July 20, 2009
mpre
The MPRE is a multiple choice exam covering legal and judical ethics; it is given three times a year, in August, November and March, usually on a Friday, sometimes a Saturday. Go to www.ncbex.org for more details and to register. For those in Illinois, consult the IL S CT R on bar admission because IL will not accept your score until you have completed roughly 2/3 of law school. For any special rules from other states, go to the ncbex website andclick on your state's bar admission office.
While on the ncbex website, click on mpre and then click on the information booklet. You can download it for free. Also download for free the MPRE VI exam that is available on line.
How to study for the exam:
1.) review the content covered by the exam. The NCBE Information Booklet on the MPRE gives you an outline of the topics covered and the % of questions to expect from each area. Knowing the material is critical. In addition to what you covered in legal profession, the exam tests judicial ethics. BarBri offers a day long lecture in preparation for the exam. See the BarBri rep. I recommend you take the BarBri course and attend the lecture, but if you do not, be sure to get old BArBri outlines of the material available for purchase on line or from fellow students. And be sure you practice.
2.) practice multiple choice questions for the MPRE. You can know the material but if you have not practiced MPRE m-c questions, you will have trouble. The MPRE booklet has 20 or so practice questions in the format now being used; the MPRE VI test booklet contains some 150 practice questions, tho many are of the format no longer being used. They are still good practice questions.
2.a.) read - read - read the key terms presented in the guide and the MPRE VI test booklet. Learn the difference between "proper" and "must" or "may." Note when the question asks for "criminal liability" or "civil liability" or "discipline" or "or "disqualification."
2.b) learn how to read m-c questions. Even if you think you know, read below.
2.c.) go on-line and take the online mpre exam for $24 or so, for practice.
2.b.) The best bit of advice on m-c questions boils down to three steps, but be forewarned: they take time, careful attention, and practice.
Step one: start by reading the call of the question - not the top of the question. This will focus you on - legal or judicial - which attorney's behavior - am I looking for liability or being disqualified, etc.
Step two: now read the facts once, slowly and careully. Re-read the call of the question.
Step three: now read each choice carefully and make a true-false analysis. You will usually find the word "because" separating the conclusion and the reasoning. Start on the right side of "because." Is this statement true or false? If false, move on.
If true, ask - if this statement is true, is it the reason for the result? Sometimes, it is true but irrelevant. Sometimes, it is true but only a partial reason for the result.
Keep going until you have reasoned through all four choices. Make your best decision, move on, do not change your mind, unless you see something you failed to read the first time. But if you followed this advice, you will not miss much the first time.
Posted by Suzanne at 09:37 AM
May 06, 2009
Essay and M-C topics
what will be on the exam? The content of each subject area (torts, corporations, etc.) is listed in the outline prepared by the NCBE. Go to ncbex.org and click on MBE or MEE; then look for the Information Guide which you can access online at no cost. Study the booklet. There will be an outline for each topic.
BarBri gives you a sense of the content but there is nothing like checking out the original source.
Posted by Suzanne at 03:44 PM
multiple choice tips
If multiple choice is not your strong point or, even it is, you want to use every help available, check out the 200 old M-C questions available on-line through the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
If you are not taking the PMBR course nor the BarBri 5-day workshop, you really want to check this out.
NCBE has released two sets of 100 each, actually used questions - MBE Online Practice Exam 1 and 2. Each costs $26 for one year subscription.
You take the exam online. You can ask for only evidence or crim, etc. You can mix them up. You get computer feedback re your progress, along with annotations as to the correct answers and why-written by the same drafters who wrote the question. You can ask for only those questions you have missed in the past.
Both BarBri and PMBR either buy their questions from NCBE or make them up. Both make up the explanations. When using the NCBE Online exam, you are using the original source along with annotations from the actual drafters.
Prof. Schmitz says this is the best investment of $26 or 52 that there is in relation to the bar prep.
go to ncbex.org and look for MBE OnLine Practice exam.
Posted by Suzanne at 03:37 PM
April 20, 2009
welcome
Welcome to bar preparation for the summer of 2009. Review the interviews and tips posted here for tips on how to prepare. Professor Schmitz will be here most of June and July.
If you are studying away, consult the blog regularly for tips.
If you would like a bar buddy, a recent grad who survived the exam process, with whom you can ask questions and share concerns, see Prof. Schmitz
Posted by sschmitz at 11:50 PM
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 03:32 PM
exam tips in PMBR book
tips for the exam --
If you took PMBR, there are caveats at the back of the blue book that offer helpful tips for the multiple choice exam. They are very useful and are found in the very back of the book.
Posted by sschmitz at 11:32 AM
Video for June 9, 2008 - changes in the bar exam
Video recoring for June 9th 2008
Posted by tfurby at 10:55 AM
April 14, 2008
John Rekowski on the bar exam
Listen to Mr. John Rekowski, one of the Illinois bar examiners, speak to 3Ls on 2/15/2006 about the bar exam. Duration of audio: ~ 50 minutes.
Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar.
Posted by dmurley at 09:20 AM
April 12, 2008
Interview with Howard Oestry, class of 2006
Watch an interview with Howard Oestry, 06 grad, re studying for the bar exam. If you have a high-speed connection, you can click on the link and view it directly. Or you can right click on the link and select "Save target as" or "Save link as" from the menu that pops up to download it to your computer.
Posted by dmurley at 09:58 AM
Interview with Wylie Blair, class of 2005
Watch interview with Wylie Blair, 05 grad, re studying for the bar exam. If you have a high-speed connection, you can click on the link and view it directly. Or you can right click on the link and select "Save target as" or "Save link as" from the menu that pops up to download it to your computer.
Posted by dmurley at 06:01 AM