• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Law School Toolbox®

All the tools you need for law school success

  • Tutoring
  • Courses
    • Start Law School Right
  • Job Help
  • Law School 101
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • About

Flashcards or Flowcharts: What’s Best?

March 12, 2012 By Alison Monahan 10 Comments

Law students get lots of advice about study aids. Some people swear by flashcards, others by flowcharts. What’s best?

What’s “Best” is What Works for You

There’s no one “best” option. The question is what works best for YOU.

That being said, flashcards and flowcharts are useful for different purposes.

Flashcard Pros and Cons

Flashcards are great if you need to memorize a lot of stuff. There’s something about the act of writing out the cards, and the act of physically flipping them over, that engages lots of different parts of the brain. Particularly if you color-code the cards (so the colors actually mean something), you’ll probably find flashcards help with memorization.

The downside of using flashcards is that they make it hard to get a general overview of a subject. Because all the pieces are separate and disjointed, it’s hard to see how everything fits together. One way to combat this limitation is to lay all the cards out on a table and make the connections between them that way. However, as soon as you tidy up, your linkages are lost.

Just for fun, here are a couple of my Torts flashcards, complete with drawings!

Torts flashcard
Torts flashcard
Torts flashcard
Torts flashcard

I don’t guarantee the law is correct, but perhaps they’ll give you some ideas for your own flashcards!

Flowchart Pros and Cons

The upside of a flowchart is the inverse of flashcards — they’re great for mapping out connections between ideas. Flowcharts are also fantastic when your analysis has a lot of branches. If you’re able to create a flowchart that asks simple “Yes” and “No” questions to lead you down a decision path, you’ll be very well situated to write a great exam answer.

The downside, however, is that a flowchart can quickly turn into impenetrable mess. When you want to include a lot of details, this probably isn’t your best option. (However, it’s worth asking if you’re including too many details, if you can’t reduce what you’re studying to a few fairly simple questions.)

A lot of the law isn’t really that complicated, when you break it down. But, some of it is, so it’s important to recognize where flowcharts are more confusing than they are helpful.

Here’s one I did for Contracts, and I guarantee it’s the only reason I passed the class!

Contracts flowchart

The Bottom Line

When you think about what kind of study tools will help, don’t limit yourself to one type! There’s no “best” choice — only what’s helpful in a particular situation.

Are you on our mailing list? Sign up now and you won’t miss any useful posts!

Other post you might be interested in

What’s the Right Mindset for Studying?

What Most Law Students Forget to Do: Think About the Material

Five Tips for a Great Legal Writing Assignment


 

Looking for some help to do your best in law school? Find out about our law school tutoring options.


About Alison Monahan

Alison Monahan is the founder of The Girl's Guide to Law School, which helps law students and prospective law students get in to law school, get through, and stay true to themselves. Alison is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was a member of the Columbia Law Review and served as a Civ Pro teaching assistant. You can find her on Twitter at @GirlsGuideToLS.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Peter F. Black

    03.18.12

    Personally I like a mix of both. Outline notes into a flowchart and making flashcards for different parts of the flowchart as needed.

    Reply
    • Alison Monahan

      03.20.12

      I agree that a mix is best in most cases. Depending on the type of info you need to learn, different techniques work better. For me, even with a flowchart, I’d have a back up outline that was more detailed (maybe based on an old one from the class), so I could get more detail if I needed it on the test. But it was too hard to figure out what was going on, with just an outline!

      Reply
  2. Karren Barlow

    03.12.14

    Great article! I have found How to Make a Flowchart using lucidchart and it was very easy to use! I would recommend checking it out!

    Reply
  3. Jasmine

    03.26.14

    I love flowchart :D. But I can’t see the blue sentences on 5th image because they’re too small :-<

    Reply
    • Alison Monahan

      03.26.14

      Those are just application notes citing to specific pieces of the Restatement, UCC, etc. in case I needed to look something up (all of my exams were open book).

      Reply
  4. Mariam

    07.14.16

    Great information,I Found application called Quizlet for Flashcards but i cant find one for Flow diagram any one can help ?

    Reply
    • Alison Monahan

      07.21.16

      Most word processing programs have flow chart options. Here’s an article on how to use Microsoft Word to make a flow chart: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-stunning-flowcharts-microsoft-word/. It also looks like there are special programs online to do similar things.

      Reply
  5. Legally Brown

    11.10.18

    As a visual learner, I totally love both these concepts. Tired of seeing outlines typed up – they’re so hard for my brain to follow. Thanks so much for this article, I’ll definitely be trying out the flashcards this exam season

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Greiner

      11.10.18

      So glad this was helpful!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Effective exam prep to maximize success – Nationaljurist says:
    December 13, 2021 at 11:03 am

    […] there was a lot of value in refreshing and reviewing in the last day or so before the exam. I love flashcards and outlines; however, by the time I got to the last day or so before the exam, I had reduced my number of cards […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Podcast
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About Us

If you find law school tough, you are not alone! The Law School Toolbox team is here to help you through it. Check out our helpful free content, podcasts, courses and one-on-one tutoring. Thanks for stopping by and drop us a line if you have any questions. We also invite you to join our weekly mailing list, for advice right to your inbox.

Recent Posts

6 Ways to Challenge your Legal Mind in 2023

6 Ways to Challenge your Legal Mind in 2023

Law school can be draining. Whether you are a stressed out 1L or a worn out 3L, you may have forgotten that part of you that hungered for the … Read More about 6 Ways to Challenge your Legal Mind in 2023

Podcast Microphone

Podcast Episode 375: Quick Tips — Getting on the Law Review Board

Welcome back to the Law School Toolbox podcast! Today, in an episode from our "Quick Tips" series, we're talking about how to give yourself the best … Read More about Podcast Episode 375: Quick Tips — Getting on the Law Review Board

5 Ways a Law School Resume is Different from a College Resume

5 Ways a Law School Resume is Different from a College Resume

As the 1L summer job search gets into full swing, it’s time to make sure your resume is up to date and ready to send out to employers. If you’ve only … Read More about 5 Ways a Law School Resume is Different from a College Resume

Podcast Microphone

Podcast Episode 374: How to Be a Great Law Journal Member

Welcome back to the Law School Toolbox podcast! Today, we're talking about how to be a great law journal member, whether you're on Law Review or a … Read More about Podcast Episode 374: How to Be a Great Law Journal Member

Bluebook 101 - Tips on Efficiently Navigating The Bluebook

Bluebook 101 – Tips on Efficiently Navigating The Bluebook

There are podcasts and blog posts alike on the many nuances of The Bluebook. But first, what even is The Bluebook? Calling all 1Ls—this is your bare … Read More about Bluebook 101 – Tips on Efficiently Navigating The Bluebook

Want Better Law School Grades?

Sign Up for Our Exam Tips!

Footer

  • Podcast
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Tutoring
  • Courses
  • Job Help
  • About
  • Contact
  • Login
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Refunds

Copyright 2023 Law School Toolbox®™