BarBri Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[charlesxavier]

Are you all actually writing out essays? I've gotten into the habit of issue spotting and moving on.... bad?

I've basically been doing something in between writing out and outlining. I end up writing up writing a lot of partial sentences just to make sure I've hit everything. The essays have definitely helped me learn the rules, but writing 2 full commercial paper essays a day or two after I watched the lecture is nothing more than depressing.

[AReasonableMan]

Is the conventional wisdom that the Barbri graders are strict/lenient on essays? I can see them being harsh to motivate you to study more, or lenient to make you feel good?

I basically did nothing until the third week of June - no excuse, was an overconfident dumb dumb that never got chewed up like I should've been for skipping most of the last 2 yrs of law school. I'm getting b/w 50 and 60 on these essays, and feel they're mediocre, but the only criticisms I'm getting are over form (not spelling out issues, not presenting the rule eloquently [I can't remember these cabbage patch flowery psalms]) with good feedback for my mediocre analysis.

Is the analytical threshold this low or am I missing something? I also think quickly so am whipping out about ~1500-1700 words in the 30 minutes writing it. since the comments aren't very detailed, I suspect that maybe the graders who are presumably underpaid aren't bothering to read the whole thing, and just are going, "well, some of this makes sense".

[THE_U]

From what I have heard and read, Barbri graders are more on the "strict" side. According to my school's bar exam professor/counselor, Barbri's essay grades are usually ~10 points lower than what you would actually score. So if you get a 40, you probably would be closer to a 50. If you read the student answers on FL Bar's website for instance, you can see just how low the threshold seems to be in FL at least. Their answers most of the time aren't even in the same galaxy as Barbri's model answer, and they are supposed to be examples of "good" essays. I received a passing grade on an essay where I totally missed 3-4 issues, which I was kinda shocked about.

[Good Guy Gaud]

My BarBri essay graders have seemed pretty lax IMO but I don't know how much of that is me comparing my answers to the samples / how much better the sample answers are than a realistic answer

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Anyone feel like the Mixed Practice Sets available online are generally much easier than the questions in the MPQ (aside from the MBE Diagnostic)?

I think most of us are scoring higher on the mixed sets, but the consensus seems to be that it's because the mixed sets are more like the real thing in that they don't test the most minute details of the law the same way the MPQs do.

I definitely thought mixed question set 2 was easier. A lot of the questions are testing one rule straight up.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

My PSP shows that NY average completion is 37%, is that real life or are people just not checking off what they do? Are you guys on pace with Barbri or behind?

I think this is real life. At my law school the dean said that something like 50% of graduates who sign up for Barbri/Kaplan don't actually do the assignments, and then there is obviously a huge correlation with this and failing the bar.

Also my average completion is only 46% (out of a possible 56%) because a lot of what I'm doing (making flash cards and drilling) is not assigned, and stuff like taking time to reflect on the subjects covered in a week I'm simply not doing and not checking off.

[BVest]

I recognize that some folks doing barbri are going to do lectures only, or even just the lectures they think they need to do, but what amazes me is the people I know who are doing barbri but whose facebook feeds are filled with pics from their multi-week European vacations.

[mushybrain]

I recognize that some folks doing barbri are going to do lectures only, or even just the lectures they think they need to do, but what amazes me is the people I know who are doing barbri but whose facebook feeds are filled with pics from their multi-week European vacations.

I'm really surprised by this too. Not because I think they can't pull it off anyway if they try, but because some of them seemed like such gunners in law school that I'm pretty shocked by them going on these huge trips instead of just... waiting until August.

[gk101]

fuck working full time and studying for the bar exam at the same time. I am so exhausted and also behind

[AReasonableMan]

Anyone feel like the Mixed Practice Sets available online are generally much easier than the questions in the MPQ (aside from the MBE Diagnostic)?

I think most of us are scoring higher on the mixed sets, but the consensus seems to be that it's because the mixed sets are more like the real thing in that they don't test the most minute details of the law the same way the MPQs do.

I definitely thought mixed question set 2 was easier. A lot of the questions are testing one rule straight up.

I just got a 39/50 on this after a 29/50 last night. All I did was read answer explanations since last night.

