Bar Study Plan for the MBE, a reflection based on Hindsight

If I had to do it all over:

 To master the MBE which is 50% of the score,  I would, first, attempt 1,600+ simulated questions. 

Why?  It's equivalent to taking 8 Bar Exams, and at the point, you should have mastered the MBE after taking it 8+ times.
Next, how should you approach it?  
I would, first, learn each subject in isolation - just like you did in law school, except you don't have a whole semester to learn property.  During the learning phase, I would attempt 50 questions from the MBE on that topic, before turning to outlines or videos.  Then, I would analyze my performance.  E.g., did I ace this topic without review (if so, kudos!), or do I need some growth in this topic? 
Regardless of my baseline, I would review each correct and incorrect answer – e.g., read over the rule tested and, how the answers describe how to apply the law to the facts.  Then, and only then, I would proceed to watch the associated video lessons, and read the outlines. 



 I, in addition, would discard the lesson book or lecture notes associated with the video that any course has provided -  and, I would create my own notes.  The benefit of first doing practice questions is two fold, first, our brain is more interested in the subject matter, had we not done the questions, and second, our brain is full of at least 50 hypothetical problems in this subject.  Thus, when the lecture begins to discuss a rule our brain immediately triggers up an associated hypo  – thereby increasing our recall of this rule.  And recall of rules is extremely important for a passing grade on the MBE, and also the MEE - thus having a brain full of rules, and associated hypos is a useful tool.




And, the better the association between rules and hypos the better your recall will be.  Moreover, writing my own notes or making my own flash cards forces me to compress and explain the rule or definition in my OWN words, and thus increase my association and understanding.  During my actual review, I did the recommended approach, and I forgot nearly everything in the lecture, I had to go back to review – this is a WASTE of TIME.  Time is not infinite, and therefore it cannot be wasted.      

In summary, my plan would be this, as shown below:

Subject	Questions, first (untimed)	Video	Additional Practice (timed)	Maintenance
Week 1 – Contracts & Real Property (e.g., nearly same subject)	50 for Contracts + Review 50 for Real Estate + Review I would then mark my weak areas – e.g., maybe consideration for contracts and mortgages for real estate	Watch lectures take good notes/flash cards (e.g., 1 sentence definitions/rule), then retake all 50 questions for each subject	Now, take an additional 50 questions per subject
Week 2 – Evidence and Civil Procedure	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above	15 question for each previous subject, and review notes or flash cards
Week 3 – Con Law, Criminal Pro	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above;	Same as above
Week 4 – Crim Law and Torts	Same as above	Same as above	Congrats! Now you have taken in total, 4 total MBEs. Albeit, separated by subject, but now it is time for the mixing of questions	Same as above
Week 5 - Mixed	200 Questions of Bliss!	If, any review videos on the exam you just took, if not review yourself	Take another test, timed of 200 Questions	Flashcards for all
Week 6	Same	Same	Same	Same as above