So, you’ve been working your way through your BARBRI bar prep course and writing practice essays. Awesome! Now what should you do when you’re done writing?
Well, arguably the most important step comes next: self-assessment.
But you may be thinking: How do I actually assess my own work? And why is it any more valuable than simply submitting an essay for grading?
Learning to Assess Your Own Essays: Where the Real Magic Happens
If this doesn’t sound so magical yet, we get it. Most students do not like to self-assess their own work or evaluate how they are doing. It can feel hard and uncomfortable, and it’s far easier to just move on or have someone else tell you how you’re doing.
While submitting an essay for feedback can be helpful, it is no substitute for thoughtful self-evaluation. Critically assessing your own work requires you to actively participate in your own learning.
Specifically, self-assessment allows you to evaluate not only the product of your learning, but also the process of your learning. A good example is your study approach and preparation strategies. Were they effective or do they need to be adjusted? Did you change anything about your approach this time that was effective or ineffective?
You might discover how to best allocate your time when you’re working on different subjects. You’ll notice more about the quality of your work and be able to tie it into the choices, behaviors, and practices you had at the time you wrote it. This allows you to make informed decisions about the direction of your future learning.
Bottom line: the student who constantly evaluates their own work becomes a better learner.
It should come as no surprise that strong self-assessment and evaluation are also tied to higher bar exam essay scores.
How to Accurately Assess Your Own Essay Responses
Here are a few steps to follow to help you with this process.
Step #1
After drafting or outlining an essay response, locate the model answer in your materials.
Step #2
Carefully read through the model answer and do a broad comparison of the issues you covered against what is in the model answer.
As you read, ask yourself the following questions:
Did I identify the correct issues? Am I missing issues? Or did I discuss issues that are not in the model answer?
Maybe you missed or misread something in the facts — which tells you that taking some time to focus on your reading could pay huge dividends going forward. Maybe you ran out of time, which brings us back to time management and how you allocate the time you’re spending between different essays and different portions of an essay. Or maybe, this issue just wasn’t something you were familiar with. In which case, it’s helpful to learn about gaps in your understanding of the substance.
Did I include accurate and complete rule statements? Is there anything I forgot to include? Did I include rules that are not in the model answer?
This isn’t asking if you wrote the exact same, verbatim phrasing as the model answer. Here, you’re determining whether your rule statements were accurate, and whether they were complete. And, please, be forgiving with yourself! You are still learning, and your rule statements may look a little rough at this stage. That is completely normal.
A good follow-up question at this point is:
Is there anything I would change about the wording of my rule statements to make them better?
Remember, the model answers are here to help. You can steal the rule language from these model answers for your own essays.
Then look at your analysis and ask:
How does my analysis compare to the model answer? Did I make tight connections between the rules I introduced and the facts?
Did I incorporate enough specific facts? Am I missing any facts? Did I use the facts to make legal arguments, rather than simply summarizing them?
And finally, look at how it all ties together. Ask yourself:
- How does my organization compare to the model answer?
- Is there anything that the model answer includes that helps make that answer clearer, easier to follow, or more logical?
Step #3
It’s now time to do an honest assessment of whether your response captures the “core” of the sample answer provided. If it does so in an organized way, it’s likely a passing response.
Keep in mind, the BARBRI model answers will be near perfect and much longer than you could actually write in the time permitted during the bar exam. (They are, after all, drafted by legal experts with plenty of time on their hands.) The reason for this is that, among other things, the model answers provide an opportunity to teach you additional points of law that weren’t fleshed out in your outlines — sometimes in greater detail than is required by the questions.
That is why practicing essays, even if you aren’t confident in an area of law yet, will accelerate your knowledge of the rules. There is no better way to understand the meaning of the rules than through practice.
The model answers will also include all possible points available on an essay, even though you won’t need all the points to achieve a high passing score. It is helpful, however, when you are still learning to see all the possible issues and all possible rules that could have been included.
If you are unclear about a concept used in a model answer, go to your outline and look for additional explanation to help you grasp the rule. In other words, take a very active role in your learning process.
After Assessing Your Essay Product, Assess Your Process
- Do you need to make adjustments to how you are preparing?
- Are you spending your time in ways that are helping you understand the material?
- Do you need to incorporate more time for this subject this week?
- Did you improve on this essay in comparison to past essays?
- Are there some simple ways you could better organize your writing so it’s easier to follow?
Self-assessment is critical, and adapting your study to what you need based on your self-assessment is even more critical. Engaging in this practice will make you a better learner and will allow you to retain information more effectively.
Looking for a little confidence boost for the written portion of the bar exam? Check out our AdaptiBar Writing Guide
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