Solicitor Exam: Skipping Tax

[KDBurner300]

Getting bogged down in the tax-heavy sections of the solicitor materials. Wondering if there’s any merit to essentially skipping these sections and focusing my attention on the other sections of the materials? Has anyone found success with this “strategy” in previous writings of the solicitor exam?

[OntheVerge]

Yep, I randomly guessed all tax questions or any other math question that wasn't straightforward on the exam. I figured since I tend to panic doing math in high stress situations, trying to figure out math in the solicitor bar exam would just take away from time I could spend on other questions that I'd have a chance at getting right. Since that was my strategy going on, I didn't read much of the tax stuff when prepping. Passed the bar exam first try, so I guess that counts as success. 

[Sureaboutnotbeingsure]

On 7/13/2022 at 2:27 PM, OntheVerge said:

Yep, I randomly guessed all tax questions or any other math question that wasn't straightforward on the exam. I figured since I tend to panic doing math in high stress situations, trying to figure out math in the solicitor bar exam would just take away from time I could spend on other questions that I'd have a chance at getting right. Since that was my strategy going on, I didn't read much of the tax stuff when prepping. Passed the bar exam first try, so I guess that counts as success. 

Hey, in terms of getting through the material. Did you read just for the sake of highlighting/getting familiar with the material? I am not really understanding a lot of the complicated topics for real estate/business. Might just be burnt out. I am thinking of skimming the remainder of the readings and do practice questions. 

[OntheVerge]

Yeah, don't worry about understanding anything. That's not the point of the bar exam, or of going through the materials. But it's easy to get lost in the weeds and forget that. The goal is to know where the material is, so you can look up the answers to the questions as fast as possible. If highlighting works, go for it. Some people I know colour-coded with different colours meaning legislation, timelines, rules, case law, etc. I've never been one for colour coding, so I highlighted what I thought would be key phrases.

But in the end, the strategy that worked best *for me* is to start doing as much practice questions and exams as possible to hone the skill of looking up material and answering. THAT is what the bar exam is all about, so the more you practice doing it, the better you'll be at it come exam time. For solicitor, I didn't even finish the materials because forcing myself to read was doing nothing and I wasn't engaging mentally at all. I started doing practice questions and exams a week before the solicitor exam and that's what helped the most.*

 

*for me. Disclaimer: I found this strategy helpful but that doesn't mean it'll work for everyone. 

[nayaab05]

57 minutes ago, OntheVerge said:

Yeah, don't worry about understanding anything. That's not the point of the bar exam, or of going through the materials. But it's easy to get lost in the weeds and forget that. The goal is to know where the material is, so you can look up the answers to the questions as fast as possible. If highlighting works, go for it. Some people I know colour-coded with different colours meaning legislation, timelines, rules, case law, etc. I've never been one for colour coding, so I highlighted what I thought would be key phrases.

But in the end, the strategy that worked best *for me* is to start doing as much practice questions and exams as possible to hone the skill of looking up material and answering. THAT is what the bar exam is all about, so the more you practice doing it, the better you'll be at it come exam time. For solicitor, I didn't even finish the materials because forcing myself to read was doing nothing and I wasn't engaging mentally at all. I started doing practice questions and exams a week before the solicitor exam and that's what helped the most.*

 

*for me. Disclaimer: I found this strategy helpful but that doesn't mean it'll work for everyone. 

FWIW, this is what worked for me as well.

I also skimmed the tax section and only remember a handful of questions on tax appearing on the exam. 

[Dood]

All these posts are super helpful