Exam Information

Below is information related to the Examination Period. Please read this information carefully as you will be held accountable for failure to comply with the exam policies and procedures described below. 

The Records Office administers exams with support from the Dean of Students Office, and staff members in both offices are available from 9 am until evening exams conclude. The Records Office telephone number is 202-994-6261; the Dean of Students Office telephone number is 202-994-8320.

Schedule: You can find the In Person Final Exam Schedule on the Records Office website.

Location: Your exam location can be found on the MyLaw portal (instructions on how to access your exam location). We suggest you arrive at your exam room no later than 30 minutes before the start of your exam. 

Exam Administration

Please review the Universal Exam Instructions. 

Retrieve Your ExamID: In-class exams are graded anonymously. Do not convey your name or GWID anywhere on your exam. Only use your ExamID as an identifier on your exam. Review the instructions on how to find your ExamID as well as the location of your in-class exam(s). ExamID numbers are generated each exam period and you will not be able to use one from a previous exam period. Please write down your ExamID as you will need this number on the day of your exam.

Download New Exam4 Version: In advance of your exam, you must download a new version of Exam4 on the Exam4 website. No other version of Exam4 will work for your exam so it is imperative you download this new version. Please review these instructions on how to use Exam4 as well as the brief tutorial video. 

Exam4 currently supports the following: https://www.exam4.com/support/article/1 

Run a Practice Exam: Each student must run a practice exam using this semester’s ExamID. 

1. Open Exam 4 and prepare to take the “Practice Exam - In Class” exam in OPEN Mode. If you have a CLOSED book exam, run the exam in CLOSED Mode.
2. Answer the questions found in the Practice Exam 
3. Submit your practice exam (To submit your practice exam, you must be connected to the law school's wireless network (GWireless)).

All students should complete a practice exam to 1) be sure they are familiar with these interfaces, 2) ensure their computer passes the security check, and 3) ensure Exam4 runs as expected on their computer.

Exam4 Modes and Multiple Choice: Each student is responsible for knowing the parameters of their exam(s). Please note the following:

• OPEN Mode- Exams deemed by your professor as OPEN mode will allow students access to their hard drives, meaning you can access your outlines, notes, and e-books so long as they are downloaded on your hard drive. As you will not have access to the internet, you will not be able to access items stored in the cloud. Most (if not all) "Open Book" exams will use the Exam4 OPEN mode. Please note you will not be able to cut and paste items from outside of Exam4 into your answers. 
• CLOSED Mode - Exams deemed by your professor as CLOSED mode will not allow students to access their hard drives. For these exams, students will not be able to access the internet or any items/programs on their computers. Students should expect that all "Closed Book" exams will be in CLOSED Mode.
• Multiple Choice - Students will provide the answers to their multiple-choice questions in the Exam4 multiple-choice interface. 

Please note the following:

• You must be logged into a user account that has full administrative rights to your device in order to run Exam4. Users of institutionally owned/controlled devices should contact their IT Department for assistance.
• In addition, please disable any automatic sleep function during your exam as you may not be able to wake your computer when in CLOSED mode.

The Law School is not responsible for any equipment failure during an exam, will not permit a backup laptop, and will not allow extra time to enable students to address equipment failure. It is highly recommended that students reboot their computers prior to taking an exam. Students who experience equipment failure will simply continue by writing in Bluebooks which can be picked up from the Exam Proctor at the front of the exam room. If you have any technical difficulties during the exam, please alert your proctor. We will request a tech proctor to come assist you. Please note that students will not receive additional time for technical issues.

End of an In-class Exam: At the end of your exam, you will be asked to submit your answers through the law school wireless network (GWireless). The autosave function on Exam4 saves your exam every 10 seconds, with an additional two-minute backup, so there is no risk of losing your work. Students writing in exam booklets and/or Bluebooks will be in the same exam room as laptop users. Bluebooks will be provided by exam proctors. Do not delete any files from your laptop computer until after your grade has been posted, so that the Records Office can complete any necessary follow-up in exam processing. 

Each student is responsible for monitoring the time during the exam. Proctors are not required to remind students of elapsed time. At the conclusion of the exam, as announced by the proctor, all typing and writing must stop immediately. Students may not continue to type or write after time has been announced except to exit the Exam4 program and electronically submit/save the exam answer file. Numbering books or adding your ExamID can only be done in the presence of the proctor. In addition, students must ensure that all items for collection are turned in to the proctor. Proctors are not responsible for checking materials that students submit. Do not contact your professor at any point until exams are graded. Students may raise any concerns regarding the exam with the Dean of Students Office. 

Exams are graded anonymously. Do not convey your name anywhere on your exam. Use your ExamID as your identifier.

Materials: Students are permitted one laptop computer for exam-taking purposes. No additional laptop computers, external monitors, external keyboards, external mice, or other electronic data storage/transmitting devices are allowed in an exam room. Devices enabling access to the internet are prohibited, including cell phones and “smart” watches. Cell phones must be turned off, stored away from you, and may not be used during an exam under any circumstances. No headphones or earbuds are permitted of any type; if noise minimization is sought, please use earplugs.

