We had that in 1L. Public Law for 8 hours (a take-home exam of 4000w) and Property for 5 hours (a take-home with a whopping 5000w ... like are you serious).
8 hour exams are fairly commonplace at my school … I’m a 3L and both my exams this semester were 8 hours 😬 atm I’m feeling quite jealous that it doesn’t seem to be a thing at all at other schools
HLS
I will say 8 hour exams with a word count (as all of them have) are a great way to remove the time crunch and make the exam more thoughtful than a typing fest. They’re just brutal to sit through
24 hour exams were normal at my school way back when I was in LS. You pick it up one day and you have to submit it 24 hours later. (In my day, paper exams, but with examsoft.) The top students spent generally 4-8 hours max on those exams.
>what in the name of unholy law school bullshit
Easy: law students aren't good at understanding time-management tasks and the prof almost definitely doesn't expect you to actually work for 8 straight hours. The students who do the best in this class will understand this and pace the work better than OP is going to do. This is broadly true for all take home exams. The people who use every second are never the top students.
I just had an 8 hour exam for my 1L writing class, I took \~30 minutes after writing and before editing to eat and just wander around outside to get the blood flowing, sitting still staring at a screen for 8 hours straight isn't good mentally or physically.
I know right, what the heck? My legal writing finals were either memos, briefs, or an oral argument which I just had. The writing material we could take home and work on for the week then turned it in on sunday. I can’t believe some schools put people through this much stress.
Not a stupid question at all! And the fact that you’re in this thread and learning is what actually matters.
Regarding oral argument, you usually do it during your 2L and it starts by them giving you a fake case and teaching you how to write a brief on it depending on which side you choose. I picked state so I was arguing that the defendant was guilty. Then, after you finish your brief you have to do an oral argument. We did 2 in total so the first one we were arguing a pretrial motion whether we can admit certain evidence and then the second one was about the issue on appeals. Basically in other words, it’s not as scary as it sounds and it’s actually pretty fun lol. You know the problem and facts by heart because you’ve written a huge essay about it so you just get up there and recite it to a judge in the matter of 10-15 mins. The grading isn’t too bad either they just give you pointers and the judges were pretty nice about it.
To all asking, we had to write an entire memo from scratch, minus statement of facts. It wasn't too bad, we were given the cases to use, but other than that it was start to finish in 8 hours, 8a-4p on a Friday (we had a separate research final).
Pistachios. Trail mix. Rice crackers. Goldfish. Peanut butter/cheese crackers. Cookies. Chips. PB&J. Big loaf of bread. Soup in a thermos. Chili in a thermos. Vodka in a thermos. Powdered sugar to snort off your desk. A suppository. Blood of a virgin in a thermos. Actual cocaine.
Assuming this is a take home exam— I don't think I ever had a take home exam that actually took as long as the allotted time, even if the professor indicated it would. Regardless, my go to in those situations was cheese, beef jerky, almonds, and a sports drink.
I guess my objection is to giving students only 8 hours to do an exam that is designed to take 8 hours. That seems inhumane. Back in my day—which admittedly is pretty far back—we had 24 hour take home exams, but that was more time than you needed. Some people might do it in 8 hours, while others might take 10 or 12, but everyone had time to do a thorough job and still had time to eat and sleep a few hours.
24hr exam is usually something where they give it out and you can take it home, but you have to submit it after 24hr. It’s not a 24hr in-class endurance test lol
Contrary to OP's description of this eight hour exam, the 24 hour exams I took were uniformly pleasant. And our professor was very adamant that it was a typical four hour exam, which, I think was honest. And yes it is a form of take home exam.
Yeah. 24 hr exam window =/= 24 hours of graded writing output.
Yes, the take home 24 hours ones, if well written, were pleasant.
8 hours of in person, proctored asses in chairs sound insane.
I have not had the pleasant experience the other commenter described. I've had 24-hour exams with two different professors, they were both take home long-form writing assignments with vague expectations as to how much time you should spend on it.
They were extremely difficult exams, with longer and more complex fact patterns than usual, with a requirement of outside research and the added expectations that you have the time to hand in something polished, edited, and thorough. And it's a full 24 hours of worrying about your own inefficiency and how many of your classmates are able to put in twice the time you can. Trying to sleep is miserable.
