I’m a law student and right now it’s 12 days till my 6 exams begin, most of which are worth 75% of the whole year. There’s a lot of pressure floating around my law school right now, and everyone talks about how terribly behind they are, while secretly frantically hurrying to get everything done early, and not being nearly as behind as they claim to be.
So I’m dozing the other morning, trying to put off getting up and starting a long day of studying.
I had a dream that I was writing my torts exam and breezed through it - handed it in, came out feeling great, and left school feeling like a million bucks. I went out and got into my car with my parents (wierdly - they don’t even live in this city) and they were driving me someplace when the realization hit me - *I didn’t finish the whole exam - * I had only written the first of three questions, hence the reason I thought it was so easy.
Don’t know how this struck me after the exam was over, but it’s a dream, so it doesn’t have to make sense.
Anyway, so I of course go zooming back to school, and rushed back into the exam to ask if I could have another chance. My prof’s response? A booming “You FAILED torts.”
Gahhhh!!
I knew then that exams must be looming large for me to actually dream about them.
Anyone else sensing the increasing stress levels coming up to the April exam period?
No exams this semester (of my own, anyway - I’ll have plenty to grade) but I have two research papers due by mid-May, along with a draft of the first section of my thesis. I’m drowning in books!
Emeria, that number of exams sounds like you’re a 1L. I found that time difficult myself. Good luck!
This semester, I’ve only three nicely-spaced exams. On the other hand, I do have a couple of papers due next week. One’s done, and the other should be done in a few days. Not nearly as stressful as all the exams at the end of my 1L year, but still challenging.
Do you know the common wisdom maxim about law school? “In first year, they scare you to death; in second year, they work you to death; and in third year, they bore you to death.” I’m looking forward to being bored next year.
Exams, what are those? Hahaha…of course, I shouldn’t laugh too much because I am in architecture and I am about to get loaded down with projects so I guess the world has a way of balancing things out. Good luck all!
Thanks - I am a 1L. Nice to hear from someone who’s survived it! I know I’m going to get through it, I think it’s more stressful than actually impossible. Trying to avoid the law library as much as possible all the same, though.
It’s a rite of passage, much like Your First Memo and Your First-Year Midterm Exams and Your First Factum and Your First Moot. Law school, I’m finding, is built on rites of passage. Upper years commiserate, but they certainly don’t want you to get away with not doing what they had to. But you can get through it. They did; so will you.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t spend a lot of time with my colleagues at about this time of my 1L. I preferred to study on my own, and stayed far away from the law library, and from colleagues who were panicking. I managed just fine. I’m sure you will too.
Just because I’m interested–and you need not answer if you do not want to–what school are you attending?
We’re on a quarter system so no exams for awhile, but I do have a completed draft of my thesis due next Monday. I’ve been actively avoiding it for most of this week but I should probaby face the bastard today. Just as soon as I’ve finished having this cuppa tea…
No exams this semester, and only 3 more papers that I know of, 2 short ones and a medium-length by May (one teacher is a bit of a loose cannon, so I might get assigned another, but I’ll deal). The big stress is my commencement exhibition- every graduating senior in the school all in one big show that fills the campus, and I’m apparently getting one of the coveted ‘public gallery’ slots (ground level in the spaces that are galleries year round, as opposed to classrooms with new wall configurations, which are nice, but without the easy accessibility of where I will be). This is great, but I need to finish a set of 12 etchings, a box set of handmade puppets, 400 finger puppet kits to give away and 2 artist’s books that are created, as in the content is finalized, but they still need to be printed and assembled…
I’m slightly freaking out, since I came down with major senioritis (hate that term, but oh so apt) for the first few weeks of the semester, then I worked hard for a bit, but then I went with my boyfriend to visit his family over spring break (had to, I missed Christmas at their house for the first time in 7 years and needed to make it up, schoolwork be damned), then I got sick for a week, then I got a terrible crick in my neck… and the upshot is I only really buckled down to work on my stuff for the show 10 days ago, and I have a month to finish it (pant, pant, pant).
If I can just get the one book and the etching plates done this weekend as well as one of the papers, I’ll be back on track. I really just need to quit Doping so much!
ETA: Graduation is May 14th, the show goes up on the 9th I think. EEK!
I have one final on May 7. In statistics. I’m doing horribly so far, and I’m dreading my test coming Monday. I’m also one exam in arrears (I opted for a make-up exam, as I was out the week of review for that one). So, I’ve got a C- for my first exam, I still have to take my second exam, I’m (supposed to be) studying for my third exam right now, and my final is in four weeks. I think I’m starting to hyperventilate.
My International Management class doesn’t require a final exam. No tests in that class, actually - just 2 or 3 written pages per week answering chapter review questions and case studies. There’s a final paper due the end of this month, but I’ll be able to practically write it in my speel. No worries there.
I don’t have finals until mid-June. And two out of three are take-home papers. Neener neener!
Husband’s just about starting his reading period though, he’ll be doing finals a month before me. It’s nice having an offset schedule, that way we’re not both stressed out at the same time.
For all intents and purposes, I’ve got only two finals: One in Law and the Media, which is about our semester project; and Broadcast Performance. Lord knows what that’s going to be about since we’ve already been tested on the whole book, and the remainder of the course has been a semester project.
I do have to have my professional project (similar to a thesis, only I don’t get credit for a thesis) in sometime this week. And I have to write a five-minute speech for the hooding ceremony in May.
I’m doing my final two law subjects this semester. Exams aren’t until the end of the semester in June, and in any case both of my subjects have take-home exams this time round.
(oh, and most of mine are 100% of the final grade).