Tag Archives: bar exam

April 6, 2020 · 6:06 pm

Planning for the Bar Exam in the Midst of the Pandemic

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This is a challenging time to be finishing law school, and the current uncertainties about the timing of bar exam in light of the COVID-19 pandemic likely add to your stress. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to bar studies in this context, and I thought it would be helpful to consider different approach to bar studies during the last weeks of the semester.

For some of you, the transition to online learning has been difficult. You may find it hard to stay focused on school work for a variety of reasons – family or roommates are distracting, you have financial concerns, your job actually has increased demands, you’re facing physical or mental health challenges, the internet doesn’t always work, or being forced to study at home may have disrupted successful strategies you’ve used in the past to address a learning disability. You may not be ready to shift your attention yet to studying for the bar exam, and if that is the case, that is OK. It is OK to just focus on what needs to be done right now, and wait until after your final exams are over to worry too much about the bar exam. (Aside from making sure you don’t miss any deadlines for filing your application to take the bar exam.) And in particular, if your bar exam has been postponed until Fall, just remember that there will be additional months to study for the exam.

In comparison, some of you may have found the transition to online learning a smoother process. You may have more time than you’ve had in the past to study, and, if so, you may be looking for something productive to do with that time. If you will have to work during your bar studies, you may want to spread out your bar studies over a longer period of time as well. So for those who are ready to get a jump start on their bar studies, I have these suggestions:

  • First, think about whether you are currently taking a course that relates to the bar exam content. For example, many law schools offer courses in the final year that focus specifically on bar exam skills, or review of Multistate Bar Exam content. Or, you may be taking an upper level course that is bar tested, such as Business Associations/Organizations, Trusts and Estates, Evidence, or Family Law, or Criminal Procedure. If so, these courses relate directly to your bar study goals. As you study for your final exams in these classes, think about how to create study aids that will still be useful during the bar prep period. For example, you can create flashcards for the black letter law, set up comparison charts for the distinctions between your state’s laws and the majority rule, or create flow charts or other visual study aids for complex issues you are studying. Taking this approach has a double benefit – you will perform better on your final exams for these classes, but also build a stronger bridge to your summer bar studies. (This suggestion works for those who feel like they can’t worry about the bar exam right now as well – if you are taking one of these classes, you are automatically advancing your bar studies without additional effort.)
  • Second, BarBri is offering this 70-question Baseline Assessment for anyone planning to take the bar exam this summer. The Baseline Assessment is free, and you do not have to be signed up for BarBri’s bar prep course in order to take it. It is available to everyone. If you take the Baseline Assessment, BarBri will send you a report giving you specific information about areas of strength and areas that you will want to prioritize for improvement during your bar studies. If you are signed up for BarBri’s bar prep course, your results will also be integrated into that platform to further personalize study suggestions for you in the early weeks of bar prep. (Note: I do not receive any benefit from BarBri for mentioning this assessment.)
  • Finally, over the next several weeks, most commercial bar prep companies should begin providing early access to their course materials. If you find that you have the time to do so, you could begin using that early access to study for the bar exam. Just a note of caution though – don’t overdo things early on. You still want to make sure you focus your attention first on your classes this semester, and you don’t want to burn out before you get to the bar exam.

The important thing is that you ultimately determine what is the right thing for you to be doing right now. For some students, waiting to focus on the bar exam after graduation in the best plan, while for others getting started now is key. Don’t listen too much to what other students are doing in this regards, but really consider what you need. And if you need guidance and support in that process, don’t forget that you can reach out to the academic and bar support person or persons at your law school. They can help you develop your personal plan for bar exam success, taking into account your priorities and challenges. And they can suggest further resources to support your study efforts.

Looking for updates about your state’s bar exam? The National Conference of Bar Examiners provides updates about each state’s bar plans on its COVID-19 updates page, available here.

