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Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:05 pm
by Garinold
I'm at a point where I honestly don't know if I'm studying too little or whatever. These Kaplan multiple choice questions are little bitches that's all I really know for sure. My "checkpoint" scores are 55% on conlaw, 62% on Ks, 72% on crimlaw/pro, 56% of evidence, 64% on real property, and 64% on torts. On the other multiple choice questions I do in the Redbook, I typically score in the 60-70% range.

I honestly have no idea where I stand. I know the national average for the MBE is 135/200, which comes out to about 68%. I know I can be studying more and I can probably spend more time going over the questions I get wrong, I just don't know if it will help. When I started out I spent enough time on each question I got wrong to figure out why I got it wrong, but I don't feel like I retained anything from it. I know people say the Kaplan questions are harder than the real MBE questions. I hope that is true. I kind of feel like I get a lot of questions wrong over little bullshit assumptions that the drafters expect you to raise on your own, but border on reading facts into the questions, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do.

How are you guys doing on the MBE crap?

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:09 pm
by Big Shrimpin
Garinold wrote:I know the national average for the MBE is 135/200, which comes out to about 68%.
I have a feeling that such a score likely passes with flying colors, usually.

I think you're good, as we're still a few weeks out.

Also, if you're in the mood to lounge it, we've been bitching about the bar for a few weeks now: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=375

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:14 pm
by Garinold
Big Shrimpin wrote:
Garinold wrote:I know the national average for the MBE is 135/200, which comes out to about 68%.
I have a feeling that such a score likely passes with flying colors, usually.

I think you're good, as we're still a few weeks out.

Also, if you're in the mood to lounge it, we've been bitching about the bar for a few weeks now: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &start=375

Don't know how I missed that thread, TY. I'm probably just getting lazy.

I made a post bitching about the essays. Just as I feel myself getting stronger on the essay portions, I'm worried now about the MBE portion.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:31 pm
by ojibwa
Im doing good thanks for asking

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:33 am
by I.P. Daly
Garinold wrote:I'm at a point where I honestly don't know if I'm studying too little or whatever. These Kaplan multiple choice questions are little bitches that's all I really know for sure. My "checkpoint" scores are 55% on conlaw, 62% on Ks, 72% on crimlaw/pro, 56% of evidence, 64% on real property, and 64% on torts. On the other multiple choice questions I do in the Redbook, I typically score in the 60-70% range.

I honestly have no idea where I stand. I know the national average for the MBE is 135/200, which comes out to about 68%. I know I can be studying more and I can probably spend more time going over the questions I get wrong, I just don't know if it will help. When I started out I spent enough time on each question I got wrong to figure out why I got it wrong, but I don't feel like I retained anything from it. I know people say the Kaplan questions are harder than the real MBE questions. I hope that is true. I kind of feel like I get a lot of questions wrong over little bullshit assumptions that the drafters expect you to raise on your own, but border on reading facts into the questions, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do.

How are you guys doing on the MBE crap?
Have you taken the MBE midterm yet? The commentator said people should answer about 50% (100 out of 200 questions) on the midterm.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:12 pm
by hiima3L
I.P. Daly wrote:
Garinold wrote:I'm at a point where I honestly don't know if I'm studying too little or whatever. These Kaplan multiple choice questions are little bitches that's all I really know for sure. My "checkpoint" scores are 55% on conlaw, 62% on Ks, 72% on crimlaw/pro, 56% of evidence, 64% on real property, and 64% on torts. On the other multiple choice questions I do in the Redbook, I typically score in the 60-70% range.

I honestly have no idea where I stand. I know the national average for the MBE is 135/200, which comes out to about 68%. I know I can be studying more and I can probably spend more time going over the questions I get wrong, I just don't know if it will help. When I started out I spent enough time on each question I got wrong to figure out why I got it wrong, but I don't feel like I retained anything from it. I know people say the Kaplan questions are harder than the real MBE questions. I hope that is true. I kind of feel like I get a lot of questions wrong over little bullshit assumptions that the drafters expect you to raise on your own, but border on reading facts into the questions, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do.

How are you guys doing on the MBE crap?
Have you taken the MBE midterm yet? The commentator said people should answer about 50% (100 out of 200 questions) on the midterm.
Any idea if there is much of a difference between Kaplan and BarBri in this regard?

I got a 70% on the 200 question one last week and slightly panicked because I guessed a number of them, so I didn't think I was really passing.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 1:59 pm
by Mick Haller
Garinold wrote: I honestly have no idea where I stand. I know the national average for the MBE is 135/200, which comes out to about 68%.
In Calif. the average is usually between 120-125, which is a passing score. Anything over 60% and you've given yourself a reasonable shot at passing the overall bar.

