MPRE August 2011 Forum

[Yvonnella]

My score disappointed me a bit: a mere 100. I got a B+ in PR in spring, but after taking the MPRE in August, I realized that my final exam in PR was unrepresentative of the real test. It was too easy. I spent nearly two weeks after summer session ended working through a Kaplan PR book. The questions were all straightforward and selecting the right answer was child's play. I thought that if the MPRE looked anything like the Kaplan practice tests, passing would be a snap. But just days before sitting the exam, I picked up a Barbri MPRE prep book and found that the questions it posed were substantially more difficult than Kaplan's. Suddenly my confidence became shaky, and with good reason. I wasn't able to get through the entire Barbri book by the time the day of the test arrived, and of course, the questions on the MPRE were all straight out of the Barbri book — or vice versa. They looked nothing like the questions that Kaplan presented. Much harder. I actually recognized some of the questions on the test as being virtually word-for-word from the Barbri book. Maybe the names were changed, but that's about it. One example was the question about fees.

Anyway, I passed, so I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it, but to anybody who's preparing for the November test: get the Barbri PR prep book. Don't waste your time with Kaplan. The Kaplan book is too easy and will not prepare you for the real deal.

[I.P. Daly]

My score disappointed me a bit: a mere 100. I got a B+ in PR in spring, but after taking the MPRE in August, I realized that my final exam in PR was unrepresentative of the real test. It was too easy. I spent nearly two weeks after summer session ended working through a Kaplan PR book. The questions were all straightforward and selecting the right answer was child's play. I thought that if the MPRE looked anything like the Kaplan practice tests, passing would be a snap. But just days before sitting the exam, I picked up a Barbri MPRE prep book and found that the questions it posed were substantially more difficult than Kaplan's. Suddenly my confidence became shaky, and with good reason. I wasn't able to get through the entire Barbri book by the time the day of the test arrived, and of course, the questions on the MPRE were all straight out of the Barbri book — or vice versa. They looked nothing like the questions that Kaplan presented. Much harder. I actually recognized some of the questions on the test as being virtually word-for-word from the Barbri book. Maybe the names were changed, but that's about it. One example was the question about fees.

Anyway, I passed, so I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it, but to anybody who's preparing for the November test: get the Barbri PR prep book. Don't waste your time with Kaplan. The Kaplan book is too easy and will not prepare you for the real deal.

Thanks for the advice.

[futurelawyer413]

the curve that was posted for this exam - was it public? did it say how many you got correct or simply your scaled score?