The bar exam is over and the waiting begins. North
Carolina is usually one of the first states to release its results in
approximately a month. Then the states begin to roll in, one after another.
For now, take the time to relax and have fun. You
deserve it. There will be enough time to fret and wait for your results.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
There are a few states that are sitting for their
state essays today. Students from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada and, of
course, California are working on their bar exams today. Good luck on your
final day of the exam.
You can do this – you can pass the bar exam.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Today is the MBE for everyone taking the bar, no
matter where you are taking the bar exam (except for Louisiana and Washington).
Relax and be confident. Pace yourself. Remember, 1.6 minutes a question. Keep
your time. You must answer every question. You have studied hard for this day
and you will perform to the best of your ability. Good luck to everyone. Keep
believing in yourself.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Today is the bar exam.
Relax, be confident and do your thing. You have studied hard for this day and
you will perform to the best of your ability. Tonight, go back to your home or
to your hotel and rest. Don’t do anymore studying for the MBE. Eat, watch a little
television and then go to sleep. You will be so tired, you will be asleep
before your head hits your pillow. But it will be a well earned rest. Good luck
to everyone. Keep believing in yourself. This is the first day of your life as
an attorney.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
You are almost to the finish line. Get ready today by
relaxing and being confident in your abilities. You have been preparing for
your chance to be a lawyer for 3 years or more. You can do this. Go to your
hotel room or stay home and try to have a quiet, restful day. No upsets and no
panic attacks are allowed. Review your essay notes today, get to bed early and
relax. Even if you can’t sleep, lie down with the lights off and get some rest.
Your body will thank you tomorrow during the bar exam.
Wake up early on Tuesday, get to the exam site in
plenty of time to get registered and kick the stuffings out of this bar. Make
sure you have a positive attitude and be confident in your abilities. Do well,
my friends. You can do this.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
It is now 2 days to the bar exam. Let’s talk about
what you should do the day before the exam.
Take Monday off so you can rest and be alert during
the exam. Keep the final day low key and try not to think about the exam. If
you are staying at a hotel, get to your hotel early, check in and relax. Keep
your anxiety under control and you’ll be fine. Work on being calm and
collected.
The Night Before the Exam
Eat small meals on Monday – you want to eat
something that gives you some strength but nothing that you know can make you
feel sick. You know your own body, so play it smart. Avoid anything that makes
you feel queasy. Don’t drink alcohol, even if you think it will calm your
nerves – you do not want to be foggy Tuesday morning.
The night before the exam is the one time you may
want to read a little material or study because you probably will have trouble
sleeping on Monday night. Try reading a bar outline. If you can’t fall asleep,
just lie there. Don’t try to do extra studying, just rest. If you can’t fall asleep,
don’t get out of bed, do not pace, do not watch television, do not text, do not
play on the internet, do not go on facebook, do not exercise. You do not want
to do anything that will keep your mind active. You want to keep your mind at
rest, even if your body can’t rest.
The Day of the Exam
Don’t try to study when you get up. You’ll be too
nervous and your retention level will be minimal. It’s best to work on your
nerves as you get dressed. Tell yourself that you know the materials and you
will do well. Keep that positive attitude. Do not approach the morning of the
bar like you are going to your personal execution. You are well prepared and
you must believe that you will do well.
Eat a small breakfast the morning of the bar exam so
you have enough fuel to keep going. Do not drink too much that it causes
frequent restroom visits.
Make sure you know what you can bring into the site. Florida has now banned watches. Leave your cellphone at the hotel or in the
car. Do not bring it into the site. You will be kicked out of the bar if your
phone rings.
Also important is your lunch. Avoid heavy foods that
will make you sleepy. Again, limit your drink intake to avoid frequent restroom
breaks.
During Your Breaks
Do not talk to anyone about the exam during your
breaks. Inevitably someone will want to talk about the bar and inevitably that
person put down something different from what you did. Do not second guess
yourself by rehashing the exam. Move forward at all times.
Make sure you have a positive outlook. Be confident.
You’ve done hundreds of practice questions by now. You can do this. You will
pass. Good luck to all.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
It is now 3 days to the bar exam. This is the final
weekend before you sit for the bar exam.
One of the most important factors in your
performance on the bar exam is going to be your stamina – to sit for 3 hours at
a stretch, with no breaks, concentrating solely on the bar exam will be quite
an endeavor. You need to remain focused and energized throughout the bar exam
in order for you to do your best work.
