Adam Ferber is the former Examinations Director for the State Bar of California and grader of 40 California Bar and First-Year Law Students’ Examinations. He provides intensive, individualized tutoriing and coaching to applicants for both exams. Contact Adam at www.ferberbarreview.com or on Facebook, at Ferber Bar Review – Student Resource Group.
“Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road/Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go/So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why/It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time” -Green Day
In case you didn’t get the memo, in addition to the purposes explicitly attributed to them by bar examiners, performance tests test your ability to perform legal tasks under intense time pressure.
So while you’re muscling up for those two three-hour sprints next month, consider these strategies:
1) Outline For More Than 90 Minutes
California performance test instructions suggest that you allocate at least 90 minutes to your outline. Especially if you take the examination on your laptop, consider spending at least 100 minutes outlining. That’s because this instruction predates the use of laptops by applicants. It was composed in the days when there were only “writers” and “typists,” who were constrained by their more primitive writing tools, and it has never changed. If you have reasonable typing skills and the ability to cut and paste portions of your outline into your answers, you can probably say all you need to say in your answer in a shorter time. Extra outlining time can give you a better grasp of how best to construct your answer.
2) Leave Yourself Time to Do The Hardest Things Twice
My students reach a point of diminishing returns when they take extra test time to bolster their strengths. In fact, those strengths show up nearly as well when we cut their time. For example, the good writers write nearly as articulately in fewer words. They are better able to adapt.
However, students’ weaknesses do seem to improve with more time and attention. Do you repeat yourself when you’re stressed? Edit for a few minutes longer. Do you often start writing, only to realize that you missed something that you need to add? Leave some time (and some space) to capture that last minute insight.
Taking a few minutes away from what you’re confident of and turning them over to your weaknesses is likely to get you more “bang” from that time.
3) Take a Little Time to Relax
You heard me. Try this the next time you’re in the middle of writing a practice exam. (1) Check your time. (2) Close your eyes and breathe in to a count of seven, filling your lungs with as much air as possible. (3) With your eyes still closed, hold your breath for a count of four, and then exhale for a count of eight. Do this twice. (4) Open your eyes and check your time. If you feel clearer and better focused, then practice this exercise and prepare to use it during the exam. It will be well worth the time you spend on it.
Copyright 2010 Adam Ferber and www.ferberbarreview.com. Reprinted by permission.
