Support For Academic Success
UCLA School of Law is committed to providing academic assistance to any student with demonstrated academic need. UCLA's academic support program is known across the country as an innovative and effective program. Professor Pavel Wonsowicz is the director of the program and has taught a special section of Constitutional Law and an upper level course in Evidence. Professor Wonsowicz also conducts skills workshops and coordinates study groups led by Graduate Assistant Tutors (“GATs”).
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Programs for First Year Students
ACADEMIC SUPPORT WORKSHOPS
Several workshops are offered in the fall semester. These workshops serve as a comprehensive exploration of the skills needed to succeed during the first year of law school. All 1Ls are encouraged to attend.
GAT STUDY GROUPS
Second- and third-year students with excellent academic records are hired as Graduate Assistant Tutors (“GATs”) to conduct study groups in the fall. The GATs help students to develop effective study skills and to learn how to approach questions on exams.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SECTION 9
First-year students may elect to take Professor Wonsowicz's section of Constitutional Law in the spring semester. Students work on their analytical and writing skills through short written exercises, practice exams, and a mid-term. Students receive course credit; admission to the course is by permission of the instructor. Applications are available during the first week of the spring semester.
ACADEMIC COUNSELING
Professor Wonsowicz is available to counsel students on study skills, outlining, and exam techniques. They can also discuss course selection for the second year.
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Programs for Second and Third Year Students
WILLS & TRUSTS ACADEMIC SUPPORT SECTION
Second- and third-year students may elect to take Wills & Trusts with Professor Goodman. Students work on their analytical skills through a mid-term and many short in-class problems. Selected students may also attend a weekly study group with Professor Goodman; selection is based on the student's GPA.
EVIDENCE ACADEMIC SUPPORT SECTION
Second- and third-year students may elect to take Evidence with Professor Wonsowicz. Students work on their analytical skills through a mid-term and many short in-class problems. Selected students may also attend a weekly study group with Professor Wonsowicz; selection is based on the student's GPA.
REMEDIES ACADEMIC SUPPORT SECTION
Second- and third-year students may elect to take Remedies with Professor Goodman. Students work on their analytical skills through a mid-term and many short in-class problems. Selected students may also attend a weekly study group with Professor Goodman; selection is based on the student's GPA.
EARLY BIRD BAR PROGRAM
Professor Wonsowicz, in combination with a commercial bar provider, teaches six bar exam workshops during the spring semester for third-year students. The workshops focus on developing an approach to bar essays, performance tests, and multiple choice questions that will allow students to apply their knowledge in the way that the bar examiners award most highly.
ACADEMIC COUNSELING
Professor Wonsowicz is available to counsel students on study skills, outlining, and exam techniques. He can also discuss course selection for the second and third year.
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Early Bar Success
Professor Wonsowicz, in combination with a commercial bar provider, teaches six bar exam workshops during the spring semester for third-year students. The workshops focus on developing an approach to bar essays, performance tests, and multiple choice questions that will allow students to apply their knowledge in the way that the bar examiners award most highly.
The first three sessions focus on how to approach multiple choice questions and essays. In the first session, a lecture on criminal law provides the legal backdrop for the subsequent two sessions. The second session focuses on strategies for taking multiple choice questions. Using questions that focus on criminal homicide, students will explore how to analyze multiple choice questions logically and efficiently. In the third session, essay writing strategies are explored, again using only questions that center on criminal homicide.
The fourth and fifth sessions, taught by Professor Wonsowicz, explores the performance test, a closed-universe problem that requires bar applicants to create a specific type of work product. Various strategies for taking the test will be examined, including how to prioritize the different components of the test, how to be efficient in analyzing the law, and how to write the various types of work product that the bar examiners require.
The sixth session serves as a capstone to the program, where various strategies will be reviewed with a particular emphasis on how to build a summer study program that is unique to the needs of each student.
