MBE madness
It turned out that the real score was a 125.
After reviewing the MBE questions, I noticed that I made different types of mistakes.
Dumbass mistake - The name says it all. I knew the law that applies to the fact pattern. But I got it wrong because I was careless. I didn't make a lot of these mistakes, but each one hurts big-time because it was so unnecessary.
"I don't know" mistake - This was the most common mistake I made. Its simple. I just didn't know the law that applies. Most of the time, it was because of a majority/minority rule distinction, or because of some minor exception to the exception to the exception of a general rule. I suppose these are the best mistakes to make because I can learn from them.
Mistake due to the problem's complexity - This involves a fact pattern with a weird, complex chain of events (usually to determine causation), multiple assignments of contract or property rights or double hearsay. Even if one is writing this down or visualizing the event, it is easy to forget what is going on. I think these are "time drainer trap" problems. On test day, I would defer these problems unless I was extremely proficient in the subject. Next time, I'll try drawing pictures or drawing graphs to help me understand these better.
Mistake due to ambiguity of the answers - This is one of those problems where you have to choose one of two good answers. The problem is that both appear to be equally good.
My conservative opinion is that in most cases, it is because one has not seen enough fact pattern to recognize when the law applies. Then there are some times when the questions are just too poorly written or just went too far.
"I don't care" mistake - Like the "I don't know" mistake, I didn't know the law that applies. But I also didn't care whether I knew it or not. Mostly because I'm pretty sure that the subject is highly unlikely to show up on the essay or PT portion of the exam. When I run into one of these, I choose the one that "sounds" right. Sometimes its the correct answer. Sometimes it's not.
After reviewing the MBE questions, I noticed that I made different types of mistakes.
Dumbass mistake - The name says it all. I knew the law that applies to the fact pattern. But I got it wrong because I was careless. I didn't make a lot of these mistakes, but each one hurts big-time because it was so unnecessary.
"I don't know" mistake - This was the most common mistake I made. Its simple. I just didn't know the law that applies. Most of the time, it was because of a majority/minority rule distinction, or because of some minor exception to the exception to the exception of a general rule. I suppose these are the best mistakes to make because I can learn from them.
Mistake due to the problem's complexity - This involves a fact pattern with a weird, complex chain of events (usually to determine causation), multiple assignments of contract or property rights or double hearsay. Even if one is writing this down or visualizing the event, it is easy to forget what is going on. I think these are "time drainer trap" problems. On test day, I would defer these problems unless I was extremely proficient in the subject. Next time, I'll try drawing pictures or drawing graphs to help me understand these better.
Mistake due to ambiguity of the answers - This is one of those problems where you have to choose one of two good answers. The problem is that both appear to be equally good.
My conservative opinion is that in most cases, it is because one has not seen enough fact pattern to recognize when the law applies. Then there are some times when the questions are just too poorly written or just went too far.
"I don't care" mistake - Like the "I don't know" mistake, I didn't know the law that applies. But I also didn't care whether I knew it or not. Mostly because I'm pretty sure that the subject is highly unlikely to show up on the essay or PT portion of the exam. When I run into one of these, I choose the one that "sounds" right. Sometimes its the correct answer. Sometimes it's not.