First, you need to catch up on your rest and start
powering down on your studying this weekend. Try to have a less stressful
couple of days. Put in study time, but also sleep, rest and relax. You have done
your preparation and now it’s time to get in the game, mentally and physically.
You will be nervous this weekend, but try to contain
your anxiety – you have studied hard and you are ready. Review your materials,
go over your outlines, write out an essay or two to keep in practice and also
work on some MBE questions – making sure you read the explanations of why the
answer choices are right or wrong. Don’t let doubt creep into your thinking.
You must be confident – you know you will pass. Good luck.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
It is now 4 days to the bar exam.
Part of the battle to pass the bar exam is your
attitude. Don’t go into the bar with negative energy. You must have confidence
in your abilities. You have to go into the bar fired up and excited. This is
your future and you will conquer it. You have studied extensively, you know the
information and now you will prove it when you enter the bar examination. A
positive attitude is half the battle. You feel good – you do good. With
confidence, you have won before you have started.
Where does confidence come from? Confidence doesn’t
come out of nowhere. It’s a result of something… hours and days and weeks and
years of work, dedication and training. You are ready. You will go into the bar
exam prepared to pass the exam. You have studied, written essays and practiced
the MBE questions – you can do no more. Your analysis is sharp and you have a great
game plan. You have prepared and you are confident.
For those who are taking the bar exam as a repeat
taker, do not lose your edge. Do not look back at your past failures and think
you cannot pass the bar exam. Do not doubt yourself, do not be afraid that you
will repeat your mistakes. You must go into the exam with confidence that you
will pass the bar exam. If you doubt yourself, then indeed you stand on shaky
ground. Believe that you will pass.
A student told me that this weekend, he is going to
watch the movie Rocky. I thought it was a great idea. Find something
inspirational for you to watch or to do. Not only will you feel good, but it
can build your confidence to see someone else conquer his fears and be
successful. I’ve always liked the movie Rudy – someone who wanted to go to
college and play football for Notre Dame. He had many obstacles in his way
including having to go to junior college before he could transfer to Notre Dame
and be a walk-on to the team. The coaches kept him on the practice team because
he practiced with intensity and determination even though he was too small and
would likely never get into the game or play a down. Well, the last game of his
senior year he got into the game, played a few downs and became the first
player in Notre Dame’s history to be carried off the field in triumph. Against
all odds, he became a winner – because he believed in his dreams and had the
confidence to overcome his obstacles. Believe
in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without confidence in your own
powers you cannot be successful.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
It is now 5 days to the bar exam.
During this last week before the bar exam, I have
many students ask me what my prediction is for exam subjects. Anyone who claims
to predict what will be on the bar exam is just guessing. I remember one year,
a lecturer on the bar exam circuit claimed that since trusts had been tested in
the previous test cycle, it would not be tested again and to forget about
trusts. Unfortunately, many students took that advice and freaked when they
opened the exam questions on the day of the bar exam and saw that the bar
examiners did in fact test trusts twice in a row. This cautionary tale is meant
to be what it is – do not endlessly search for predictions or to take anyone’s
predictions as gospel. You have prepared for any eventuality – in any subject
that is tested. Don’t try to second guess yourself and your preparation or to
find a shortcut in your studies. This weekend, make sure you review every
subject that is tested in your state. Only then will you be thoroughly
prepared, with or without, any person’s prediction of what subjects will be
tested on the essays.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
It is now 6 days to the bar exam. Your job today,
along with continuing to practice your exam techniques, is to think about
consistency. In all the bar exam scores I have read, I have rarely seen an up
and down score, with a student doing great in one subject and horrible in
another subject. i.e., a 10 in property, a 30 in torts. Instead, there is a
consistency of scores across the board. The student is routinely good in all
the subjects, or routinely bad in the subjects. Your objective is, of course,
to be perform consistently well across the spectrum of subjects and across the
tasks you must do in order to pass the bar exam.
How do you perform consistently well in all
subjects? Your consistency started with your study plan, when you first began
this bar exam process. Hard work always demands a consistency of its own in
your thoughts, purpose and action over that long period of study time and your
sense of purpose has been the most important aspect of your life, these past 2
months. Every day you approached your bar exam studies with the steadiness of
an athlete in training. In just a few days from now, all of your hard work will
pay off because you dedicated your time and effort to consistent study. Like
that athlete, you will win your race.
