Office for Academic Success

The Associate Dean for Academic Success helps students identify and strengthen their academic abilities and provides assistance to students facing the challenges of a rigorous legal education. Through collaboration with administrators, faculty and students, the Office for Academic Success assists students in developing and enhancing the critical skills necessary for success in law school, on the bar exam, and in the legal profession. Dean Elkin is available to all students for personal academic counseling and study plan assessments. Students at all levels of academic performance can benefit from feedback on practice exams, study plans, time management, course selection, or study group effectiveness.

"It's a real thrill [to teach this Bar Prep course] to Penn State
Law Students. It's a great way to connect with them."

— Keith Elkin
Associate Dean for
Academic Success

Bar Exam Preparation

Dean Elkin is a nationally recognized expert in bar exam preparation.  He is the author of several books and articles on bar exam preparation and teaches Fundamental Skills for the Bar Examination each spring semester.  The summer after graduation is filled with intense studying for the bar exam and Dean Elkin meets with students every day to help them prepare for the most important exam in a lawyer’s lifetime. Dean Elkin also provides one-on-one counseling to design a bar study plan and discuss best practices for bar exam success.

Resource Center

Dean Elkin is located in Office 208A in the Katz Building and you may reach him by email at kelkin@psu.edu. He is interested in meeting with all students interested in enhancing their academic performance. His office houses a lending library with study aids such as commercial outlines, flashcards, and practice questions for each required course and many electives. The best way to prepare for law school exams is by “doing” law schools exams and Dean Elkin will provide you with sample questions and review your answer.

Tutors

Penn State Law offers a peer tutoring program as part of our effort to ensure academic success. Tutoring services are available at no cost to first year law students in Torts, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Property, Contracts, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Procedure. Tutors are second and third year law students who have demonstrated a high level of competence in these courses.    

The tutoring program is designed for short-term assistance (1-5 sessions), not general course review. Students may request a tutor only for substantive areas they find particularly daunting despite their best efforts (i.e., not “I don’t understand Torts,” but “I don’t understand the concept of Proximate Cause”).

Tutoring sessions may be conducted individually or in small groups, depending on demand and tutor availability. The Office of Academic Success will pair students with tutors based on course, professor, and schedules. Students will be provided the name and contact information of their assigned tutor. It is up to the student requesting assistance to arrange a mutually convenient time, date, and platform to meet with the tutor.

Students requesting a tutor are strongly encouraged to take a multi-pronged approach to address areas of concern by also meeting with their professors, talking with class colleagues, and/or participating in a study group. 

In order to request a tutor, please fill out a "Request a Tutor" form: https://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/form/request-tutor.

Workshops

Throughout the year, workshops on case briefing, note-taking, outlining, case analysis and synthesis, and exam preparation are offered.

Previous workshops have been recorded. Click here to view recordings.

Academic Probation

Our academic probation guidelines can be found here.