How To Deal With Glazing Over During the MBE

How To Deal With Glazing Over During the MBE

The Multistate Bar Examination (or “MBE”) portion of the bar exam is almost always considered a marathon rather than a sprint. This means that stamina and accuracy are preferred over outright speed. Going too fast on the MBE portion of the bar exam can cause you to overlook facts and ignore answers. The MBE portion of the bar exam is six hours from start to finish.  More specifically, that’s 100 questions in the first three hours and 100 more in the following three hours. If you’ve taken a simulated bar exam, you might have noticed that things sometimes get a little blurry during the MBE. It makes sense when you think about it. Two hundred multiple-choice questions are a lot to ask of someone! So, if slow and steady is the more reasonable approach to the MBE, how do you avoid burnout? We’ve assembled our top tips to help you deal with glazing over during the MBE.

How To Deal With Glazing Over During the MBE

Take A Momentary Rest

 This piece of advice applies to other portions of the bar exam and not just the MBE. However, it is particularly practical and useful on the MBE portion of the bar exam. If you feel yourself glazing over during the MBE portion of the bar exam, don’t be afraid to rest momentarily. Simply put your pencil down, turn over the scantron, close your eyes, and take a couple of deep breaths. Enjoy your temporary moment of solitude for only thirty seconds to one minute. While some of you might be wondering how resting during the MBE is effective, given time constraints, let us explain.

Yes, we know the MBE portion of the bar exam is timed. However, the benefits of taking a short break to relax your mind outweigh the negatives. A short mental vacation can allow you to focus yourself, center your concentration, and proceed onto additional questions feeling energized. You can also give yourself a pep talk and a reminder on why you’re taking the bar exam during this time.

You’re Not A Wimp

Sometimes we hear from students that they’re disappointed in themselves for feeling so fatigued during the MBE. This is absolutely nothing to feel ashamed about! There’s nothing like the pressure of the actual Bar Exam. The bar exam brings with it a host of additional considerations that simply were not present during preparation. Moreover, you may be fatigued from traveling to a testing center. Lastly, you may feel emotionally upset over your performance on the essay portion of the exam the day prior. It may be something as simple as the exam room is too hot or too cold. All of these considerations, when combined, can definitely result in an additional layer of fatigue on the bar exam. Therefore, if you find yourself glazing over during the MBE, chances are, you’re not glazing over because of a lack of studying and/or preparation.

Circle Back If You Have Time

Glazing over during the bar exam is a recognizable sensation, which can often lead to students experiencing an emotional response. Like we mentioned above, try to focus your energy on pulling yourself out of a performance rut. You do yourself no favors by worrying, feeling upset, or feeling disappointed. With that being said, once you’ve successfully pulled through the waves of syrupy exhaustion, circle back to previous questions. Assuming you have the time, go back and double-check questions you answered while glazed over. Revisiting these questions will increase your overall score and improve your chances of passing the exam!

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