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February 19, 2020 · 4:10 pm

Last Minute Advice for February Bar Takers

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It’s less than a week until the start of the February bar exam, and I’ve been having conversations with some tired, stressed-out bar studiers. I think it’s time for a pep talk, so here is my advice for the final days of bar prep:

First, assess your weaknesses and come up with a daily plan for the remaining days of bar prep. This is not the time to study all of the bar company outlines cover-to-cover. What are your weakest, actually-tested subjects? What topics within those subjects do you find most challenging? Focus your energy on those things, rather than attempting to review everything. When you review cover-to-cover, you are actually spending a lot of time on law you already know, and there’s no value to that approach in the final days.

Second, quit paying attention to your scores on your multiple choice practice sets. I always get emails from bar studiers in the last few days before the bar exam who are panicked because their scores suddenly dropped at the end. Your scores in the final days are usually not predictive of your ability to pass the bar. Instead, they may reflect the fact that you are tired, you are not taking adequate breaks from your studies, you aren’t sleeping, or you are rushing through the questions and not focusing enough on the details of each question. View practice MBE questions as an opportunity to just continue reviewing the law, regardless of whether you get the questions right or wrong.

Third, keep using essay questions in your studies. Even if you don’t have the time to fully write out your answers to the essay questions, take the time to issue spot and evaluate whether you have a plan for completing the analysis for each issue. This can be a great way to spot topics that you need to spend a little extra time on in the final days.

Fourth, run through your bar exam preparations. Have you checked the emails from the bar examiners as well as the bar examiners’ website to make sure you know what you are required to bring with you to the exam, what you are allowed to bring in the room, and what is prohibited? Get everything together so that you aren’t scrambling at the last minute. Evaluate how long it will take you to get to the bar exam location from where you are staying, and add significantly more time than that to ensure that you will have plenty of travel time regardless of emergencies. Want to know more about what to expect on the days of the exam? Most law schools send representatives from Academic Support, Student Services, or the Alumni Office to support their students on bar exam days, and they will have insight into some of the logistical concerns you may have.

Finally, and most importantly, make your health the highest priority in the final days of bar prep. Get on a sleep schedule that mirrors the timing you will need on bar exam days, and go to bed at a time that will allow you to get 8 hours of sleep (even if you don’t actually sleep that entire time). Sleep is the most important priority at this point – you will focus better if you have enough sleep, adequate sleep helps you manage stress better, and you will remember what you have studied more if you’ve protected your sleep. Eat regular meals, and make sure that they are nutritious. Your brain isn’t fed by junk food! And finally, take regular breaks. Bar studiers often don’t take enough breaks because they feel that the breaks take away from their study time, but breaks help your brain recharge so it can continue doing the hard work. If you find your attention wandering or you just can’t remember things you have known before, it often means you aren’t taking sufficient breaks.

Keep focus in these last days of bar prep, and know that your hard work will pay off in what you accomplish next week. It’s time to go out there and rock the bar!

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July 21, 2015 · 1:17 pm

Last Minute Bar Prep: Using Checklists

Image courtesy of lordjiew at freedigitalphotos.net.

Image courtesy of lordjiew at freedigitalphotos.net.

In a previous post I talked about how to create checklists to study for final exams in law school. Many of the techniques that work in law school are also helpful on the bar exam. In the final days before the bar exam, you are most likely reviewing your commercial outlines and taking practice exams. Maybe you have created some flow charts or flashcards to help you learn the material better. A checklist is a simple, quick way to focus your studies even more.

So how should you create bar prep checklists? You will create one checklist for each subject. Go through the outline, creating a quick list of all topics and subtopics—if the outline has a table of contents, this process can be even quicker. Don’t include any details–your checklist should be made up of key words and phrases, not tests, definitions, or other detailed information. Try to fit your outline on one or two pages. (You can create columns if necessary.) It shouldn’t take very long to create the checklist for each subject.

Now, what can you do with this checklist? Here are three good ideas for how to use checklists as you study and take the bar exam:

(1) Use your checklists to evaluate what issues you need to focus on during your final days of bar prep. For each item on the list, ask yourself: Do I know the law related to this issue? If I see this issue on the exam, am I prepared to analyze it? If yes, cross it off the list. Bar studiers often study by reading through the entire outline over and over again, but this is an inefficient way to study. You want to focus your attention on the issues that you aren’t as comfortable with, and the checklist helps you to do that. The next day, print out a new copy of the checklist and go through this process again. You should be able to focus your attention on fewer issues each day.

