Friday, December 17, 2004
Study Groups
I just finished my first final exam, for which I attended two study groups with friends and people I've never met from class. I've always had a sort of ambivalent attitude about study groups. Before coming to HLS, I didn't tend to like them too much, because I couldn't study at my own pace--sometimes the other people will get things at a level higher or lower than I do, and I either have to slow down for them or get left behind, depending on the circumstances. So I haven't used the tactic of study groups much in my two and a half years of law school.
Boy, the dynamic sure is weird. We came to the meetings having previously done a past year's exam, and we spent most of the time just nitpicking and going over things that weren't really relevant. From time to time, I truly did learn something new, or a light went on regarding a concept that had theretofore been dark and cloudy. Therefore, I am glad I did it. But so much time was spent arguing about teeny little points, I wonder if I'll go back.
It's funny to see the different test-taking styles of different people. Some people are desperate to find an issue in every sentence of the fact pattern. Others are trying to limit the issues to a manageable number. One person interpreted one word in the exam question differently than the rest of us, and therefore came up with a completely different answer (when the character in the question "marketed" her new product, I thought that meant "took it to market; sold it." This other guy thought it meant "advertised"--the consequences were different).
Boy, the dynamic sure is weird. We came to the meetings having previously done a past year's exam, and we spent most of the time just nitpicking and going over things that weren't really relevant. From time to time, I truly did learn something new, or a light went on regarding a concept that had theretofore been dark and cloudy. Therefore, I am glad I did it. But so much time was spent arguing about teeny little points, I wonder if I'll go back.
It's funny to see the different test-taking styles of different people. Some people are desperate to find an issue in every sentence of the fact pattern. Others are trying to limit the issues to a manageable number. One person interpreted one word in the exam question differently than the rest of us, and therefore came up with a completely different answer (when the character in the question "marketed" her new product, I thought that meant "took it to market; sold it." This other guy thought it meant "advertised"--the consequences were different).
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