2015 February California Bar Exam Forum

[a male human]

Is BarMax the only service with real MBE questions? I was going to use that service but you can apparently only read the questions on an iphone or ipad. I don't have an ipad and reading the questions on an iphone would be a pain.

I think I've heard that Adaptibar has real MBE questions but they want $395 for their MBE questions which is more than twice as much as BarMax charges.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for MBE services?

http://amzn.to/1hH1vzq

[melvinIII]

Is BarMax the only service with real MBE questions? I was going to use that service but you can apparently only read the questions on an iphone or ipad. I don't have an ipad and reading the questions on an iphone would be a pain.

I think I've heard that Adaptibar has real MBE questions but they want $395 for their MBE questions which is more than twice as much as BarMax charges.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for MBE services?

http://amzn.to/1hH1vzq

Thanks, I've seen that book recommended multiple times. My issue with buying books online is that I live in China and delivery will take at least a month. Do you know if there's a way to buy a digital version or access a PDF? I've been looking online but I haven't found one yet.

[hotsummer]

Do you still recommend Baressays.com for people already taking a full prep course like Barbri or Kaplan?

[Carryon]

Do you still recommend Baressays.com for people already taking a full prep course like Barbri or Kaplan?

I recommend it for people taking barmax, not sure for barbri or Kaplan.

[LawJunky]

Is BarMax the only service with real MBE questions? I was going to use that service but you can apparently only read the questions on an iphone or ipad. I don't have an ipad and reading the questions on an iphone would be a pain.

I think I've heard that Adaptibar has real MBE questions but they want $395 for their MBE questions which is more than twice as much as BarMax charges.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for MBE services?

http://amzn.to/1hH1vzq

Yes, I agree that the strategies and Tactics are excellent books.
Finz Multistate Method, the orange book has awesome MBE questions. These are also written by Steven Emanuel.
The MCQ2 Book by Barbri is a super duper hard set of excellent MBE questions.
Emanuel's bootcamp are excellent MBE questions and are very new fact patterns.
The old released NCBE questions should be done first, though, to get those out of the way so you are not always worried "gee maybe I should do those released questions." Adaptibar is based on these questions. The Adaptibar answer analysis is not as valuable as the Steven Emanuel and Barbri. Many of my friends used Adaptibar on the MBE and got owned. Avoid adaptibar and use these Steven Emanuel questions and Barbri questions. I suck at essays, but I scored a 1710 on the MBE so take this advice, and you will really do well.



See this thread for MBE practice techniques.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7#p8198607

[a male human]

What was the value in using Barbri MBE questions for you? I stopped doing them (except, perhaps, to drill for a particular area where I saw extreme incorrect rates) because they were made up and not representative of the feel of the questions you'd get on the real thing.

[barjamie8]

Do you still recommend Baressays.com for people already taking a full prep course like Barbri or Kaplan?

[hotsummer]

Barjamie8, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Did you take a full prep course too though? If so, could you tell me which one and what you liked and disliked about it?

[goku]

Anyone know how many essays baressays.com will grade for you?

[yips]

If anyone is interested in obtaining secondhand prep materials for CA, I am offering the following:

-Strategies and Tactics for the MBE, Vol. 1
-Strategies and Tactics for the MBE, Vol. 2
-Themis Multistate Outline book (unfortunately, my other Themis books are much too worn out
-Critical Pass flashcards (annotated with CA and common law distinctions where relevant; note that the new Civ Pro cards are not included with this older set)

PM to let me know if you are interested in any or all of these!

[TitoSantana]

Not sure if this was already asked but does anyone know when unsuccessful candidates are supposed to get their essays back? Also, how is everyone doing with their studies and is it too early to make predictions on February essays (Input would be appreciated to get the mental juices flowing). Thanks.

[ginger root]

Not sure if this was already asked but does anyone know when unsuccessful candidates are supposed to get their essays back? Also, how is everyone doing with their studies and is it too early to make predictions on February essays (Input would be appreciated to get the mental juices flowing). Thanks.

In the yellow sheet sent along with our scores, it says that essays will be mailed within 4 weeks from the exam results release date. I hope they are sent sooner than that. I fell short on my essays but I don't want to practice my essay writing until I can see what I did wrong. I'd rather not reinforce bad habits. I know that I hit almost all of the issues that people discussed in the July 2014 thread so I'm completely confused as to where I went wrong. In the meantime, I'm reviewing all of the subjects to reacquaint myself with the material.

[Elms]

Is anyone else using the full version of Barmax? Holy typos, batman! I'm a little bit annoyed with how many there are... you'd think they would have at least run spell check or something!

And there's a glitch where one of the crimes modules displays flashcards from Contracts instead of Crim Law. I called customer support and they were hella rude to me, like it was my fault or something! (I guess they're aware of the problem and supposedly releasing an update to fix it in 5-7 days. How dare I call to inform them). I like the program concept overall, but I'm not sure I could recommend something that appears so shoddily put together.

At least the MBE questions are all real.

[arizzle]

Hello,

I'm curious if anyone else is using Themis bar review. I just looked at their Directed Study schedule, and it looks brutal. Besides Christmas and New Years, there are no days off. It's 7 days a week non-stop. I like structure, but it seems like overkill.

Anyways, if anyone else is using Themis and wants to chat shoot me a PM.

A little background:

I just moved to California from DC. I passed the 2010 Maryland bar exam.

[a male human]

Hello,

I'm curious if anyone else is using Themis bar review. I just looked at their Directed Study schedule, and it looks brutal. Besides Christmas and New Years, there are no days off. It's 7 days a week non-stop. I like structure, but it seems like overkill.