(2) Use your checklist to think about the relationship between legal issues. Sometimes when you are studying from an outline, it is difficult to see how issues relate to each other. But one of the keys to spotting issues in an essay question is understanding those relationships. Because a checklist strips everything away except for the key issues and sub-issues, it is easier to identify those relationships.

(3) If you commit the checklist to memory, you can use it on the exam to spot issues. It may not be possible to memorize every checklist, but usually bar studiers have trouble identifying issues for some subjects more than others. For those more difficult subjects, a memorized checklist can help you stay focused if you get an essay question on that subject during the bar exam.

Checklists are a quick and easy tool for focusing your studies in the final days before the bar exam. I wish you the best as you study for the bar!

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February 3, 2015 · 6:32 pm

5 Tips for Reading Statutes

Law students must develop a number of important skills to be successful in their legal writing assignments and exams. Those same skills are equally important for success on the bar exam and in legal practice. One skill every law student needs is the ability to read statutes. Because statutes are a primary source of law, the ability to read, understand, and apply a statute can be critical to academic success in many law school classes. As an attorney, your ability to read and interpret statutes will enable you to provide better legal advice to your clients and predict legal outcomes. But reading statutes is not always as easy as it seems on the surface.

Here are some suggestions for how to be more effective in reading statutes:

(1) Slow down! Don’t read too fast. Statutory provisions are often pretty short, and it is easy to let yourself skim the statutes without really seeing the important details. Take the time to read the statute carefully, and you will understand it better.

(2) Put the statute in its proper context. Law students (and lawyers) often try to read statutes without putting them in context. But statutory provisions do not exist in a vacuum. Statutory codes often contain tools to help you interpret their provisions, if you take the time to look for them.

It can often be helpful to look at related statutes. For example, in criminal law, there can be different degrees of felonies or misdemeanors, each set out in a separate statute, for the same general criminal act (such as drug possession or drug dealing). Comparing the differences between these related statutes can help you understand how a court might interpret them and apply them.

You should also look for statutes that provide definitions for key terms. Sometimes definitions are included as provisions in the statute at issue, but often there is a separate statute that provides definitions for key words. You don’t want to make assumptions about what a word means when the legislature defined it for you.

In some cases, the legislature may have even provided specific interpretive instructions. For example, sections 15.15 and 15.10 of the New York Penal Law provide specific interpretive rules for interpreting culpability requirements for state criminal offenses.

If you look at the table of contents surrounding the statute at issue, you are more likely to find these context clues.

(3) Pay attention to the details. Every word in a statute has a specific purpose. Certain types of words are signals. For example, if you see a list of requirements for a legal test that are connected by the word “and,” you then know that all of the requirements must be proven in order for the test to be met. In contrast, if you see a list connected by the word “or,” then the test may be met without proving all requirements. Other signals include words such as “unless,” “except,” “shall,” and “may,” but this is not an exclusive list. Specific areas of the law may have their own signal words as well. So, for example, words specifying mens rea (such as intent, knowledge, recklessness, etc.) can be signal words for criminal law statutes.

You also want to pay attention to punctuation. Where a comma is placed can affect the meaning of a statute, as can the use and placement of other forms of punctuation.

(4) Break the statute down into smaller pieces. If the statute is complex, it can help to chart or diagram the statute so that you force yourself to identify the key components. Maybe the statute sets out specific elements for a legal test—identify the parts of the test and see if you can define what each of those elements mean, using those context clues I mentioned earlier. Ask yourself what the statute is meant to do. Understanding its purpose can also help you to separate out the parts of a more complex statute.

(5) Use cases to inform your understanding of the statute. You can often find cases where the court analyzes the meaning of a statute. If you are having difficulty understanding a statute, try Keyciting or Shepardizing the statute to find cases that interpret and apply the statute. Case law can further your understanding of a statute’s meaning. (In some cases, you may also find a government agency’s interpretation of a statute helpful—you may want to look for administrative code provisions, administrative law rulings, and advisory letters if you are reading statutes in areas of law with agency oversight, such as tax, immigration, employment discrimination, securities, etc.)

