Study advice for LLB Exams

IrishPotter

At the moment I'm in my second year of my LLB, but finding I'm hitting a wall when it comes to study. Managed to get a low 2.1 in first year by pure cramming and rote learning.

I follow my reading lists, take good lecture notes and skim the odd journal article, but I feel I'm lacking an edge when it comes to my classmates who seem to really get law. A lot of it just goes over my head

Would anyone who has been through an LLB have any tips? Just finished my set of Christmas exams and not feeling great about them, maybe I'm just a perfectionist. Thanks

prinz

You don't seem to be doing anything wrong, but then again different people learn differently tbh.

One of the other things that helped me was watching TV shows based around lawfirms etc and films based around courtroom drama. Yes, they were American, but it was interesting to focus on the actual cases in the storyline and how the lawyers worked out angles and arguments.

Secondary to that I would read the Irish and UK newspapers for court cases and when points of law/procedure were mentioned I'd look them up. Not going into a whole lot of detail on it but just a for a few minutes. I'd say I've learned more that way than having my head in the text books.

KylieWyley

watching tv?! you must be joking?

IrishPotter wrote: »

At the moment I'm in my second year of my LLB, but finding I'm hitting a wall when it comes to study. Managed to get a low 2.1 in first year by pure cramming and rote learning.

That works. You'll pick out patterns in the papers if you look back. Find questions/topics that repeat and learn generel answers to those topics. Also, it should be clear from the content of lectures which topics the lecturers put more emphasis on. These topics usually feature prominently in exams questions.

prinz

KylieWyley wrote: »

watching tv?! you must be joking?

Why? It worked for me as a break from head-wrecking study. There were times when I got sick of studying law after reading pages of dry, complicated judgements etc, and I'd watch a film about a court case and I'd remember why I wanted to study law to begin with and the interest in the course subjects would come back. You are not going to learn properly if you are merely cramming and rote learning 'just because' IMO. To, as the OP mentioned, really 'get it' you need to have an interest in it outside of a purely academic sense.

KylieWyley wrote: »

That works. You'll pick out patterns in the papers if you look back. Find questions/topics that repeat and learn generel answers to those topics. Also, it should be clear from the content of lectures which topics the lecturers put more emphasis on. These topics usually feature prominently in exams questions.

That's great, if all you want to do is the bare minimum/pass exams.

KylieWyley

It got me a 1:1, so seemed to do the job!

Depends on the quality of the essays you learn. Obviously you don't just regurgitate it all, but instead select relevant portions of it and tailor it to the question.

TV, as a break, sure. But they're scripted by writers not lawyers and are often worded/scripted for dramatic effect? In reality, there are no last minute breakthroughs, with people running through the Court with last minute evidence. All evidence has to be detailed beforehand . . .
I wouldn't rely on it as a primary means of study

prinz

KylieWyley wrote: »

TV, as a break, sure. But they're scripted by writers, not lawyers? And are often worded for dramatic effect? In reality, there are no last minute breakthroughs, with people running through the Court with last minute evidence. All evidence has to be detailed beforehand . . .

I think you are missing my point. Ironic.

I am not suggesting TV/films to help the OP's knowledge of the law with regards to exam time, but it may perhaps help develop an interest in it which could be productive when it comes to "getting it" as opposed to just rote learning for the sake of it. It's often easier to do study a subject when you have some sort of interest in it that deviates from the strict cram;study;exam routine. Which is also why I mentioned reading up on current cases in the newspapers.

I know if I had focused on study, study, study I would've driven myself mad, and did... and I also found myself questioning why I wasn't 'getting' something. What I found was that if I was studying a subject 'for fun' as opposed to stressing about knowing enough to pass the exams, I actually began to understand the subject matter better.

Edit: I don't think the OP really needs help on what to study. Sounds to me more like advice on how to study tbh.

KylieWyley

Newspapers and current events seem to be "Secondary" to your recommendation of watching tv.

Fine, watch tv all you want to develop an interest. Just remember, exams don't test how interested you are. They test your knowledge. Why did you get into law in the first place if you didn't have an interest? You shouldn't need encouraging.

prinz

KylieWyley wrote: »

Yes, "Secondary to that"..

Fine, watch tv all you want to develop an interest. Just remember, exams don't test how interested you are. The test your knowledge.

Knowledge without basic cop on is not of much use.

MrPudding

IrishPotter wrote: »

At the moment I'm in my second year of my LLB, but finding I'm hitting a wall when it comes to study. Managed to get a low 2.1 in first year by pure cramming and rote learning.

