In many law schools, a majority of people take notes and their exams with laptops, but there are always those who refuse to "buy" into the technology. In reality, statistics show that those who use their laptops to take notes and for taking notes score significantly higher. What is the reason? You can type faster than you can write, and you can revise, revise, revise on the fly.

Note Taking & Outlines

As you will find, half of law school is making your own outlines. Some hand writers prefer to do their outlines at home, though the redundancy of recopying your notes may be beneficial in retention, the reality is that you are putting yourself in a huge disadvantage. Even if you are not the fastest typer or a computer guru, you will be able to organize your notes and outlines much easier. Law school classes are heavily cumulative and do not come to you in a perfect order. You must be able to go back and revise a rule or quickly write down a "squib" for a case.

Test Taking

Many schools allow you to take your exams through your computer, as well as many state bars. Those who use computers show a significant advantage when taking essay tests. A person typing will almost always be able to write more and with greater ease in a 3-hour exam than it would for a hand writer. Some law schools even allow the exam software to do a spell check, a misspelling would be a huge faux pas you would be smart to avoid. Oragnization, once again comes into play, since it is the most common problem for new law students. Putting proper headers with bold or underline type will truly focus the grader in an otherwise disorganized exam.

Cost of Laptop

Most financial aid includes the cost of a laptop in their school budget. You will want to purchase a laptop significantly before school starts in order to familiarize yourself with the computer.

Purchase Laptop