How to Use Problem Sets for the Administrative Scrivener Exam | A Story of Prioritizing 'Thinking' Over Memorization

When I was studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam, I had to deal with my child's surgery and hospital stays, so my study style involved studying little by little in my spare time.
I couldn't find large blocks of time, and I felt that a study method involving repeating problem sets over and over was difficult for me.

Therefore, I began to think for myself about 'how to use problem sets within a limited amount of time.'

What I was conscious of was not using problem sets as mere memorization tools.
I used them with the feeling of gradually grasping the way of thinking about the law and the points that are frequently asked in the exam while solving the problems.

Especially for Civil Law, I was conscious of acquiring the sense of being able to think, 'This might be wrong somehow,' even when a question I didn't know appeared.

In this article, I have summarized how I actually used the problem sets and what kind of priorities I had when studying.
I would like to write about the ingenuity I used while it was difficult to repeat the study many times.

I studied under the premise that I could not repeat the problem sets many times

Due to my child's hospitalization and other factors, my study time was always limited.
Therefore, a study style of 'going through problem sets many times' was not realistic from the beginning.

By the way, the problem sets I used were the basic problem sets and the branch-by-branch past question sets from Gokaku Kakumei, and Gokaku Dojo (a web service).
In the final period, I also used the predicted mock exams from Gokaku Kakumei and LEC.
The teaching materials I used are summarized in 'Choosing Self-Study Materials for the Administrative Scrivener Exam | Textbooks and Problem Sets I Used'.

I felt that the branch-by-branch past question set was a bit difficult for me to use, and as a result, I only went through it once.
On the other hand, Gokaku Dojo is easy to use even in spare time because it can be solved on a smartphone.
Naturally, the time I spent using this increased.

Although the number of repetitions differed for each problem set, what I was conscious of in common was 'using them in a way that is easy to continue in my current environment' rather than 'going through them perfectly'.

I used paper problem sets after my child went to sleep, and solved them on my smartphone during other spare times.
I have written in detail about how to study with a smartphone in 'Smartphone Study Method for the Administrative Scrivener Exam | Summary of Services Used and Study Content'.

I solved all ABC rank questions in the first round

In the first round, I made sure to solve all questions regardless of their importance.
For Gokaku Kakumei, that meant all ABC ranks, and for Gokaku Dojo, all five levels of evaluation.

The reason is that I thought it would be difficult to grasp the overall sense of the exam if I narrowed down the questions from the beginning.
I wanted to first understand what kind of fields would appear, how they would be asked, and what kind of trick questions would be used.

I was especially conscious of not ending with just memorization.
I solved them while thinking, 'Why is this option wrong?' and 'What kind of thinking does this answer come from?'

Especially for Civil Law, I was conscious of becoming able to think, 'This might be wrong somehow,' even when a question I didn't know appeared.

The first round was also a time to grasp 'where my weaknesses are' and 'which fields take time,' rather than just to get points.
By looking at the whole thing first, it became easier to plan my subsequent studies.

From the second round onwards, I focused on 'questions I got wrong'

At first, I went through the Gokaku Kakumei basic problem set once in parallel with reading the textbook.
After that, I started using the branch-by-branch past question set and Gokaku Dojo.

From the second round onwards, I focused on solving the questions I got wrong.
Since I didn't have time to repeat all the questions, I thought it was more efficient to focus on 'where I haven't solidified my knowledge'.

Specifically, I proceeded with the following flow.

• 2nd round → Only the questions I got wrong

• 3rd round → Questions I got wrong + exclude C-rank (4 or 5 stars on Gokaku Dojo)

• Weak subjects → Solve again, focusing on AB-rank

Honestly, I wanted to spend time going through them many times.
Seeing people who could repeat the process over and over made me feel anxious.

However, I realized that if I didn't have time, I had no choice but to think about "what to prioritize within the scope of what I can do now."

I acquired knowledge and thinking processes through the problem sets

As I solved the problems, I gradually began to understand "how the options are created."
Where the traps are, and what kind of phrasing is likely to be incorrect.
That kind of intuition was something I naturally acquired.

What I was aiming for was a state where I could think, "This might be wrong somehow," even if an unknown question appeared..
Especially for Civil Law, I felt that grasping the logic of the thinking process was more applicable than rote memorization of the articles.

It is said that the actual exam I took was a year where multiple-choice questions were relatively easy to score points on.
Therefore, there were not many situations that required strong deductive reasoning.

Even so, I believe that getting used to the way of thinking about problems led to my calmness during the actual exam.

Even if I couldn't repeat the process many times, by solving while thinking about "where to look" and "what to prioritize," my knowledge gradually accumulated.
I feel that within the limited time, it was important to find a way to use problem sets that suited me.

Thank you for reading until the end.

I will continue to update my experience records regarding studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam in my note magazine "Study Records Until Passing the Administrative Scrivener Exam".

If you'd like, I would be happy if you could like and follow!

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