you top-5% people

[canary]

hey, i'd like to reform my work ethics and start school this fall with a good momentum. i'm pretty sure i'll be able to float around the class median with medium effort, but i'd like to know what people are doing extra to land in the top-5%, 10% or 15% of their class? kinda dreading the return to exam-taking, which i was able to avoid pretty well during my entire undergraduate career...

[GA-fan]

two things: 1)study all along the semester to remember the "rules" of law in each class.
2) use the last month or so to look at the forest and not the trees-look for overarching concepts that seem to run throughout the material you've been covering all semester. If you're in torts, start thinking about the definitions of reasonableness different courts employ, why the court made it's decision instead of the black letter law, etc.

Read getting to maybe for a great guide to making A's. And know that if you put in teh effort, you will be rewarded for it. You may or may not make hte top 10%, but at least you'll know what you're capable of and not have one of those BS "I got bad grades but I didn't really put much effort into" excuses.

[tacojohn]

To be very honest, I think you need to have a few innate skills to get top 5%.  To sniff even the top 15%, you need to beat the curve in every single class.  Assuming a 3.0 curve, you really need to get B+ in every class, then pull down an A or two.  To do this, you absolutely must be a good test taker.  Starting with your first final, you cannot have a bad day.  You also need to know what study tactics work best for you.  It's probably not a good idea to change everything you do if it was successful in the past, but you need to find out what helps you understand the material in that first semester to have the consistently good tests that get a top 5-15% ranking.

[GA-fan]

To sniff even the top 15%, you need to beat the curve in every single class.  Assuming a 3.0 curve, you really need to get B+ in every class, then pull down an A or two. 

Probably,  not necessarily. I got one median or below grade and 3 aces to make top 5%. Then again, our school is on a 3.15 curve, so the B that I got wasn't that hard to pull up. I'd aim for two A's and two medians as a good start. That should put you at least at the top 1/3. Concentrate on teh classes the rest of your section hates and aim for the A in those. When students hate the teacher, they tend to put in less effort, so those are easy picking for A's.

[coquita]

Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests. I got a 4.3 in the classes i took 4+ practice tests in and mu midterm grades where i only took 1-2 practice tests were B's. I'm actually worried b/c i have only taken on practice this semester [a 10% midterm]  but I did well on that. Schedule time during the reading period to take them so you get into the "groove" of writing for 2-3 hours.

[mirror]

Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests. I got a 4.3 in the classes i took 4+ practice tests in and mu midterm grades where i only took 1-2 practice tests were B's. I'm actually worried b/c i have only taken on practice this semester [a 10% midterm]  but I did well on that. Schedule time during the reading period to take them so you get into the "groove" of writing for 2-3 hours.

I don't have a single class this semester that has 4 pratice tests on file.  1 class has zero.  The rest have 1

[Flashman]

I concur on the practice tests.  Most of the commercial outlines have practice essay questions or multiple choice.  The more you practice writing short answers to these kinds of questions, the easier it is to spot those issues on the exam.  Another way is to change the fact patterns on some of the cases you've read and write a short answer as to how the court would rule.  I've seen an awful lot of exam questions that are very similar to the cases we covered with slight but significant changes to the fact pattern. Do a couple a day, and 15 to 20 a week, and save your answers as you get closer to the end of the term to look over to see if they help while you study.

I found that the act of writing out the black letter law in my answers earlier in the term helped me recall it later on the exam, especially if it was law that showed up on more than one practice question.

[rhapsody]

I found that the act of writing out the black letter law in my answers earlier in the term helped me recall it later on the exam, especially if it was law that showed up on more than one practice question.

Second that.

[Weezer1223]

Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests. I got a 4.3 in the classes i took 4+ practice tests in and mu midterm grades where i only took 1-2 practice tests were B's. I'm actually worried b/c i have only taken on practice this semester [a 10% midterm]  but I did well on that. Schedule time during the reading period to take them so you get into the "groove" of writing for 2-3 hours.

I don't have a single class this semester that has 4 pratice tests on file.  1 class has zero.  The rest have 1

If you're class doesn't have practice tests on file, look at other teachers' tests. Many schools have their exam bank online and it's accessible to anybody.

My property teacher didn't have any practice tests on file because the guy is new. So I did some other teacher's practice test. Come test day, my professor used the exact same test question as the other property teacher. Because I had already done it, I rocked its socks off.

[Gwiz]

Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests. I got a 4.3 in the classes i took 4+ practice tests in and mu midterm grades where i only took 1-2 practice tests were B's. I'm actually worried b/c i have only taken on practice this semester [a 10% midterm]  but I did well on that. Schedule time during the reading period to take them so you get into the "groove" of writing for 2-3 hours.

I don't have a single class this semester that has 4 pratice tests on file.  1 class has zero.  The rest have 1

If you're class doesn't have practice tests on file, look at other teachers' tests. Many schools have their exam bank online and it's accessible to anybody.

My property teacher didn't have any practice tests on file because the guy is new. So I did some other teacher's practice test. Come test day, my professor used the exact same test question as the other property teacher. Because I had already done it, I rocked its socks off.

Nice.