What are the keys to good grades on law school exams?

Q. Obviously, one has to use the I.R.A.C. method when answering law school exams. However, beyond IRAC'ing, what can one do to get good law school exam results. Please, only serious replies. Thanks!

A. ( Answer by readers )

1) Do the reading. (this might go without saying at some schools, but not at mine, sadly)

2) Write your own outlines. If your final is open book, then write out your rule statements beforehand so all you have to do is copy them. You have enough to think about other than how to phrase the rule.

3) Talk to your professors and try to get an idea on how they think. I've had mixed success on this, but my best grade so far was in a class where I made it my mission to get into the Prof's head. I was able to predict several of the issues in the exam and, for the ones I didn't predict, I knew exactly how he would approach them. Be shameless about using terms that the professor seems to be in love with and quoting them if necessary. This is why it's incredibly useful to pay close attention in class; if you can mention something that the professor said in class, then they know you were listening and not surfing the internet on your laptop.

4) If your professor makes past exams available, do them beforehand. One of my professors did this, and our final was pretty much the same as the past exam, but with a different fact pattern. That's how I got my first A, in a class I hated, no less (Civil Procedure...you are the bane of my existence!).

5) Outline your answers before you write them out. Every time I skip this step, my grade suffers because of it. Every time I do it, I get an A. Go figure.

6) Come to a conclusion, but hedge your bets. Say what you think the outcome would be, but mention what the other outcome is and why it could be legitimate.

7) After you get your grades, ask to see your exam and go over it with your professor so you can have a better idea of what your problem areas are. For example, I had the same professor for Trusts and Estates and Business Associations one semester. I felt really good about the second exam, but not so great about the first. However, I got an A in Trusts and a B in BA, which made absolutely no sense to me. So, I went to his office and looked at my exams. I thought I was still blowing the essays (the exams were half multiple choice -- with up to 11 choices per question -- and half essay), but it turned out that I had nailed the essays, but had completely bombed the BA exam's multiple choice portion (essentially, a got a high A on the essay, but a D on the multiple choice). Essentially, you can't fix your problem until you know what it is.

8) I'm sort of ambivalent about study groups. Sometimes they help, sometimes not. My grades have markedly improved since I stopped being in a study group for every class.

9) Have a ritual for exam day. Mine is this: I get to school early and do some last minute reviewing. Then, 30 minutes before the exam starts, I go outside and listen to a particular song ("Chinese Apple" by Loose Fur...it completely mellows me out). I keep playing that song on my mp3 player until the proctors start talking. I do not talk to anyone for that 30 minutes. The last thing you want in your head is someone else freaking out about the exam or spewing (usually) innaccurate information.

10) Your answers should almost be robotic. You don't have time for fluff or flowery language. Say what you need to say, and get the hell out of there (e.g. the opposite of what I am doing now).

11) This one comes from the professor I work for (the one I mentioned in #3) as a reasearch assistant: he said he hates it when students cite the right facts, the right rule, and the right conclusion but fail to tell him why the facts are the right ones. In his words, "Explain it to me, dammit!" (this was said about his 1L class, not me) So, mention the relevant facts and say why they are important. For bonus points, mention the irrelevant facts (every professor throws in a couple of red herrings) and say why they are irrelevant. An example: in my Criminal Procedure exam, the suspect told the police the bag he was carrying wasn't his. In my exam, I wrote something to the effect of "X told the police that the bag was not his, which is irrelevant because it was in his possession." Some people, no doubt, thought that fact was important and probably wasted time talking about it in detail; they lost points. Other people probably thought it was irrelevant (like I did), but didn't mention it at all; they didn't get any points for it. I, on the other hand, thought it was irrelevant and said why it was irrelevant; I got points for it.

I hope I don't sound too obsessed with A's, although I probably am. My first semester sucked, so I'm still in shock that I've managed to drag my GPA out of the gutter. The power has gone completely to my head....I'm due for a fall back to earth at some point in the near future.