PREPPING UP YOUR MIND FOR THE BIG DAY (PART 3 OF 4)
Law school entrance exams are called aptitude exams precisely because they are designed to gauge your ability to survive the toughness of law school life. They do not seek to check your knowledge of legal principles or your understanding of codal provisions, although a fair understanding of legal concepts surely doesn't hurt. What they do check, however, are your reading, analytical, and writing skills -- indubitably the three skills that you can't live without as a law student.
Law school entrance exams are called aptitude exams precisely because they are designed to gauge your ability to survive the toughness of law school life. They do not seek to check your knowledge of legal principles or your understanding of codal provisions, although a fair understanding of legal concepts surely doesn't hurt. What they do check, however, are your reading, analytical, and writing skills -- indubitably the three skills that you can't live without as a law student.
So how exactly do you prepare for these sort of exams? Well, two things: one, by prepping up your mind; and two, by prepping up your body.
Those stories you hear of people who didn't prepare at all but still managed to pass? Either they're incredibly lucky or just incredibly smart. As a rule, however, you can't reasonably expect the same thing to happen to you, more so when you consider that you are actually competing against thousands of other applicants for very limited slots. You simply can't afford to be a slacker no matter how brainy you think you are.
BE A VORACIOUS READER
Here's a good and very useful tip: read, read, and read some more. If you are not in the habit of reading, it's about time you get yourself into it. As a law student you will probably spend a huge bulk of your waking hours buried deep in cases and codals. In other words, reading is going to be a way of life. As such, now is good a time as any to get yourself used to it.
Train your mind for this kind of exercise by reading editorials, commentaries, and analytical features in publications like BBC, Newsweek, Philippines Free Press, the New York Times, and Al-Jazeera. Plus points to you if you are a master at speed reading.
AVOID NEEDLESS FLUFF
Other usual parts of law school entrance exams include English grammar rules, vocabulary, logic, math, and general information. You can prepare for these sections by brushing up on your logic and philosophy classes in your college freshman year, as well as worded math problems. As far as general information goes, there's no way of telling which questions will pop up since this part of the exam is often the most random. Nonetheless, a certain degree of familiarity with pop culture and current events is going to be helpful.
Many, but not all, law schools also include an essay portion. Here, you are asked to expound on a question. The variety of questions range from the broad ("Explain the principle of the separation of the Church and State.") to the specific ("What is your opinion on the RH Bill?"). Normally you are given an hour or two to collect your thoughts and construct your essay. Note that what you should aim for is clarity so it is integral that you remain focused. Do not commit the legal blunder of inserting too much obiter, or unnecessary fluff. Go straight to the point and make sure to justify your assertions with convincing reasoning. And most of all, write legibly.
In all these, be conscious of the time limit, so learn to budget your time wisely. Do not dwell unnecessarily on questions you are having difficulty with. If unsure, skip the item and return to it later. Otherwise you can simply summon a wild but hopefully lucky guess; if there are four choices to choose from, you have a 25 percent of nailing the right answer.
But being mentally sharp on the day of the exam is just one half of the formula. The other half has something to do with your physical readiness.