Topic 13: Five MPRE Test Day Tips to Boost Your Score!

Topic 13: Five MPRE Test Day Tips to Boost Your Score!

If you are looking to boost your MPRE score on test day, here are five MPRE test day tips for you that aim to help you do just that! These are last minute MPRE test day tips that you should read as a refresher prior to taking the MPRE. 

Five MPRE Test Day Tips to Boost Your Score!

1. Pay close attention to the call of the question.

What this means is if the question says, “Is the attorney subject to discipline?” then you must consider the ethics rules. However, if the question says, “Is the attorney subject to civil liability?” then you will want to think of the rules of civil law—e.g., if negligence is the most appropriate claim (as it often is), ask: “Did the attorney breach a duty and did the client suffer harm as a result?”

While this seems obvious, many students automatically apply, say, the ABA Model Rules, rather than focusing on what the question really is asking. Taking a step back to make sure you answer the exact question being asked is one of the best ways to improve your score.

2. Go back to the facts!

A lot of students go back and forth between two answer choices and stare at, say, answer choice (A) and (B) and try to decide which one is correct. If you find yourself doing this, instead of staring at the answer choices, go back to the fact pattern to see if you missed any facts. Oftentimes reading the fact pattern again will quickly reveal the answer (or at least help you to eliminate some answer choices).

3. Eliminate wrong answer choices!

You still can boost your MPRE score by making sure to eliminate wrong answers rather than flat-out guessing. Some good ways to do this are:

• Eliminate answer choices that contradict the facts.
• Eliminate answer choices that go against your common sense or practical sense of how the rules could play out in real life.
• Eliminate answer choices that don’t directly respond to the call of the question.

Even if you are really stuck on an answer choice, eliminating one (or more than one) incorrect answer will boost your chances of guessing correctly.

4. Have a good scantron strategy so you make sure to fill in every bubble.

Remember, you are not penalized for answering a question incorrectly. If you leave a question blank, you are automatically going to be answering it incorrectly! Fill in every bubble on MPRE test day to make sure you maximize your chances of passing the MPRE!

If you tend to fall behind in time, we recommend you come up with a scantron strategy. For example, put a dash (—) on the bubble sheet next to questions you completely guessed on and want to come back to later. Then, put a dot (.) next to questions you feel pretty good about but still want to look at again if there’s time.

This allows students to use their time wisely, make sure they got to all of the questions, and, time-permitting, to go back to the questions they struggled with the most in order of priority. Having a good scantron strategy going into the MPRE can make a big difference, especially if you struggle with timing. Which leads us to the final MPRE test day tip! . . .

5. Keep close track of time.

If you find yourself running out of time, then make a note to speed up! You have two hours to answer 60 questions. So after the first half hour, you should have answered about 15 questions. If you are behind, start to speed up your process right then and there rather than leaving questions blank at the end! Keeping close track of time is one of the most critical MPRE test day tips because you do not want to fail the MPRE simply because you ran out of time!

We hope you enjoyed these MPRE test day tips! Good luck on the MPRE!

Go to the next topic, Topic 14: An Overview of JD Advising MPRE Services.

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