How well should I be doing on my initial MBE practice questions?
What is a reasonable percentage to be getting right?
Should I worry if I am doing poorly on these initial practice questions?
I recently received an email from a reader asking what MBE scores should look like during the early stages of bar exam preparations. Well, here is my answer.
Low Scores are Normal
Unless you have been taking multiple choice exams throughout law school, it is a rather abrupt transition from writing law school essay exams to thinking about the law in the multiple choice world.
For most people, their initial practice scores will be very, even devastatingly, low.
Personally, my initial scores were under 50% for all subject areas, and I was under 30% for real property and under 40% for constitutional law. This was after doing very well in law school.
I confess these results panicked me.
But, I started asking around, and most people were doing just as poorly. This reassured me somewhat, but not entirely.
It was only after going through the entire bar exam process that I can truly say that your scores during the first few weeks don’t matter.
Practice and Progress
What matters is that you do not let your low scores deter you from continued practice and study.
You will get this!
But, you must maintain a steady schedule of practicing questions and reviewing answers. In fact, at the outset of your bar exam studies, I would suggest taking fewer practice questions and spending more time on reviewing the answers to those questions so that you really, really understand what is being tested and how it is being tested.
Do not fall into the trap of “the more questions I do, the more I will learn.”
In fact, if you blitz through questions, you will probably learn very little, and will only increase your level of anxiety as you go through question after question without understanding them.
Other Resources
If you want to read more about the MBE, check out these posts:
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Do you have a question about the bar exam you would like me to answer? Then, click here to send me a note and I will respond either directly or with a blog post.
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