On Your Radar

By Nirvi Shah

Here are a few suggestions of some of the things that should be on your radar as exams and winter break draw near.

For the scared 1Ls: Yes, your first exam period in law school is intimidating. Fortunately, everyone else in your class feels exactly the same way. Here are my personal recommendations to help you better prepare for exams.

Blond’s Law Guides
- These books include case clips, EasyFlow Charts, outlines, and mnemonics to help organize students’ notes and learn the information.
- From my personal experience, the series covers most of the cases you study in class.
Examples & Explanations (E&E)
- This series provides summaries of legal concepts, hypotheticals to practice each concept, and example answers to help students understand the content for which professors are looking.
GSU Law Library Exam Archive
- https://insidelaw.gsu.edu/exam-archive/
- After you feel comfortable answering the shorter hypos in an E&E, the Exam Archive has previous exams of many GSU Law professors.

For the overworked 2Ls: You’re over the first year hump, but many of you are now trying to fight off anxiety of finding an internship position for the summer. Here are some tools to help you throughout the job application process.

Refine your resume by looking at these examples
- GSU College of Law
  - https://insidelaw.gsu.edu/document/cso_handout_formattingresume/
- Harvard Law School:
  - http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/careers/opia/toolkit/resumes/sample-resumes.html
- Cornell University Law School
  - http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/careers/students/ResumesAndAppMaterials/resume.cfm
    - Take particular note of the action verbs chart in the middle of the page
The following links will provide guidance on how to compose cover letters – the most tedious of all job application documents.
- GSU College of Law
  - https://insidelaw.gsu.edu/document/cso_handout_coverletter/
- Harvard Law School
  - http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/careers/opia/toolkit/cover-letters/landing-page.html
- For some light reading when you’re not studying for exams, here is CSO’s handbook on interviewing:
  - GSU College of Law
    - https://insidelaw.gsu.edu/document/cso_interviewhandbook/

For the “bored” 3Ls: Due to the old law school adage, “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,” many 3Ls believed the third year would be their easiest year in law school. I know plenty of peers who disagree with that notion. While classes maybe easier to prepare for, there are many peripheral tasks to complete, specifically the bar exam application.

The first part of the bar exam application, the Application for Certification of Fitness to Practice Law, opened on October 20, 2014 and is due on December 3, 2014 (if you don’t want to pay a late fee). The second part, the Bar Examination Application, will open on March 5, 2015 and is due, without a late fee, on June 3, 2015.
- Georgia Bar deadlines and fees
  - https://www.gabaradmissions.org/deadlines-and-fees
- Register and apply for Georgia Bar Exam
  - https://www.gabaradmissions.org/home
Additionally, March 23, 2015 is the last time to take the MPRE before the July 2015 Bar Exam. Registration for the MPRE begins December 15, 2014.
- Here is the link to sign up and register for the MPRE:
  - http://www.ncbex.org/about-ncbe-exams/mpre/test-dates-deadlines-and-fees/
Finally, as graduation nears for students, the Registrar’s Office has put together a graduation checklist to ensure students have fulfilled all requirements to graduate on time:
- https://insidelaw.gsu.edu/registrars-office/