With that consistency of study time and
steadfastness, you walk into the bar exam with a sense of security and
confidence that you will pass the bar exam.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Your goal for this last week is to keep your focus
while you solidify your knowledge of the black letter law and improve your
timing. The week before the exam is a time when you should be cool, collected
and confident.
Don’t let anyone or anything distract you this week.
It’s not worth it. You only have a week left to go and you can relax later,
Remember to take care of your body and mind. This
means eating well, getting some sleep and working on self-confidence.
As to practical things, make sure you have confirmed
your travel plans or hotel stay, make sure you have packed what you need to
take with you for the bar exam, including your admission ticket, your
identification, your watch, etc.
Now that you know the law, make sure your timing is
correct, i.e. complete 17 MBE questions in 30 minutes; 34 MBE questions in an
hour and complete an essay in the time allotted for your jurisdiction.
It isn’t uncommon to start running out of energy
this week. So take some breaks to energize yourself. You need to keep your mind
focused on bar material. Your focus is critical to success.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Today marks 8 days to the bar exam. Hopefully, this
weekend, you caught up on any sleep you have been missing. You need to be
physically well and fit. You need to be sharp on the days of the bar exam and
you can’t be smart when you are exhausted. Keep that in mind this week. If you
need to take a cat nap, go ahead and take it. Meanwhile, keep on your bar exam
schedule. Start studying at 9 am for a 3 hour stretch. Take an hour break and
study again for another 3 hour stretch. It will be up to you whether you want
to study longer. If you feel you need to, go ahead and review your notes or
essays at night, but don’t study night and day. You will only tire yourself
out. Try to keep your nerves under control.
Think about today and what you need to accomplish
today only. This technique should help you not think too much about next week.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Today marks 10 days to the bar exam. This is a
pretty significant day for you. You should be just about finished with your
studies. You should know the law, understand the mechanics of the bar exam and
understand how to tackle the MBE questions, the essays and the MPTs. It’s now
time to start powering down a bit.
If you have studied hard and if you are physically
tired, try to rest more this weekend. You do not want to enter the bar exam
exhausted and physically spent. Many of you will start to have sleepless nights
or have nightmares about the bar exam and your anxiety will reach higher
levels. Try to compensate for your lack of sleep at night by taking some power
naps. Don’t feel guilty – you’ve earned it. You want to be at your best
physically and mentally and you can’t do that if you are too tired to think. So
lie down on the couch and take a short nap when you need to. Meanwhile, review
your outlines and do a few essays a day and an hour or two of MBE questions per
day. If your state tests the MPT, write out a MPT every other day. It’s time
now to reinforce what you already know. Reviewing and practicing will build
your confidence that you really do know the subject matter.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
We all know that you must complete your essays or
MBE in that specific 3 hour window. If
you have not done so yet, it is time to practice your timing. You must be able
to sustain that pace.
As you practice, keep that 3 hour pace in mind. It
is imperative that you finish all questions. You do not want to short-change
any essay or MBE question. You do not want to leave any questions unanswered or
unread and lose valuable points. As you know, even 1 point or 2 points can mean
the difference between passing and failing.
How do you build up your time and accuracy? In the
beginning of this process, start with doing an essay or two (depending on the length
of time you get from your state for your essays), or a block of MBE questions
for 1 hour. Then increase those essays,
MBE to 2 hours, then, finally, you should be able to do a set of your state’s
essays or the MBE in that 3 hour block of time.
In addition, thrown in a complete MPT set to work on, if your state
tests the MPT.
You must get comfortable and condition yourself to
sitting for 3 hours, working on MBE or essay questions or the MPT, without
losing your focus or concentration. In these last couple of weeks, prior to the
bar exam, you should be working on 3 hour blocks for the MBE, essays and MPT.
The MBE Testing Instituteknows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
In prior blogs, I’ve
talked about those toxic people in your personal life. You know the type. Those
are the people who like to tell you horrible stories about people who have
failed the bar exam, or want you to play hooky when you should be studying.
But I have one more. I
have found that there are a few law students at every law school that try to
distract their fellow law students, especially those that have been studying
hard. Those “distractors” have not put in the study time nor have they worked
as hard as you have. Their purpose is to try to throw you off your game and to
disturb your peace of mind.