The key to reading statutes is to go below the surface—take the time to get to know the statute and its context, and you will have a better understanding of its meaning and application.

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September 2, 2014 · 8:30 am

Choosing the Right Study Environment

Law students spend a lot of time studying. And by “a lot,” I mean a good portion of each day. Regardless of whether you are a first-year student, in your final year of study, or somewhere in between, the quantity and quality of your study time is directly related to your academic success. I have previously explained how creating a good study schedule is important in law school. Today, I want to talk about location—in other words, your study environment. Choosing the right study location for you can be a key element of maximizing the time that you spend studying. You can have the best intentions, but the wrong environment can derail your entire study plan. (As I’ve noted before, the right study environment is also important for those people studying for the bar exam!)

Here are some tips for choosing the right study environment:

Avoid distractions: What things distract you when you are studying? If you are constantly tempted to turn on the TV, then studying in your living room may not be for you. Do you visit with friends rather than get work done when you study at the law school library? You may need to study somewhere other than at the law school. Some students prefer the background noise of a coffee shop, while others find themselves listening to nearby conversations. Be realistic in your assessment of what distracts you—choose a study environment that avoids those distractions.

Consider study breaks: What do you like to do when you take breaks from studying? If you want to be able to take a short walk, then setting up your study station at the local coffee shop may not make sense—you won’t want to have to pack up your stuff every time you take a break. On the other hand, if your idea of a break is checking your email or playing computer games, then a more public location may not be an issue. Just make sure that your study location is conducive to taking study breaks.

Consider your space requirements: Some students prefer to study at a large desk or table, where they can spread out their class materials. Others prefer to sit on a comfortable couch, overstuffed chair, or even the floor. Think about what type of space makes you feel most comfortable when you are studying—you’re going to spend a lot of time there.

Assess, and reassess: Do you prefer routine, or do you need to change things up periodically? For some students, maintaining the same routine every day—studying at the same place at the same time—works best. Other students prefer a little variety in their study environment. You may also find that what works for you at one point in the semester may not be as effective as you get closer to final exams. Periodically reassess your study environment and make sure it still works best for you.

The perfect study environment is a personal thing—experiment and find out what works best for you!

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August 10, 2014 · 9:00 am

Case Briefing Shortcuts

Image courtesy of nonicknamephoto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of nonicknamephoto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Over the past several posts, we’ve explored how to read and brief cases for your law school classes. As you’ve read those posts, you’ve probably started to realize what a time-consuming process law school studying really is! All that reading and briefing takes a lot of time, actually—and that’s why I think a cautionary note is appropriate at this point. As you read and prepare for class, resist the urge to take shortcuts. The reading and note-taking process I’ve described in my previous posts is really what you need to do to understand the material when you are a new law student.

You may hear upper-level students talking about “book briefing”—in other words, just underlining or highlighting material in the casebook and jotting a few notes in the casebook margins, without actually completing a case brief. Some students may eventually get comfortable enough with their reading that they can book brief and get by, but book briefing is not a sound approach to studying during your first year of law school for sure, and for most students it doesn’t work well even after the first year. You will get more and more efficient in your reading and case briefing over time, but you still need to do the things that give you a deeper understanding of the assigned reading and organize material in a way that will be helpful to you later, as we’ve talked about before.

You should also avoid the temptation to rely upon other students’ case briefs or commercially prepared briefs—it may seem easier and quicker to take this approach in the short term, but you will not know the material as well and will not remember it as much when you are studying later for the exam. When you rely too much upon commercially prepared materials, you are not thinking about the subject in the way that your professor has organized your course. Commercial materials can be valuable, but as a supplement—not your primary source of information for the course. Don’t forget who will be grading your exams–it’s rarely the person who created those commercial briefs.

Moreover, don’t forget that many of the courses that you are taking in law school, including all of the first-year courses, are on the bar exam. The harder you work to really understand the law in each of these courses now, the better foundation you will have when you start studying for the bar exam after you graduate.

