This may be due to a generational shift, and a resulting reliance on technology. Other than your parents, how many people do you know who still write letters, checks, or thank you notes? Instead, most of us communicate with our phones — not actually talking on them.
We text, email, and use social media sources on our phones. What if you are one of the few who really wants to handwrite the bar exam? Everyone is telling you to reconsider, but should you? It depends. If this is something you want to do, first ask yourself some very serious questions:.
Is this an impulsive decision, or is this something you have thought about for some period of time? It requires a completely different mindset. If so, I would say that is the best reason to continue the practice with the bar exam. Now is not the time to change your approach. You barely have enough time to relearn all that material. You must also accept the fact you will never be able to attain the same word count your fellow bar takers will reach with a laptop.
Instead, you will have to be more dedicated to mastering test taking skills. Outlining and sticking to a time schedule during the exam will be crucial. Going into the exam with tight rule statements is a must. He told me that he writes faster than he types. An out of state attorney who recently hand-wrote the California Bar Exam told me that her typing is so poor it would have been a disaster if she had to use a laptop! I guess these are good reasons not to type! Despite the warnings to make sure you practice handwriting an essay just in case your computer crashes, does anyone really expect that to happen?
I admit, I never practiced handwriting an essay, although if I had to do it, I could manage, but the results would not be pretty! Luckily my sessions of essays and performance tests were free of computer malfunctions. I came to the exam juggling a bunch of equipment in my arms: laptop, USB keyboard and mouse because my laptop keyboard is awful to type on and I hate track pads , mouse pad yes it is allowed and my little square analog clock measuring less than 4 x 4 inches.
I felt comfortable and at ease using the same equipment I had been practicing writing essays on for the months before the actual exam. As you get closer to the bar exam time frame, if you are a laptop writer you will need to download ExamSoft, the software that blocks off all internet connections and access to your hard-drive data. Check out some tips here on how to make ExamSoft work better for you. I particularly liked using the timer feature which I found to be even better than my little clock because it was right there on my screen.
At the start of each essay I would set the timer to 15 minutes for my outline and then 45 minutes for writing the essay and I watched that timer continuously. Hand writing forces you into these good habits. Even if you live in a state that allows laptop use during bar exams, and even if your laptop is brand new, any number of circumstances could put you in a position where your grade depends upon hand writing an exam.
Additionally, as an added bonus, hand writing could also improve your writing skills. In order to be best prepared for your future exams, you should at least practice hand writing essays, if not begin hand writing all of your essays.
Hand-Write Your Exam Essays. There are a lot of decisions to make during the first year of law school, including whether to hand-write your exam essays or utilize your laptop. Computer Failure The most obvious reason to hand write your law school essays is because there is a high probability that failing technology will force you to do so at some point during your law school career, or even during the bar exam; and you need to be prepared for this "tragedy".
Computer Restrictions During Bar Exams Using your laptop during the bar exam is a privilege, and not a right. Build Better Writing Habits Aside from being a technological "failsafe", hand writing essays also enforces better writing habits, which can help earn you better scores on your exams. Hand Writing Is Not a Handicap Many people believe that typing essay answers is better than hand writing answers because they believe typing is faster and because exam software allows you to go back and edit your answer.
To Conclude: Even if you live in a state that allows laptop use during bar exams, and even if your laptop is brand new, any number of circumstances could put you in a position where your grade depends upon hand writing an exam.
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