Taking Practice Exams Under Test-like Conditions
An important part of preparing for the bar exam is taking practice exams under test-like conditions.
You will want to incorporate exam day conditions as closely as you can in your practice so that the February in-person examination simply feels like one of the several different practice exams that you’ve taken leading up to the bar exam.
One of the more important things you can do is to take the exam in a quiet, unfamiliar, and exam-like location. That’s why we’re administering this week’s MEE and MPT practice exercises as in-person writing assignments that will be administered and proctored at the LMU Tower tomorrow, January 14 beginning at 9 am. Make sure you bring your laptop with Examplify ready to go.
This is a great opportunity to take an MEE and an MPT under test-like conditions. You’ll be writing your responses in an environment away from the comfort and familiarity of your study space. You’ll be taking the exam with other people, who might be doing the same annoying things that your table mate might be doing during the bar exam (like repeatedly tapping a pencil on the table, banging their knees against the underside of the table, or sighing incessantly). You might be distracted by a proctor pacing back and forth. (A long time ago, during in-person Tennessee Bar Studies classes (the precursor to today's MEE Skills classes), I used to walk behind students as they were taking a practice test and use my son’s sound toy to make fart and coughing sounds. They weren't my proudest days being a professor, but I have to admit I do miss those days. And, yes, you may hear, and smell, those sounds on exam days.)
You’ll get practice wearing a face mask for the duration of the practice test, which might be the case during the February bar exam, too. You’ll be ready to handle sitting in a room for about two hours, not knowing what the room temperature will be, and you (as silly as this might sound), will be able to “test-run” the clothing you’ll be wearing in February so that you won’t be too hot or too cold in the examination room. Remember that, in Tennessee, a non-hooded sweatshirt or sweater is permitted, but it must be placed on the back of chair if you’re not wearing it. You’re not permitted to bring in coats or jackets heavier than a sweatshirt into the examination room.
And for tomorrow’s MEE and MPT practice, we’ve reproduced the testing materials to mimic what you will likely see on exam day. For example, for the MPT, this means that the test booklet will be booklet stapled. The front cover and back cover (with the instructions) will contain similar information. You’ll have to “break the seal” to open the test packet. There are four blank pages at the end of the MPT test booklet for you to handwrite notes. We recommend that you don’t tear the test packet to remove the notes pages, too, since you can’t do that on exam day. And we recommend that you read the testing materials flat on the table as you’re also not permitted to lift the testing materials to read them in front of you.
As you can see, there are additional rules and considerations that apply on the February in-person bar exam, and you might as well get familiar with them by incorporating them into your practice.
As a head’s up, your BARBRI Simulated MBE is scheduled for next Friday, January 21, and that exam will be administered at the LMU Tower as well. You should take this exam on Friday, January 21, even if you don't feel prepared, and you should take this exam at the LMU Tower. I’ll discuss why in tomorrow’s Daily Breakfast Bar.
The LMU Tower is located at 1705 St. Mary Street, Knoxville, TN 37917.