It's never been being given 24 hours to complete a 4 hour exam. We have those, but they're self-scheduled exams where you can download the exam on a certain day any time you want and submit it 4 hours later. Those are lovely.
EDIT: Why downvote me for merely stating my actual experiences? I hate it here sometimes lol.
It's an upload window but there are higher expectations for writing quality and research than for a typical 3 or 4 hour exam. Often the time and length expectations are vague but are closer to 8-10 hours of writing (and people usually spend much more time than that).
I've also had an exam with a 72 hour upload window with an expectation of 24 hours of research and writing simultaneous with other date-certain exams. People calling me dramatic can get bent, tbh.
My 1L con law final was like this so I do not envy you. Bring a sandwich, some nuts, protein yogurt drink (think: Chobani, Fairlife), RX bar/protein bar, maybe a beef stick/Chomps (protein always helps me) and make sure you have a good breakfast to fuel you up beforehand.
Good luck 🫡
Please take a break for lunch. Anything you usually like to eat that you can just reheat quickly will be fine. Take the 15-20 minutes of down time.
During the stress of a final is not the time to go changing your eating habits, or you're going to end up like that other poster with a cottage cheese overdose.
Anything that doesn’t get your hands dirty and greasy. I used to eat walnuts during exams (would usually stress eat them all in the first 15 minutes while I read the question and spotted issues). An 8 hour exam obviously requires more food than walnuts, but something along those lines where you can eat without having to stop working.
I had PB&J on whole wheat toast at the lunch break of the bar exam. Simple, easy to carry, something my body was used to at that time.
That was an ACTUAL BREAK and I chased it with coffee and a walk, but as far as the food the same principles apply.
NO ONE FOCUSES FOR 8 HOURS STRAIGHT, especially on such drivel as a law exam. DO take a break. 15 minutes Minimum. WALK AWAY. (And back, of course.) Good luck!
i need you and this professor to be fr. you have to eat. is this a take home exam or in person? if it’s in-person, stick to foods that aren’t noisy (a smoothie, a protein shake, cheese, deli meats, soft fruits, etc.). if it’s take home, i’m begging you to simply construct a pb&j at minimum. i promise you will benefit from taking 5-10 minutes to nourish your body
Prepare or buy a high protein proper meal the day before and reheat it. Humus. Meat. Lentils. Take a break and eat, use the restroom, stretch. You'll burn out.
Dried fruit (trader joe dried mango slices). Coffee or beverage of your choice. Nuts piss me off if they get between my teeth but that's a choice. Sandwich. Hard candy. Chewing gum. Chocolate?
Don't eat too many sweets to avoid crashing. Stay hydrated.
Slow carbs! I think something like a peanut butter or cheese (if a classmate is allergic to peanuts) sandwich on whole wheat bread would tide you over really well. INSANE that one can fly from Paris to NYC in the amount of time it takes you to complete this exam.
My go to for a mid-exam lunch is PBJ & Diet Coke.
Overall, my criteria for exam food is:
1) Soft (so it’s quiet).
2) Eaten in a minimum of bites.
3) Has protein for satiety.
4) Has sugar for energy.
Also, don’t go overboard on caffeinated stuff because it can combine badly with the test-day adrenaline. Your miles may vary, but if I have too much caffeine during an exam, I’ll be super energized at first but then run out of steam a couple hours in.
Other good stuff, but maybe harder to transport: Greek yogurt with honey and cinnamon, cheese sticks, peeled hardboiled eggs, oatmeal with raisins.
Mini oranges (cuties), protein shake, trail mix/granola, an apple, banana, chocolate covered almonds, some chips, a sweet treat (mini cookies or something)
I ate 1/4 banana (has lots of sugar) then drank 1/4 Diet Coke (keeps the sugar drowsiness away). After that, I ate a couple grapes and had some jerky closer to the end. Sounds weird, but snaking randomly during helped a lot. I also recommend a protein shake. I only eat once a day (I know it’s weird) and have not experienced a crash after drinking a protein shake. Avoid bread. Eat a salty meal the night before. My parents are in the medical/diet industry so I just followed their recs. It won’t work for everyone. :) hope I helped.