Anyways, if anyone else is using Themis and wants to chat shoot me a PM.

A little background:

I just moved to California from DC. I passed the 2010 Maryland bar exam.

Do what makes most sense to you, but I would advise doing something every day, even if it's two MBE questions. You want to keep that momentum going by not "breaking the chain."

[melvinIII]

Is anyone else using the full version of Barmax? Holy typos, batman! I'm a little bit annoyed with how many there are... you'd think they would have at least run spell check or something!

And there's a glitch where one of the crimes modules displays flashcards from Contracts instead of Crim Law. I called customer support and they were hella rude to me, like it was my fault or something! (I guess they're aware of the problem and supposedly releasing an update to fix it in 5-7 days. How dare I call to inform them). I like the program concept overall, but I'm not sure I could recommend something that appears so shoddily put together.

At least the MBE questions are all real.

Do you have experience with the Barbri/Kaplan MBE questions? If so, do you think the real MBE questions from Barmax are much different?

I ask because I currently have access to both the Kaplan and Barbri MBE questions and I would prefer not to spend the money on the Barmax MBE App but I will if there is an appreciable difference.

[a male human]

Is anyone else using the full version of Barmax? Holy typos, batman! I'm a little bit annoyed with how many there are... you'd think they would have at least run spell check or something!

And there's a glitch where one of the crimes modules displays flashcards from Contracts instead of Crim Law. I called customer support and they were hella rude to me, like it was my fault or something! (I guess they're aware of the problem and supposedly releasing an update to fix it in 5-7 days. How dare I call to inform them). I like the program concept overall, but I'm not sure I could recommend something that appears so shoddily put together.

At least the MBE questions are all real.

Do you have experience with the Barbri/Kaplan MBE questions? If so, do you think the real MBE questions from Barmax are much different?

I ask because I currently have access to both the Kaplan and Barbri MBE questions and I would prefer not to spend the money on the Barmax MBE App but I will if there is an appreciable difference.

I think they are pretty different. Fake questions tend to be longer, more convoluted and trickier (sometimes with dubious "correct" answers). Probably good for grinding areas where you are esp weak.

Check out the sample real MBE questions and tell me what you think: http://ncbex.org/assets/media_files/MBE ... stions.pdf

[MURPH]

I also like the MBE questions from NCBE. A little later - in early Feb, maybe - spend $100 on the two most recent tests here: http://store.ncbex.org/

By then doing these should be more of a confidence builder than anything else. But they can also give you a clue about your weaknesses, using real questions.

You could easily buy access and take the same test multiple times if you were inclined to do it as a study group to save money.

[kdesq]

Has everyone started studying in full force already?
I planned to start studying from last week but things don't work out well and I am so frustrated that I haven't done much for past two weeks. Just very little MBE's here and there! I think I am under some sort of panic attack after the result

[a male human]

Has everyone started studying in full force already?
I planned to start studying from last week but things don't work out well and I am so frustrated that I haven't done much for past two weeks. Just very little MBE's here and there! I think I am under some sort of panic attack after the result

Just keep doing those little MBEs every day to get that momentum! You can gradually build up your regimen. Keep yourself guilt-free (dust off your hands after doing a few MBEs) so you don't force yourself now and get burned out later. You'll feel like doing more and more over time.

You're not too late to start studying even if you start at the end of December and ramp up in January.

[Elms]

Is anyone else using the full version of Barmax? Holy typos, batman! I'm a little bit annoyed with how many there are... you'd think they would have at least run spell check or something!

And there's a glitch where one of the crimes modules displays flashcards from Contracts instead of Crim Law. I called customer support and they were hella rude to me, like it was my fault or something! (I guess they're aware of the problem and supposedly releasing an update to fix it in 5-7 days. How dare I call to inform them). I like the program concept overall, but I'm not sure I could recommend something that appears so shoddily put together.

At least the MBE questions are all real.

Do you have experience with the Barbri/Kaplan MBE questions? If so, do you think the real MBE questions from Barmax are much different?

I ask because I currently have access to both the Kaplan and Barbri MBE questions and I would prefer not to spend the money on the Barmax MBE App but I will if there is an appreciable difference.

I did Barbri for the IL bar in 2012, and agree with a male human that the Barbri questions are longer and more convoluted. Barbri will definitely prepare you for the MBE, it's just overkill and more difficult than it needs to be, which I find annoying. I personally don't think it's necessary to buy real MBE questions in addition to Barbri questins. If you can afford it then it's a nice confident boost, but I think the Barbri questions aren't SO different that you'll be in shock on test day. I did great on the IL MBE as far as I know. I felt good about it and I passed. I'm not doing Barbi again because it's so time intensive and expensive, but if all I had to practice for the MBE was their questions I'd feel completely comfortable with that.

[jarofsoup]

My work fired me because I failed the CA bar exam. Anyone else have this beautiful experience?

[TitoSantana]

Any attorney applicants wish to share how they are going about studying for the two-exam. My second run at this with a 1380 score. Also, anyone can recommend an inexpensive prep that concentrates on essays and PTs.

[a male human]

My work fired me because I failed the CA bar exam. Anyone else have this beautiful experience?

That's fucking bullshit. Don't they usually give you two bites?

But I didn't have a real FT job until after I passed, so you're still in a better position than a lot of people who've been jobless from the start.

[jarofsoup]

My work fired me because I failed the CA bar exam. Anyone else have this beautiful experience?

That's fucking bullshit. Don't they usually give you two bites?

But I didn't have a real FT job until after I passed, so you're still in a better position than a lot of people who've been jobless from the start.

It was a small firm, so it was basically like we cannot bill you so we cannot afford you.