university life is tricky but it would be too tricky if you know some hacks ;)
1) to get a deans list is HARD, yes it is. to be eligible for it, you will need GPA of 3.5 at the least. which means you have to refrain from getting any Cs. well, that is not new. but you know what else could help you get those GPA? apart from studying well, of course. yeap it is choosing the right lecturer. studying hard and smart is important, sure. but who your lecturers are, is very crucial. you need to butter up some seniors and have them tell you which lecturer is generous when it comes to marking. not all lecturer who is fun and nice is generous at giving marks. don't let all the laughter during their lectures trick you. so, when you go and ask around asking for suggestions of which lecturers you should choose, make sure you ask your seniors, "who is lenient in marking?" and not "who is nice and fun". i once had the most entertaining lecturer, his class was always laughter and sunshine, until he gave very low carry marks... nah... not sunshine anymore.
2) I should probably talk about this first, but in case you don't know, you can choose your class and your lecturer, which means you can curate your own schedule. yep, you can avoid 8am classes or you can even make sure you will have no class on Friday so you will have a longer weekend. it's possible BUT, this is what i regretted the most. I was so obsessed with curating my dream timetable, no AM classes and 2 off-days, that i did not think about the lecturers. if you care about your marks and you are a mediocre student, i would suggest you to scramble for classes with lenient lecturers. but the challenge is, you don't know which lecturer is teaching which class. here, you gotta butter up your seniors to identify which class that certain lecturer usually teach or better yet, go and ask directly from the lecturer. usually, they know which class they are teaching and they would tell you.
3) here comes the third tip. IF you reached the dead end and no one knows what lecturers teach which class, just go for middle group. because the general rule is, Group ABC is usually taught by senior lecturers. sometimes, these lecturers are good, because, well they are the senior or resource person BUT that would also mean they are strict in marking. because it is their niche you know. but sometimes because they so well versed in the subject they know what they are doing, making their classes fun. so... flip the coins. for me personally,, don't risk it and just go for Group DEF because usually it's the younger lecturers which also means they are less stricter. in my humble opinion, it's those in kelas belakang that usually gets higher marks.
but if its Sir JC's class, by all might, do fight for his class. you definitely won't regret it.
4) if you have a friend from another class and you're studying together, try not to get too influenced by your friend's answer structure. law is such a subjective subject and i tell you, unless you are some genius, the only way to excel in your classes is by following your specific lecturer's method of answering. yes, this means, if you have five different subjects that semester, make sure you know all five lecturer's preferred methods of answering. it really depends on the lecturers. certain lecturer would want you to keep it short and concise. certain lecturer would want you to make your EXTRA research and expect 15 pages long essay from you. one thing for sure, in degree, no one uses ILAC anymore. use it as your basic, that's fine, but throw the idea of ILAC out the window right away. there is so many more techniques to answer your law essays. my personal favourite would be ILALALAC but if you have more room to write, you may use IFLA. (comment if you want us to write more on this!) one thing for sure, they would want your answer to be based on their slides. even if that lecturer wants you to do extra research, whatever they wrote in their slide, MUST be there. bonus point if you could quote what they said in the class. so even if you are verryy smart and loves to read off the textbook, make sure you add one or two sentences from their slides. kinda show them that you paid attention in their classes. so, even if it's for the same subject, my advice is to discuss your answer with someone from the same class.
5) page limit. do you always have to abide by that? well, that depends on the lecturer. usually, lecturers aren't very particular about that. they just want to make sure you are not spewing nonsense and just copy and paste from the textbook. if you really have a valid point, then usually it is okay to exceed a bit. let's say they limit it to 2500 words, then writing up to 3000 words is usually fine. if they put a 6 pages limit, then your 8 pages answer should be acceptable UNLESS you got someone who is very particular about it. you would know who i am talking about.
p/s: but do note that this is just 'what usually is' and is not definite. this is purely based on my experience during my studies in 2018-2021.
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