1. Dr. Amy L. Jarmon, Texas Tech University School of Law LSAC ATTW Denver 2012

2.  Recent statistics on law school applicants  Grades in colleges and universities  Time management and study skills  Generational differences  Other characteristics

3.  Drop in law school applications  Applicants with the highest LSAT scores have decreased  The meaning of the undergraduate GPA varies with school and major  Expectation that trend will continue for the near future

4.  Rojstaczer and Healy: Where A is Ordinary: The Evolution of American College and University Grading, 1940-2009, Teachers College Record, 2012.  Data from 135 schools with 1.5 million students enrolled  On average, A’s represent 43% of all letter grades  An increase of 28% since 1960  An increase of 12% since 1988  On average, B’s represent 34% of all letter grades  Less than 10% of grades are D’s or F’s  Private schools give more A’s and B’s than public schools

5.  National Survey of Student Engagement 2011  Hours spent by seniors preparing for class ranged 14-19 hours per week; average was 15 hours  Of those who spent more than 20 hours per week, 14-22% said they often or very often went to class without completing assignments

6.  Law School Survey of Student Engagement 2012  On average, 17 hours per week reading and 10 hours per week on other preparation  For 1L students, 21 hours per week reading and 11 hours per week on other preparation  For 2L students, 17 hours per week reading and 10 hours per week on other preparation  For 3L students, 13 hours per week reading and 9 hours per week on other preparation  7.3% of 1L students came to class unprepared often or very often; 15.6% 2L students; 22.4% 3L students

7.  Howe and Strauss characteristics versus other researchers on Millennials  Special vs. narcissistic  Sheltered vs. dependent  Confident vs. extended adolescence  Team-Oriented vs. social networked  Conventional  Achieving vs. anxious trophy kid

8.  Diversity of law students  Variety of disabilities  Outside issues  Financial  Medical  Family  Personal

9.  Reading assignments are long and dense.  Cases need to be understood and not just read.  Professors expect students to prepare the basics so they can expand beyond those basics in class.  Many professors use the Socratic Method.  Outlines are needed to condense material for exam success.

10.  Students need to apply the material and not just memorize it.  Students need to complete practice questions in order to do well on exams.  There will be only one grade for most courses.  Students cannot cram for exams and do well.  Students need to study smarter not harder to live up to their academic potential.

11.  Memory

12.  We forget 80% of what we learn within 2 weeks if we do not review regularly.

13.  Working memory – a messy desktop  Cram and dump  Test and forget  Long-term memory – a filing cabinet  Retention for the bar exam  Retention for practice

14.  Ask lots of questions when reading  Switch up the facts of cases to apply the rules  Answer questions silently in their heads in class  Discuss material with other students  Possibly do charts, mind maps, or other visuals  Ask questions of the professors, tutors, TF’s  Complete lots of practice questions  Get feedback on outlines and practice questions

15.  Cover-to-cover outline review  Intense review of an outline “slice”  Memory drills  Practice questions  Study aids – optional

16.  Time Management

17.  Plan to study 50 – 55 hours per week outside of class to get As and Bs consistently  Each week complete the following tasks:  Reading and briefing cases  Reviewing before class  Reviewing class notes within 24 hours  Adding to course outlines  Reviewing course outlines  Completing practice questions  Working on Legal Practice assignments  Other study tasks: flashcards, graphic organizers, study group, tutor sessions

18.  Reading and briefing cases  Time will vary for each course  Time will lessen as you become more efficient and effective  Review before class – spend ½ hour per course  Review of class notes – spend 20 minutes per course  Fill in gaps  Note questions that you have  Condense in preparation for outlining

19.  Outlines for each course  Time will vary for each course  1Ls will need to wait 2-3 weeks to start outlines  Add weekly to each outline  Review each outline every week throughout the semester  Complete practice questions at the end of each topic or subtopic review  Begin LP assignments as soon as received

20.  Add repeating items first:  Classes  Tutoring  Review before class  Getting up during the weekdays  Bed time  Church, workout, dinner with grandma, etc.  Obvious meal times  Other commitments

21.  Saturday for Monday classes  Sunday for Tuesday classes  Monday for Wednesday classes  Tuesday for Thursday classes  Wednesday for Friday classes  Do not get more than 40 pages ahead of the professor if class slows down  If a professor only gives reading assignments the day before, then read one day before in that class

22.  You will read for understanding if you are not hurried.  You will start out the week with 2 days of reading already completed.  You will open up Thursday and Friday for other tasks: LP assignments, adding to outlines, outline review, practice questions, etc.  You will have free time without guilt because you will have completed all of your tasks.

23.  Procrastination

24.  Perfectionist  Overdoer  Crisis-Maker  Worrier  Dreamer  Defier

25.  Learning Styles

26.  Absorption:  Verbal  Visual  Aural/Oral  Kinesthetic/Tactile  Processing:  Global  Sequential  Intuitive  Sensing

27.  Evaluate study habits for the good, bad, and ugly at the end of each semester.  Review exams with the professors for any course with a grade below a B.  Patterns for multiple-choice exams  Patterns for fact-pattern essay exams  Review legal practice work with the professor for any grade below a B.