I can’t believe that it is almost time for finals again, which means that I am almost done with my first year of law school. I feel far more prepared for finals this semester, which is partly due to steps I’ve taken throughout the semester, but also because I know what to expect. I wanted to share some tips for preparing for finals in law school!

1. Finish your outlines before reading week – This is the key to reducing stress during reading and finals week. Last semester, I spent way too much time during reading week outlining. This ended up being extremely time consuming and I spend less time doing hypotheticals than I would have wanted.
2. Focus on hypotheticals – This relates to my first tip. But I would suggest getting your outlines done as soon as possible and then focusing on doing hypotheticals. Also, make sure you practice writing out exam answers under time limits.
3. SLEEP! – I was so guilty of barely sleeping during finals weeks in college. This does not work in law school. Many law schools spread finals out over two weeks instead of one, and it is not possible to get through two weeks barely sleeping. This is why it is so important to start early.
4. Make sure you know what each professor is looking for – Every professor wants something different. Some professors want you to list every important case, and some don’t want any cases mentioned. This is why it is important to ask your professor, the TA, or former students what each professor prefers.
5. Make your study schedule early – After you finish your outlines, plan out how you will allocate your time during reading and finals week. Find specific hypotheticals and plan which days you will write out answers to them. Everyone’s study schedule will be different based on how you prefer to study, but I find that it is easy to procrastinate or spend time on the wrong topics if you don’t have a solid plan ahead of time.