Examinations

For information about deferred exam policies, please see the Handbook of Academic Policies

Exam types are as follows

  • In-class exams: 
    • A timed, proctored exam.
    • Lasts between 3-4 hours.
  • One-day take-home (ODTH): 
    • Students download the exam question from the Exam4 website at 8:30am EST on the scheduled exam day.  
    • Answers must be uploaded by 4:30pm EST on the same day.
  • Any-day take-home (ADTH): 

    • Students may download the exam question from the Exam4 website at anytime beginning at 12:30am EST on the first day of exams.

    • Answers must be uploaded 8 hours after the exam has been started.  Students are responsible for keeping their own time.
    • All answers are due at 4:30pm on the last day of the exam period. 1L students in upper-level courses must follow the upper-level exam period dates.
  • Last-class take-home (LCTH): 
    • Exam questions are handed out at the last class.
    • Answers must be uploaded by 4:30pm on the last day of exam period. 

All exams are taken with Exam4 software. 

Exam modes will be posted as soon as the information is available.  Possible exam modes are:

  • CLOSED: 
    • No access to hard drive or internet during the exam. 
    • All computers run through a Security Check prior to the exam.  
    • Students with CLOSED mode exams are encouraged to arrive in the exam room early so that they can run through the Security Check prior to the start of the exam (this means you can click "Begin Exam" at the end of the Exam4 set-up steps).  
    • Once the exam has been ended, students are not permitted to re-access the exam.
  • OPEN: 
    • Access to hard drive but not the internet.  
    • Students must type their exam in the Exam4 window.  
    • OPEN mode prohibits cutting and pasting text from any external document into or out of Exam4. 
    • Once the exam has been ended, students are not permitted to re-access the exam.
  • OPEN + NETWORK: 
    • Access to hard drive and internet.  
    • Students must type their exam in the Exam4 window.  
    • OPEN + NETWORK mode prohibits cutting and pasting text from any external document into or out of Exam4.  
    • Once the exam has been ended, students are not permitted to re-access the exam.
  • TAKEHOME: 
    • Take-home exam questions are available at www.exam4.com. 
    • Access to hard drive and internet.  
    • TAKEHOME mode allows cutting and pasting from external files to and from Exam4. 
    • Students may exit and enter an exam in TAKEHOME mode an unlimited number of times.  

Law School examinations are anonymous, and self-identification of any kind is not permitted.  Self-identification may result in disallowance of the exam.  Students may not discuss individual exam scheduling arrangements with faculty members.  For more information about HLS' exam policies, please see the Handbook of Academic Policies.

For exam questions, please contact registrar@law.harvard.edu.

2012-2013 Tentative Exam Schedule

Fall 2012 Tentative Schedule

Spring 2013 Tentative Schedule

2011-2012 Exam Schedule

Fall 2011 Final Schedule

Spring 2012 Final Schedule

Winter 2012 Final Schedule

Exam4 and Other Information

Exam4 Frequently Asked Questions
Exam4 In-class and Take-home Instructions
Exam4 Training Sessions
Dean of Students Office

Exam Book Archives

Last modified: May 21, 2012

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