How did you do on the Kaplan midterm MBE? I found it more difficult than the checkpoints and regular Qbank questions. I think if you did 55%+ on that, you are in good shape, because it's unlikely the actual MBE will be that difficult.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 2:04 pm
by Mick Haller
hiima3L wrote: I got a 70% on the 200 question one last week and slightly panicked because I guessed a number of them, so I didn't think I was really passing.
You are in good shape. You'll be guessing on the real thing too. The trick is to pare it down to two options.

I did 66% on the midterm and am totally happy with it. If they expect 50% then that means thats what the average Kaplan person is doing, and the average Kaplan person is going to pass the bar.

Which bar exam are you guys taking?

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:12 pm
by Garinold
I got 64% on my Midterm. The only issue is that I needed to suspend it a lot because I was falling asleep as I took it, so I'm worried that the score doesn't really count in that I didn't grind it out in two 3 hour blocks w/out any breaks the way its gonna be done on the actual bar.

I'm taking the NJ bar.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:41 pm
by Mick Haller
Garinold wrote:I got 64% on my Midterm. The only issue is that I needed to suspend it a lot because I was falling asleep as I took it, so I'm worried that the score doesn't really count in that I didn't grind it out in two 3 hour blocks w/out any breaks the way its gonna be done on the actual bar.

I'm taking the NJ bar.
I think you are doing fine at 64%. Most of the "smart" people I know from my school (myself included) are in that same range. You are definitely above average at this point.

I wouldnt worry about the suspensions. In a real exam you will keep your focus, and a 2 hour break is plenty of time to recover for the 2nd 3 hour block. I took several suspensions myself, including an overnight one.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 11:13 pm
by hiima3L
Mick Haller wrote:
hiima3L wrote: I got a 70% on the 200 question one last week and slightly panicked because I guessed a number of them, so I didn't think I was really passing.
You are in good shape. You'll be guessing on the real thing too. The trick is to pare it down to two options.

I did 66% on the midterm and am totally happy with it. If they expect 50% then that means thats what the average Kaplan person is doing, and the average Kaplan person is going to pass the bar.

Which bar exam are you guys taking?
I hope you're right. I know a lot of people who are still only getting about 50% on MPQs, including some friends who are really f'n smart, so I'm guessing 60%+ really is a good place to be.

I'm taking the CA bar.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 11:51 pm
by Mick Haller
Here are a few resources for my fellows taking the CA bar:

http://www.ndcalblog.com/2011/11/debrie ... a-bar.html
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/BarPr ... .22.08.pdf
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/BarP ... .23.08.pdf
By my math if you scored a 62.5 as an average essay and 120 raw on the MBE, you would have passed the exam.
I believe the average Calif. essay score is around 60, and the national average MBE was 127 (66% of 190) raw. So like I said, anything above 60% on the actual MBE gives you a pretty good shot at passing, as long as you do fine on the essays. I believe the actual MBE will be slightly easier than the Kaplan/BarBri practice exams.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:42 am
by omg clay aiken !
I just did the simulated MBE (barbri) because im a few days behind... taking CA bar. is 131 a good raw score out of 200 on this thing or am i fucked?

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:33 am
by bns_77
I know the Barbri multiple choice are statistically harder than those on the test, so they set guidelines for what you "should" be scoring. It's never over 67% for any set of questions.

I'd make sure Kaplan isn't doing the same thing to you.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 2:01 pm
by Mick Haller
omg clay aiken ! wrote:I just did the simulated MBE (barbri) because im a few days behind... taking CA bar. is 131 a good raw score out of 200 on this thing or am i fucked?
a good score

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 2:19 pm
by attractive_NUisance
I got around that score on the 200 question barbri test too. Its probably ok, they do make it pretty hard and were testing on pretty small exceptions to the major rules. You can just keep practicing to improve it if you want to get some more confidence. Its probably good not to focus too much on MBE since memorizing the rules for the essays takes time.

If you want to be an ultraprepper you can buy the Kaplan MBE bank questions from them in addition to Barbri - only costs like $170 and it almost doubles the number of practice questions you have available to you.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:59 pm
by wiseowl
omg clay aiken ! wrote:I just did the simulated MBE (barbri) because im a few days behind... taking CA bar. is 131 a good raw score out of 200 on this thing or am i fucked?
average is 105, and average passes comfortably.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:03 pm
by hiima3L
attractive_NUisance wrote:I got around that score on the 200 question barbri test too. Its probably ok, they do make it pretty hard and were testing on pretty small exceptions to the major rules. You can just keep practicing to improve it if you want to get some more confidence. Its probably good not to focus too much on MBE since memorizing the rules for the essays takes time.

