Welcome to LearnLawBetter, where today we are going to discuss what steps you should
take after your final exam.
Most students fail to do anything, which is why they don’t get better grades.
Hi, this is Beau Baez, and today I want to encourage you to take action after your final
exam so that you can earn higher grades.
Specifically, go talk to your professor.
Professors make technical mistakes, like math errors on the score sheets, typing
the incorrect grade into the system, or transposing exam numbers.
Okay, its confession time.
I’ve made each of these mistakes and I know many other professors that have made them as well.
The only reason these grades were corrected is because students came to talk to me after
the exam, and we discovered the error during our meeting.
The worst mistake I ever made involved transposing two exam numbers.
As you know, law professors receive the exam with the blind grading numbers on them.
One time, I had two exams that were very close to each other. The numbers were very close.
Because they were so close to each other, I ended up posting the wrong grade into the
system.
When the student came by to talk to me, she told me that the “C”that she got in my class was the
worst grade she received that semester.
As I began to review her exam I found my mistake.
She moved from a “C” to an “A.” Great news for her. I then had to call the other student and tell
him the bad news.
So if for no other reason, go see your professor in case there is a technical error with
your grade—it’s more common than you think.
The second reason to go see your professor is to get feedback from the exam.
After all, how will you learn from your mistakes if you don’t know what you did wrong.
Most students believe that their grades are directly correlated with how well they knew
that material—that's a fallacy.
In talking to students after exams, the main reason that they did not do better is because
they did not know how to write an exam.
In fact, I’ve told many students that they would have earned an “A” if I gave oral
exams, like they do in some parts of Europe.
Now when you meet with your professor, make it clear that you are there to learn from your
mistakes and to improve.
Don’t be belligerent or defensive, and accept what the professor says at face value.
Also, keep in mind that most law schools have policies prohibiting professors from changing
grades except for technical errors. Keep in mind that's because of the anonymous grading policy.
There were times when I was reviewing an exam with a student and I realized I should
have done things differently. I should have given one issue more points and then on another exam I realized that I should have given fewer points.
But at that point its too late.
The exam is over and the professor can't make those changes.
As you get feedback, take notes on what your professor says.
If something the professor says doesn’t make sense ask for clarification.
A great question to ask is “what could I have done differently to earn more points
on this issue?”
Many professors will then give you examples, while some may brush it aside, especially if they
realize they made an error and now they can’t make the correction.
Make sure to listen to my next episode, where I will tell you what to do
with the feedback.
If you have any questions or would like me to answer a question on a topic that you want me to talk about,
please leave a comment below.
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Thank you for watching.