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northwood
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by northwood » Fri Jul 18, 2014 3:16 pm
semplice wrote:sandcastle45 wrote:When people are saying they got 140, are you including the 15 or 30 points we are supposed to add or was that your raw score? If it's your raw score, I literally give up. Bye. Went to law school for 3 years, not becoming a lawyer.
I tried to find a raw score distribution chart to put things in perspective but couldn't come up with anything. Nonetheless,
I think it's safe to say that the 140s and above are not common. The sample of scores on this forum thread is self-selected, unverified, and by no means representative. If you scored average or even somewhat below average on the final MBE I'm sure you have nothing to worry about as long as you keep working and improving.
THIS. so much this.. remember this a site where if you don't score a 175+ you ought to retake the LSAT, and this is also a place where the vast majority of posters go to top law schools, so maybe they naturally will do better than the rest of the bar takers.
so no worries about it now, just take it one section, one subject at a time and keep your confidence up.
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lisjjen
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by lisjjen » Fri Jul 18, 2014 3:38 pm
Y'all are giving me an anxiety attack. I got 111 on the MBE, but on the essays and the MPT my essays were almost word for word what was on the outline.
I was feeling good about my odds, but then I had only heard +30, not +15. I have to believe Kaplan is lying to us. Otherwise, peace out. I'm done.
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Pokemon
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by Pokemon » Fri Jul 18, 2014 3:46 pm
lisjjen wrote:Y'all are giving me an anxiety attack. I got 111 on the MBE, but on the essays and the MPT my essays were almost word for word what was on the outline.
I was feeling good about my odds, but then I had only heard +30, not +15. I have to believe Kaplan is lying to us. Otherwise, peace out. I'm done.
Even if it is only 15, you are not in a bad place. You can score below median and pass. Median passes the bar!
Also, you can improve the MBE. It is not at all too late. I tend to improve on practice questions10%-20% just after reading the outline one more time.
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shock259
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by shock259 » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:21 pm
Does anyone have a good resource for NY distinctions? I know there's an enormous section in one of the books, but it is far too lengthy to be useful. The Fromm lectures help a little, but I don't see any hard copy of notes in there. Looking for some abbreviated/summarized sheet with the most common NY distinctions so I don't have to make my own
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Pokemon
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by Pokemon » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:23 pm
shock259 wrote:Does anyone have a good resource for NY distinctions? I know there's an enormous section in one of the books, but it is far too lengthy to be useful. The Fromm lectures help a little, but I don't see any hard copy of notes in there. Looking for some abbreviated/summarized sheet with the most common NY distinctions so I don't have to make my own
Do the NY Bar Points book. Also try Lean Sheets. Also, I am thinking of buying smartbarprep... has anyone had any experience with it?
I am pretty sure that we add 30 points to our raw score, not 15 points as some of you have mentioned. The Adam Maze video is specifically on this question, whereas the Fromm video is more likely to have a mistake since that is not his main point. Additionally though, on the second video, Fromm says something along the lines of "so how much did I say we should add yesterday, 15 points, well add another 15 to that." This could mean that Fromm meant add 15 points to questions 1-100.
The caveat is that of the 30 points, 15-20 are due to scaling... so for people who scored in 110-120 range, it makes sense to add 30, but as you go higher, let's say in 140's you add less, maybe 20 instead of 30.
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Grenadine
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by Grenadine » Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:23 pm
Pokemon wrote:I am pretty sure that we add 30 points to our raw score, not 15 points as some of you have mentioned. The Adam Maze video is specifically on this question, whereas the Fromm video is more likely to have a mistake since that is not his main point. Additionally though, on the second video, Fromm says something along the lines of "so how much did I say we should add yesterday, 15 points, well add another 15 to that." This could mean that Fromm meant add 15 points to questions 1-100.
The caveat is that of the 30 points, 15-20 are due to scaling... so for people who scored in 110-120 range, it makes sense to add 30, but as you go higher, let's say in 140's you add less, maybe 20 instead of 30.
Yeah he definitely says to add 15 points to each half/per video, though I think someone mentioned he said 15 overall at some live lecture recently?
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JenDarby
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by JenDarby » Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:28 pm
^ that was me about the live lecture. I definitely didn't get out of bed to go to that, but my friends that did could easily be mistaken.
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annalisa
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by annalisa » Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:53 pm
Is anyone else having trouble opening the syllabus? I was going to give your final study plan a chance, Kaplan, but you won't let me!
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sandcastle45
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by sandcastle45 » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:12 pm
Website's being stupid/annoying right now for me too.