If you want to be an ultraprepper you can buy the Kaplan MBE bank questions from them in addition to Barbri - only costs like $170 and it almost doubles the number of practice questions you have available to you.
Also a lot of their answers bullshit because there are 2 answers you would not only have to argue, but would get docked on an essay for not arguing. I also think some of their fact patterns lack critical a fact(s) too frequently.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:17 pm
by Sauer Grapes
I got a 55 or 56% on the BarBri Sim MBE. I always heard that barbri questions were harder, but then I took the 18 question sample on the MBE's website and did the same. At least I still have time to learn the stuff.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:31 pm
by Mick Haller
Sauer Grapes wrote:I got a 55 or 56% on the BarBri Sim MBE. I always heard that barbri questions were harder, but then I took the 18 question sample on the MBE's website and did the same. At least I still have time to learn the stuff.
18 questions is not a big enough sample to draw a valid conclusion. I took a 20 question Qbank quiz on Kaplan the other day and got 50%. Out of 200 questions I got 66%.

I'd imagine they put some of the tougher questions in the 18 question sample too.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:26 pm
by LoriBelle
Average on the Barbri simulated MBE is about 105-110 raw. Average actual scaled MBE score of takers = 142. This is both because the simulated MBE is harder than the actual MBE and because the actual MBE is scaled. The average raw score of the actual MBE is about 128. What is a "passing" score varies from state to state. In my state, there is no "passing" MBE score. The MBE merely contributes points toward a total that will make passing. If a taker scored absolutely uniformly across all elements of the bar exam in my state, s/he would need a scaled 135 (raw approx. 120) to pass the bar...but in practice some will be better on the MBE than on the essays and vice versa.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:00 pm
by fenix916
Ah, I find this all to be a relief. I have my simulated Barbri MBE on Monday. My studying so far has been doing the lectures, doing a few practice question sets, and a few of the AMP tutorials when I can't remember shit. I've probably done like 5-6 of those 18 question subject specific practice questions and I've been ranging between 60-78% right. Usually I pull over 70%.

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:49 pm
by Lawl Shcool
Sup y'all, this bar thing is a pain. I got a 115/200 (better than "52%" of takers according to BarBri's stats - wooo me!). I've been starting to stress a bit so I figured I would jump into this thread.

My study plan thus far has been going to the lectures (have missed a couple though) and playing a lot of pick-up hoops. I have been trying to review the lecture notes + AMP's + some practice essays at night but until this past week was struggling. The impending failure feeling is creeping in and now it is almost 11 pm on a friday and I am just about to start another Real Property MC exam.

At this point I am getting more worried about the essays, there are just so many rule statements I need to memorize...

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:05 am
by Big Shrimpin
Lawl Shcool wrote:Sup y'all, this bar thing is a pain. I got a 115/200 (better than "52%" of takers according to BarBri's stats - wooo me!). I've been starting to stress a bit so I figured I would jump into this thread.

My study plan thus far has been going to the lectures (have missed a couple though) and playing a lot of pick-up hoops. I have been trying to review the lecture notes + AMP's + some practice essays at night but until this past week was struggling. The impending failure feeling is creeping in and now it is almost 11 pm on a friday and I am just about to start another Real Property MC exam.

At this point I am getting more worried about the essays, there are just so many rule statements I need to memorize...
How'd you get your rank on the simulated MBE?

Re: Bar Prep - How are you guys doing on multiple choice?

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:25 am
by wiseowl
Big Shrimpin wrote:
Lawl Shcool wrote:Sup y'all, this bar thing is a pain. I got a 115/200 (better than "52%" of takers according to BarBri's stats - wooo me!). I've been starting to stress a bit so I figured I would jump into this thread.

My study plan thus far has been going to the lectures (have missed a couple though) and playing a lot of pick-up hoops. I have been trying to review the lecture notes + AMP's + some practice essays at night but until this past week was struggling. The impending failure feeling is creeping in and now it is almost 11 pm on a friday and I am just about to start another Real Property MC exam.

At this point I am getting more worried about the essays, there are just so many rule statements I need to memorize...
How'd you get your rank on the simulated MBE?
supposedly (mine is Monday) if you get it computer scored your rank shows up a few days later