Check In Goals

While each check-in will inevitably vary based on the time point and your mentee's needs, the two basic goals for each check ins are to: (1) ensure that your mentee is completing most of the assignments outlined by his or her bar prep assignment calendar, and (2) identify challenges that your mentee is facing and help problem-solve.

Assignment Accountability 

Possible accountability check in questions:

Lectures

  • Have you attended/watched all assigned lectures?
  • Are you taking notes during the lecture and later reviewing your notes?

MBE

  • Have you completed almost all of the MBE questions you have been assigned thus far?Are you reviewing the sample answers?
  • What are your strongest/weakest MBE topics?
  • Are you completing at least some of the assigned questions under realistic test conditions (i.e., timed and without notes)?

MEE

  • Have you written full essays or outlined almost all of the MEE questions you have been assigned thus far?
  • Are you reviewing the sample essays?
  • Are you completing at least some of the assigned essays under realistic test conditions (i.e., timed and without notes)?
  • Have you submitted some of your essays to your bar prep course for review by trained graders? If yes, what kind of feedback did you get?

MPT

  • Have you written full responses or outlined almost all of the MPT questions you have been assigned thus far?
  • Are you completing at least some of the prompts under realistic test conditions (i.e., timed)?

Identifying Challenges

Possible challenges to address during check in:

Test anxiety 

Problem-solving ideas:

  • Recommend anxiety management resources:

             Bar Exam Mind (Matt Racine) *will be on reserve in the library*

             The Zen of Passing the Bar Exam (Chad Noreuil) *will be on reserve in the library*

             Daily Reflections for Bar Exam Study (M.G. Groopler)

             The Bar Is Easy (Kris Rivenburgh)

  • Discuss possible test scenarios that are causing your mentee anxiety and help him or her develop a plan that addresses these fears.

For example, if your mentee  has anxiety about reading a MEE question and not remembering anything about the topic, you could help your mentee develop a plan for moving on so he or she doesn’t waste time on that question. The plan might be to take three deep breaths, skip the question and only return to it if he or she has time after answering all of the remaining MEE questions.

For example, if your mentee has anxiety about not being able to finish the MBE in the allotted time, you could help your mentee develop a recovery plan in case he or she falls behind during the exam. The recovering plan might be to guess on the next 10 questions to get back on track and only return to skipped questions if he or she has time after completing all of the remaining MBE questions.

For example, if your mentee has anxiety about his or her computer crashing in the middle of the exam (which means that he or she is forced to handwrite), you could help your mentee develop a plan to feel confident handwriting the exam. The plan might involve having your mentee practice handwriting every fourth practice MEE and MPT he or she completes.

Negative mind-set (“I am just bad at property." "I didn't pass the first time, I won't pass now."):

Problem-solving ideas

  • Find ways to make studying that topic less miserable (e.g., suggest that your mentee study the topic first thing in the morning to get it over with or study the topic in a place that he or she particularly likes).
  • Discuss the possibility of skipping specific types of questions within the topic that cause undue anxiety (e.g., if your mentee simply cannot understand the Rule Against Perpetuities, you may advise him or her to strategically guess on these questions instead of wasting hours studying this fine point of law and feeling frustrated).
  • If your mentee has a negative mind-set because he or she has been previously unsuccessful on the bar exam, discuss possible reasons for the initially unfavorable result and how your mentee can avoid these pitfalls. It might also be valuable to provide non-identifying examples of other graduates who did not pass the exam on their first attempt, but passed on later attempts.

Inefficient study habits or lack of focus (time management):

Problem-solving ideas

  • Help your mentee think about what type of preparation/review worked best for him or her in law school (e.g., making flashcards, creating detailed outlines, listening to lectures multiple times, reading supplemental materials, or mapping).
  • Suggest tools that your mentee can use to stay on task during study time (e.g., Mac users might consider the “Self Control” app, which mentees can use to lock themselves out of tempting websites—like Facebook—while they are supposed to be studying).
  • Recommend incorporating more study breaks throughout the day to avoid diminishing returns (e.g., pomodoro timer apps—like “Task Timer,” “Tomato,” or “Timebar”—can help mentees schedule breaks that can increase their productivity).