Managing MBE's

Part of the path set out by my tutor (whom I miss, terribly!), was to improve my MBE scores. While others use MicroMash and Adaptibar (and swear by them!), I have nearly completed doing MBE's in the BarBri book. My book is from 2007; it does not incorporate the recent changes made by the bar examiners to the questions. (See link in the sidebar of this blog about MBE's.)

I have been patiently tracking each MBE that I got wrong in a "journal," grouping the "trigger facts" with the black letter law.

I answer all MBE's under timed conditions; I am beginning to answer the questions in less time than alloted. Inch, inch by inch my scores are creeping up from the 51% I "enjoyed" in the 2009 exam to 56% today. A 5 point gain seems so small, yet 1,400 questions later, this is my progress to date. I realize that my performance is related to exercising old skills as I move toward more advanced and trickey questions.

Having taken a mock bar under timed conditions on May 1-2, using "Strategies and Tactics" by Walton and Emmanuel, my total overall score was 54%.

This past weekend, I did another mock bar, but this time I used "Strategies and Tactics for the FINZ Multistate Method." I was sorry that I did, given that the question wording is different, often employing the format, "If ....and only one of these were true, what answer would the the MOST (or LEAST) likely to support his (Motion, Defense, Claim, etc.)." I tripped up on the unfamiliar wording and completed my mock bar with a 38% score for the AM session and a 53% score for the PM session. My poor performance shook my self-confidence. Yet, in going back and reviewing the explanation for the questions missed, I realised that FINZ is filling in the blanks, testing me on some of the finer points of the Black Letter Law that I need to know but that BarBri does not hammer on.

Least I "beat myself up" for my exam performance, I remind myself that my high school supervisor, in her infinite wisdom, told me that I was "too dumb to go to college." Sometimes, a negative comment is a great motivator.

On the advice of my tutor, I've shelved my PMBR questions from the 6-day review course, but I find their CD reviews and PDF files for the multi-state invaluable.

I've decided to move on to "Strategies & Tactics" this week, reviewing one chapter of tips per subject per day, my MBE journal, and to mix the questions, 5 per each of the 6 subjects or an even 30 per day and to complete the last 198 remaining BarBri questions, all from the advanced section.

My next MBE Mock Bar will be on June 15 and 16, but this time, I plan to use the bar examiner's actual questions. Two practice tests are on-line with annotations, 100 questions each, at the NCBE Online Store, for $26.00 each. (I used the NCBE on-line exam for the MPRE, printed out each question, and found the exam invaluable at preparing me for the actual exam.)

See sidebar on my Blog, "Managing MBE's," for helpful links.

I struggled through law school with multiple choice questions, and generally excelled on the essays (if I could bring my test anxiety in hand.) Here, all I can do is move forward and learn from my mistakes. My goal is to do no less than 2,250 MBE's; I have 850 more to go. . .

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."