The bottom line: there is no real shortcut to law school success—if you cut corners with your studies now, you will find it harder to be successful on your law school exams—and on the bar exam. Shortcuts are really a dead end when it comes to learning.

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July 24, 2014 · 10:26 am

Planning for Worst-Case Scenarios in the Bar Exam

I remember some of the nightmares that I had in the weeks leading up to the bar exam. Like many of you, I worried about all of the things that could go wrong before or during the exam. What if I forgot my pencils on the day of the MBE? What if my computer crashed on the first essay question? (I had heard a rumor that someone had failed the prior bar exam after freaking out when his computer crashed—the story was that, by the time he got himself back together, he didn’t have enough time to finish several of the essays.) What if my car broke down on the way to the exam, and they didn’t let me take it because I arrived after it started? What if I looked at the first essay question and realized that I hadn’t studied that law? What if . . . ? What if . . . ? What if . . . ? You get the point.

Some of the things that I worried about were a little silly, and other things, while highly unlikely, could have affected my performance on the bar exam if they had actually happened. My focus on these worries, regardless of their validity, increased my stress in the days leading up to the exam and absorbed energy and focus that could have been better spent on other things. The key to reducing your stress so that you can stay focused on what’s important, especially in the final days leading up to the bar exam, is planning. Many of the things we worry about can be avoided by planning in advance, and other problems can be mitigated by having an action plan in place before anything even happens. So how can you do this?

Image courtesy of digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Advanced Planning for Exam Rules: First, review all communications (letters, emails, etc.) that you have received from the bar examiners. Make sure that you are familiar with the rules going into the exam, and create any necessary plans so that you won’t be in violation of those rules at the last minute. (Those rules are often available on the bar examiners’ website as well.) Review what you are allowed to bring into the exam with you, and get things ready in advance so that you are not scrambling at the last minute. For example, Georgia only allows you to bring black ink pens in for the essay day, and pencils for the MBE day. Many states will not allow you to use mechanical pencils (although some states do). There often will not be a pencil sharpener on site, so you will need to make sure your pencils are sharpened in advance. Some states require you to put personal items in a clear plastic ziplock bag. Look for dress codes as well—some states may not allow hooded sweatshirts (concerns about hiding things in the hood), while others may ban flip-flops (because of the noise they make when you walk). Each state has a detailed list of what is allowed and what is prohibited, and you don’t want to be surprised by any of these requirements on the day of the exam.

Advanced Planning for Getting to the Exam: Second, create a plan for how you will get to the exam each morning, making sure to allow a significant time buffer. If you have not previously been to the bar exam location, do a test run in the days before the exam. If possible, do it during the same time of day that you will be traveling on the morning of the exam so that you have a good idea of how long the trip will normally take. If you are driving, scope out your parking options—and don’t forget that, on exam days, you and every other bar examinee will be arriving and parking at about the same time.

Advanced Planning for Taking the Exam: Finally, identify your worst case scenarios for what might happen during the exam and create an action plan for what you will do if any of those scenarios happens. For example, if your fear is that your computer will crash during the exam, then decide right now what you will do if it happens. Decide that you are prepared to hand write if necessary (actually, that is what most bar examiners will actually tell you to do anyhow). Think about how you will approach the exam at that point. Creating an action plan in advance allows you to let go of that worry—you know what you will do if it happens, so why worry more about it now. Moreover, if the worst-case scenario actually does happen, you won’t waste any time figuring out what to do at that point. Instead, you will just start acting on the plan and continue focusing on what you need to be successful on the exam.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You can take a similar approach to another worst-case scenario that many bar examinees fear: getting an essay question that you don’t know what to do with. Once again, a plan of attack can help you get through this situation without panic. For example, you could create a multi-step plan for attacking the question: (1) identify the area(s) of law tested by the question (i.e., property, torts, professional responsibility, etc.); (2) identify the issues and sub-issues that the question asks you to address (usually set out specifically in most questions); (3) create a quick chart with a row for each issue and space to list relevant facts for that issue; and (4) start pulling out and organizing those relevant facts. As you go through this process, it will help you to focus on what you do know rather than what you don’t know, allowing you to avoid panicking.

