Outlining- When To Start and What To Include

1)   Outline in a group- Get in a study group to outline. You will want to do the brunt of the work on your own with your own notes, but you’ll also need another set of eyes to see if you missed anything in your outline-cases, facts, theories, definitions, etc.

 

2)   Start early, but not too early. I knew people first year that outlined the entire semester. After each class they’d insert what they’d learned into outline form.   I felt like this approach didn’t allow the student to see the bigger picture of the coarse- how did this information fit it to everything else we had learn or would continue to learn? But I also knew students who started outlining first semester after classes had ended and finals were 4 or 5 days away- that was too late. I would recommend starting an outline after about a month and a half of school- during a fall or spring break if you get one. This allows you to concentrate on classes without worrying about outlining for the first few weeks, but also gives you a head start on the dreaded task. Do another round of outlining at Thanksgiving break or the week before finals during Spring semester, and then fill in the gaps after classes are over. This way your study time after classes end isn’t spent organizing notes- instead it is spent studying them.

 

3)   Don’t include every single note you’ve written for the past semester. This type of outline will be impossible to study from. Instead, organize the themes of the course, or major sections. Include important definitions and cases and their holdings- but you won’t need a 1-page summation of that case’s facts in your outline. Be concise- writing an outline with this idea in mind will require you to learn and study while your organizing your notes. What did the professor really focus on in this case? What facts of this case distinguished it from another? Which sections of the law did the professor quote almost every day? Asking yourself questions like these will help you make a great outline. For me, anything more than 15 pages was really difficult to study from. However, this is a personal preference, and it’d probably be best to talk to older students who have taken your exact course.

 

4)   Talk to older students. Ask students who have had your professor and taken that final. They will be a huge help to your outlining process. Did the professor focus on cases? Did that professor pick out quotes from the lecture? Understand what type of exam you’ll be taking-all essay or multiple essay questions? Knowing these kinds of facts will also streamline your process.