Open Book Exam 

Five tips for doing well on an open book exam. Without the right kind of preparation, you might do worse on an open book exam than a closed book exam.
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Today I want to provide you with five tips for succeeding on open book exams. An open book exam is one where you can bring all of your notes, books, and study aids into the exam room. When I attended law school, all of my exams were open book. And do you know what, I didn’t get all A’s because I didn’t understand how to prepare for this type of exam.
Here is the lie I believed at the time, and which many of you watching this believe. “Hey, its an open book exam. I’ll have my notes with me so I can look anything up if I need help during the exam.” Guess what, because of this attitude I didn’t prepare long or well enough. Also, during an exam you really don’t have much time to look anything up.
Tip #1: treat an open book exam like a closed book exam. If you don’t do this, you will let your guard down and get a lower grade. By preparing for a closed book exam you will learn the material at a deeper level, which is what you need for better grades.
Tip #2: use the three note method when preparing for your exam. The three note method, which I covered in a prior episode, includes your notes, your rule outline, and then a one page outline. This third outline is what you memorize. Memorize you say? Why would I do that for an open book exam? You need to do this so that you can quickly recall all of your other notes on exam day. Otherwise, you will fumble around looking for through your notes, when you could have learned the material before exam day. Remember, you have more time before an exam to prepare than you do during the exam.
Tip #3: create flashcards using the Leitner box approach. This approach, which I discussed in an earlier episode, is a way for you to learn the rules better. In a nutshell, you create three boxes, or stacks. All your cards start in box 1. As you learn a card, it goes to the next stack, which you review less often. When you review stack 2, you do the same thing, moving the cards up or down depending on how well you remember the material.
Tip #4: create your own outline. You might be tempted to skip writing an outline since you have your notes. But law school outlines are as much about the creation process as they are about the content. When you create your outline, and then revise it, you will begin to understand the law better. You will see connections that you missed for first time around. Failing to write your own outline will almost certainly keep you from getting the highest grades in the class. If you’re okay with B’s or lower, grab a commercial outline or some upper classman’s outline who aced the class. Keep in mind, the reason that upper classman aced the final is because he or she made their own outline.
Tip #5: pre-write an essay exam before you show up for the final. As I discussed a few weeks ago, a typical law school exam question is made up of predictable issues and sub issues. You can create a perfect paragraph for each issue and sub-issue, and even decide in advance how you are going to deal with a particular issue. For instance, in a criminal procedure final create a paragraph discussing the warrant requirement. Then create another paragraph for each of the many exceptions. And, since this is an open book exam you can just copy directly from this exam outline that you created weeks before, which will save you lots of time on exam day. That additional time can then be used on the analysis portion of your essay.
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