Next month, the California Bar Exam will be administered remotely utilizing a new testing platform operated by Meazure Learning. As details slowly emerge regarding the exam administration and the functionalities available on the new testing platform, Academic Support Educators are providing bar exam applicants with the most up-to-date information and guidance so applicants can attempt to replicate testing conditions during their bar study. In a 3-part series, two leading academic support experts from California law schools have assembled the following guidance for the new exam format and share their tips for California bar takers navigating this new exam format.
Multiple Choice Questions:
Applicants should be able to see the questions and answer choices at the same time unless a question is unusually long. There is a highlight function to use for the question that is limited to one color. There is no strikethrough feature to eliminate answer options.
We recommend applicants:
- Use their whiteboard to manage the facts on any civil procedure, real property, or contracts questions where it will help to make notes. (As an alternative, they could use the digital notepad if that is more comfortable).
- Write out an “A, B, C, D” in a vertical line on the left side of the whiteboard, then write an X next to the options that they can eliminate as they go through the answer options. Erase after each question.
- Keep a list on the digital notepad of questions you want to review at the end of that 50-question section, time permitting. There may also be a way to “flag” the questions digitally.
Essay Questions:
The question will appear above their answer. There is a highlight function to use for the question that is limited to one color, strike, copy/paste, and annotation tool function. There is also a digital notepad. The State Bar said applicants can copy/paste into the answer, but we don’t advise copying from the question into their answer on essays since this will not produce a good answer.
Expert Recommendations:
- Copy and paste the call of the question into the digital notepad so they can reference the question while they are writing their answer (rather than scrolling back and forth).
- Issue spot right into their answer using one line per issue and in the order that makes sense given the call of the question or chronologically. Then use the issue they typed as their heading (“I”) and build their “RAC” on that issue below. Move on to the next issue and repeat the process.
- Use the highlight, strikethrough, copy/paste, and annotation tools as best as you are comfortable. Remember that your normal keypad shortcuts (Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V for PC//Cmd+X and Cmd+V for Mac) work for copy/paste.
- To save time, use quick keys to format headings such as Ctrl+B on a PC or Cmd+B on a Mac for bold instead of highlighting and clicking the “B” icon.
Copy/pasting facts directly from the question into your answer will not likely produce a good answer. Focus on adding the rule, and developing your analysis using the key facts, rather than copying/pasting from the essay prompt to the response field.
(Guest bloggers:
Mary Basick, Assistant Dean for Academic Skills, UC Irvine School of Law
Taylor Ruth Israel, Director of Academic Success and Bar Preparation, Thomas Jefferson School of Law)
