.
Think about that. If you can get feedback on how to do better in a law school final exam, not only will you do better in that class, but you will do better in all of your law school classes. What the professors did is they ran an experiment on 1L students in their first year classes. What they found is absolutely amazing.
Their experiment consisted of a certain section of students who were given individualized feedback on practice tests versus a controlled group who received no instruction whatsoever. Controlling for all other factors like LSAT scores, undergrad GPA, et cetera, the experimental group saw their grades increase by one third of a grade in all of their classes. That is turning a B+ into an A- or an A into an A+. And it was in every single one of their classes on average. You can find this study at The Journal of Legal Education, it's called The Impact of Individualized Feedback on Law School Performance.
This study is amazing, but it's not terribly surprising when you think about it. Traditionally, law school is an entire semester of not knowing what the hell you're doing followed by a test that is worth 100% of your grade. And the worst part is that professors almost always use issue spotting exams, so while the subject matter may change, the tactics stay the same. And the test doesn't look like what you talk about in class.
But look at the bright side, most students won't get any feedback. Most don't know that there are repeatable strategies to acing law school exams. And most students put off taking practice exams until the very last minute if they take any practice tests at all. But the thing about practice tests, is that they give you the feedback that you need.
Even if it's not your professor, him or herself, that is giving you the feedback, you can other students give you the feedback, you can self-evaluate and get the feedback from yourself.
You can learn the strategies of how to take law school essay exams. And what this study shows, is that once you take the leap and you start taking practice exams, you will do better not only in the class that you're taking practice exams, but you will do better in all of your classes.
And remember, you're graded on a curve so you just have to get better than everybody else. Most people don't have the motivation to take practice exams. They're daunting. It seems like it's a waste of time as opposed to learning more substantive law, but learning substantive law hits a wall. You hit diminishing returns.
Most people don't spend any time learning how to take law school exams. And the way that most classes are taught is completely antiquated, but you can turn that to your advantage. Be one of the people that gets the insights and gets the feedback with practice exams, and courses like Legal Eagle and others. Learning to do well in law school is a skill, and skills can be practiced and they can be learned. Or, in other words, it's like a muscle. As long as you work out that muscle, that muscle will get stronger and if you don't work out that muscle, it will atrophy and law school exams are exactly the same way.
You can do better in law school. It's science.
If you're getting ready for law school check this out: we put together a free e-book called the “Ultimate Pre-Law Checklist.” Just click the link below to download it. It's some of our best tips and strategies for getting ahead before you start law school, and it will put you miles ahead of your classmates, just click here.