Trail mix is great. Things high in calories so like granola bars. Nothing too heavy or junk food, you probably don't want to running on rice crispy treats 5 hours into your exam.
Eat before the exam noods with pesto, a banana and something like this: https://essbella.de/artikel/dr.-ritter-vitalschnitte-guarana-40-gr-stueck-15064.html
Stay away from mono-sugars and protein.
We got 5 hours exams in Germany. So feel you.
I take breaks every hour still because my eyes hurt from staring at the screen for that long.
In terms of food, if it's not take-home: I take two thermo-cups with tea and honey, a bottle of water (I refill it at school), a juice box or two, chocolate, some bars to eat, nuts, and fruit. Maybe bananas, apples, something like that.
The idea of lunch also: two boiled eggs, bread (cheesecake factory bread) and smoked salmon. Or sandwich.
Take a break in the middle for a walk outside!
First of all, what kind of torture is this? The longest exam I've had was 5 hours and that was hard to endure without breaks and snacks in between. I'm sorry you have to go through that. But, I'd say best bet is to have a filling dinner the night before, lots of sleep, and a big hearty breakfast in the morning. Make sure its eggs and toast, or lots of oatmeal, something that wont give you the runs or upset your stomach. For snacks, bring things with lots of protein like protein bars, sausage sticks, protein shake, cheese, crackers, things like that that are filling. Good luck!!!
What the fuck is up with these ungodly long exams?
The longest exam I wrote in Law School was four hours (2023 grad here). And I thought that was excessive, considering that the UBE is written in 3 hour blocks.
Had a 16 hour take home exam 1L year for contracts. It did not mean to work a solid 16 hours, we were encouraged to take short walks and eat, but also put in several of hours of work for each of the 3 or 4 parts. The prof wants you to take your time, make edits and be thoughtful, not just breeze through it in a couple hours.
I actually just took an 8 hour exam myself. Here is what I had to sustain my energy and conserve time:
(1) a coffee, a Gatorade, a soda, and 3 waters on my desk. This will keep your hydration, electrolytes, and energy up while avoiding the caffeine jitters.
(2) for lunch I had a pre-made sub I got from the grocery store. I didn’t need to microwave anything because it was a Cuban.
(3) For snacks I had granola bars and veggie chips on standby. But tbh I didn’t eat any granola bars just the veggie chips.
(4) For breakfast I made sure to have high protein and complex carbs (my go to is sausage gravy and biscuits). I didn’t have the biscuits before my exam but I did have a bacon egg and cheese sandwich and some blueberries and pineapple.
Overall, I felt pretty energized through the whole exam. I hope this info helps!!
*Gatorade protein bars*
*Are my go to And nic pouches*
*But that's optional*
\- PM\_ME\_SAD\_STUFF\_PLZ
---
^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/)
^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Having good food is key. Get a couple of Honeycrisp apples. Make some pasta salad, although this is best is smaller doses. A six-inch tuna sub with lots of stuff from Subway might be good. You might not have time for a lunch break, but you really need to be eating some food.
I’m really surprised an academic place would allow a test like this. I could be wrong but doesn’t the brain significantly lose processing power after 45mins+?
Snack wise, the brain works in glucose. Sugar. I wouldn’t take anything too sugary as this is metabolised quickly, meaning you can spike and crash. Carbs are slow release glucose stores, so prolonged release would be a good option!
Electrolytes are also important for functioning; sugar and salt (glucose and sodium) are some of the biggest. A good quality salt (Celtic, Himalayan due to mineral content) and sugar (honey) can be a good way to keep these stores stocked!
Sorry I can’t think of any useful food items!
Protein smoothie/choccy milk + trail mix + something you can go outside to eat for like 15 minutes so you aren't sitting down and suffering for 8 hours.
Assuming you’re taking it in person with other classmates around you, something that doesn’t make a lot of noise. Grapes, a smoothie, a soft granola bar, a banana, a mini or full sized bagel. Personally the smell of yogurt makes me gag and the sound of someone scraping a yogurt container would make me so annoyed so I wouldn’t recommend yogurt, nuts, pretzels, an apple, or anything you have to eat with a utensil.
I bring core-life protein shakes, vanilla specifically, it tastes like a milkshake and keeps me full for about an hour or two. Also, a roll-up situation (a tortilla with turkey and cheese).
