Our tutoring students often come to us because they want to get personalized feedback on their exams. However, hiring a tutor isn’t the only way to get personalized feedback in law school. Check out these other options for getting valuable pre-exam feedback.
Professors
Feedback from professors is gold (because they are the ones writing and grading your exams). Many professors will review your writing with you if you take it to their office hours. Sometimes, professors will even redline/edit a practice question if you email it to them. You won’t know until you ask. A few tips when approaching professors, though.
First, don’t bring them a practice question written by someone else or one that you found in a supplement. Instead, use a hypo they provided in class or a practice exam they distributed to the entire class.
Second, don’t wait until the last minute for feedback. Professors are going to be incredibly busy the last week or two before exams. Don’t ask for feedback just days before the exam. Ask for feedback now. You are more likely to get it.
Teaching Assistants
Some schools have teaching assistants that are upper-division law students who can help you get ready for exams (Alison and I did this while we were in law school). Aren’t sure if your school has such a program? Make sure you ask! Often, teaching assistants took the class that you are now taking a year or two ago, and they will likely have great insight and information for you. It is also possible that they might be willing to review some writing practice for you. But again, as with professors, be careful not to wait until the last moment. Many teaching assistants have their own final exams and won’t be able to give you feedback the week before exams.
Academic Support
Does your school have an academic support office? Check and see if it does. Academic support professors are there to help you. Some will let you schedule a one-on-one meeting with them or will even talk through exam answers with you.
Study Group
Although I am not a huge fan of the study group, talking to your friends about practice questions is better than not getting any feedback at all! Just remember, those in your study group are also 1Ls (if you are a 1L) so they are not terribly experienced with law school exams either.
Have you gotten helpful feedback on your practice exams? Share your experience in the comments.
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Here are some other helpful posts:
- 5 Myths About the Law School Study Group
- Avoiding Office Hours? Go, and Get Something Out of It
- Getting Feedback from Past Exams is Critical
- 5 Things to Include in Your Law School Class Notes
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I totally agree about you with feedback from profs. It’s the most useful. Around exam time, I would just go to the office hours and ask questions. But even after I finished, I would just wait there for other people to come and ask question so that I could get more info from the prof. You’re totally right, they’re the best source! Great tips, thanks for sharing.
Absolutely! I used to lurk in the hallway before and after my official office hour session, just to hear what other people were asking about. Great strategy. It’s all about information gathering!