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sidhesadie
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by sidhesadie » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:20 pm
Grenadine wrote:Pokemon wrote:I am pretty sure that we add 30 points to our raw score, not 15 points as some of you have mentioned. The Adam Maze video is specifically on this question, whereas the Fromm video is more likely to have a mistake since that is not his main point. Additionally though, on the second video, Fromm says something along the lines of "so how much did I say we should add yesterday, 15 points, well add another 15 to that." This could mean that Fromm meant add 15 points to questions 1-100.
The caveat is that of the 30 points, 15-20 are due to scaling... so for people who scored in 110-120 range, it makes sense to add 30, but as you go higher, let's say in 140's you add less, maybe 20 instead of 30.
Yeah he definitely says to add 15 points to each half/per video, though I think someone mentioned he said 15 overall at some live lecture recently?
In mine, there is a message in course updates that it should be 15 overall.
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ARACECAR
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by ARACECAR » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:29 pm
I'm guessing that our practice MBE was on average harder than the actual MBE we'll get on the 30th. Thus the scaling should probably be more generous than the 15 points of scaling they're telling us to apply. There seems to be some confusion so here is the notice, modifying what Adam Maze says in the "Study Guru" video. (link because I am not allowed to embed images):
http://i.imgur.com/HYruQyF
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bazinga!
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by bazinga! » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:40 pm
Is anyone else experiencing different answer choices than what Fromm is discussing? On probably about 10-15 questions so far out of the first 100 he'll start discussing answer choices different from what I have which most of the time is fine, but a couple of times the one I chose as a wrong answer isn't one he discusses which is kind of frustrating.
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nyjag22
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by nyjag22 » Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:37 pm
So I didn't keep up with the Strengths & Weaknesses Quizzes and have 4 remaining. Should I just randomly bubble those in just to get them done or take it seriously and spend hours doing them?
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annalisa
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by annalisa » Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:37 am
Has anyone thought about the end of studying yet? What I mean is, when do you think you'll stop studying? I read somewhere online that suggested to stop studying Monday (29) at noon. Any thoughts?
Also, any suggestions on whether it is better to take the additional practice test sooner rather than later? I was thinking of taking it next Sunday (27) and spend the next two days going over it. Should I take it this week instead?
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shock259
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by shock259 » Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:30 am
annalisa wrote:Has anyone thought about the end of studying yet? What I mean is, when do you think you'll stop studying? I read somewhere online that suggested to stop studying Monday (29) at noon. Any thoughts?
Also, any suggestions on whether it is better to take the additional practice test sooner rather than later? I was thinking of taking it next Sunday (27) and spend the next two days going over it. Should I take it this week instead?
I'm gonna stop studying on Sunday at the latest. I'll probably just do a chill day then. I already feel like my brain is full and I'm no retaining the new things I try to put into it. Might as well just relax on Monday and get my head right.
And I think I'm going to do a practice test in the next few days. I don't want it to be bad and ruin my coincidence right before test day.
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bazinga!
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by bazinga! » Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:10 am
annalisa wrote:Has anyone thought about the end of studying yet? What I mean is, when do you think you'll stop studying? I read somewhere online that suggested to stop studying Monday (29) at noon. Any thoughts?
Also, any suggestions on whether it is better to take the additional practice test sooner rather than later? I was thinking of taking it next Sunday (27) and spend the next two days going over it. Should I take it this week instead?
My last day studying will be Sunday, but Monday I will probably just look over outlines to keep sharp and maybe a random rule will stick in my brain or something. I am planning on taking another practices test on Wednesday or Thursday, but taking today through then to focus on essays because my issue spotting sucks.
Is anyone thinking about purchasing a real former exam from the NCBE for $50? I kind of would rather take that than another Kaplan practice exam just to see how I do on actual bar questions. If anyone is planning on it let me know which one you plan on purchasing and we can commiserate on any weird questions.
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annalisa
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by annalisa » Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:46 am
bazinga! wrote:annalisa wrote:Has anyone thought about the end of studying yet? What I mean is, when do you think you'll stop studying? I read somewhere online that suggested to stop studying Monday (29) at noon. Any thoughts?
Also, any suggestions on whether it is better to take the additional practice test sooner rather than later? I was thinking of taking it next Sunday (27) and spend the next two days going over it. Should I take it this week instead?
My last day studying will be Sunday, but Monday I will probably just look over outlines to keep sharp and maybe a random rule will stick in my brain or something. I am planning on taking another practices test on Wednesday or Thursday, but taking today through then to focus on essays because my issue spotting sucks.
