Bar: Inventory I

I've finished all the PMBR questions for the 6 day "Early Bird." I refused to study one minute before I took each practice exam. I wanted to know exactly how much I knew cold.

Turns out, not much.

On over 300 questions, divided into 50 questions on all 6 MBE subjects, I got exactly 50% correct. I scored nowhere near 50% on any of the topics standing alone. In fact, I performed just slightly better than guessing in all of the first year courses: Torts, Criminal Law, Contracts, and of course, Property. (Turns out, another big topic in that wacky property syllabus was nuisance, so at least that helped me out in torts.)

By the time 2L/3L rolled around, I either figured out how to retain some knowledge, or had better professors, or something (maybe my retention time for info is 2 years?), because the evidence and con law PMBR questions were an entirely different experience than the 1L subjects. I managed to get a decent chunk of those correct and pull my overall average up to 1/2. Thank goodness, too. Because otherwise I'd be freaking out right now. (This is not to say I should be, just to admit that I would be.)

Instead, I'm just confronting reality and framing the battle.

I haven't started BarBri and I'm giving myself permission to avoid thinking about how much ground I need to cover in the essays. That can wait 'til Tuesday.

I'd planned on using this week as an assessment, a recovery from finals, and a relaxing introduction to the MBE portion of the bar, followed by a holiday weekend of no studying before I buckled down.

I've already rethought that plan. I've got 60 days 'til the exam. 66% correct is what PMBR tells you to shoot for if you'd like a chance at passing. I'm paranoid and probably won't feel comfortable until I'm getting about 80% correct on practice questions. I'm very well aware that this may not happen, but I feel compelled to try. So, for the MBE alone, I have a ton of work to do for the 4 topics in which I suck. Not to mention the additional work I should do for the topics for which I'm somewhat prepared.

I've got the luxury of focusing entirely on the MBE right now. I was hoping to have a relaxing weekend out of town, hanging out with friends and reading my pleasure book before I started the big push. But, now, after seeing just how much work is in front of me for the MBE, I think I'm going to have to do a bit of studying this weekend. Not too much, mind you. But definitely not the weekend of bliss away from it all that I'd envisioned.

I'm thinking some substantive review and 25-50 questions on each of my weak subjects before Tuesday AM.

Off to run before I study...