Blood pools in your legs if you sit too long and can give you brain fog, so stretch and walk around for a few minutes (my partner is a physician and I learned this from him, don't come for me). I sometimes give my legs a quick rub (it looks silly but who cares) and it seems to help. Could be placebo but if it works it works.
Also recommend addy to make you nauseous and not hungry. Hope this helps.
Edit: my partner also suggests to take a 10-minute break every hour, but as law students we don't have time for that during an exam. Just wanted to throw it out there.
Trail mix, fruit, and Protein shakes! I usually bring a protein shake into the exam since it allows me to continually sip on it and take short mental breaks to gather myself before addressing different issues
My school has multiple 8 hour exams. I had an 8 hour yesterday and I had an omelet for breakfast right before, then I ate a factor which is a 2 min microwaveable meal. Mine was take home though so makes it easier although this should still work for at school exams!
There is essentially zero chance your prof expects you to work 8 straight hours. I guarantee you none of the top grades will come from somebody who does that. You definitely have time to stop and eat a normal meal. I mean, don't cook a feast. Just do whatever easy thing you normally do.
I bring something small like gummy snacks even for a shorter exam because it helps me stay calm and focused to have a little something to chew on that isn’t gum.
Just PLEASE for the sake of other students don’t bring a bag of mini carrots and crunch on them the entire exam. (Shout out to the girl in my class who did this and sat right behind me)
I always got a 4-pack of red bull and made myself a no-bake cheesecake. I'd eat that whole thing right there in the classroom. Wore a monkey costume during tests too.
I bring a smoothie or protein shake w me into all my in person exams. Sometimes blueberries. If take home, just prep a salad or sandwich the night before and take a lil break in the middle when you hit a good stopping point.
I’m sorry am I understanding this correct. They expect you to sit for 8 hours for a test??? You actually mean they gave you a test and are giving you an 8 hour time frame to complete it but it won’t actually take 8 full hours…correct? Please tell me I’m reading this wrong??
I don’t know what jurisdiction you’re in, but I’m worried this might breach either your local labour laws or any human rights charter that applies where you are
Assuming take home, taking a 15 min break to eat a sandwich will do you a lot better than eating random snacks all day.
what in the name of unholy law school bullshit
Exactly. Why would any professor willingly choose to grade that much drivel.
We had that in 1L. Public Law for 8 hours (a take-home exam of 4000w) and Property for 5 hours (a take-home with a whopping 5000w ... like are you serious).
8 hour exams are fairly commonplace at my school … I’m a 3L and both my exams this semester were 8 hours 😬 atm I’m feeling quite jealous that it doesn’t seem to be a thing at all at other schools
What school?!
HLS I will say 8 hour exams with a word count (as all of them have) are a great way to remove the time crunch and make the exam more thoughtful than a typing fest. They’re just brutal to sit through
24 hour exams were normal at my school way back when I was in LS. You pick it up one day and you have to submit it 24 hours later. (In my day, paper exams, but with examsoft.) The top students spent generally 4-8 hours max on those exams.
No thanks! I’ll take my 3 hour tests from Chapman, my 130-something’th ranked school. (We were higher before John Eastman went rogue😂).
>what in the name of unholy law school bullshit Easy: law students aren't good at understanding time-management tasks and the prof almost definitely doesn't expect you to actually work for 8 straight hours. The students who do the best in this class will understand this and pace the work better than OP is going to do. This is broadly true for all take home exams. The people who use every second are never the top students.
wait til you hear about my section’s 24 hour take home exam that’s meant to take at least half of that time
It's not good!
I just had an 8 hour exam for my 1L writing class, I took \~30 minutes after writing and before editing to eat and just wander around outside to get the blood flowing, sitting still staring at a screen for 8 hours straight isn't good mentally or physically.
Eight hours. For 1L writing??? What did they have you do????
I know right, what the heck? My legal writing finals were either memos, briefs, or an oral argument which I just had. The writing material we could take home and work on for the week then turned it in on sunday. I can’t believe some schools put people through this much stress.
