Making the Most Out of Your Law School Experience: A Summary of Practical Tips Shared in our First Webinar
Yaayy!!
We finally held our first event on Saturday, May 8, 2021. The webinar on the theme “Making the Most Out of Your Law School Experience” was attended by about 115 law students across Ghana.
The session was moderated by Jeffrey Osei-Mensah, together with our panellists, all of whom are young lawyers with practical experience about the webinar’s theme and a zeal to positively impact the choices of law students. We were fortunate to have Yorm Ama Abledu ( a lecturer at UPSA Law School), Maame Efua Addadzi-Koom ( a lecturer at KNUST Faculty of Law), and Nicholas Lenin Anane Agyei on the panel.
We found the event engaging and useful; we hope you did too. For those who were unable to attend, we have summarised below the useful tips and nuggets of wisdom that were shared by our panellists. For law students planning on sitting the Ghana School of Law Entrance Exam this August, we have a special section for you. Keep reading on.
Getting Good Grades
Contrary to what you may have been told, grades do matter! Our panellists - Maame Efua and Yorm, shared that one of the best ways of positioning yourself to get good grades is to attend class and listen to the lecturers. The lecturers are the ones setting and marking the exam questions anyway. In this regard, they determine the grades you get.
Know yourself! – Our panellists could not stress this point enough. Don’t follow what everyone else is doing. Figure out what works best for you – is it studying at night, dawn, daytime, in the library, etc.? Are you a note taker or do you do best with just listening to cases and principles being discussed? Do you have the bandwidth to pull all-nighters or study for 8 hours straight? Know yourself, both as a person and as a student.
Join a study group if it works for you. Again, know yourself and be strategic.
Solve a lot of past questions and do a lot of practice tests. In doing so, don’t just read the questions - make a mental note of the areas of law, possible issues arising and a few principles and cases you think relate to the question. It was suggested that you actually write out the answer to the question. Some lecturers and teaching assistants may be willing to actually review your answers for you and give you helpful feedback. Only then can you assess how ready you are for the main event – the mid-semester or end-of-semester exam.
In solving past questions, it is key to start from the most recent past questions and work your way backwards. Your current lecturer or examiner is most likely the one who set the most recent past questions in that course.
Mistakes Students Keep Making in Exams
Our lecturers on the panel – Maame Efua and Yorm – also indicated that, in their experience, one of the key mistakes that students make in the exam hall is not taking time to understand the requirements of the question.
Another mistake is not knowing the style that a particular lecturer prefers. Some lecturers prefer you to follow a specific format in answering their questions, some prefer you cite a lot of cases and authorities, whilst other lecturers would rather you demonstrate your understanding of the principles beside merely regurgitating the facts and holding of a case. In all cases, listen to the lecturer. Cue the first tip to getting good grades, attend class!
Many students also do not solve past questions or do any practice tests. They keep studying and cramming principles and cases. It is definitely not prudent if the first time you are solving questions in relation to what you have studied is in the exam hall when you have 50 or 70 marks at stake.
Combining Extracurriculars with your Law Studies
The stereotypical law student is seen as bookish, antisocial, and all the other character traits associated with nerdiness.. This is absolutely not true! There are many opportunities on campus for law students to socialise and engage in extracurricular activities – from sports and debating to student leadership and mooting (no, that’s still not nerdy!). You can even choose to volunteer with a nonprofit like Lex Evolve! You just have to be able to put your priorities and values in order.
In this light, one of our panellists (Lenin) suggested that you know who you are and what you want to achieve by the end of your studies. Have a mental picture of what you want your CV to look like at the end of your stay on campus. Keep in mind that the degree classification – First Class, Second Class upper, etc. – is just going to be a single line on your CV. How do you want prospective employers and graduate admissions offices to see you when they look at your CV?
Extracurriculars make you stand out; they show that you have acquired other practical skills such as leadership, teamwork, etc. – in addition to the technical knowledge of your law course. Invest and pursue your passions, just as much as you pursue your law studies.
But keep in mind that, like almost everything you spend your time on, extracurriculars come with an opportunity cost. You are going to have to make sacrifices if you want to get the best of both your law studies and extracurricular activities. To lessen this impact, it was suggested that you get a solid circle of friends or coursemates in your study group – if you figure a study group works for you. They will keep you grounded and can most likely be the support system we all need every so often.