Take control of your bar exam fears by planning for your worst-case scenarios in advance. That way, when the exam begins, you can just focus on doing your best.

Good luck to all of you taking the bar exam next week!

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July 17, 2014 · 9:14 am

Using Bar Exam Subject Outlines to Evaluate Study Priorities

Image courtesy of iospherre/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of iospherre/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As the date for the July bar exam approaches, prioritization becomes more and more important. It can be hard to decide what subject areas to focus on when there are so many to study and so little time. Most bar prep programs have completed their presentations of bar topics at this point, and the main focus is on reviewing your bar prep materials and taking practice exams. For many bar takers, it may be time to evaluate your study priorities. Here is one way that you can evaluate your current study status and prioritize your studies over the coming days:

Each year, the National Conference of Bar Examiners publishes an MBE (Multistate Bar Examination) Information Booklet, which can be accessed here. What many bar takers do not realize is that this booklet contains a subject matter outline for each MBE subject. These subject matter outlines make great evaluation tools. For example, one way to use the outlines is to go through each outline, assigning a rating between 1 and 5 based on your level of confidence in your knowledge of each subtopic (with 1 being the least confident and 5 being the most confident). Based upon that rating, you can then spend more time reviewing topics that you rated lower, rather than expending the same amount of time on all topics.

Another way to use one of these subject matter outlines to evaluate your study priorities starts with completing a series of practice MBE questions on a subject. For example, let’s say you take a 50-question set of practice MBE questions on Torts. You can then pull out the Torts subject matter outline from the MBE Information Booklet, and mark next to each topic every time you miss a question on that topic. Based on which topics end up with the most marks, you will then know how to prioritize your Tort studies.

There is also another way that the MBE Information Booklet can help you prioritize your studies. The Booklet provides additional insight into the emphasis that certain topics receive in the MBE. For example, at the beginning of the Constitutional Law outline, the Booklet states that approximately half of the Constitutional Law MBE questions will come from section IV of the outline, while the remaining half of the questions will come from the other three sections. This information may also be helpful as you decide to prioritize your study time during the last days leading up to the bar exam.

You can take a similar approach to prioritizing your studies by utilizing the basic subject matter outlines provided with most commercial bar prep programs. By taking an active approach to prioritizing your bar exam studies, you can make conscious choices about how to best utilize your remaining time before the bar.

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July 12, 2014 · 11:35 am

Studying for the Bar Exam Using MPT Practice Exams

In just over two weeks, law graduates from all over the United States will be taking the bar exam for the first time. Approximately 80% of states include at least one Multistate Performance Test, or MPT, on their bar exam. Some states, including those who utilize the Uniform Bar Examination, include two MPTS on each exam. Each state values the MPT differently in calculating the total bar exam score, and it is important to check your state bar examiners’ website for more information about scoring.

For current law students who are just beginning to think about the bar exam and don’t know what an MPT is, here is a brief description. Unlike other parts of the bar examination, the MPT focuses on fundamental lawyering skills, not the bar taker’s knowledge of the applicable state’s law. As a result, the MPT is a closed universe exam—you are given a File, which includes any documents that provide facts for the “case,” and a Library, which includes statutes, regulations, and case law. The bar taker completes an assignment from a hypothetical supervising attorney or judge, based upon the materials found in the File and Library. Bar takers have 90 minutes to complete each MPT. According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE) website, the MPT specifically requires exam takers to:

(1) sort detailed factual materials and separate relevant from irrelevant facts; (2) analyze statutory, case, and administrative materials for applicable principles of law; (3) apply the relevant law to the relevant facts in a manner likely to resolve a client’s problem; (4) identify and resolve ethical dilemmas, when present; (5) communicate effectively in writing; and (6) complete a lawyering task within time constraints.

When law graduates are studying for the bar exam, the amount of material that must be studied, memorized, and absorbed can feel overwhelming. Because the MPT is a closed universe task, it is not possible to “study” for it in the traditional way. There is no bar outline for the MPT, and flashcards aren’t helpful either. Because of these limitations, bar takers are tempted to skip over their preparation for the MPT and instead focus on studying the subjects they will need to be successful on the essays and Multistate Bar Examination questions (multiple choice). Because the MPT can be a significant portion of your total bar exam score, it can be a real mistake to not spend some time preparing for it.