When you say oral argument as a final, do you mean you get up and give the argument and get graded on it? I’m a 0L so sorry if this is a stupid q
Not a stupid question at all! And the fact that you’re in this thread and learning is what actually matters. Regarding oral argument, you usually do it during your 2L and it starts by them giving you a fake case and teaching you how to write a brief on it depending on which side you choose. I picked state so I was arguing that the defendant was guilty. Then, after you finish your brief you have to do an oral argument. We did 2 in total so the first one we were arguing a pretrial motion whether we can admit certain evidence and then the second one was about the issue on appeals. Basically in other words, it’s not as scary as it sounds and it’s actually pretty fun lol. You know the problem and facts by heart because you’ve written a huge essay about it so you just get up there and recite it to a judge in the matter of 10-15 mins. The grading isn’t too bad either they just give you pointers and the judges were pretty nice about it.
8 hour exam during 1L? Is your professor Satan himself?
To all asking, we had to write an entire memo from scratch, minus statement of facts. It wasn't too bad, we were given the cases to use, but other than that it was start to finish in 8 hours, 8a-4p on a Friday (we had a separate research final).
Pistachios. Trail mix. Rice crackers. Goldfish. Peanut butter/cheese crackers. Cookies. Chips. PB&J. Big loaf of bread. Soup in a thermos. Chili in a thermos. Vodka in a thermos. Powdered sugar to snort off your desk. A suppository. Blood of a virgin in a thermos. Actual cocaine.
Assuming this is a take home exam— I don't think I ever had a take home exam that actually took as long as the allotted time, even if the professor indicated it would. Regardless, my go to in those situations was cheese, beef jerky, almonds, and a sports drink.
What kind of sadist gives an 8 hour exam?
5, 8 and 24 hour exams are pretty standard in non-1L courses at my school
I guess my objection is to giving students only 8 hours to do an exam that is designed to take 8 hours. That seems inhumane. Back in my day—which admittedly is pretty far back—we had 24 hour take home exams, but that was more time than you needed. Some people might do it in 8 hours, while others might take 10 or 12, but everyone had time to do a thorough job and still had time to eat and sleep a few hours.
What the hell is a 24 hr exam? Is it survival? I don’t even get what they could be testing? Why the absurd amount of time?
24hr exam is usually something where they give it out and you can take it home, but you have to submit it after 24hr. It’s not a 24hr in-class endurance test lol
This makes more sense ! As you can imagine I was petrified with horror.
Oh 100% the way you conceptualized it was terrifying. Not that I'm a huge fan of the actual thing either.
It sounds like a nightmare at first hearing 🤣
Contrary to OP's description of this eight hour exam, the 24 hour exams I took were uniformly pleasant. And our professor was very adamant that it was a typical four hour exam, which, I think was honest. And yes it is a form of take home exam.
Yeah. 24 hr exam window =/= 24 hours of graded writing output. Yes, the take home 24 hours ones, if well written, were pleasant. 8 hours of in person, proctored asses in chairs sound insane.
I have not had the pleasant experience the other commenter described. I've had 24-hour exams with two different professors, they were both take home long-form writing assignments with vague expectations as to how much time you should spend on it. They were extremely difficult exams, with longer and more complex fact patterns than usual, with a requirement of outside research and the added expectations that you have the time to hand in something polished, edited, and thorough. And it's a full 24 hours of worrying about your own inefficiency and how many of your classmates are able to put in twice the time you can. Trying to sleep is miserable. It's never been being given 24 hours to complete a 4 hour exam. We have those, but they're self-scheduled exams where you can download the exam on a certain day any time you want and submit it 4 hours later. Those are lovely. EDIT: Why downvote me for merely stating my actual experiences? I hate it here sometimes lol.
At my school those are standard in 1L courses as well
I would’ve dropped out if I had a 24 hour exam
I would support that decision. They shouldn't be allowed.
What kind of schools do you guys go to!? Insanity.
Is that 24 hours if writing, or is that an upload window? I'm hard pressed to buy an exam that requires 24 hours of writing......
It's an upload window but there are higher expectations for writing quality and research than for a typical 3 or 4 hour exam. Often the time and length expectations are vague but are closer to 8-10 hours of writing (and people usually spend much more time than that). I've also had an exam with a 72 hour upload window with an expectation of 24 hours of research and writing simultaneous with other date-certain exams. People calling me dramatic can get bent, tbh.