I follow my reading lists, take good lecture notes and skim the odd journal article, but I feel I'm lacking an edge when it comes to my classmates who seem to really get law. A lot of it just goes over my head

Would anyone who has been through an LLB have any tips? Just finished my set of Christmas exams and not feeling great about them, maybe I'm just a perfectionist. Thanks

In my class there is a small group of us who like to get together and chat about our subjects. I find this very interesting and also quite useful. Getting another perspective on what we are studying is very useful. Also, trying to explain a legal principle you are not 100% sure of to someone else is excellent to getting it straight in your head.

Also, I am on quite friendly terms with some of my lecturers and they are generally quite happy to have a nice chat about law, and this can be most useful also.

KylieWyley wrote: »

That works. You'll pick out patterns in the papers if you look back. Find questions/topics that repeat and learn generel answers to those topics. Also, it should be clear from the content of lectures which topics the lecturers put more emphasis on. These topics usually feature prominently in exams questions.

prinz wrote: »

That's great, if all you want to do is the bare minimum/pass exams.

I don't think this kind if learning is necessarily doing the bare minimum.

I spoke with one of my lecturers about this kind of thing. To me an LLB is somewhat "unnatural." Once you pass it is unlikely you will be faced with anything similar, unless you go onto further study of course. For example, if you become a solicitor you are not expected to simply know the answer to any legal question you might be asked. Similarly, if you go into academia you would not be expected to simply stand in front of a class and deliver a lecture without time to prepare or without the help of textbooks or other sources.

There is a school of thought that you simply do whatever you have to do to get through the LLB. One of the things recommended to me was to print out years of past papers and simply do the questions under exam conditions and keep doing them. If possible get a lecturer to glance over some of your answers to make sure you are on the right track.

If you can adequately answer years of past papers then what are the chances of a question coming up that you can't answer.

Another tip I was given is similar to Kylie's suggestion. Learn a few well worded paragraphs on particular subjects that can be dropped into an answer. It will be hard to memorise a full answer, and even if you could it might not fit with the particular way the question is asked. However, if you have a few broad paragraphs about each subject the chances are you will be able to drop them into a broader range of questions. Doing this kind of thing can really save time in the exams, being able to spew out half a page of well thought out content without having to think about it must surely be very useful indeed.

Needless to say, I did not do any of the things I was advised to do. This was a mixture of laziness, personal circumstances and work commitments. But hey, there is always this year.

MrP

KylieWyley

prinz wrote: »

Edit: I don't think the OP really needs help on what to study. Sounds to me more like advice on how to study tbh.

Watching tv isn't how you study.

Picking out patterns and therefore enabling the elimination of unlikely topics is an essential "how to" study skill.

I find that people who often do the best in exams don't necessarily do the most. Some people have an aptitude for exams and I believe that part of this comes down to the ability to focus their efforts on appropriate areas of study. It's pointless spending days/weeks on irrelevant material that, while technically part of the subject area, is unlikely to appear on an exam.

prinz

MrPudding wrote: »

I don't think this kind if learning is necessarily doing the bare minimum. There is a school of thought that you simply do whatever you have to do to get through the LLB.

Nail on the head. Personally if I had approached it that way I never would hve finished it. There is 'doing whatever you have to do' and then there is enjoying doing it for the sake of doing it.

The OP is already doing what he/she has to do, but sounds to me like not enjoying it like other people do. Like I said when I enjoyed it or 'got it' I found it much easier to study and do well in it.

KylieWyley

MrPudding wrote: »

I don't think this kind if learning is necessarily doing the bare minimum.

prinz wrote: »

Nail on the head. Personally if I had approached it that way I never would hve finished it. There is 'doing whatever you have to do' and then there is enjoying doing it for the sake of doing it.

The OP is already doing what he/she has to do, but sounds to me like not enjoying it like other people do. Like I said when I enjoyed it or 'got it' I found it much easier to study and do well in it.

You missed the point, he is disagreeing with you. He said it was fine "doing whatever you have to do" in support of rote learning.

prinz

KylieWyley wrote: »

Watching tv isn't how you study..

Seriously? Did you copy and paste anything about comprehension while you were studying by any chance?

MrPudding

prinz wrote: »

Nail on the head. Personally if I had approached it that way I never would hve finished it. There is 'doing whatever you have to do' and then there is enjoying doing it for the sake of doing it.

The OP is already doing what he/she has to do, but sounds to me like not enjoying it like other people do. Like I said when I enjoyed it or 'got it' I found it much easier to study and do well in it.