Is anyone thinking about purchasing a real former exam from the NCBE for $50? I kind of would rather take that than another Kaplan practice exam just to see how I do on actual bar questions. If anyone is planning on it let me know which one you plan on purchasing and we can commiserate on any weird questions.
I have all four. I think it's worth it to see what actual NCBE questions look like before you get to the test. If you click around, they also have some free questions, from 2006 and 1992 I think. Those you just have to be careful because things like torts or contracts are probably the same, but obviously con law and crim pro could have changed a bit. And the format of the questions (like those answers that are like, A) I and II are correct, B) II and III are correct) is obviously different now too.
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fish tacos
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by fish tacos » Sat Jul 19, 2014 12:53 pm
Just to finally put the issue to bed, Kaplan recommends adding 15 to your raw score, not 30. The course update says they updated the test to more accurately reflect the real scaling and Adam Maze's video is not current.
When Fromm says "we added 15 yesterday, let's add another 15 today," he's talking about how watching his videos will improve your score 30 points. I can't recommend watching his final review videos enough - they take forever but are very, very helpful. I've been crushing practice sets since then. He wrote the questions to specifically target dumb exceptions that keep popping up and gives general test-taking tips that have been really useful.
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JenDarby
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by JenDarby » Sat Jul 19, 2014 3:41 pm
fish tacos wrote:Just to finally put the issue to bed, Kaplan recommends adding 15 to your raw score, not 30. The course update says they updated the test to more accurately reflect the real scaling and Adam Maze's video is not current.
When Fromm says "we added 15 yesterday, let's add another 15 today," he's talking about how watching his videos will improve your score 30 points. I can't recommend watching his final review videos enough - they take forever but are very, very helpful. I've been crushing practice sets since then. He wrote the questions to specifically target dumb exceptions that keep popping up and gives general test-taking tips that have been really useful.
I haven't taken a practice test since the videos (finished yesterday) but I found them very helpful. We'll see if it shows in my scoring.
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Grenadine
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by Grenadine » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:38 pm
The same grader is going through my entire backlog of essays today and she appears to be
really proud of me (actual line: "I can tell you're going to have fun with the bar exam!"), which, A. help, I'm in too deep, they recognize me by name, time to start self-grading these, and B. lol I feel like I'm letting her down because I still have to rely heavily on their sample outlines so no, no I will not have fun on the bar exam, new friend.
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Pokemon
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by Pokemon » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:05 pm
Wait, do most of you not send Kaplan closed book essays?
In my case, I always seem to suffer the same damn issue. I am usually able to spot the legal theory behind it. For example that this is marital versus separate property question, that there is a question of appreciation, and am able to figure all the elements to resolve it, but am not able to remember the entire rule of law (the unnecessary parts to the fact pattern), which is so annoying.
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objctnyrhnr
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by objctnyrhnr » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:06 pm
how much do you think watching the videos helps after I really went over every written single answer (both to the stuff I got right and the stuff I got wrong) very carefully?
time is very valuable for me at the moment, as I still have not learned a decent portion of my essay topics.
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bdubs
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by bdubs » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:09 pm
Pokemon wrote:In my case, I always seem to suffer the same damn issue. I am usually able to spot the legal theory behind it. For example that this is marital versus separate property question, that there is a question of appreciation, and am able to figure all the elements to resolve it, but am not able to remember the entire rule of law (the unnecessary parts to the fact pattern), which is so annoying.
Same. I keep getting comments that say things like "use the legal terminology/language" or "more clearly state all of the elements."
The problem is I usually can only remember the element that is at issue and can't remember the details/wording of the other unnecessary elements.
I don't think I am capable of remembering all of the elements of every test or cause of action that could be tested.
Last edited by
bdubs on Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Pokemon
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by Pokemon » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:11 pm
objctnyrhnr wrote:how much do you think watching the videos helps after I really went over every written single answer (both to the stuff I got right and the stuff I got wrong) very carefully?
time is very valuable for me at the moment, as I still have not learned a decent portion of my essay topics.
If you already did that, then do not look at the video. However, look at his powerpoint. Very, very useful material in that.
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objctnyrhnr
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by objctnyrhnr » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:13 pm
Pokemon wrote:objctnyrhnr wrote:how much do you think watching the videos helps after I really went over every written single answer (both to the stuff I got right and the stuff I got wrong) very carefully?
time is very valuable for me at the moment, as I still have not learned a decent portion of my essay topics.
If you already did that, then do not look at the video. However, look at his powerpoint. Very, very useful material in that.
any idea about how to access the powerpoint w/o the video?
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