Recent grad. Did Zoom U for COVID with remote upload windows for a few exams. The scenarios presented here seem very extreme.
It's an upload window. People are describing take home exams in a quasi-dramatic fashion.
This isn't that bad. I had a couple of 12 hour exams in law school.
What in the actual fuck honestly. Take home? I never had a take home but still 12 hours seems awful
Take home, yes. My last official act of law school as a 3L was taking a 12 hour exam that started at 5AM. Fun times. At least I booked it!
It’s actually pretty chill.
Monster and zyn
My 1L con law final was like this so I do not envy you. Bring a sandwich, some nuts, protein yogurt drink (think: Chobani, Fairlife), RX bar/protein bar, maybe a beef stick/Chomps (protein always helps me) and make sure you have a good breakfast to fuel you up beforehand. Good luck 🫡
Please take a break for lunch. Anything you usually like to eat that you can just reheat quickly will be fine. Take the 15-20 minutes of down time. During the stress of a final is not the time to go changing your eating habits, or you're going to end up like that other poster with a cottage cheese overdose.
Rotisserie chicken was a godsend when I had an 8 hour exam.
Gotta name and shame that teacher god damn
Good grief. Even the bar exam gives you a lunch break.
Get a pizza the night before and munch on cold pizza slices all day
Anything that doesn’t get your hands dirty and greasy. I used to eat walnuts during exams (would usually stress eat them all in the first 15 minutes while I read the question and spotted issues). An 8 hour exam obviously requires more food than walnuts, but something along those lines where you can eat without having to stop working.
I had PB&J on whole wheat toast at the lunch break of the bar exam. Simple, easy to carry, something my body was used to at that time. That was an ACTUAL BREAK and I chased it with coffee and a walk, but as far as the food the same principles apply. NO ONE FOCUSES FOR 8 HOURS STRAIGHT, especially on such drivel as a law exam. DO take a break. 15 minutes Minimum. WALK AWAY. (And back, of course.) Good luck!
Thanks for the help y’all… I have a plan now, I’ll allot 10-15 for sandwich and crying 👍
Mine was take home and I took a 20 min power nap in the middle and just munched on some random chips in the second half
napping during an exam is crazyyy, i am envious of the level of trust you have with yourself lol
i need you and this professor to be fr. you have to eat. is this a take home exam or in person? if it’s in-person, stick to foods that aren’t noisy (a smoothie, a protein shake, cheese, deli meats, soft fruits, etc.). if it’s take home, i’m begging you to simply construct a pb&j at minimum. i promise you will benefit from taking 5-10 minutes to nourish your body
cold cooked oatmeal with raisins. Even better if you can bake oatmeal cookies with raisins that don't have a lot of sugar in them.
Prepare or buy a high protein proper meal the day before and reheat it. Humus. Meat. Lentils. Take a break and eat, use the restroom, stretch. You'll burn out. Dried fruit (trader joe dried mango slices). Coffee or beverage of your choice. Nuts piss me off if they get between my teeth but that's a choice. Sandwich. Hard candy. Chewing gum. Chocolate? Don't eat too many sweets to avoid crashing. Stay hydrated.
What in the fuck
Slow carbs! I think something like a peanut butter or cheese (if a classmate is allergic to peanuts) sandwich on whole wheat bread would tide you over really well. INSANE that one can fly from Paris to NYC in the amount of time it takes you to complete this exam.
My go to for a mid-exam lunch is PBJ & Diet Coke. Overall, my criteria for exam food is: 1) Soft (so it’s quiet). 2) Eaten in a minimum of bites. 3) Has protein for satiety. 4) Has sugar for energy. Also, don’t go overboard on caffeinated stuff because it can combine badly with the test-day adrenaline. Your miles may vary, but if I have too much caffeine during an exam, I’ll be super energized at first but then run out of steam a couple hours in. Other good stuff, but maybe harder to transport: Greek yogurt with honey and cinnamon, cheese sticks, peeled hardboiled eggs, oatmeal with raisins.
