Top 3 Things I've Learned About First Semester Finals

1. Learn to Type: Haha, real funny.  Good joke.  I've been typing since I was 10 years old.  My cousin is 3 years old and can type on an iPhone faster than my father can.  Surely this can't be a problem in law school.  Well, it is.  Nothing is more sad than seeing someone hunt and peck with their index fingers while they are typing on their laptop.  That's cute, good luck on finals buddy.  The gunner at the front of class types 120 words per minute in her sleep and does not make mistakes.  You can barely get through the Issue sentence of IRAC before she has fully analyzed, concluded, and moved on.  This will be an issue for you if you cannot type more than 50 words per minute with some semblance of accuracy.  In the summer before law school you should be shoring up your typing skills rather than shoring up your beach body.  One of them will get you extra bump on finals, and one will not.  Sorry Ladies (and Suave Gentlemen), Law School Finals are graded anonymously!
2. Start Outlining Early:  Take one hour each Friday to summarize the week's notes from your classes.  This is not hard and you need to do it.  Nothing is more stressful than trying to finish your outline before finals AND learn the material at the same time.  Everyone told me this: 2Ls, 3Ls, Academic Success Workshops.  I kept up on some classes and I let other classes slack.  This was a mistake!  I walked out of my finals feeling like I could have failed, or I could have aced it - but I had no idea and still have no idea where I might have come out.  Don't let this be you.  If you aren't an "outliner", then start memorizing your rule definitions early on and practicing them so that when you are learning the nitty gritty details of the class in December you won't have to memorize the definition of battery.  Hopefully it will be second nature by then and you've typed it 500 times.
3. Buy Supplements and READ THEM:  All students who competed Civ Pro know our best friend Glannon by now.  You know - the tall, dark, and handsome lad who mysteriously lurked about the back of the classroom all semester (but you didn’t really bother to introduce yourself until December 4th).   I had literally no idea what was going on in Civ Pro when Thanksgiving rolled around.  I had kept up with (some) reading and paid attention in class, but there are so many cases that were out of date by the final that I was scrambling to separate the pre-1900 legislation that didn't matter anymore from the precedent established later on that is now law.  Read the supplements as best you can throughout the semester to get a better handle on the material as you are going through it, otherwise you will be helplessly lost come December.  They also come with multiple choice questions that will knock your socks off.  Got Glannon?  You better.