The Multistate portion of the bar exam is a six-hour multiple choice test. It covers the following areas: Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. It is created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and administered by most states.

The goal of the Multistate section is to test your ability to apply fundamental legal principles and legal reasoning to a given set of facts. While knowledge of the law is paramount, so is basic test-taking strategy. Consider these two approaches while you prepare for the Multistate:

(1)  Work out the answer first – This is an old testing trick you may have learned for the LSAT. First, read the question posed. Then, before reading the possible answers, work out the answer for yourself. Map out the fact pattern presented and if you can, figure out the answer or at least make a guess.

Then, if your answer is listed, get ready to select it – but not before scanning the other possible answers to make sure you didn’t miss something.

Even if you didn’t work out the actual answer, this approach gets you in an active thinking mode. Instead of passively reviewing the possible answers, you’re already analyzing the facts in your head and will be more ready to test the possible answers quickly and accurately.

(2)  Don’t stress over the occasional difficult question – You don’t need to get a perfect score. You can find out the average passing rate in your state, but in some it can hover around 70%. This means you can afford to get some wrong. Also, don’t forget some experimental questions will be mixed in that are not scored. Don’t waste too much time on anyone question. Keep moving.

Practice these approaches while you’re taking sample tests and see if they work for you.