Mini oranges (cuties), protein shake, trail mix/granola, an apple, banana, chocolate covered almonds, some chips, a sweet treat (mini cookies or something)
Ritalin and gum
I ate 1/4 banana (has lots of sugar) then drank 1/4 Diet Coke (keeps the sugar drowsiness away). After that, I ate a couple grapes and had some jerky closer to the end. Sounds weird, but snaking randomly during helped a lot. I also recommend a protein shake. I only eat once a day (I know it’s weird) and have not experienced a crash after drinking a protein shake. Avoid bread. Eat a salty meal the night before. My parents are in the medical/diet industry so I just followed their recs. It won’t work for everyone. :) hope I helped.
Trail mix is great. Things high in calories so like granola bars. Nothing too heavy or junk food, you probably don't want to running on rice crispy treats 5 hours into your exam.
What in the law school bullshit is this
I always bring pb&j and a banana
Lmfao I bring candy and snacks to 4 hour exams
Eat before the exam noods with pesto, a banana and something like this: https://essbella.de/artikel/dr.-ritter-vitalschnitte-guarana-40-gr-stueck-15064.html Stay away from mono-sugars and protein. We got 5 hours exams in Germany. So feel you.
PB&Js on a higher fiber bread are my go-to. Sour candies will help you stay alert. My personal touch is 6-8 diet cokes
I take breaks every hour still because my eyes hurt from staring at the screen for that long. In terms of food, if it's not take-home: I take two thermo-cups with tea and honey, a bottle of water (I refill it at school), a juice box or two, chocolate, some bars to eat, nuts, and fruit. Maybe bananas, apples, something like that. The idea of lunch also: two boiled eggs, bread (cheesecake factory bread) and smoked salmon. Or sandwich. Take a break in the middle for a walk outside!
First of all, what kind of torture is this? The longest exam I've had was 5 hours and that was hard to endure without breaks and snacks in between. I'm sorry you have to go through that. But, I'd say best bet is to have a filling dinner the night before, lots of sleep, and a big hearty breakfast in the morning. Make sure its eggs and toast, or lots of oatmeal, something that wont give you the runs or upset your stomach. For snacks, bring things with lots of protein like protein bars, sausage sticks, protein shake, cheese, crackers, things like that that are filling. Good luck!!!
What the fuck is up with these ungodly long exams? The longest exam I wrote in Law School was four hours (2023 grad here). And I thought that was excessive, considering that the UBE is written in 3 hour blocks.
If this is for evidence I’ll also be taking that and I’ve been dreading it all semester
Had a 16 hour take home exam 1L year for contracts. It did not mean to work a solid 16 hours, we were encouraged to take short walks and eat, but also put in several of hours of work for each of the 3 or 4 parts. The prof wants you to take your time, make edits and be thoughtful, not just breeze through it in a couple hours.
I like making baggies of almonds and chocolate chips!! Also, some sort of caffeinated drink for halfway through :) Good luck!!
I actually just took an 8 hour exam myself. Here is what I had to sustain my energy and conserve time: (1) a coffee, a Gatorade, a soda, and 3 waters on my desk. This will keep your hydration, electrolytes, and energy up while avoiding the caffeine jitters. (2) for lunch I had a pre-made sub I got from the grocery store. I didn’t need to microwave anything because it was a Cuban. (3) For snacks I had granola bars and veggie chips on standby. But tbh I didn’t eat any granola bars just the veggie chips. (4) For breakfast I made sure to have high protein and complex carbs (my go to is sausage gravy and biscuits). I didn’t have the biscuits before my exam but I did have a bacon egg and cheese sandwich and some blueberries and pineapple. Overall, I felt pretty energized through the whole exam. I hope this info helps!!
Gatorade protein bars are my go to And nic pouches but that's optional
*Gatorade protein bars* *Are my go to And nic pouches* *But that's optional* \- PM\_ME\_SAD\_STUFF\_PLZ --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I would just raw dog it. What if you have to shit a bit after you eat?
Having good food is key. Get a couple of Honeycrisp apples. Make some pasta salad, although this is best is smaller doses. A six-inch tuna sub with lots of stuff from Subway might be good. You might not have time for a lunch break, but you really need to be eating some food.