There are two types of
distractors. The first distractor wanders the study places, begging you for
little scraps of information, i.e. wanting to know the elements of some rule,
and freaking out because they don’t know the law. The other distractor wanders
the study places, telling you that they are powering down because they know
everything cold and they don’t need to study anymore. There was one student at
my school who tried to get people to ditch their work to go play golf with him.
Then on the day of the exam, he was walking around asking about the elements of
negligence, or some other such nonsense. Of course, he failed the bar exam and
apparently wanted others to fail with him.
The purpose of both
distractors is to divert you from your own studying and to make you feel unduly
nervous and anxious. They will try to undermine your own confidence. They are
going to make your question your own knowledge and freak you out too. Stay away
from those people. You want to keep focused and keep your mind clear and easy
as you march towards your goal.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
In every essay questions or MBE questions, there are
different kinds of facts you need to be aware of. You have the background facts
and the legally significant facts.
We know that the background facts help put the
questions into context and makes for a more coherent fact pattern. But you must
recognize the differences between background facts and legally significant
facts. Background facts are there to put the whole fact pattern together. But
do not mistake legally significant facts for just background noise. You must be
able to see and understand those legally significant facts that enable you to
trigger issues in your mind.. For example, if the fact pattern reads,
“defendant screamed and called the plaintiff stupid”, you are probably looking
at a legally significant fact that should trigger your issue of defamation or
even negligent infliction of emotional distress. You can then key into the
issue presented, writing down all the elements of defamation or NIED, making
sure that you blend the elements of defamation with the facts you just read.
This is critical reading in a nutshell.
These skills make you a better test taker and you
will be successful in finding your issues for discussion. Don’t ever just skim
the words or read the fact pattern like you would a novel. This will not help
you find your legally significant facts.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
You have 2 weeks until
the bar examination. Instead of spending the day getting nervous about the
time, concentrate on what you have left to do.
By this time, you should
have pretty much memorized as much black letter law as you can cram into your
brain. It is now time to put away the books and stop studying the law.
What you need to do in
these final 2 weeks to prepare yourself for the bar exam is to practice,
practice, practice. You are now familiar with your state test and the MBE
questions and what to expect from the bar exam.
Try to do an essay or two
every day, testing yourself on a variety of subjects that you know your state
tests. Do the essays under test conditions. Once you finish your essay under
time constraints, spend an equal amount of time reading your essay and
comparing it to the model answer. Read for comprehension, also. There might be
a point of law that you did not know that you can learn from reading the model
answer.
For those states who have
the UBE, and California or New York who have performance tests, you also must
include taking the time to do the performance test also. Try doing 1
performance test every other day. This way you can probably get 5 or 6
performance tests in to your practice sessions prior to the bar exam. On the
days you do not do a performance test, practice your essays.
In between the essays and
performance tests, you also need to work on questions for the Multistate. Try
to get in at least 50-100 MBE questions per day, if you can. This way you can
really be sharp when exam time comes.
Don’t waste the time to
panic, but do take the time to practice. You will be more prepared than ever if
you follow this schedule.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Critical thinking is the key to being a lawyer and
to passing the bar exam. Reading the bar exam essays and the MBE fact pattern
is not like reading a novel. Instead, you must pick through the facts, actively
thinking of what each fact means. Critical thinking means that you must
carefully examine the essay fact patterns and the MBE fact patterns. You must
sort through the fact pattern, looking at salient facts so that you can make
the next step of identifying issues. You will need to draw inferences from the
facts and synthesize the facts into law. Look for nuisances and distinctions as
you read. This will help you to answer the essay questions and pick the right
answer choice on the MBE.
Reading critically and thinking through each fact,
while using your logic and your legal reasoning, will allow you to understand
what the question is asking you to do. Remember to evaluate every fact. Do not
look at the whole of any question; instead, break it down into bites of facts,
and you will come to the central issue of all fact patterns. Then you can start
the essay writing process or answer the MBE question correctly.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
With the bar exam just
around the corner, you will need to adjust your schedule to imitate the bar
exam hours. We all know that the bar exam is not only mentally exhausting, but
also physically challenging, especially if you are not used to getting up early
in the morning and performing at your best, starting at 9 am. The best way to
get used to that grueling schedule is to move to “bar exam hours.”
