4 Reasons Practice Questions Are The Most Important Part of Bar Prep

There are no exceptions when it comes to practice questions for the bar exam.

One day, when I’m old and grey one of my adorable grandchildren will ask me what the hardest part of my life was, and I will, without hesitation, say “getting students to do practice questions for the bar exam.” You see, practice questions are hands down the most important part of bar prep. However,  students make every excuse in the book as to why they can’t or don’t want to do them. They say they aren’t ready or don’t know enough law or that practice questions won’t help them (among countless other objections). Every student thinks that they are the exception, but the truth is there are no exceptions when it comes to practice questions for the bar exam. It is impossible to be adequately prepared for the bar exam without doing a large volume of questions for each part of the test. Still unsure that I’m right about this? Here are a few reasons why practice questions are the most important part of bar prep.

1- Learn how to apply law to facts

The bar exam is testing not only your ability to memorize law, but also your ability to apply facts to that law. The only way to get better at application is to practice. Application is not something you just think about or memorize; it is something that you must actively do. Going through practice questions will show you the various ways the bar examiners can test on a subject and give you the opportunity to strategize different approaches.

2- Opportunity for external feedback

In order to ensure that your bar prep study plan is working, it is always a good idea to get outside feedback from an expert. This can be from someone from your bar review company, a person who works in the academic support department of your law school, or even a private bar exam coach.

But, in order for someone to give you helpful feedback, they need to know how you are performing. It is not enough to just tell them how you are doing, they need to see your scores or read your writing to actually be able to help you. Practice questions are the tool that allows this to happen. If you go to someone for help having done several hundred multiple choice questions and having written a few essays, they will be able to review your results and give you specific advice on what changes to make to improve.

3- Give a real-time picture of your progress

Sponsored

A big mistake students make when it comes to practice questions is that they will read a question, not answer it, flip to the answer, and say “oh yes, that is what I would have chosen.” This is the biggest lie you’ll ever tell yourself. Doing this lulls you into a false sense of security and doesn’t actually let you know how you are progressing.

In reality, actually doing practice questions shows your individual strengths and weaknesses both substantively and skills-wise. They give you a real-time picture of how you’re progressing and the chance to update your plan and schedule accordingly. If you don’t do practice questions until the very end of bar prep, then you won’t know how you’re doing until it is too late to fix it.

4- Aid in memorization

The number one excuse students give for not doing practice questions is that they don’t know enough law yet. But did you know that practice questions are actually a great way to help you memorize as well? Each time you get a question wrong and review the reasons why you got it wrong, you’re improving your memory of that specific law. In fact, studies have shown that people actually remember law better if they have gotten it wrong in practice at some point.

Hopefully, I’ve been able to convince you just how crucial practice questions are to bar exam success. If you’re still on the fence, I’ll leave you with this: in my experience, the number one reason students fail the bar exam is not doing enough practice questions. So, even if you don’t want to do them, or are feeling a bit skeptical, do them anyway. No one has ever told me they regretted practicing too much, but countless students have said they wished they did more. Don’t let that happen to you.

Sponsored


Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at info@vincoprep.com.