Washing, Rinsing, and Repeating Your Way to Improvement
If you’re taking a commercial bar review course, you’ve most likely already completed a 200-question simulated MBE exam. If you haven’t yet, now is the time to start thinking about doing so.
If you’ve taken the simulated exam, then you’ve most likely reviewed the performance report you get after completing the exam. The report differs from one commercial bar review course to another, but they generally provide your performance not only in each MBE subject but also in each of the major topics within each MBE subject.
The performance report from this simulated exam, and subsequent performance reports you'll receive after completing other practice exams, are going to be the most important reference tools that you will be consulting as you go into these final four weeks of bar preparation.
Now that you have your simulated MBE performance report, you will want to identify two to three of your weakest topics within each MBE subject. There are three metrics you will want to look at: percentile rank, percent correct, and number of questions tested in that topic.
Students usually understand the importance of identifying weak areas based on percentile rank (how your performance compares to others’ performance who took the same assessment) and percent correct (the number of questions you answered correctly).
But it’s important to consider the number of questions tested in that topic. To maximize your opportunities to increase your score on the bar exam, you will want to improve in areas where you will likely see a larger number of questions. For example, while your percentile rank and percent correct scores on a practice exam might be identical for Negligence and Strict Liability, you will want to focus on improving your performance in Negligence because there are more points to earn in that topic on the bar exam (approximately a total of 12 to 13 questions). On the other hand, there might be a ceiling of two or three points—and maybe even just a single point!—in the area of strict liability.
Once you have identified two to three of your weakest topics within each MBE subject, then spend two to three days working on those weak areas by reviewing those specific sections in the lecture videos, rereading outlines and your notes, and completing filtered questions in your commercial bar review course’s question bank.
After you review those weakest topics, take a second 100- or 200-question practice exam. Then, after receiving a performance report from the new practice exam, again identify two to three of your weakest topics within each MBE subject. Some of the weakest topics might be the same that you previously identified. And that’s okay. Again, spend two to three days working on those weak areas by reviewing those specific sections in the lecture videos, rereading outlines and your notes, and completing filtered questions in your commercial bar review course’s question bank.
After you review those weakest topics from the second practice exam, take a third 100- or 200-question practice exam. Then, after receiving a performance report from the new practice exam, again identify two to three of your weakest topics within each MBE subject. Some of the weakest topics might be the same that you previously identified. And that’s okay. Again, spend two to three days working on those weak areas by reviewing those specific sections in the lecture videos, rereading outlines and your notes, and completing filtered questions in your commercial bar review course’s question bank.
After you review those weakest topics from the third practice exam, take a fourth 100- or 200-question practice exam. Then, after receiving a performance report from the new practice exam, again identify two to three of your weakest topics within each MBE subject. Some of the weakest topics might be the same that you previously identified. And that’s okay. Again, spend two to three days working on those weak areas by reviewing those specific sections in the lecture videos, rereading outlines and your notes, and completing filtered questions in your commercial bar review course’s question bank.
After you review those weakest topics from the fourth practice exam, take a fifth 100- or 200-question practice exam. Then, after receiving a performance report from the new practice exam, again identify two to three of your weakest topics within each MBE subject. Some of the weakest topics might be the same that you previously identified. And that’s okay. Again, spend two to three days working on those weak areas by reviewing those specific sections in the lecture videos, rereading outlines and your notes, and completing filtered questions in your commercial bar review course’s question bank.
If you’re paying attention, the process is repetitive.
It’s like the shampoo idiom “wash, rinse, and repeat.” But in this context, it’s "practice, remediate, and repeat." Take practice exam, identify weakest topics, and review weakest topics. Repeat.
The idea here is to constantly use the practice exams to identify your weaknesses so that you can specifically remediate them to make improvements.
Remember that the questions aren't your exclusive source of review for the MBE. Your commercial bar review materials and your notes are important. But you need to use the practice exams to easily identify your weaknesses and remediate those areas.
That's why it's so important to have already taken that first simulated MBE by now. You need to give yourself enough time before the bar exam so that you can incorporate additional practice exams and subsequent reviews.
