BarBri Thread: People taking Barbri for July 2013 exam

[kaiser]

Did a set of 20 of the actual released MBE Q's BarBri gives us. The facts are usually quite a bit shorter, and the answer choices, for the most part, seem a bit more straightforward. They seem to make it pretty clear what point they are testing in a given Q, and either you know it or you don't. I've done about 20 K's questions, and I think I only got 2 or 3 wrong, with at least one of those being a point of law I simply didn't know yet (as opposed to getting tripped up on something I should have known).

That's a great score and I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I think those MBEs are pretty dated. I read somewhere that those questions are from the early 2000s, late 90s.

Either way tho, 17+ out of 20 in K is awesome. Congrats.

Right, I'm sure they are dated. A good number of Q's have the 2 questions per 1 fact pattern. But no one ever said the Q's have gotten harder recently or anything. Plus, there are more than enough Q's that are your standard 1 Q per fact pattern setup.

[CG614]

Anyone else getting seriously screwed on the essay grading? I mean, on the 1/2 day NY practice exam #1, I got no points for wording my issue different than the model, even though it was the SAME issue factually. And that is just one little example. I understand that they are trying to motivate us to study harder, but I feel a more representative grading would be more helpful to me.

[Scurredsitless1]

Anyone else getting seriously screwed on the essay grading? I mean, on the 1/2 day NY practice exam #1, I got no points for wording my issue different than the model, even though it was the SAME issue factually. And that is just one little example. I understand that they are trying to motivate us to study harder, but I feel a more representative grading would be more helpful to me.

It's frustrating. After crushing the simulated MBE - I have not gotten a single passing grade on a submitted essay. In my state, essays are 2/3 of the total score. I'm trying not to take it too seriously, I know they're just fucking with us. But still....

I have not heard anyone say they did well on a graded essay. Only giving poor scores completely negates the purpose of sending in the essays for grading. Here, Barbri is selling a $200 "essay workshop" - I feel like they're trying to push more products by telling everyone they're failing.

[usuaggie]

I got a 3/5 on every mee and 4/5 on the MPT.

[remz]

How can I get my hands on actual MBE questions? I'm talking about questions from real Bar exams released by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. My understanding is that the questions in the MPQ2 are modeled off of older questions so I'd like to get my hands on some more recent real questions. Thanks!

[CG614]

Anyone else getting seriously screwed on the essay grading? I mean, on the 1/2 day NY practice exam #1, I got no points for wording my issue different than the model, even though it was the SAME issue factually. And that is just one little example. I understand that they are trying to motivate us to study harder, but I feel a more representative grading would be more helpful to me.

It's frustrating. After crushing the simulated MBE - I have not gotten a single passing grade on a submitted essay. In my state, essays are 2/3 of the total score. I'm trying not to take it too seriously, I know they're just fucking with us. But still....

I have not heard anyone say they did well on a graded essay. Only giving poor scores completely negates the purpose of sending in the essays for grading. Here, Barbri is selling a $200 "essay workshop" - I feel like they're trying to push more products by telling everyone they're failing.

Yeah. My last essay was horribly graded. They gave me no points for statements that were essentially the same as the model answer. I mean for example, I wrote: "The issue is whether a covenant of non-compete of 3 years and 50-mile radius is reasonable in time and scope, and thus enforceable." They commented that it should have been: "The issue is whether a restrictive covenant not to compete should be enforced against a former employee." (Side Note: why is the "former employee" even in their statement? When would you ever hold one enforceable against a current employee?) And awarded me no points. Also, they miss read parts of my essay and didn't see clear statements that were correct.

I feel that it is totally pointless to submit an essay for grading because it does not give me a true sense of where I am. BarBri is terrible.

[sundevil77]

How can I get my hands on actual MBE questions? I'm talking about questions from real Bar exams released by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. My understanding is that the questions in the MPQ2 are modeled off of older questions so I'd like to get my hands on some more recent real questions. Thanks!

https://secure.ncbex2.org/catalog/

They say the questions are from recent tests. I think that's the best chance to get your hands on "real" exam questions. $50 for 100 questions.

[kaiser]

Having interesting experience with the real released MBE Q files Barbri gives the NY students. For every subject (each one is around 35-40 Q's), I get like 4 or 5 of the first 10 wrong, get all discouraged, and then hit groove and end up getting around 70-75% of the Q's right. Its an odd emotional rollercoaster scoring these things.

[kaiser]

^^^^

Curious how other people felt about these Q's, if you have given them a try yet.

[blong4133]

^^^^

Curious how other people felt about these Q's, if you have given them a try yet.

I did about 10 from the Torts set. Stopped to check my answers and got 5 right and said to hell with it and quit. (I'm already freaking out as it is...I don't need to bomb a question set that isn't assigned) haha

[kaiser]

^^^^

Curious how other people felt about these Q's, if you have given them a try yet.

