IRAC confusion ... is the I silent?

Y'all... anyone have insight about how important it actually is to ...state the issue... in MEEs? Everyone keeps telling me to use IRAC and to do a bunch of mini IRACs for each issue. Somehow I got through law school and did fine without ever consciously using IRAC. Now I'm trying to on these practice essays, and getting super confused because the model answers on Themis don't seem to say, "The issue is ______________" -- or they do so once or twice max but then seem to use CRAC or RAC for most issues. Anyone have insights?