A Practical-Though-Not-Foolproof Guide to the Entrance Exam
In recent years, the Entrance Exam into the Ghana School of Law has become the first River Jordan law students have to cross in order to start the professional aspect of their law studies. Our moderator and panellists, all of whom have crossed this hurdle in the past, shared their experiences and tips on how they approached the entrance exam.
Make sure you are mentally prepared first (remember, know yourself!). If you find that you are not, it’s absolutely okay to take a gap year to gather yourself, find your values and realign your plans. The entrance exam and, if you pass, the Professional Law Course at the Ghana School of Law, can be very overwhelming. You have to be in the right frame of mind to successfully thrive.
If you choose to proceed with the exam, keep in mind that you can’t cover every topic and be 100% ready. Currently, the exam focuses on at least 5 core law courses from your undergraduate studies. Know your strengths and strategise accordingly. Pick and choose your fights – are you best at objectives or essay/problem questions? Are you better in certain courses over others? Figure those out.
If you are a religious person, prayer and submission to God or a higher power is crucial. Passing the entrance exam can sometimes be sheer grace. There are testimonies of people who have no idea how they passed the entrance exam, having “bombed” the paper or cited wrong cases in their answers.
A little advice to those who have two or more years left until the completion of their undergraduate studies: Put in your maximum best in your studies and coursework. Always keep in mind that you are preparing for the entrance exam that you will eventually have to sit for in future. Do not wait till you are in your final year before you start prepping for the entrance exam. You will need a lot of that residual knowledge from your LLB degree. And whatever you do, don’t throw away your notes. They will come in handy during revision.
Opting for Grad School: in Pursuit of the LLM
Though not necessarily within the focus of the webinar’s theme, our panellists also considered the idea of students pursuing graduate school and applying for a master’s degree (usually an LLM).
For students interested in exploring this option, it was suggested that you first figure out why you want to pursue grad school in the first place, the course or area of law you intend to specialise in, and the kind of experiences you want to build during your grad school studies. These will inform your choice of school, country, and course specialisation, among others.
In order to be able to submit a strong application for grad school admission and funding, it was suggested that students keep in touch with your lecturers. They are more in tune with the recent developments in the law and can help guide your areas of focus.
Also, developing a closer relationship with your lecturers usually helps them to know your goals, strengths, and achievements. This makes for stronger academic references, which are extremely important for postgraduate admissions and funding. However, what our panellists have found is that many law students keep to themselves throughout their academic journeys on campus. Some do not even bother to ask or answer questions in class or engage the lecturer in any way. In the end, lecturers are forced to submit “template references'' that make non-specific statements about the student’s suitability for postgraduate studies. Some lecturers have, on occasion, flat out refused to write an academic reference for students they do not remember teaching. As a law student, stand out!
General Nuggets of Wisdom
In conclusion, our panellists shared the one thing they wished they knew or could change from their time when they were law students.
If possible, get a senior coursemate as a mentor. They will teach you the ropes in your faculty, the difficult topics to look out for, and the preferences of some lecturers. When starting out as a fresh law student, having a mentor can be of immense help but make sure you don’t get a mediocre or pessimistic senior coursemate as a mentor. If you are having difficulty reaching out to a senior coursemate, you can sign up for our Attorney-Student Mentorship programme here. We will do our best to pair you with a mentor.
In addition to getting a mentor, make use of your lecturers; they are there for you. You can reach out to them via email or even WhatsApp when you have challenges. Many will be willing to assist or direct you to the available resources.
My favourite nugget: Law is not only practised in the courtroom! There are so many other sectors of the Ghanaian economy that need lawyers. With the many contemporary trends that came with the turn of the century, the practice of law is being diversified so rapidly. Many niche areas of law are coming up. We need to get out of the conventional mindset that after our law studies, we are going to put on a wig and gown and go to court. Indeed, the major trends shaping the future of work indicate that the diversification of law practice is absolutely necessary. Find your niche!
Also, for many law students out there feeling overwhelmed, know that it’s okay to struggle initially. The love for law is usually built over time. It may look like your mates have it all together, but everybody is dealing with the stress and pressures in their own ways.
Overall, don’t be too hard on yourself! – Find an outlet to vent and de-stress from the pressures of your law studies occasionally. Whether it’s binge-watching Korean drama, reading a non-law book, listening to music, or letting your hair down on Friday night outings, do it and stay sane!