I did about 10 from the Torts set. Stopped to check my answers and got 5 right and said to hell with it and quit. (I'm already freaking out as it is...I don't need to bomb a question set that isn't assigned) haha

Read my earlier post. For every set I've done, I've screwed up many of the first few Q's, and then go on a long hot streak. So it sounds like my experience wasn't so far out of the ordinary. I'd stick with it, and see if you also find that it gets easier as it goes along.

I just did crim, and got 4 of the first 6 wrong, and then got the next 32 right in a row. So every single error I made was in the first 6 Q's, and then hit a groove, and ended up with 32/36. Though I'll note that crim law released Q's have almost nothing on crim pro. Since the law in that area has changed so much recently, BarBri must have cut out the questions based on outdated law.

[kaiser]

ConLaw seemed to buck the trend a bit with regard to where my mistakes were (and seemed quite easy overall). The questions are generally short enough that the key facts and issues are clear, and don't get lost in verbiage. I hate that, for the simulated MBE tomorrow, I gotta go back to the short-novel style of Barbri Q's. Maybe that is why BarBri writes such voluminous Q's, so that when we tackle real ones, there is no problem staying focused.

[blong4133]

^^^^

Curious how other people felt about these Q's, if you have given them a try yet.

I did about 10 from the Torts set. Stopped to check my answers and got 5 right and said to hell with it and quit. (I'm already freaking out as it is...I don't need to bomb a question set that isn't assigned) haha

Read my earlier post. For every set I've done, I've screwed up many of the first few Q's, and then go on a long hot streak. So it sounds like my experience wasn't so far out of the ordinary. I'd stick with it, and see if you also find that it gets easier as it goes along.

I just did crim, and got 4 of the first 6 wrong, and then got the next 32 right in a row. So every single error I made was in the first 6 Q's, and then hit a groove, and ended up with 32/36. Though I'll note that crim law released Q's have almost nothing on crim pro. Since the law in that area has changed so much recently, BarBri must have cut out the questions based on outdated law.

I'm going to sit down and do the Con Law set tonight. But I did notice that if you look at the second page, it does say that the questions were "modified" by Barbri. So considering on what kind of "modifications" are being made to the question, I'm not so sure that even these are truly representative of the real thing. I could be wrong though.

[kaiser]

^^^^

Curious how other people felt about these Q's, if you have given them a try yet.

I did about 10 from the Torts set. Stopped to check my answers and got 5 right and said to hell with it and quit. (I'm already freaking out as it is...I don't need to bomb a question set that isn't assigned) haha

Read my earlier post. For every set I've done, I've screwed up many of the first few Q's, and then go on a long hot streak. So it sounds like my experience wasn't so far out of the ordinary. I'd stick with it, and see if you also find that it gets easier as it goes along.

I just did crim, and got 4 of the first 6 wrong, and then got the next 32 right in a row. So every single error I made was in the first 6 Q's, and then hit a groove, and ended up with 32/36. Though I'll note that crim law released Q's have almost nothing on crim pro. Since the law in that area has changed so much recently, BarBri must have cut out the questions based on outdated law.

I'm going to sit down and do the Con Law set tonight. But I did notice that if you look at the second page, it does say that the questions were "modified" by Barbri. So considering on what kind of "modifications" are being made to the question, I'm not so sure that even these are truly representative of the real thing. I could be wrong though.

I'm pretty sure the modifications aren't substantive. When the law truly doesn't line up (as in the older criminal procedure Q's), Barbri can't just re-write it entirely and call it a released Q. This is why the crim law set had next to no criminal procedure. So they might change a few words, but I think these Q's are largely untouched.

[kaiser]

^^^^

Curious how other people felt about these Q's, if you have given them a try yet.

I did about 10 from the Torts set. Stopped to check my answers and got 5 right and said to hell with it and quit. (I'm already freaking out as it is...I don't need to bomb a question set that isn't assigned) haha

I also see what you mean about the Torts set. Did the set and a large chunk of my errors were from the first few Q's. But it def smoothed out as I went along. So def stick with it, and you will very likely see your score go up as you move along.

[0L Hoping for 1]

Is anyone else not making flash cards? I haven't made them because I have never used them to study but everyone I talk to seems to have made flash cards. Worried now that I am not studying correctly ...

[BCLS]

Is anyone else not making flash cards? I haven't made them because I have never used them to study but everyone I talk to seems to have made flash cards. Worried now that I am not studying correctly ...

I haven't. I made a few and didn't find them helpful. I have been making my own outlines though for each topic. Did pretty well on simulated MBE

[remz]

My understanding is that BarBri Sets 5-6 represent 15% of the types of questions we'll see on the actual MBE, what is the percentage breakdown for Sets 1-2 and Sets 3-4? Thanks!

Also, I'm confused how so many people in this thread have taken the Simulated MBE already. Isn't it supposed to take place tomorrow? Are most people in this thread at the live locations or something?

