KAPLAN BAR REVIEW hangout Forum

[starchinkilt]

To anyone doing the questions in the PMBR red book - what %'s are you getting right in the lower 100's questions? I am around 120ish in all MBE subjects and recently I have been getting destroyed by some of these questions

Depends on the subject. I found the Crim Pro, Property, and Con Law ones to be brutal.

[mness]

How'd everyone's Kaplan final simulate MBE go? I got a 136/200, which is lower than my midterm 142/200. I know the questions were generally harder, but it's still disappointing to see a drop like that.

[Doritos]

How'd everyone's Kaplan final simulate MBE go? I got a 136/200, which is lower than my midterm 142/200. I know the questions were generally harder, but it's still disappointing to see a drop like that.

The videos explain this sort of. After the midterm the guy said the national average was a 115-117. After the final he said it was a 107 and that you could expect like a 30 point jump on test day due to the difficulty of the final MBE. So you are doing great brah. The final was harder than the midterm.

[SAOJD10]

How useful is Fromm's 12 hours of final MBE review?

[gewbert]

How useful is Fromm's 12 hours of final MBE review?

Depends how you did on the final MBE exam IMO. If you didn't do great, highly recommend. If you did well, maybe not the most useful thing. There are some gems/nuggets every now and then, but if you read the explanations for the questions you got wrong and understand why you got them wrong and also skim through the final slides for anything helpful then you should be fine.

[mness]

I love when the Qbank freezes up and takes 3 minutes to advance to the next question.

[gewbert]

I also love when I get logged out in the middle of an QBank run.

[Doritos]

Anyone else have problems with Kaplan inconsistently applying a rule? On a number of occasions I've seen a rule stated one way in the state outline but then contradicted or re-stated in a materially different way by an essay grader, in a sample essay, etc. Not so much with the MBE stuff but the state specific stuff. I don't know if barbri or themis has problems like this but its getting pretty annoying to think I have a rule memorized only to have that confidence crushed and not know which rule is right.

[courtneylove]

Anyone else have problems with Kaplan inconsistently applying a rule? On a number of occasions I've seen a rule stated one way in the state outline but then contradicted or re-stated in a materially different way by an essay grader, in a sample essay, etc. Not so much with the MBE stuff but the state specific stuff. I don't know if barbri or themis has problems like this but its getting pretty annoying to think I have a rule memorized only to have that confidence crushed and not know which rule is right.

I haven't come across any complete inconsistencies, but many of the state lecturers are out of sync with the outline and state things differently. Like the outline will say, "___ is not admissible in this state, ever, but there's this other rule, so in these cases, if blah blah blah exist, then ___ may be admitted." And the speaker just flatly says, "__ is admissible in federal or state courts." So I have to stop and investigate because I see the complete opposite in my text. Annoying. I think some of the state lecturers are practitioners rather than professors, so that might explain their differing approach.

[emciosn]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering what everyone's plan is for this last couple weeks (less than two weeks I guess). I have finished all the videos, etc. and am pretty much just reviewing notes (bar notes and long outlines) and doing practice MBE problem sets/essays. In other words, except for using the Qbank I am completely off any of the online syllabus materials. Are you all just sort of reviewing on your own at this point or sticking to the Kaplan plan still?

[courtneylove]

Doing the Kaplan flashcards, practice questions in the red book, outlining essay answers, and outlining the MBE subjects (like for law school courses).

[gewbert]

Yea, I generated my FSP this afternoon and A) even though I just finished the MBE final review today (which took 5ish hours) it wants me to do another 4-8 hours (depending on what plan I chose) today. Say what now?

Also, it has me ignore PA criminal law and frankly I can't remember a single thing from the lecture and know it's on the bar EVERY year. So I think i'm going to use the FSP as more of a guide in terms of work/study areas but not follow it directly.

Current thinking is to do 33 MBE QBank questions and study MBE subjects in the morning and then target state-specific material in the afternoon/evening (and do an essay if I have time/energy).

[tarheel87]

Wow, after bombing the midterm with a miserable 110 and with only about a 60% or so average on my qbank scores, I managed a 131 on the final practice exam today! I thought I was struggling but now don't know what to think.

EDIT: I know 131 is not a great score for most people and I'm not bragging. I just thought I would get a 100 or less so I'm really shocked.

[Doritos]

Wow, after bombing the midterm with a miserable 107 and with only about a 60% or so average on my qbank scores, I managed a 131 on the final practice exam today! I thought I was struggling but now don't know what to think.

EDIT: I know 131 is not a great score for most people and I'm not bragging. I just thought I would get a 100 or less so I'm really shocked.

Is that 131 raw? If so that's stellar. They say to add 30 points to your raw score because the final is 50% hard questions, and 25% easy and medium while the real deal (and the midterm) is 25% easy, 50% medium, and 25% hard. So a jump like that from midterm to final is great. You deserve a drink or something.

[los blancos]

Bros, I'm seeing conflicting information.

I was under the impression that specific performance is generally NOT a remedy available to the seller in a land sale K. Is this wrong?

Also, just to make sure I'm reading this right - in a UVPRA jurisdiction, the risk of loss passes to the buyer only after s/he gets title? - so after closing?

EDIT: I know 131 is not a great score for most people and I'm not bragging. I just thought I would get a 100 or less so I'm really shocked.

A 131 raw on the real thing can easily end up being a 145 scaled, so that's not bad at all. Given that the final is supposed to be significantly harder than the real thing, you're probably in pretty good shape.

What've you been doing to get that kind of improvement?

[tarheel87]

Is that 131 raw? If so that's stellar. They say to add 30 points to your raw score because the final is 50% hard questions, and 25% easy and medium while the real deal (and the midterm) is 25% easy, 50% medium, and 25% hard. So a jump like that from midterm to final is great. You deserve a drink or something.