If you are like some of
my students who study all night, stop it today. From this day forward, until
after the bar exam, get up at 6 am or 7 am, shake the early morning cobwebs
loose, and eat a little breakfast. Even if you hate breakfast, you know you’ll need
to eat something the morning of the bar exam. You cannot wait until the lunch
break to take nutrition on the day of the bar exam. In this run up to the bar
exam, eat a little something every morning. If you are not a breakfast person,
let your stomach adjust to early morning food. Eat simple and bland – bread, a
banana, anything to put something in your stomach for energy.
Then, start studying at 9
am until 12 pm, with no breaks, take an hour to eat and relax, then study from
1 pm to 4 pm, with no breaks, You want to mimic the bar exam hours so you are
at your peak at 9 am every day. Don’t leave anything to chance, plan out your
day, even to the most minute details. That is what lawyers do.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
An important piece of
information that you need is knowing what kind of essay writer you are. The
next time you write an essay, look at your writing critically. What kind of
essay writer are you?
I have seen many types of
essays, put I put them mostly in a few categories:
All facts and no law:
These writers just regurgitate the facts without legal analysis. All law and no
facts: These writers just tell us the law, without blending the facts. No
knowledge of the rule definitions: These writers do not know the black letter
law. No knowledge of factual analysis: These writers do not blend the law with
the factual analysis.
Where do you stand on my
list? Make sure you know the answer, because your job, right now and up to the
bar exam is to correct your essay writing and turn your weakness into a
strength.
Most states want you to
write an IRAC type of essay. You want to identify the issue, set out the
complete rule definition, analyze your facts with the law, and then you want to
conclude. You can’t go wrong with that simple formula.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
After completing your
reading of the Library and File, you’re ready to begin the task of writing.
Your job is to discuss
the issues and the controlling rule of law. Only answer the question that was
asked of you.
Make sure you outline
your issues and facts first. Look at the Task memo again and make sure your
outline has incorporated each issue; noted the relevant facts; and cited
appropriate legal authority. Look at the Memo to verify your task and what tone
you must take.
Write subject headings,
if it is a memo or brief. You want to combine the law with the relevant facts
to write logical thesis sentences.
Give adequate treatment
to the cases in the Library. You want to avoid copying passages from cases or
statutes, but you do want to tell the bar examiner what the cases say in relation
to your facts. Remember to blend the law with the facts. Make relevant
arguments on how the law and the facts support your theory. If there are
contrary authorities, cite and distinguish those cases.
Cite all cases in your
brief or memo.
Your review and outline
of the task should take you approximately half of the time allotted.
You then
can write for the remaining time.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Three weeks to the bar exam is a good time to
evaluate how you are doing. You have enough time to now pinpoint your weak
areas and enough time to change your schedule if you feel you’re spinning your
wheels. Consider this day your line in the sand.
By now you should have done several hundred
multistate questions, at least 15 state essays and at least 4 performance
tests.
If you haven’t done it, get busy. Change your
schedule if you need to, work on your weak areas and keep testing.
If you have, you are ready for the bar exam. You
just need to keep working, stay cool and continue to test yourself.
Make sure you are peaking on exam day. If you are
like some of my students who study all night, stop it today. Get up at 6 am or
7 am and start studying at 9 am until 12 pm, with no breaks, then study from 1
pm to 4 pm, with no breaks, You want to mimic the bar exam hours so you are at
your peak at 9 am every day.
Don’t pretend you’re not nervous. Accept that it’s
okay to be nervous. Channel that nervous energy properly by attacking your
study schedule and transform your nerves into confidence. But, remember, you do
not want to be overly tired for the bar exam. Try to sleep through the night
or, at least, take some cat naps during the day to catch up on missed sleep.
One of the most important things to do during this 3
week period is not to doubt your abilities. You can pass this bar and you know
it. You just need to be in the top 2/3rds of your state. Don’t stress too much
about what you don’t know – you are not expected to get a 100% on this test –
it’s more like 60%. The examiners expect that you will have weak areas. Go into
the bar exam with the knowledge you will pass the bar exam.