I know what you mean, I am very lucky in that I absolutely love studying law. I am currently in a chalet in the Alps with all my books and while the rest of my family are out skiing I am hitting the books. I also love watching legal TV, though I am under no allusions as to its relevance. Try Damages or Garrow's Law if you have not already.

Unfortunately not everyone feels like this, they might love law, they might really want a career in law but, they just aren't feeling the love. it might be because the particular subject is not to their taste or perhaps they don't like the style of the lecturer. This does not necessarily mean they are not cut out for a career in law, and in this type of case by any means necessary might be the way forward.

MrP

prinz

KylieWyley wrote: »

You missed the point, he is disagreeing with you. He said it was fine "doing whatever you have to do" in support of rote learning.

The OP is already rote learning and seems to be on the ball when it comes to what to study. It seems to be more of a mind-set issue rather than not knowing what to study.

IrishPotter

I see where you're coming from Prinz. I really don't feel I have a proper interest in Law tbh. I won't be pursuing it professionally. That's probably the difference between me and my classmates who I perceive as 'getting law'. I had it down on the CAO as a kind of predecessor to further study in maybe int. relations.

In saying that I do find Constitutional Law interesting. I think it's the more technical subjects e.g. company and land that I find hard to grasp. Maybe the exam paper practice and paragraph learning is just what I'll have to put my energy towards with regards to those subjects. I'd just love a high 2.1 at the end of the day to get into a great masters course :pac:

KylieWyley

That's just what you have to do sometimes.

Undergrad degrees are very general, with many diverse subjects. Its natural that you won't find all of them interesting. You just have to do whatever you need to in order to get by.

Then when the time for postgrad comes, you can focus in on the area of law that interests you and study won't be such a chore. (well, hopefully... :rolleyes:)

MrPudding

IrishPotter wrote: »

I see where you're coming from Prinz. I really don't feel I have a proper interest in Law tbh. I won't be pursuing it professionally. That's probably the difference between me and my classmates who I perceive as 'getting law'. I had it down on the CAO as a kind of predecessor to further study in maybe int. relations.

I think law would be a very hard subject to study in these circumstances. If you aren't really interested a lot of the subjects can be very dry, I see now why you are having trouble.

IrishPotter wrote: »

In saying that I do find Constitutional Law interesting. I think it's the more technical subjects e.g. company and land that I find hard to grasp. Maybe the exam paper practice and paragraph learning is just what I'll have to put my energy towards with regards to those subjects. I'd just love a high 2.1 at the end of the day to get into a great masters course :pac:

yeah, I think you might be in the "whatever it takes" camp. Learning like this does not mean you could not get a high 2:1. It is true that is it easier to get a high mark when you really get a subject, you will be able to add critical comment and really show off your knowledge, but at the same time, if you have the knowledge and say all the right things you can still get a good mark.

MrP

KylieWyley

Further to that, you can add critical comment without even being interested if you look up things like the Law Reform Commission Papers and look at their stances on topics and issues and "agree with them on these points"....

... If you know what I mean

Cite them, and then further develop on the point they make. It makes you look interested, even if you aren't!

prinz

MrPudding wrote: »

Unfortunately not everyone feels like this, they might love law, they might really want a career in law but, they just aren't feeling the love. it might be because the particular subject is not to their taste or perhaps they don't like the style of the lecturer. This does not necessarily mean they are not cut out for a career in law, and in this type of case by any means necessary might be the way forward.

This is exactly what I have been trying to say all along. I know people who were like this and they tended to approach study already in the frame of mind that x subject is boring or dreary or too difficult, and inevitably their studying suffered because of that. They obviously had the capacities to be studying law and the abilities to succeed in a career in law but their approach was a hindrance... and in these situations yes you can say learn x,y and z by heart and plan for what is most likely to appear on the paper and you will pass the exam, but IMO that can often overwhelm the person more.

I found the best route is first to take a step back, develop an interest in a certain area by using contemporary cases/news items/and yes even dramatised cases, and then lash into the books and exam prep looking forward to it, as oppossed to dreading it. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

_JOE_

A couple of tips i'd give would be to read as many journals as you can...The law in these is usually stated plainly and it's a good way to get your way around the area...

Also, i'd recommend reading the full transcripts of cases...This will take a lot longer, but will benefit you in the long term; you'll always remember the cases, and it'll help familiarise you with the area / precedent...

