Exams

Second- and third-year law students at Northwestern, with some exceptions, schedule their own final examinations during a 13-day final examination period. Students support this approach to exam-taking for the flexibility it gives them, and administrators support the self-scheduled system of exams because it is consistent with the maturity and integrity expected of Northwestern Law students.

What are called self-scheduled examinations can be described simply as the central distribution of examinations.  We use exam administration software to manage this process. Students choose the day and, with certain practical constraints, the time and location where they will write their examinations. The time an exam is started is documented to ensure compliance with the time allocated by the professor to write any particular exam. Students determine the order in which their exams will be written.

The rules and limitations of examinations set by each professor are enforced by the student's own integrity and an active, student-defined honor code that has stated, as one of its principles, that students will not seek an advantage over other students in the writing of exams. 

Spring 2024 Exam Schedule (pdf)

Classroom Availability (pdf)