Thanks, it is my raw score and I hope it translates on test day.

What've you been doing to get that kind of improvement?

I have been putting in insane 8-12 hour days pretty much since the midterm, worked pretty heavily during the weekends, attended every class, and done all the one sheets and everything (which take ungodly amounts of time). Still don't know if it'll be enough but it is nice to see more tangible improvement now. I was pretty much the opposite of a gunner in law school but I would really prefer not to have to do this again.

[los blancos]

Anyone else have problems with Kaplan inconsistently applying a rule? On a number of occasions I've seen a rule stated one way in the state outline but then contradicted or re-stated in a materially different way by an essay grader, in a sample essay, etc. Not so much with the MBE stuff but the state specific stuff. I don't know if barbri or themis has problems like this but its getting pretty annoying to think I have a rule memorized only to have that confidence crushed and not know which rule is right.

ALL THE FUCKING TIME

[mness]

It seems like Kaplan likes to test the exceptions to rules more than the rules themselves. I hope the MBE tests the rules more than the exceptions.

[courtneylove]

I was under the impression that specific performance is generally NOT a remedy available to the seller in a land sale K. Is this wrong?

Also, just to make sure I'm reading this right - in a UVPRA jurisdiction, the risk of loss passes to the buyer only after s/he gets title? - so after closing?

- Mutuality of remedy says if the buyer can seek specific performance, so can the seller. But seller is more likely to seek expectation damages, consequential damages, etc..

- Risk of loss passes to the buyer only after closing, when buyer gets title + possession. If buyer starts making substantial improvements to the property or actually takes possession of it before then, however, buyer has the risk of loss, regardless of the uvpra rule in the jurisdiction.

[DwightSchruteFarms]

Wow, after bombing the midterm with a miserable 107 and with only about a 60% or so average on my qbank scores, I managed a 131 on the final practice exam today! I thought I was struggling but now don't know what to think.

EDIT: I know 131 is not a great score for most people and I'm not bragging. I just thought I would get a 100 or less so I'm really shocked.

Is that 131 raw? If so that's stellar. They say to add 30 points to your raw score because the final is 50% hard questions, and 25% easy and medium while the real deal (and the midterm) is 25% easy, 50% medium, and 25% hard. So a jump like that from midterm to final is great. You deserve a drink or something.

Sorry to jump in late here, but what would you guys consider a "good score?" Anything above the average? Or should we have hit the 120+ range on it?

Thanks!

[Doritos]

Wow, after bombing the midterm with a miserable 107 and with only about a 60% or so average on my qbank scores, I managed a 131 on the final practice exam today! I thought I was struggling but now don't know what to think.

EDIT: I know 131 is not a great score for most people and I'm not bragging. I just thought I would get a 100 or less so I'm really shocked.

Is that 131 raw? If so that's stellar. They say to add 30 points to your raw score because the final is 50% hard questions, and 25% easy and medium while the real deal (and the midterm) is 25% easy, 50% medium, and 25% hard. So a jump like that from midterm to final is great. You deserve a drink or something.

Sorry to jump in late here, but what would you guys consider a "good score?" Anything above the average? Or should we have hit the 120+ range on it?

Thanks!

Depends how your state weighs the MBE. If you are talking specifically about the final kaplan MBE the average is a 104 or something like that. They say to add 30 points considering the scale and difficulty of the questions.

[DwightSchruteFarms]

Wow, after bombing the midterm with a miserable 107 and with only about a 60% or so average on my qbank scores, I managed a 131 on the final practice exam today! I thought I was struggling but now don't know what to think.

EDIT: I know 131 is not a great score for most people and I'm not bragging. I just thought I would get a 100 or less so I'm really shocked.

Is that 131 raw? If so that's stellar. They say to add 30 points to your raw score because the final is 50% hard questions, and 25% easy and medium while the real deal (and the midterm) is 25% easy, 50% medium, and 25% hard. So a jump like that from midterm to final is great. You deserve a drink or something.

Sorry to jump in late here, but what would you guys consider a "good score?" Anything above the average? Or should we have hit the 120+ range on it?

Thanks!

Depends how your state weighs the MBE. If you are talking specifically about the final kaplan MBE the average is a 104 or something like that. They say to add 30 points considering the scale and difficulty of the questions.

Taking it in CA. I mentioned in another thread that I scored a 121. Adding 30 points would put me at a 151, which is only ~6 points above the minimum passing score for the MBE. In CA, its about 35% of the overall score. Just trying to gauge whether or not I should do another 100 MBEs or not

[mness]

Lets look at the numbers.

Kaplan said every year the average score is between 106 and 108 on their final, but that most students score 30 points higher on test day. That would mean their average student gets a barely passing score on the real deal. The median MBE score of all exams on test day was 145 in July 2010. So is Kaplan telling us that their students do worse than average? Great.

[Doritos]

Lets look at the numbers.

Kaplan said every year the average score is between 106 and 108 on their final, but that most students score 30 points higher on test day. That would mean their average student gets a barely passing score on the real deal. The median MBE score of all exams on test day was 145 in July 2010. So is Kaplan telling us that their students do worse than average? Great.

Well this fills me with confidence...

[tstyler98]

Lets look at the numbers.

Kaplan said every year the average score is between 106 and 108 on their final, but that most students score 30 points higher on test day. That would mean their average student gets a barely passing score on the real deal. The median MBE score of all exams on test day was 145 in July 2010. So is Kaplan telling us that their students do worse than average? Great.

Well this fills me with confidence...

Most people never find out what their actual MBE score was so there's no way to know really. They probably also say 30 points just to not give people false sense of security thinking they can blow off the MBE.