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December 26, 2008
changes in the bar exam
You may watch the video of the workshop on the changes; the prior entry has the link to the video. I am listing the major changes here, along with a few comments while you are practicing.
1. Multiple choice- no longer will there be one fact pattern for more than one questions. No longer will there be "none of the above" as one of the choices. No longer will "If" or other similar terms be used to add facts in the four choices. In other words, most of the time the choice will be "yes, because ..." or "no, because ..." or "Plaintiff prevails, because...." or "defendant prevails because...." or something simular. Finally, no longer will there be the roman numeral choices, as in a. I and II but not III.
The goal is to make the questions clearer and less confusing.
As you can see, both BarBri and PMBR have in their practice material questions that look like those no longer being used. Do them anyway. They are good for practice. While the actual questions may be clearer, they will be hard and you need all the practice you can get. The simulated exam (whether BarBri or PMBR) may use some of the old style questions as well. Again, I think that is not a big deal. If anything the real questions will be clearer. You need to do the simulated exam in order to get used to the timing, endurance, and stress. DO NOT SKIP THE SIMULATED EXAM BECAUSE THE QUESTIONS WILL SOMETIMES FOLLOW THE OLD STYLE. You do not want to have only one try at the exam be the real one!
2. To see more of the new style, spend $26 and go to ncbex.org and register for the MBE annotated preview.
3. Re the MEE (in IL the afternoon) essays, remember that the six M-C topics (con law, torts, property, etc.) may also be tested by essay. This is a recent change and there are no released questions available yet. Therefore, BarBri made up some questions for practice. This is a good thing. What you should know is that some of the BarBri essay questions on the MBE topics are longer than a 30 minute question. When you read some of them, I do not want you frightened by the length of the practice essay. Do the practice essays anyway - good test of your knowledge. But on the exam, expect the new essays to be a lot like the MEE essays in your BarBri book.
4. Re the IL essays. It used to be that IL asked two IL civ pro and one IL equity. That changed in 2007. You will probably get one IL civ pro but expect anything in the rules to be asked. The rule is on the ibaby.org website.
Suzanne Schmitz
Posted by Suzanne at December 26, 2008 03:32 PM