Exam Perceptions can be Deceiving...

The Nov 2011 MPRE results came out yesterday and as usual, most people passed and by wide margins. Our students all currently report  passing, which is good news!
What strikes me about the results, however, is a fairly common refrain that I hear after EVERY standardized exam (MBE, MPRE) but fortunately not from every student. It basically goes like this:
"The test was really hard. I never saw questions that tough. I'm sure I failed."
This is always troubling but with the MPRE it's almost laughable. You see, a person taking the exam has very poor perspective on the process. In the "heat" of the moment, every question seems inscruitable and every answer choice filled with nuance and danger. Fortunately, to mis-paraphrase Freud, "sometimes a bar exam question is just a bar exam question..."  In other words, perceptions of a test-taker can be deceiving and the feedback after the exam that claims a "doom and gloom" result is often misplaced. 
In the case of the MPRE, this is almost always true. The test is actually pretty easy and unless you talk yourself out of correct answers and over-think the exam or treat it as a test of your personal morality, you should pass.
One of our MPRE students was certain he had failed the Nov test and equally certain that the length and complexity of the questions was extreme. He was quite specific about how few questions took less than a page of the answer book so we went to the source - the NCBE, (who write and score the exam) to ask if something had changed. Of course, their response was "No. It's the same test for many years now." And the student's test results?
You guessed it. He passed. :-)
So if you're in a post-mortem session about a test, try to keep some perspective and if you have none, move on. You can't change the test after the fact and it does little good to brood over the test itself. 
We keep a pretty close eye on the tests and what the examiners are doing. It's one reason our results continue to outperform the averages in every jurisdiction where we prepare students for the exams. Your perceptions as a test taker are like those warnings on side view car mirrors: "objects may be closer than they appear" to which I would add, "and easier."