If you’re studying for the bar exam, chances are you’re spending A LOT of time answering multiple-choice questions. But mastering the bar-style format is more than a numbers game — it’s quality as much as it’s quantity. If you want to earn a passing Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) score, you’ll need a strategy — a system that you employ while you practice, so your approach is instinctive by test day.
But first …
Before you can apply a strategy to multiple-choice questions, you should understand their basic structure. They start with a fact pattern (typically one or two paragraphs), followed by a “call of the question,” with four answer choices.
The beauty of this style of question is that, even if you’re stuck on the law, you have a one in four chance of selecting the correct answer. And, on the MBE, you’re not penalized for wrong answers, so once you’re familiar with the format, you can often narrow the options down to give yourself an even better chance to make an educated guess.
Since all MBE questions are structured similarly, you can approach every multiple-choice prompt using the same steps. Here’s the method we suggest at Helix Bar Review by AccessLexSM. (Note, if you’d rather skip, combine, or reorder the steps, that’s fine. Just make sure you stick to yourapproach.)
Read the call of the question. Do this before even looking at the fact pattern. Unlike law school exams, where you generally know the subject you’re being tested on, each question on the MBE could be assessing your understanding of one of seven subjects. The call of the question is your first clue about what area of law the question is targeting. It can also give you a sense of important parties involved and details to look for in the fact pattern. If you don’t get enough context clues from the call of the question, quickly scan the answer choices for key buzzwords and phrases that provide detail about the issue.
Actively read the fact pattern. Once you have a better idea of the area of law the question is testing, read the fact pattern carefully and methodically. Because you’re on a time crunch, your goal should be to read through the facts only once. Note key details, circle parties and dates, underline important facts, write notes in the margins — use whatever method works best to identify the legal issue and how to resolve the call of the question.
Read the call of the question again. Now that you’re familiar with the facts, re-read the call of the question to refresh your understanding of what you need to answer.
Formulate an answer in your head. Before reading the four options, come up with your own answer. While your response may not match one of the given answer choices exactly, this will help you to quickly select the “best” answer and eliminate false choices.
Read the answer options (again). Read each choice carefully, this time with your own answer in mind. Even if you think you’ve found the right option, keep reading. You’re looking for the “best” answer, so there could be a better response. It is also possible that you may not find a choice that matches what you think the answer should be. Sometimes the “best” answer is the most right of four imperfect options.
Select the best answer. By using the process of elimination and crossing off answer choices that are definitely wrong, you will be able to narrow down to the right answer.
Review, reflect and repeat
Practicing your strategy, especially under timed conditions, will help you to become more comfortable with the multiple-choice format. But you will learn and improve the most by reviewing your performance. This means reading the answer explanation for each question, whether you got it right or wrong, to understand the reasoning for why each response was correct or incorrect and why you were on or off track. Keep a journal to help you identify common mistakes and testing errors and to come up with a strategy to disrupt those patterns.
With multiple-choice questions, practice makes passing, so the more you practice your strategy, the more efficient and effective you will become at answering them.
Meghan Short is managing director of product and customer experience at Helix Bar Review by AccessLex℠. An option to keeping a journal is utilizing the free worksheet in Ask EDNA! – The Education Network at AccessLex.
