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2L Here (Lowish Top 14) ...

Did not finish my exam ... Took too much time in MC and finished around 65-70& of essay. Essay probably worth more than MC section.

Anybody had this experience and ended up not going that bad?

Anonymous User wrote:2L Here (Lowish Top 14) ...

Did not finish my exam ... Took too much time in MC and finished around 65-70& of essay. Essay probably worth more than MC section.

Anybody had this experience and ended up not going that bad?

How is this employment related? If you end up doing poorly in the class and you are at a firm that cares about grades or you want to clerk, you may be fucked, but that is an indirect effect of not finishing.

Have Summer big baw ...

Also wanted to know if one bad grade as a 2L affects permanent offer

You might not have done all that badly, it really depends on what kind of exam it was. Some exams are so long that people not finishing is not that uncommon and since everything is graded on a curve you could have done okay.

Anonymous User wrote:Have Summer big baw ...

Also wanted to know if one bad grade as a 2L affects permanent offer

Depends on the firm. I've heard GDC and Dewey care about grades, but I had a friend at Ropes whose grades dropped a lot and they didn't care. One bad grade probably won't kill you. Also, given the way the curves are at most T14s, it won't be noticeable to most firms.

Moved thread for you. And OP, the curve takes care of this. It's not great news, but probably not a disaster either-- if you didn't finish, you likely are not alone.

I'll echo what others are saying: you're graded against your peers and if you didn't finish, many of them probably didn't either. On one of my exams during 1L I ran short on time and wasn't able to finish; got an A. Don't worry about it (especially since you have an SA lined up).

In my contracts exam, I only wrote on 3 of the 4 issues that were presented. Got an A.

I got the second highest grade in a class that I left 1/10 of the Exam Blank

It actually matters how your prof. grades. If it is a point scoring system, then you are at no disadvantage. Some profs. use a holistic approach, in which case you are severely hurt.

LawIdiot86 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Have Summer big baw ...

Also wanted to know if one bad grade as a 2L affects permanent offer

Depends on the firm. I've heard GDC and Dewey care about grades, but I had a friend at Ropes whose grades dropped a lot and they didn't care. One bad grade probably won't kill you. Also, given the way the curves are at most T14s, it won't be noticeable to most firms.

Don't understand where people get that gibson cares about grades

Cupidity wrote:I got the second highest grade in a class that I left 1/10 of the Exam Blank

I don't think this ever happens at top schools.

If you go to a top school, not finishing the exam = not getting an A.

You have to set time limits for yourself on each part of the exam. When time is up on one part move on. Even an outline will get you some points.

I guess it just depends on the type of exam. I mean I've had plenty of exams where there is no possible way to touch on every issue in the hypo.

RelativeEase wrote:I guess it just depends on the type of exam. I mean I've had plenty of exams where there is no possible way to touch on every issue in the hypo.

This. The #1 student won't touch on every last gem the professor hid for the class to find, so "finishing" is relative. Even at top schools.

From personal experience, leaving the exam feeling there were additional points you wanted to make is often a *good* thing, because it means you knew the subject matter well and really got into your answers. It's human to think of "points left on the table" after the exam, but keep in mind the above statement.

In my 1L property exam I finished the MC but only did half of the essay. I was one of 10 students in the class to get an A (curve is stupid that only 10 of 100 could get an A and then drop off to B+). Though, he did kinda hint that the essay would really be to differentiate so that he could tell who deserved an A or a B+ and perhaps not be weighted in the proportion of time allocated for each...time was split 60/40 MC to essay.

I'm sure you did fine. Don't let it ruin the rest of your finals...

I've gotten a B+ on an unfinished answer. Still on those I at least "tied up" my answers even if they were missing some important discussions.

Still, curves are typically more lenient 2L year, so who knows.

I've done best on exams I don't finish or don't have time to finish, assuming the professor grades on a point system.

I'd also like to point out that there is a significant difference between this:

zomginternets wrote:In my contracts exam, I only wrote on 3 of the 4 issues that were presented. Got an A.

and this:

Cupidity wrote:I got the second highest grade in a class that I left 1/10 of the Exam Blank

Missing an issue, even a larger one, is almost never a deal-breaker for any grade.

Leaving sections incomplete or not providing all the answers that you are prompted to give (i.e. a latter discussion about sentencing that you only got 1 paragraph into before time ran out) can, and usually is, highly likely to bring your grade down. Cupidity is more of an exception than an example IMO.

But overall I agree with the other posts, if you normally finish on time and couldn't for this exam - there's a good chance others struggled as well and you will be curved against them.

Everyone I talked to had to only write the rules for the last 2 issues in Con Law. Don't worry, because your exam is curved.

Poor time management will kill you. That should be the second thing you do after you sketch out your attack outline from memory on the back of the first page of the exam. Count up how much each section of exam is worth, and devote the appropriate amount of time relative to how many points each section is worth.

My first contracts exam, prof said in instructions that people typically don't finish, and he was right. That sneaky prof had a section of short answers worth varying points. The very last short answer (also last question on exam) was worth 8 points, while most other short answers were 3-4, and that question was easy. It was a REWARD for people who took time to review the test and plan out their answers, as jumping on that last question (and skipping lower value ones) paid off by earning more points in the alloted time. Multiple people just ran through the questions in order, and kicked themselves when they realized they should have cherry picked the questions based on points. That is what I did, and it worked out well.

Look, who knows how you did, but I'll tell you, someone probably planned ahead and addressed the entire essay first, maybe sacrificing a few points on the MC, but gaining more through planning. Its a points grab. You have to focus on gaining the most points. I never did the multiple choice first, because I know for me that I can run through MC faster than put down an essay, but I always set my timer for X amount of time per section, and once the time hit, move on. You could spend all exam writing the perfect essay, but miss points on the MC and get a C.

Law school exams are a game. They aren't just objective measures of knowledge, but also measures of who is most crafty.

Law school exams are a game. They aren't just objective measures of knowledge, but also measures of who is most crafty.

Excellent post!

RVP11 wrote:

Cupidity wrote:I got the second highest grade in a class that I left 1/10 of the Exam Blank

I don't think this ever happens at top schools.

If you go to a top school, not finishing the exam = not getting an A.

lol bullshit. It depends on the professor, not the school.

i don't think i ever finished an exam, and i ended up with a B+ average at CLS after 1L

Will a C (as a 2L) blow your chances for big firm permanent offer?