So what is the best way to prepare for the MPT? Make yourself familiar with the format of the MPT and the range of possible tasks involved. The NCBE has released a number of past MPTS, as well as the point sheets that it provided into state bar examiners for those MPTS. Some states, like Georgia, have also released past MPTs—some states even provide sample answers that demonstrate what a high-scoring MPT looks like. Go over a number of these past MPTs just to get an understanding of how they are organized, what types of materials are included in the File and Library, and how you might need to organize your time to accomplish the assigned task in 90 minutes.

Most importantly, set aside time in your studies to take a practice MPT on a regular basis. The only way to really be prepared for the MPT is to have completed several MPTs prior to the bar exam. You need to figure out the proper strategy for reading and digesting the materials provided in the File and Library, organizing what you need from that material so that you can write effectively and efficiently, and completing the assigned task in the time allotted. Time can really be the bar taker’s enemy on the MPT, and it is important to understand what you need to accomplish and have a strategy for accomplishing it when you go into the bar exam. This is definitely one of those situations where practice is a key to success!

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June 27, 2014 · 9:55 am

5 Tips for Making the Most of MBE Practice Exams

One of the most dreaded parts of the bar exam is the Multistate Bar Exam, or MBE. Everyone who takes the bar exam takes the MBE on the Wednesday of their exam period, except bar takers in Puerto Rico and Louisiana. By this point in your bar exam preparations, you know that the MBE consists of 200 multiple choice questions, and 190 of those questions are actually scored.

Many law students and bar takers find multiple choice questions more intimidating than essay questions. Here are five suggestions for make the most out of your MBE studies:

First, it is impossible to do well on the MBE if you do not know the underlying law. Although it is important to practice taking MBE questions, if you do not know the law upon which the questions are based you will have limited success. You need to study your bar prep materials for each subject, review your outlines, and memorize the black letter law (maybe by creating flashcards, as I’ve discussed previously). Only after you feel like you have a good basic grasp of the material should you start doing practice MBE questions on that topic.

Second, you need to think about your approach to each question. MBE questions are like many of the multiple choice questions you were exposed to during law school. The questions instruct you to choose the best answer—which means that there technically might be more than one correct answer. As I’ve discussed before, there are specific techniques you can use to help you narrow down the best answer to multiple choice questions. Develop a strategy for how you will tackle the MBE.

Third, numbers matter—it is important to practice MBE questions over and over. The more questions you do over time, the more you will understand how the bar examiners have constructed the questions. You will become more proficient at reading questions because of that understanding. You also will be able to gauge your progress in your studies based upon your degree of success on each set of practice questions.

Fourth, it is important to simulate the actual conditions for the exam. You don’t have to do this every time you take practice questions, but it is a very different thing to take a 20-question practice exam versus spending an entire day taking 200 multiple choice questions. Part of what makes the bar exam challenging is the physical side of taking it—you will be sitting hunched at a table all day filling in bubble sheets with a pencil, and that can be physically taxing. You should also keep in mind the amount of time you will have per question. You will have about 1.8 minutes per multiple choice question on the bar exam—try to apply that standard to your practice questions so that you train yourself to manage your time on the MBE.

Finally, you need to remember that answering the practice MBE questions is only half of the process. To get the most out of your practice sessions, you should review carefully the answers and explanations that go along with those questions. I recommend allowing at least the same amount of time to review the answers and explanations as you devote to taking the practice exam in the first place. As you review your results, take note of why you missed each question. If it is a matter of not knowing the law well enough, then make studying that legal issue a priority in your studies. If you chose a correct answer but not the best answer, then determine what made the other answer better. If you missed key facts in the question, that may be a sign that you are reading the question too quickly and need to slow down. The key is to learn from wrong answers so that you do not make the same mistakes again in the future.

Ultimately, one of the keys to success on the MBE is practice, practice, practice. Set aside the time to do it right, and you will reap the results of your efforts.

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