Exams MUST be returned to the proctor at the end of the exam. Failure to do so constitutes a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy. Students who fail to return an exam risk receiving an F. Students are responsible for returning all required materials to the proctor at the end of the exam. If the Records Office contacts you regarding a controlled exam, you must respond immediately and will be required to return to campus, regardless of the time. 

Breaks and Questions: If you need to leave the exam room, you may not take any materials with you and you may not bring any new materials back into the exam room. You may not confer with anyone about the exam or consult materials outside the exam room. 

Any exam-related question should be directed to the proctors who will contact the professor, via the Records Office, to relay any questions about the content of an exam question. Under no circumstances should you ask for assistance from another student taking the exam. 

Emergencies Before an Exam: Do not contact your professor. In the event an emergency (such as hospitalization or a death in the family) prevents you from taking an exam, to be excused from the exam you must immediately contact the Dean of Students Office at [email protected], or in person. Documentation must be provided to support the basis of any request to be excused. Students who are absent from an exam and are not officially excused may receive a grade of F. Misunderstanding the date or time of an exam is not a valid excuse for missing an exam. If you are feeling seriously ill, such that you may not be able to complete the exam, do not go into the exam room. Instead, seek immediate treatment and communicate with the Dean of Students Office as soon as possible. The Exam Excusal policy can be found in the GW Law Bulletin (section, Failure to Take an Examination). 

What if I Test Positive for Covid-19?: Students who have tested positive should review the GWU’s isolation policy, and contact [email protected]. If the isolation period includes a scheduled in-person exam, the student should seek excusal from the Dean of Students Office. Students who are excused from exams and are expected to graduate this term will be scheduled for makeup exams at the earliest mutually convenient time in order to ensure they will have all coursework completed and graded in time for graduation. Students who are isolating should plan to complete take-home exams and other assignments, such as papers, by their original due date.

Emergencies in the Exam Room: Immediately inform the proctor if an emergency, such as a severe illness, occurs during an exam. The proctor will contact the appropriate Law School officials. Students who leave an exam without contacting the proper Law School officials will not be eligible to finish or otherwise retake the exam later. Please note if you have an issue during an exam such as a technical, sudden health issue, or notice a mistake in your exam, you may complete an Exam Incident Report after you complete your exam. 

Rescheduling Exams: Professors cannot reschedule exams for individual students under any circumstances. All issues regarding exam rescheduling must be addressed to the Dean of Students Office. 

Take-Home Exam Administration: Most take-home exams will be administered via MyLaw. Please review any instructions from your professor for the specifics of your take-home exams, including time, date, and method of administration. If using Mylaw, please review the MyLaw tutorial in advance of your final exam. Your exam will be located on the right-hand side of your portal page under "UPCOMING EXAMS." You may download the exam and work on it using your word processing software such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Pages. Consider saving your work to the cloud and regularly saving updates if your software does not do so automatically. If you cannot download the exam, contact the Records Office immediately at [email protected]. MyLaw does not preclude you from accessing other programs or files on your computer. It is simply a means of downloading your exam questions and uploading your answers. MyLaw will prevent students from uploading or modifying submissions after the date and time the exam is scheduled to end so be sure to confirm when your exam must be submitted.

Submitting Your Take-Home Exam: When you have finished your exam, you will be asked to upload and submit your answers through the MyLaw program. You may save your answers with any file name you choose. All metadata from the file (including file name) will be removed before it is given to your professor. Give yourself plenty of time to review the MyLaw protocol and to complete the upload. If you are unable to upload your answers using MyLaw, send a copy of your answer to the Records Office at [email protected].  

Do not reopen or modify the document once it is submitted. The Records Office will note the time of receipt and forward the exam answers to your professor. Do not delete your exam answers from your laptop computer and/or cloud drive until after your grade has been posted.

Academic Integrity: As always, students are bound by the GW Law’s policy on Academic Integrity. While your professors may have specific instructions regarding your exams, the general expectation is you will not speak with, collaborate with, or otherwise communicate with another person regarding the substance of your exam. Because students may be excused from exams or scheduled to take them at an alternative time, you should not discuss the content of the exam with any other students until grades are released.

GW Law Policy Regarding the Use of AI Text Generators: The Academic Integrity Committee has considered this issue and has determined that, unless the faculty member explicitly indicates otherwise in advance and in writing, the use of an AI text generator on any exam, including take-home and in-class exams, is prohibited. This prohibition includes exams where the use of the Internet is otherwise allowed. On papers and other assignments other than take-home exams where the use of the Internet is permitted, by default, AI text generators can be used for learning and brainstorming, but text from AI text generators, even with modifications, cannot be turned in as a student's own work. Deviation from this policy or from any explicit guidance provided by a faculty member would be grounds for an academic integrity violation.

Grades: Grades will be released in the spring semester according to a schedule you can see on the Grading Due Dates and Release Dates FAQs (must be logged in to the Portal to access the link) found on the Records Office website. When your grades are posted, you can review them through GWeb.