MC Law School Exams?!?

[JD_LawSchool]

I am an incoming 1L.  I have heard that suprisingly my COL has given multiple choice exams before.  I have read Planet Law School II and will take LEEWS (which both tend to show structure and format for essay based exams), but how would one start to prep for any multiple choice exam that he or she may encounter during their 1L?
Thanks for the advice in advance.

[p0six]

Why would you start prepping for specific types of exams before you even know what professors you have?  Just take it easy.  Watch a movie.  Drink a beer.

[brightline]

There are lots of study aids with MC questions.

Here are some:

Questions and Answers series

Siegels series

Finals series

If you did actually read PLS 2 and follow through with it's advice you should know about the CALI lessons (one of the best sources of MC questions) and have the primers by now. What about getting LEEWS on CD? Waiting to take it during the school year is going to be rough because you'll be swamped with work.

Here is something else you may want to check out:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/planetlawschool/

I am an incoming 1L.  I have heard that suprisingly my COL has given multiple choice exams before.  I have read Planet Law School II and will take LEEWS (which both tend to show structure and format for essay based exams), but how would one start to prep for any multiple choice exam that he or she may encounter during their 1L?
Thanks for the advice in advance.

[jimmyjohn]

You would start by chilling the @#!* out as the poster above suggested.  You just study like you would any other exam.  Multiple choice exams are still isse spotting tests.  You have to know what issues the fact pattern is trying to bring out and then analyze the answer choices for the correct resolution or analysis on those issues. 

In my experience, CALI has been useless.  The questions are either too easy or ridiculously tricky, and the exercises are just too boring for me.  CALI tries too hard to be interactive and the effort really just annoys me so I gave up a long time ago with those.  Q & A Series is good for multiple choice, so is ExamPro.  I had 4 multiple choice exams my 2L year and didn't find them much different from the essay exam.  Your 1L exams will likely be all or nearly all in essay format.

[1LMan]

The saddest part about these pre-law school "gunners" is that I'd say a good 80% of the time they end up in the bottom half of the class.

You can't learn law school before you get there.  Law school doesn't teach you the law, it teaches you how to think a certain way, and that only comes after painstakingly going through the process that is 1L, more in 2L, 3L, and possibly 4L.

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER.

That is all

[tacojohn]

Read carefully, eliminate obviously wrong answers, trust your gut.

That's pretty much it.

[lwpat]

The trick is to know the cases cold and to read carefully. Usually the exam questions are based on cases you have studied with some twists thrown in. The LEEWS course is excellent. The best way to prep for MC is to purchase some study aids and start going thru them about midterm. Waiting until just before exams will not give you enough time. READ CAREFULLY. The question will be designed to trick the unwary so don't jump on an answer.

[Butch]

I totally agree with what others have said here.  Take the next 3 weeks to RELAX and enjoy life. Spend quality time with friends because soon you'll be "going away" for awhile. Rest now, because you're up for a tough 4 months.

That being said, there's no one way to study for any test!  First, each person learns differently so you have to figure out what works for you.

And, second, each professor writes tests differently! 

One thing you can do once you know who your professor is and what the exam format will be is to get a copy of an old exam (again, please do this AFTER classes have started) to see what the questions look like. Wait until the mid-way point through the semester and then practice that exam. Then, for everyone you got wrong ask yourself "Was this a test-taking skill that I am lacking" or "Was this a doctrinal question I do not know."  Some people miss questions because they fall for tricks, don't read properly, dont follow directions...while others miss because they simply don't know the law.

Some multiple choice are straight forward. Others are really tricky!  One good method of practice would be old MBE exams...