Three Reasons Students Find The MBE Difficult

The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) makes many students nervous, and this is very understandable. Answering 200 questions worth 50% of your overall score over a six-hour period is enough to make anyone feel nervous! But understanding the exam, and all of its pitfalls and challenges, is key to eventually excel on it! If you have not started studying for the MBE, here are the top three reasons students find the MBE difficult.

Three Reasons Students Find The MBE Difficult

1. Content

The MBE addresses seven subjects of law. It tests 25 questions from each section. The subjects are:

Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Contracts and Sales
Criminal Law and Procedure
Evidence
Real Property
Torts

This is a broad range of topics and every legal principle within each topic is fair game to be tested on the MBE. The name of the game is to get as many points as possible to pass! Since the MBE makes up 50% of your score, you must prioritize it in order to give yourself the best chance of passing the bar exam as a whole.

Additionally, prioritizing your studying of the MBE topics also will help you with the essays. Each MBE topic has the potential to show up on the essay portion of the exam. By spending an ample amount of time prepping for the MBE, you also put yourself in a position to succeed in the essays. In order to maximize your study allocations, check out our MBE frequency chart to see which topics within each subject are frequently tested!

2. Timing

Timing is almost always a test-takers worst enemy. Based on the number of questions and the time allotted, each question must be answered in 1 minute 48 seconds. While this may seem like plenty of time, remember some questions are harder and longer than others. Some questions are easily answered in 30 seconds while others could take 2 minutes. The only way to be able to ensure that you finish the test in time is to practice, practice, practice! The more questions you answer, the more comfortable you will feel pacing yourself over the course of the exam. The best way to practice is by reviewing real MBE questions asked on previous tests. If you are looking for MBE questions, check out JD Advising’s.

3.“Test” Questions

The MBE has 25 unscored “test” or experimental questions. These questions are unscored because they are very often difficult or intentionally confusing. The bar is looking to test new ways it can ask questions on future bar exams and uses test-takers as guinea pigs. The main challenge for test-takers is that they do not know which questions are score and which are not. Seeing a difficult question, especially if it is early in the exam, may shake the confidence of some students. If you come across an exceedingly difficult question, answer to the best of your ability, move on, and do not think twice about it. It might be a “test” question.

Now that you better understand the challenges of the MBE, you will be better prepared to create and study plan and attack the bar prep!

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Three Reasons Students Find The MBE Difficult