Improving Your Essay Scores: Five Things to Do When Time Is Your Biggest Challenge

One of the most common concerns I hear from bar examinees is some variation of the following:

"I'm struggling with the essays. I keep running out of time, and I really want to improve my scores."

The good news is that essay performance is often one of the most improvable portions of the bar exam. While there is no magic solution, there are several practical steps that can help you become more efficient and earn additional points on the essay portion of the bar exam, like the Multistate Essay Examination.

Photo by Katja Ano on Unsplash

Tip No 1: Review Historical Essay Testing Data

One of the most underutilized resources available to students is historical testing data.

The NCBE doesn't simply invent entirely new concepts every administration. While any topic within a subject is theoretically testable, the examiners tend to revisit the same core concepts repeatedly. Reviewing a historical chart of previously tested topics (such as my own "History of MEE Testing" charts") helps you identify which issues have appeared most frequently and which topics deserve special attention.

Historical testing data shouldn't be used to predict what will appear on your exam. Instead, it helps you prioritize your studying and become familiar with the issues the examiners have historically considered important. When you have seen the same concepts tested repeatedly, issue spotting becomes much easier (and faster).

Tip No. 2: Do More Essays Than You Think You Need

Many students spend substantial time memorizing outlines but relatively little time working through actual essay questions.

The reality is that essay writing is a skill. Like any skill, it improves through repetition.

The examiners often recycle concepts, even if the facts change. A negligence question may involve a car accident one year and a sporting event the next. A hearsay question may involve a criminal prosecution on one exam and a civil lawsuit on another. The legal principles, however, are often strikingly similar.

Every essay you review increases the number of patterns you recognize. The student who has reviewed fifty negligence essays will generally spot issues faster than the student who has reviewed five.

Tip No. 3: Understand That Not Every Issue Is Worth the Same Number of Points

Many students panic when they realize they are running out of time near the end of an essay.

While you should always strive to finish, remember that the examiners don't award equal credit to every issue. Major issues typically receive more attention and more points than minor issues.

In many MEE questions, the earliest calls of the question are often tied to the most significant issues in the fact pattern. Later calls of the question frequently address narrower or less heavily weighted issues. While this isn't a hard-and-fast rule, it means that students who run out of time near the end of an essay are often missing issues that carry fewer points than the issues they have already addressed.

This means that if you spend adequate time developing the primary issues at the beginning of the essay but only have enough time to briefly address a smaller issue at the end, you haven't necessarily doomed your score.

In fact, many passing answers contain abbreviated discussions of later issues. The key is making sure that your strongest analysis appears where the most points are available.

Perfect completion is ideal. Strategic completion is often sufficient.

Tip No. 4: If You Forget a Rule, Use the Facts to Help You Rebuild It

One of the biggest mistakes students make is freezing when they cannot remember a rule statement word-for-word.

The bar exam doesn't award points solely for reciting perfect black-letter law. It awards points for legal analysis.

If you completely forget a rule, look carefully at the facts and ask yourself what legal principle the examiners appear to be testing. Then formulate a reasonable rule and move forward with your analysis.

For example, suppose you cannot remember the exact elements of a particular doctrine. Rather than leaving the page blank, craft a rule that reflects the issue raised by the facts and apply those facts carefully.

A reasonable rule coupled with strong analysis will usually earn more points than no rule and no analysis at all.

Tip No. 5: Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

Students often become discouraged because they expect dramatic improvements immediately.

Essay improvement usually occurs incrementally.

A student who improves from spotting four issues to spotting five issues has improved. A student who incorporates more facts into the analysis section has improved. A student who finishes one additional paragraph before time expires has improved.

Those small gains accumulate over weeks of practice.

The goal isn't to write a model answer. The goal is to write a passing answer under timed conditions.

---

If timing is your biggest challenge, remember that speed comes from familiarity. The more essays you review, the more patterns you recognize. The more patterns you recognize, the faster you issue spot. And the faster you issue spot, the more time you have to do what ultimately earns points on the bar exam: analyze the facts.