Welcome to law school! This is a biweekly series with tips and tricks for success in law school. Although it’s billed toward new law students, I hope that every member of the law school community can find something helpful here.
As we approach the halfway point of the spring semester, it’s time to think about your exam taking strategies. This blog will focus on multiple-choice exams since they can be deceptively challenging! But, with the right strategies, you can improve your accuracy and boost your scores. The following tips will help you approach multiple-choice questions with confidence and efficiency:
- Understand the Question Structure
Law school multiple-choice questions typically consist of a fact pattern, a call of the question, and a set of answer choices. Often, you’ll be asked to choose the single best answer, but with the Next Generation Bar Exam quickly approaching, you may also see questions you to choose multiple correct answers.
- Read the Question Carefully, Starting with the Call
Many students lose points because they misinterpret the question. Start with the call of the question (usually immediately before the answer options) to help focus your attention on the key issue being tested. Then, comb the fact pattern searching for legally significant facts that influence your analysis of that key issue. Look out for legal nuances and qualifiers (e.g., not, except, least) throughout that could trip you up as you predict an answer.
- Predict the Answer BEFORE Reading the Options
Your likelihood of success on multiple-choice questions improves if you’re able to predict the answer before reading the options. Before you look at your answer options, take a moment to predict the outcome and reasoning. This prevents you from being influenced by distractors and gives you more confidence in your answer.
If you cannot predict the outcome, then you can look at the answer choices to help narrow it down to the correct answer. Systematically eliminate incorrect choices by identifying why they’re incorrect. You can rule out answers that misstate the law or facts, fail to apply precedent correctly, or rely on faulty logic. You can also look for hints in the answer choices. For instance, if you see opposite answer choices, one may be the correct answer. You should also be suspicious of answers that are overcomplicated or throw in fancy-sounding terminology. Eliminating incorrect answers and looking for hints can help narrow your focus.
- Manage Your Time Wisely
Multiple-choice exams are often time pressured, although usually less so in the 1L year than on the bar exam. Still, you should get into the habit of moving efficiently through multiple-choice problems rather than agonizing over one. If you’re stuck on a question, select your best guess, flag it, and move on. Then, if you have extra time, you can circle back. You do not want to risk losing points on answers you know because you’ve spent too much time on one you don’t. Prioritize answering every question to the best of your ability, as long as there’s no penalty for guessing. An educated guess is always better than no answer at all.
- Practice!
The more you practice multiple-choice questions, the better you become at recognizing patterns, eliminating wrong answers, and managing your time effectively. Use past exams and supplemental materials tailored to your exam format. If you aren’t sure where to find multiple-choice practice resources, reach out to your professors, TAs, or your school’s academic success professionals!
By using these strategies, you can approach law school multiple-choice exams with greater confidence and accuracy. Good luck!
(Dayna Smith)
