Unplugged Mike

Bar Exam Follies

I've never seen multiple choice questions like the ones on the bar exam.

I'm the type who usually beats tests like this - decent IQ, quick
worker, and so on. The experts say people like me should be doing
well on tests like the bar exam.

They may be right. I am likely to figure all of this out in the next
three weeks.

Then again, most experts probably never had a good look at these
sadistic questions.

Every subject has a special quirk all its own. Contracts questions
are infamous for having no rhyme or reason; the professor who reviewed
Contracts with us constantly made comments like, "I'm telling you to
memorize this - because it makes no sense. And the bar examiners will
test it." And there are no tricks to these questions. Contracts
questions are blinding.

Property questions seek to crush you under their weight. They are
long, boring, and incomprehensible half the time. And since the rules
are arcane and the language antiquated, your time has expired by the
time you've finished reading the questions.

But my favorite so far is Torts. The torts questions are the
cruellest of all, because they lull you into a false sense of
security, and blindside you and stab your confidence to death. They
sound easy and look easy. The fact patterns are short. And the
answers seem reasonably clear.

Then you get 6 out of 17 on the drill.

Fortunately, I'm up to about 60 percent on the Torts practice (which
is reasonably safe for now).

This test is like the army; you have to be broken down to be built up again,

Had to get that off my chest.

Back to work.

posted by Michael Brenner @ 3:06 AM