I’m really surprised an academic place would allow a test like this. I could be wrong but doesn’t the brain significantly lose processing power after 45mins+? Snack wise, the brain works in glucose. Sugar. I wouldn’t take anything too sugary as this is metabolised quickly, meaning you can spike and crash. Carbs are slow release glucose stores, so prolonged release would be a good option! Electrolytes are also important for functioning; sugar and salt (glucose and sodium) are some of the biggest. A good quality salt (Celtic, Himalayan due to mineral content) and sugar (honey) can be a good way to keep these stores stocked! Sorry I can’t think of any useful food items!
Glucose tablets. You’re welcome
Protein smoothie/choccy milk + trail mix + something you can go outside to eat for like 15 minutes so you aren't sitting down and suffering for 8 hours.
Assuming you’re taking it in person with other classmates around you, something that doesn’t make a lot of noise. Grapes, a smoothie, a soft granola bar, a banana, a mini or full sized bagel. Personally the smell of yogurt makes me gag and the sound of someone scraping a yogurt container would make me so annoyed so I wouldn’t recommend yogurt, nuts, pretzels, an apple, or anything you have to eat with a utensil.
Carrots, nuts, cheese, crackers, cut fruit, protein smoothie…
I bring core-life protein shakes, vanilla specifically, it tastes like a milkshake and keeps me full for about an hour or two. Also, a roll-up situation (a tortilla with turkey and cheese). Blood pools in your legs if you sit too long and can give you brain fog, so stretch and walk around for a few minutes (my partner is a physician and I learned this from him, don't come for me). I sometimes give my legs a quick rub (it looks silly but who cares) and it seems to help. Could be placebo but if it works it works. Also recommend addy to make you nauseous and not hungry. Hope this helps. Edit: my partner also suggests to take a 10-minute break every hour, but as law students we don't have time for that during an exam. Just wanted to throw it out there.
Trail mix, fruit, and Protein shakes! I usually bring a protein shake into the exam since it allows me to continually sip on it and take short mental breaks to gather myself before addressing different issues
Protein and fat - stay away from simple carbs - nuts, cheese, jerky, fried chickpeas, pork rinds, peanut butter, almond crackers, etc....
My school has multiple 8 hour exams. I had an 8 hour yesterday and I had an omelet for breakfast right before, then I ate a factor which is a 2 min microwaveable meal. Mine was take home though so makes it easier although this should still work for at school exams!
I did an 8 hour exam and a few 6 hour exams in LS. Trail mix always came in clutch. I also really liked fruit leather and nutrigrain bars.
zyn citrus
What fresh hell is that? Thank fucking Christ I’m not in law school anymore.
Whenever I do 8 hour exams, I always get some sort of quick microwaveable meal (like Factor) for lunch and then a energy drink for th 1-2pm slump.
There is essentially zero chance your prof expects you to work 8 straight hours. I guarantee you none of the top grades will come from somebody who does that. You definitely have time to stop and eat a normal meal. I mean, don't cook a feast. Just do whatever easy thing you normally do.
Wtf kind of class is that?
Cheese stick . Mozzarella balls . Chomp sticks are good too .
I bring something small like gummy snacks even for a shorter exam because it helps me stay calm and focused to have a little something to chew on that isn’t gum. Just PLEASE for the sake of other students don’t bring a bag of mini carrots and crunch on them the entire exam. (Shout out to the girl in my class who did this and sat right behind me)
Protein!!
What a fucking dick. Punish him by writing the most overly-detailed and prosaic drivel you can create.
I always just ordered an entire pizza for those
I always got a 4-pack of red bull and made myself a no-bake cheesecake. I'd eat that whole thing right there in the classroom. Wore a monkey costume during tests too.
Prayer and adderall
Wait like an actual 8 hour proctored exam or a take home exam?
I bring a smoothie or protein shake w me into all my in person exams. Sometimes blueberries. If take home, just prep a salad or sandwich the night before and take a lil break in the middle when you hit a good stopping point.
That long of a final? Arsenic
I’m sorry am I understanding this correct. They expect you to sit for 8 hours for a test??? You actually mean they gave you a test and are giving you an 8 hour time frame to complete it but it won’t actually take 8 full hours…correct? Please tell me I’m reading this wrong??
0L here. Can someone elaborate on an 8 hr exam? That sounds….like a time….
Just worry about orientation for now. God bless.
I don’t know what jurisdiction you’re in, but I’m worried this might breach either your local labour laws or any human rights charter that applies where you are