[blong4133]

My understanding is that BarBri Sets 5-6 represent 15% of the types of questions we'll see on the actual MBE, what is the percentage breakdown for Sets 1-2 and Sets 3-4? Thanks!

Also, I'm confused how so many people in this thread have taken the Simulated MBE already. Isn't it supposed to take place tomorrow? Are most people in this thread at the live locations or something?

Not sure about your first question, but I hope it's 0% (of the types of questions in sets 5 and 6) because I probably averaged about 20-22 right out of those. I think one or two I pulled a 48%

But in regards to your second question, I think different states take them at different times. I'm taking the bar in West Virginia and we did ours about a week and a half ago (and I think PA did too). I have a buddy who's taking it in North Carolina and they took theirs before that. I know that VA is taking it tomorrow. Not sure why it's structured like that, but I know that the simulated MBE goes on at different times at different states.

[rnf1292]

My understanding is that BarBri Sets 5-6 represent 15% of the types of questions we'll see on the actual MBE, what is the percentage breakdown for Sets 1-2 and Sets 3-4? Thanks!

Also, I'm confused how so many people in this thread have taken the Simulated MBE already. Isn't it supposed to take place tomorrow? Are most people in this thread at the live locations or something?

Not sure about your first question, but I hope it's 0% (of the types of questions in sets 5 and 6) because I probably averaged about 20-22 right out of those. I think one or two I pulled a 48%

But in regards to your second question, I think different states take them at different times. I'm taking the bar in West Virginia and we did ours about 2 weeks ago (and I think PA did too). I have a buddy who's taking it in North Carolina and they took theirs before that. I know that VA is taking it tomorrow. Not sure why it's structured like that, but I know that the simulated MBE goes on at different times at different states.

I also took mine 3 weeks ago. Barbri's "national average" is curious, considering how apparently some states had weeks extra to study than others...

[5ky]

My understanding is that BarBri Sets 5-6 represent 15% of the types of questions we'll see on the actual MBE, what is the percentage breakdown for Sets 1-2 and Sets 3-4? Thanks!

Also, I'm confused how so many people in this thread have taken the Simulated MBE already. Isn't it supposed to take place tomorrow? Are most people in this thread at the live locations or something?

Not sure about your first question, but I hope it's 0% (of the types of questions in sets 5 and 6) because I probably averaged about 20-22 right out of those. I think one or two I pulled a 48%

But in regards to your second question, I think different states take them at different times. I'm taking the bar in West Virginia and we did ours about 2 weeks ago (and I think PA did too). I have a buddy who's taking it in North Carolina and they took theirs before that. I know that VA is taking it tomorrow. Not sure why it's structured like that, but I know that the simulated MBE goes on at different times at different states.

I also took mine 3 weeks ago. Barbri's "national average" is curious, considering how apparently some states had weeks extra to study than others...

Meh, at least for NY, we stopped doing MBE stuff in the middle for a while to focus on state stuff. We only just finished Crim last week. Unless you have been studying on your own past the paced program, everybody has probably done about the same amount of work to the mbe

[BCLS]

My understanding is that BarBri Sets 5-6 represent 15% of the types of questions we'll see on the actual MBE, what is the percentage breakdown for Sets 1-2 and Sets 3-4? Thanks!

Also, I'm confused how so many people in this thread have taken the Simulated MBE already. Isn't it supposed to take place tomorrow? Are most people in this thread at the live locations or something?

Not sure about your first question, but I hope it's 0% (of the types of questions in sets 5 and 6) because I probably averaged about 20-22 right out of those. I think one or two I pulled a 48%

But in regards to your second question, I think different states take them at different times. I'm taking the bar in West Virginia and we did ours about 2 weeks ago (and I think PA did too). I have a buddy who's taking it in North Carolina and they took theirs before that. I know that VA is taking it tomorrow. Not sure why it's structured like that, but I know that the simulated MBE goes on at different times at different states.

I also took mine 3 weeks ago. Barbri's "national average" is curious, considering how apparently some states had weeks extra to study than others...

yeah dude some ppl's courses started earlier than others. It's probably pretty accurate.

[wildhaggis]

Does BarBri not do a practice MEE for some states? Under the paced program, I'm only seeing a simulated MBE and MPT.

[remz]

Does BarBri not do a practice MEE for some states? Under the paced program, I'm only seeing a simulated MBE and MPT.

Yes, some states don't administer the MEE. For example, the MEE is not part of the NY bar.

[wildhaggis]

Does BarBri not do a practice MEE for some states? Under the paced program, I'm only seeing a simulated MBE and MPT.

Yes, some states don't administer the MEE. For example, the MEE is not part of the NY bar.

This is odd, because I'm pretty sure Illinois does, yet the Illinois BarBri course doesn't have a practice MEE...? Only a simulated MBE and MPT. Maybe I'm just seriously missing something.