The Four Most Common MBE Issues Students Face

The Four Most Common MBE Issues Students Face

If you find yourself struggling with the MBE, do not despair. You are certainly not alone! Those multiple-choice questions are meant to be tricky, but there are plenty of strategies you can use to improve your skills. Below, we discuss four of the most common issues students encounter on the MBE.

The Four Most Common MBE Issues Students Face

1. Timing

On exam day, you’ll need to answer 200 MBE questions within six hours (with a break for lunch halfway through). Almost everyone struggles at the beginning of bar prep when attempting to answer that number of questions within a time limit. Practicing your timing is a key strategy when attempting MBE questions, and it’s even harder to do so while maintaining a decent score. Some students struggle with timing more than others for a variety of reasons. The good news is if you have a lot of the material memorized and can consistently answer individual questions correctly, you can focus on improving yoru speed.  See our MBE timing tips here!

2. Applying The Correct Law

It’s all too easy to get distracted by the facts of a long, complicated question and lose track of the law you should be applying. Sadly, you could then be tricked into choosing an incorrect answer or find yourself spending all of your time debating between two answers. The best fix for this problem is to make sure you read and evaluate the fact pattern and call of the question before moving onto the answer choices.  If you can identify the correct issue and applicable law, it’s a lot easier to pick the best answer! See our guide on how to answer an MBE question!

3. Anxiety and Self-Doubt

The bar exam is a big deal.  After all, it’s the threshold to the legal career you want, the culmination of all your months of bar prep and years of law school. You’ll need to have hundreds of rules memorized and ready to go along with a solid test-taking strategy to get a passing score. It’s completely understandable that all of this would make anyone feel nervous and anxious! If you find yourself freezing up and second-guessing yourself on the MBE, know that that is perfectly normal. Allow yourself to take a few seconds to center yourself, refocus, and remind yourself that you’ve studied hard for this.  For some, it’s comforting to remember that you do not need to get everything right in order to get a passing score.  See these tips for managing Bar-related anxiety!

4. Staying Focused

After several hours of answering multiple-choice questions nonstop, it’s natural to feel tired or exhausted. By the afternoon portion of the MBE, you may have trouble staying focused on what you’re reading. To combat this, consider practicing MBE questions in three-hour increments a few times before exam day.  This will help train your body and your mind so you’re familiar with how it feels and how your brain reacts to the mental exhaustion associated with the MBE. Also, be sure to get enough sleep the night before and eat foods that will help keep your mind sharp throughout the day.

Remember, no matter what issues you struggle with, many others are having the same problems, and the bar exam is graded on the curve. You can afford a few hiccups and still have a great chance of passing!

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