Being "afraid" of multiple choice is good for the bar? Forum

[WolverineMachine]

So in my exam review my tax professor said "don't be afraid of multiple choice. i never understood why people freak out about them - they're just mini issue spotters." After the review, I had a question, and had mentioned that I was one of those people she was referring to - multiple choice have always gotten the best of me because I tend to overthink them.

Anyway, upon telling her that, she said - without any sarcasm - that being fearful of multiple choice is actually good for the bar. Now I know it's only December, but I wanted to post this and ask what the hell she meant by that. Again, she was not being sarcastic, but it left me thinking the rest of the evening as to why that would be the case.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

[Bildungsroman]

Anyway, upon telling her that, she said - without any sarcasm - that being fearful of multiple choice is actually good for the bar. Now I know it's only December, but I wanted to post this and ask what the hell she meant by that.

Ask her what she meant by that. We're not mind readers.

[bluesplitter]

I think I can add some substance to what she may be referring to, conceptually anyway.


I am taking the Bar Exam in Feb., and I started to review MBE questions early.

Three weeks ago I started by enrolling in Adaptibar, and was scoring consistently around 50% of the questions right.


Now, after reviewing about three topics, I have bumped my average to about 55% right.

I usually do about 25 question sessions. On Thursday's session, I was able to get about 57% right. Friday's Session I was able to get 64% right!. Improvement! I thought!


This morning, I was blindsided by some Civ Pro questions and some obscure evidence questions, and....out of the 25 question session, I was pegged at 33%.


So,...yes, be afraid. It's frustratingly terrifying ...if that's even a thing.

[brokenconundrum]

Maybe she just meant that it will force you to work really hard on them.

I have always struggled with multiple choice. I was terrified of the MBE, took the July 2015 CA Bar, and passed. During bar prep, I just knew that if I failed the bar, it was going to be because of the MBE. So, as many people have suggested doing in other threads, after each MBE set, I went through each question and figured out why I got it wrong* OR right, wrote it down in a running list of notes for each subject and eventually made flash cards for them (except for the "right answers" I understood well enough that doing so would be futile). If I got the same rule wrong multiple times, I still wrote it down in my notes and made flashcards for as many times as I got it wrong.

"Why" I got something wrong wasn't always substance-based; I also made notes of why I "fell" for the wrong answer. This could include looking at a question too broadly, too narrowly, when/when not to assume certain facts in the call of the question for certain issues, etc. I think this is important for those of us who struggle with multiple choice in general.

But, of course, we don't get our scores in CA so I still could have bombed the MBE and just barely squeaked by with a passing score, so take my words with a grain of salt. Good luck!

*I often tried to figure out why I got questions wrong on my own first before looking at Barbri's answer explanations. It seemed like that helped me understand/absorb those rules better.

[InTheWideLand I Walk]

its a good thing because it makes you study for the essays and PTs more

[Actus Reus]

I think I can add some substance to what she may be referring to, conceptually anyway.


I am taking the Bar Exam in Feb., and I started to review MBE questions early.

Three weeks ago I started by enrolling in Adaptibar, and was scoring consistently around 50% of the questions right.


Now, after reviewing about three topics, I have bumped my average to about 55% right.

I usually do about 25 question sessions. On Thursday's session, I was able to get about 57% right. Friday's Session I was able to get 64% right!. Improvement! I thought!


This morning, I was blindsided by some Civ Pro questions and some obscure evidence questions, and....out of the 25 question session, I was pegged at 33%.


So,...yes, be afraid. It's frustratingly terrifying ...if that's even a thing.

Adaptibar civ pro questions should never be done. They're a complete waste and nothing like the rest. Only false hope. Seriously study the law and that's your best bet.