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How To Study For The Multistate Essay Exam At The Last Minute

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study for the Multistate Essay Exam at the Last Minute

For Procrastinators: How To Study For The Multistate Essay Exam At The Last Minute

If you need to study for the Multistate Essay Exam at the last minute, you are not alone! While it is not ideal to put studying off, here are our tips to make the most of your MEE studying – even if you are studying at the last minute.

For Procrastinators: How To Study For The Multistate Essay Exam At The Last Minute

1. Focus on the highly tested areas of the law first.

When time is of the essence, you cannot waste it on trying to learn every little thing about what might be tested. First, you have to focus on what will likely be tested.  The best way to do this is to focus on what has been tested frequently in the past.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), the organization that writes the MEE, does not completely reinvent the wheel every time they draft an exam. Instead, they tend to re-test issues that have been tested in the past.

How do you figure out the highly-tested areas of law (from free to most expensive):

  • The free way is to go to this link on highly tested MEE topics and download our free PDF and/or watch our youtube video. We tell you the exact areas to focus on. This is 100% free and it provides a comprehensive overview!
  • We have a Multistate Essay Exam seminar which is available instantly upon checkout along with a corresponding PDF of (a) highly tested issues and (b) issues we think are coming up. This seminar gets glowing reviews, is attended by hundreds of students, and often quite accurate (last July over 90% of the MEE was covered by the seminar!). Many students call it their best investment of time and money before the bar exam!
  • You can also purchase our MEE one-sheets (we offer priority express or overnight delivery options).
  • Attend our MEE essay course if it is not too late (and it might be if you are reading this now!)

2. Look at what might be coming up next. 

You have got to know the highly tested issues because it is never certain what is coming up. However, sometimes you can gauge what is ripe for testing!

We make MEE predictions every exam. And while we are not right about all of the subjects, we usually have a decent grasp of what is coming up. You can look at the multistate essay exam frequency chart to see what comes up most frequently and what has come up recently you want to make your own predictions.

(As mentioned above, we also have a Multistate Essay Exam seminar where we predict what topics are coming up if you are looking for a lot of detail on what might be coming up. In July 2017, we covered over 90% of what was tested on the MEE!)

Make sure you do not ignore the subjects that are coming up on the exam. Looking at our general MEE subject predictions is free – and we also have a frequency chart where you can make your own MEE predictions or see if you agree with ours.

3. Get familiar with how to answer MEE answers.

Knowing the law is one thing but being able to apply it is another. Read our post on how to write an MEE answer and our best Multistate Essay Exam advice.

Lastly, make sure you look at how to structure a multistate essay exam answer.

Get a feel for some MEE basics. This does not take long and can be invaluable in steering you in the right direction. One of the biggest mistakes we see MEE procrastinators make is they write “law school” answers to bar exam questions. And this is due to lack of familiarity with the questions, and lack of practice. So familiarizing yourself with how to structure answers is the first step to make sure you avoid this mistake!

4. Bullet point some essays.

If you have not yet started practicing MEE answers, go to the NCBE website and bullet point some past MEE essays. They have some free MEE questions and sample answers here. Here is what to do:

  • Pick any exam
  • Print out the exam and the answer
  • Read question #1
  • Bullet point your answer
  • Compare your answer with the NCBE answer and self-grade your answer. (Note: When you do this, focus on whether you stated the rule, the analysis, and the conclusion correctly. Ignore case citations, statute citations, detailed policy analyses, or minority state viewpoints.) As you go through your answer, write down the law you didn’t know, the analysis you missed, etc. Grade it as if you were a grader.
  • Repeat this with the next 5 MEE exam questions, taking short breaks if necessary.

At this stage, don’t worry about timing. Just pay attention to your organization and format.

If you have time, do this with more than one MEE. Review your MEE answers with self-grading as you go along so you learn the law you missed and constantly sharpen your skills.

This will take a couple hours and is well worth your time.

5. Take a timed MEE.

If you know everything in the world but don’t have time to write it down, you will be in trouble on the bar exam. So it is time to take a timed MEE. Not only will this help you ensure you have your timing down (or let you know to pay careful attention to the clock if you do not!), knowing you have completed a timed MEE will also boost your confidence on the MEE. So even if you are determined to study for the Multistate Essay Exam at the last minute, take this important step.

If you are truly strapped for time, at least take a 1.5 hour long timed MEE. (That is, answer three questions in an hour under timed conditions.) Ideally, it is best if you can take a three-hour timed MEE. We also have bar exam essay feedback with issues we think are coming up on the next MEE!

We hope these tips help you study for the Multistate Essay Exam at the last minute. And we hope they help you improve your score! Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

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