Grades In Law School

[SeeSweet]

I saw a video on youtube talking about getting good grades in law school and in it they stated that almost all your overall grades for a course come from one single exam at the end of the course. This video was based on US law schools, but I was just curious if Canadian law schools were the same. If so, is there less "fluff" assignments in Canadian law school compared to undergrad?

[LMP]

That is very often the case, especially in 1L. 

Some later courses have more of a variety though even then it isn't unusual for a final paper to be the majority of your mark. 

[SeeSweet]

6 minutes ago, LMP said:

That is very often the case, especially in 1L. 

Some later courses have more of a variety though even then it isn't unusual for a final paper to be the majority of your mark. 

So for majority of your courses are you just going to class and doing readings until the final? What would you say are the biggest differences in terms of succeeding in Law School vs Undergrad? One exam or one paper deciding my grade is quite intimidating lol. 

[LMP]

Speaking very generally I would say the difference is law school exams reward understanding far more than memorization. 

There is also a lot more emphasis on reading and understanding the question being asked. Things like issue spotting become fairly significant factors, which is likely not something you experienced in undergrad. 

Another factor to remember is that law school exams are graded on a curve. In fact all your classes will be curved. 

[Turtles]

12 hours ago, SeeSweet said:

So for majority of your courses are you just going to class and doing readings until the final? What would you say are the biggest differences in terms of succeeding in Law School vs Undergrad? One exam or one paper deciding my grade is quite intimidating lol. 

Obviously things will vary a bit by school, but nearly every course I took at Osgoode was 100% final (or optional some % paper + final) and for seminars like ~65% final paper + 35% participation + presentation. 

The great thing about 100% finals is the law school curve. The prof is testing everyone's knowledge of and ability to apply the materials at the same point in time and in the same way. It doesn't matter how hard the exam is or whether you kept up with the class or crammed in the last week. If everyone struggles, no one struggled. If you know the materials and can apply them better than average, you'll do well. I have walked out of a 100% final thinking I could have failed and ended up with the course award (and $$$). 

The #1 best law school grades tip I can offer is tune out everyone else, focus on your own understanding, and try to actually connect with and enjoy learning. If not, it will be a pain to actually engage and you will fall into the anxiety trap to your own detriment. The Type A high school-esque kids freaking out about grades in 1L tend not to make it very far. Drive, maturity, resillience, focus, genuine passion, etc, are valuable skills that yield returns in law school but also in law firm interviews, practice, and life more generally.

[SNAILS]

Differences between undergrad an law school:

1. Understanding (law school) vs memorizing (undergrad) - law school exams are open book, which changes a lot of the strategy
2. Accepting you will not likely be top of the class in law school. The positive of this is that it is also hard to fail because the curve lumps almost everyone in the much middle, especially when  overall course averages are considered (you got a A in torts, your buddy got an A in contracts, but in the end you are both B+ average students).
3. *** Time to complete exams is a MASSIVE factor ***

I'll focus on #3 because that has not been discussed much by the other posters. Let's assume you are in a course with a 100% final exam, scheduled for 3 hours. In undergrad, you'd find that the majority of the class is done and has left at the 2 hour mark at the latest. In law school, you'll find the entire class still frantically writing at 2:59 and running out of time.

Why? Because everyone is trying to write a more complete answer than the person beside them. Most of the class understands all of the concepts in the course, and has a summary with them of all the case law and major concepts. The difference between an A answer and a B answer might be that the A answer quoted more specific sections of statute and accurately referred to points within relevant case law. So the B student, for the most part, ran out of time or was not quick enough in fleshing out his already correct answer. The A student had a high level of familiarity with the material and a very organized CAN/summary to quickly dump points and statutory references into his answer.

I envision it almost as running around an apple orchard picking up apples, with each apple being a point to better your exam answer. Most students know where most of the apples are, but some are just faster at retrieving them. "A" and "A+" students have  practiced hard, planned their route, gotten their tools ready, etc.

In depth knowledge of the exam topics is not necessarily your friend. You need very broad but shallow knowledge.

Another point I'll throw in (and this may be controversial) is that accommodations play a large role in exam performance. Some students get more time due to disabilities and other concerns.  Some defer exams to get more pre-exam study time. I won't go so far as to say that accommodations are "widely abused" but I am willing to say accommodations at least have the potential for abuse.

Edited January 1 by SNAILS