IrishPotter

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think it's a case of burying myself in the books, and grin and bear it! That's unavoidable in any degree you want to do well in of course. I think I'll have to be careful with my subject choices for next year too. I think if I change my approach to some subjects and tell myself this is a good base degree it will make the study more appetising, hopefully leading to better answers and results. I'll check out the law reform commisson papers too, I should really read them a bit more thoroughly.

littlemac1980

I would suggest :

1. Do NOT watch TV as a substitute for reading relevant material. You will not be examined on 'Boston Legal', which however, is a very entertaining show.

2. Do NOT learn off essays or answers to common questions. This will not help you in the long run, no matter what course you decide to take.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right.

Perhaps, you are thinking too much about your peers, and how they are performing and this may be distracting you from your own flaws.

It could be that your writing is poor and hard to understand. Or your style isn't direct enough to get a point across succinctly, which is a vital part of legal writing.

You state you read some articles. In law exams, in my experience it is vital that you read as many articles as possible. It is more important to reference those articles in your answers, and is more important again that the references to those articles are relevant to the questions. Some people are better at doing that because they have practiced more. It is very important to practice answering questions.

One thing you did not mention is cases. These are more important to read than the articles, and often more important than your Books. Most articles comment on important cases, so if you haven't read the case fully you will miss out on the value of reading the articles. You must form a view yourself on a particular issue before you compare that to Academic Commentary.

Good Luck and don't loss heart, you wouldn't be doing an LLB unless you had decided you were very interested in it, and sometimes half way through something, when the pressure is on, its hard to maintain a positive perspective.

FreudianSlippers

Undergraduate law is more about understanding HOW the law works in each area. It's not about necessarily writing the greatest paper on Tort law you've ever seen.
(at least it wasn't for me).

It's about passing the exam, so learn why things happen. Law is mechanical like anything else. Each topic has a reason for the outcome.

evercloserunion

IrishPotter wrote: »

At the moment I'm in my second year of my LLB, but finding I'm hitting a wall when it comes to study. Managed to get a low 2.1 in first year by pure cramming and rote learning.

I follow my reading lists, take good lecture notes and skim the odd journal article, but I feel I'm lacking an edge when it comes to my classmates who seem to really get law. A lot of it just goes over my head

Would anyone who has been through an LLB have any tips? Just finished my set of Christmas exams and not feeling great about them, maybe I'm just a perfectionist. Thanks

Well, I have always tried to focus more on "getting" the law and less on simple rote learning, and I also have a low 2.1 average to show for it. I find the people who do really well in exams are those with a near-photographic memory, so I think the best way to do better in exams is to get better at cramming and rote learning.

PrettyBoy

I completely understand where Prinz is coming from, he never said TV is a substitute for studying and how anyone got that impression is beyond me

I always had an interest in law, long before college I would watch films and TV shows based around law and I think that's where part of my interest came from. I'm in my 2nd year now and am hugely interested in Criminal Law, maybe from watching Law and Order for all those years - who knows? Constitutional Law on the other hand is a seriously boring subject IMO and one that I can never see myself getting into but if I have an assignment and I'm struggling or if I'm trying to study I'll take a break, watch an episode of Boston Legal and it will get me "in the mood" for Law if you get me? I think it reminds me of why I started Law or something to that effect, it definitely motivates me.

prinz

PrettyBoy wrote: »

I completely understand where Prinz is coming from, he never said TV is a substitute for studying and how anyone got that impression is beyond me

I think it happens when you read something and then try to rote learn it by heart without trying to get the bigger picture and context.;)

At least Im not the only one who turned to Law & Order to gve myself a kick in the arse when I got sick of studying. Always a great reminder why I was studying it to begin with and a great way of going back to the books with a renewed interest and determination.

littlemac1980

Law and Order, isn't that the show where the first half is about the cops and the second the DA? God, I used to watch that when I was in school and it never made me even consider doing law. haha

Boston Legal - now that is a good show.

234

The problem with using legal tv to inspire you and stir your interest in studying law is that these shows bear no resemblance to the practice of law. If you expect a career in law to be anything like what you watch on tv then get out now. While a LLB is very different from a career in law if you can't get yourself interested in the subjects without resorting to tv then you might be in the wrong course.

PrettyBoy

234 wrote: »

The problem with using legal tv to inspire you and stir your interest in studying law is that these shows bear no resemblance to the practice of law. If you expect a career in law to be anything like what you watch on tv then get out now.

I know it's not going to be like what we see on TV - films based around law (My Cousin Vinnie, Liar Liar, etc.) are what really got me into the course.

FreudianSlippers

Liar Liar :eek: