Last Minute Advice

So, you have a bit over a week before the MBE, what can and should you be doing?

First, be sure to treat this as a marathon. This means no doing 100 MBE the night before. Relax this upcoming weekend, make sure you are refreshed going into a marathon of an exam on Wed. Make Thursday or Friday your last “BIG” days, do 50-100 MBE questions on those days and then taper off, doing 5-15 each day up until Wed. But over the weekend before the MBE, don’t exhaust yourself doing another full practice exam.

So, what CAN you do?

1) Memorize Con Law. Yep, all of it. The scrutinies, the burdens, what is a suspected class…..once you have all of this memorized, con law MBE questions become a matching game. In addition, know the difference between equal protection and due process, remember, above all else, equal protection is treating groups of people differently. Sounds easy enough, but if you do NOT have two distinct classes of people in the fact pattern, it is NOT equal protection. In addition, “for the general welfare” is NEVER the right answer unless attached to tax and spend. Also, remember for any con law questions, crim pro included, you absolutely NED government action. The above will get you at least half of the con law questions, if not more. (Also, you know that I normally hate the word “memorize”, so take this to heart. You NEED to know the exact wording for con law)

2) KNOW HOMICIDE. seriously. know it like the back of your hand. Know the difference between murder, manslaughter and the different defenses. Know when a defense or mistake has to be reasonable or just honest. Know that for attempt you need INTENT. Always. You can NOT accidentally attempt something. Also, know that VOLUNTARY means VOLUNTARY, or intentional, and INVOLUNTARY means an accident.

3) Know negligence. Know it cold. Don’t skip steps, even on an MBE question. Is there a duty, was there a breach, and did that breach cause the injury? Do not skip a single element, you can not assume anything.

4) Know what hearsay is and all of it’s exceptions. Also, as for evidence, start by making sure that the evidence that is being admitted is relevant, then check for hearsay issues, impeachment issues, competency issues, and 403 issues. But, above all else, memorize hearsay exceptions.

5) For property, get used to outlining. All you can do. Make little outlines, letting you know who conveyed what to who. Draw in the margins, no one will know.

6) Last but not least, for contracts remember to go in order – don’t skip straight to damages, start with what law applies, then whether a contract was formed, is it enforceable, what are the terms, is there an excuse and FINALLY breach and remedies. And remember, for remedies, when stumped think about where the person WOULD have been had the contract been formed and where they are now. The damages they are entitled to is the difference between the two.

Make flashcards for the above and memorize, memorize, memorize this week. However – one caveat. Don’t spend hours memorizing, do it in 5-10 minute spurts, since you memorize more effectively that way.

Good Luck!