The 2011 bar exams is a very historic exam as this will be first time, after several decades of bar exams in the country, wherein major changes has been implemented. The game plan or battle strategy that has been followed by bar examinees for decades need to revised if not changed because of the “major major” changes in the bar exams. As you all probably know already, about 60 % of the exam will be multiple choice questions while 40 % will be trail memorandum writing. Those taking the bar exams are very unfamiliar with this format as these were just announced late last year. And during that time those taking the bar this year was still busy preparing for the graduation so there was little time or no time at all to prepare for these changes. Hence law schools and review centers are now scampering to prepare their students on how to effectively slay this yet to be seen beast. Before these changes, going to regular bar review and last minute review seems to be only an option, but now I … [Read more...]

. . . On Thursday that is. (March 17, 2011). Nope this is not a rumour. News reports state that the Supreme Court through Public Information Office acting chief Atty. Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerrahas announced to the media that Chief Justice Renato Corona has called for a special en banc session on Thursday to decode and release the 2010 Bar exam results. There were  4,847 examinees in the 2010 Bar exams, and almost half are repeaters. About 52 % are new examinees (2,521 were new examinees). The 2010 bar exams is definitely one for the history books as it is the last bar exams that features the examination format that has been used since the beginning of the bar exams in the Philippines.  Radical changes will be made in the 2011 Bar exams. You might want to read more about this in  "Major Changes in the Bar Examination: Impact on bar exam review and coaching."  The 2010 bar exams is also when the tragic grenade throwing incident happened where about 50 law students were injured. … [Read more...]

This is the last installment of this series written by my good friend Professor Manny Riguera, review director of Jurists Bar Review Center. Click here to view Part 1 of this series, and click here to view Part 2. Want to become well prepared for this year’s bar exams ? Visit Jurists Bar Review Center, the pioneer review center in coaching and mock bar exams. Hurdle the 2011 bar exam. Be well prepared for the major changes. There are so many changes now in the bar exam, wish there was some kind of  Wholesaleinsurance.net if you fail to compensate you for the burden and pain of failing hehehehe MCQ more challenging and difficult than traditional problem-type question The consensus among the law professors who attended the seminar was that the MCQ would be more difficult than the old problem-type question.  The basis for this opinion was that in an MCQ question, either the examinee “knows the answer or he doesn’t.”    In a problem-type question, the examinee even if he gives a … [Read more...]

This is a continuation of Prof. Manny Riguera’s article on the Major changes in the 2011 Philippine bar exams. If you want to view “Major Changes in the Bar Examination: Impact on bar exam review and coaching – Part 1” click here. We continue with part 2 of this very interesting silver dollars worth article. Use of multiple-choice questions A seismic shift in the format of the bar examination is the forthcoming use of multiple-choice questions in the 2011 bar exam. This is patterned after the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) given in the United States which consists of multiple-choice questions. The evident purpose of using MCQs is to make more objective the correction of answers. Appreciation of answers to standard problem-type questions tends to be subjective and parity in grading standards is far from guaranteed. Justice Abad also stated that the use of MCQs is a better measure of an examinee’s knowledge of the law since an examiner can ask 200-300 questions and can cover more … [Read more...]