Thursday, May 05, 2005

Last Minute Studying

This is my fourth go-round with law school exams, and one group of people that never fails to amuse me are the last minute studiers. These are the people who continue to study in the exam room right up until the exam starts. When I was in high school, I was cramming at the last second before an English test when my teacher told me that if I don't know it by now, I'm not going to learn it in ten minutes. When I told her I was just reviewing what I already knew, she told me that if I knew it, I didn't need to review. I realized that she was absolutely right. Since then, I rarely even bring my study materials to an exam. However, most law students didn't have the fortune of having Mrs. Watson for 11th grade English.

The least annoying type of last minute studier is the person who quietly leafs through their outline, just glancing at pages, not really reading anything in depth. This person doesn't bother me at all, because I think that they aren't so much studying as they are passing the time before the exam starts.

The person, or persons who bother me are those who loudly quiz each other on some aspect of the upcoming exam. This scenario is all too common:

Guy #1: "Do you know the majority and minority tests for piercing the corportate veil?"

Guy #2 (who is sitting across the room): "I sure do. The majority test is....."

No matter what Guy #2 says, right or wrong, his answer will inevitably confuse somebody else in the room. After his answer, there will be a mad rush of people frantically turning pages in their outline or shuffling through their flashcards to verify his answer.

But for the most part, I can't fault people for last minute studying. Maybe they are nervous, maybe they aren't confident, or maybe just passing the time. The only thing that confounds me is when people are frantically studying at the last minute - before an open book exam.