Academic Success

As a first-year student at Cincinnati Law, you are always welcome to schedule individual meetings with the Assistant Dean and/or Director for Academic Success and Bar Programs. We are here to help with everything from creating a study schedule, to class preparation and outlining, to exam preparation and anything else you may need. In addition, you are invited to participate in the 1L Fellow Program as well as 1L Success Workshops.

The 1L Fellow Program is led by trained second- and third-year law students (“1L Fellows”), each of whom is paired with a 1L faculty member and 1L cohort. Starting the third week of the semester, your cohort will have a weekly meeting with your 1L Fellow to assist you in developing legal skills by walking through professor-provided practice from one of the 1L courses. Though such practice is connected to one doctrinal course, the legal skills you develop will be useful in all of your first-year courses.

The 1L Success Workshops, which are led by the Assistant Dean and/or Director for Academic Success and Bar Programs, may be offered on specified dates throughout the year. These workshops work collaboratively with the 1L Fellow Program and provide additional support throughout your first year.

Second- and third-year students who want to enhance their academic performance can also schedule individual meetings with Cincinnati Law’s Assistant Dean and/or Director for Academic Success and Bar Programs. These meetings can be used to help students identify potential areas of academic improvement, provide strategies to enhance exam performance, and/or lend guidance regarding course selection(s).

Every spring semester, Cincinnati Law offers a course specifically for third-year students preparing to take the bar exam.

This course focuses on ensuring students’ readiness for post-graduation bar exam preparation. Students will receive instruction, practice, and strategies for the UBE, but the skills will translate to state-specific bar exams as well. Students will practice these skills using previously administered essays from the MEE and MPTs and will receive detailed, personalized feedback. Students will also practice MBE-style questions throughout the semester. Although students will review some core legal concepts, the focus of this course will be on practicing and developing the skills necessary to pass a bar examination and enter the legal profession.

Note that this course is not intended to be a substitute for a commercial bar review course taken after graduation. A commercial bar review course reviews core concepts learned throughout law school as well as legal concepts not studied in law school and/or required by specific jurisdictions. Students should familiarize themselves with the bar exam requirements for the state in which they plan to take the exam.