The MBE Testing Institute knows that taking the bar
exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience. The MBE Testing
Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident through interaction
with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
This two day intensive seminar is for first time bar
takers, repeat bar takers, foreign educated lawyers and any person looking to
improve on his/her Florida essays for the Florida Bar Examination. This seminar
will address writing and substantive subjects on the exam. “Special” emphasis
will be placed on the newly added substantive essay subjects. The Seminar will
be conducted by multiple law professors who have taught in several Florida law
schools on the Florida bar exam. All of the professors are experienced trial
litigators. The Seminar will cover and include:
Structure and Organization of Answers
Issue Recognition and Development
Factual Incorporation and Rule Application
Fact Analysis
The Importance of the “Florida” Black Letter Law
Outlining your Answer
Writing For the Bar Examiner
Key Trigger Words
Understanding the Call of the Question
The Florida Essay Format
Acknowledging the “Status” of the Parties
Concentrated Outlines
Line-by-Line Analysis
Reading Parties in Isolation
Questions and Answers Discussion During Each Break
with Professors who will Discuss Legal Concepts
Improving Reading Comprehension
Addressing Test Anxiety and Time Management
Small Classes for Individual Attention
For more information on the specific times and
dates, please go to the Contact page and fill it out. In the comment box, state
the seminar and month. Early registration is encouraged because spaces are very
limited.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating
experience. The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and
confident through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
Those that really love you want to see you pass the
bar. Know that with certainty. Those who are pulling and picking at you, saying
you don’t have to study that long or want you to go to the clubs and party are
not your true friends and do not want you to be successful. Hopefully, you have
ejected them from your life for this last month of studying.
Sometimes those loved
ones see you study and see your struggle and wish they could help you, but
don’t know how. Bar applicants who have children find it hard to be both a
parent and have a full time study plan. Don’t ignore them. Try to incorporate
them into your “experience”.
I’ve known students who bring their mom to the test
site. What mom does is to make sure their kid has food during the breaks, go
over study material or just give their kid a shoulder to rely on during this
trying event.
During this 4th of July weekend, look at those that
are supporting you in ways you may not even realize. Maybe your mom makes you
breakfast every morning before you leave for your bar course. Maybe your spouse
is doing the heavy lifting as you study. Let them know you appreciate their
support, even if they are just getting out of your way during this stressful
period.
If you have family that would like to attend a
cookout this 4th of July, go and take a few hours off to relax your mind and
have quality time with those that love you. At this point in your studies, you
deserve an afternoon off. Go see the fireworks. Take the time off with no guilt
attached.
For those who still want to study and for other
times beyond this weekend, have your family help you. They will be glad to help
and they will be proud of the little part they played in your success.
Give
your family members or your children one of your study books and have them test
you. This is particularly good for the elements of a cause of action. By now
you should be close to having them mostly memorized, but especially with those
subjects that are difficult for you, have your family help you recite those
causes of action. See if you can make a game out of it, with your children or
family members each calling out an element of a cause of action.
You may be surprised on game day when you are
calling up the exceptions to the hearsay rule and you remember the face of your
loved ones yelling it out to you.
Have a wonderful 4th of July. If you worked hard,
you deserve it.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience.
The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident
through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
I always tell my students that studying for the bar
is more like a marathon than a sprint. I want you to compare it to your
favorite sport that you play. Do you remember how hard it was to pick it up in
the beginning? You had to keep at it and practice every day before you started
to improve and get better at your game. You worked at that game until you
became a true proficient at it.
That game you mastered long ago is similar to how
you must master and pass the bar exam. Every day you chip away at the large
amount of material, taking manageable bites until you have mastered that bite
and go onto the next one. As someone has once said, how do you eat an elephant
– with one bite at a time. In other words, take smaller sections of the vast
material, learn it and then take another section of the bar exam and learn that
section, until, before you know it, you have learned the law, practiced your
questions and are ready to sit for the bar exam.
Always stay in the moment of that day, because if
you look too far ahead, you will waste precious time worrying about the large
amount of material you must learn or how fast the time is ticking before the
bar exam.
I tell my students that taking the bar exam is not a
sprint. You cannot do everything in one day. Do not drive yourself to
exhaustion thinking that you must skip meals, skip the gym, skip sleeping in
order to prepare yourself for the bar exam. You cannot run down your body or
your mind. Take regular breaks so that you can come back refreshed and ready to
learn.
Remember, it was the tortoise that won the race, and
not the hare. And to quote the tortoise, “slowly does it every time”.
The bar exam is a marathon, not a sprint.
The MBE Testing Institute
knows that taking the bar exam as a repeat taker can be an isolating experience.
The MBE Testing Institute helps the student keep motivated and confident
through interaction with an MBE Testing Institute’s bar tutor.
If you need help passing
the MBE, contact the MBE Testing Institute at pass@mbetestinginstitute.com for
more information.