I just learned the rules of the questions I got wrong, and all these same rules were tested over and over. Is Barbri a fairly accurate perception of which rules will be tested on the bar exam? I haven't studied all that much, and the test is a dumb test if you can go from 58% to 78% just by reading answer explanations on a previous test. I think use of previous conversations to substantiate criminal motive came up 7 times between the 2 sets.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Anyone feel like the Mixed Practice Sets available online are generally much easier than the questions in the MPQ (aside from the MBE Diagnostic)?

I think most of us are scoring higher on the mixed sets, but the consensus seems to be that it's because the mixed sets are more like the real thing in that they don't test the most minute details of the law the same way the MPQs do.

I definitely thought mixed question set 2 was easier. A lot of the questions are testing one rule straight up.

I just got a 39/50 on this after a 29/50 last night. All I did was read answer explanations since last night.

I just learned the rules of the questions I got wrong, and all these same rules were tested over and over. Is Barbri a fairly accurate perception of which rules will be tested on the bar exam? I haven't studied all that much, and the test is a dumb test if you can go from 58% to 78% just by reading answer explanations on a previous test. I think use of previous conversations to substantiate criminal motive came up 7 times between the 2 sets.

This is pure speculation but I doubt that there would be this type of repetition on the exam. As you mentioned previous conversations and the MIMIC exception, also there are 2-3 false imprisonment questions. The main thing that helped me between the sets (besides the fact that the second one is easier) is that I reviewed property, and there were several covenant questions.

[AReasonableMan]

Anyone feel like the Mixed Practice Sets available online are generally much easier than the questions in the MPQ (aside from the MBE Diagnostic)?

I think most of us are scoring higher on the mixed sets, but the consensus seems to be that it's because the mixed sets are more like the real thing in that they don't test the most minute details of the law the same way the MPQs do.

I definitely thought mixed question set 2 was easier. A lot of the questions are testing one rule straight up.

I just got a 39/50 on this after a 29/50 last night. All I did was read answer explanations since last night.

I just learned the rules of the questions I got wrong, and all these same rules were tested over and over. Is Barbri a fairly accurate perception of which rules will be tested on the bar exam? I haven't studied all that much, and the test is a dumb test if you can go from 58% to 78% just by reading answer explanations on a previous test. I think use of previous conversations to substantiate criminal motive came up 7 times between the 2 sets.

This is pure speculation but I doubt that there would be this type of repetition on the exam. As you mentioned previous conversations and the MIMIC exception, also there are 2-3 false imprisonment questions. The main thing that helped me between the sets (besides the fact that the second one is easier) is that I reviewed property, and there were several covenant questions.

I got the one with the developer wanting to add the second set of 50 lots of wrong. I had C, because I assumed it was implied in the choice she would just put in the same covenants as she had for the previous 50. It turns out the explanations said the choice meant she could enforce the previous covenants on the new ones, which is obviously incorrect. Dumb mistake, but I had similar flip ups for 5 of the 11 I got wrong, which is annoying.

[Good Guy Gaud]

These MPQ set 5s are killing my confidence

[Kage3212]

These MPQ set 5s are killing my confidence

We havent even taken the Barbri Midterm yet.....

[DesperadoOfColumbia]

MY crim law essay got reviewed on a scale completely different from the one said in the book. It was out of 15 (I got 13/15, book scale is 0-41+). However I don't even know which 2 points I missed, it just said "good job you're doing good". Infuriating.

Also, I'm doing the DC (long story) and it says the average completion rate is 26%. 3 weeks left and the average is 26%? What in the world? I feel like I'm pretty behind (I haven't done Property lecture III yet cuz that woman is freaking me out) and I just finished Civ Pro 1 and I'm at 40% out of 63% assigned and I can't possibly imagine how there's an average of 26% completion in my jurisdiction.

And I just checked and somehow my last MPQ (which I admitted did pretty well on) got my middling crim/crimpro percentile all the way 93%. Holy crap that's a morale booster. Holy crap I didn't realize this was possible since I relied a lot on AMPs and just repetition with questions. Holy crap. What a moral booster. Best of luck to all y'all (my other subjects that I've completed are still poor to middling, unfortunately, at least my essays are looking ok but it's mostly because I word vomit and the rules get vomited out eventually).

How much time are you guys spending a day on this stuff anyway? I tried going 12 and at the end nothing sticks. I'm doing 6-8 now and it feels more manageable but I'm sure there's a middle ground there somewhere.

[Good Guy Gaud]

How much time are you guys spending a day on this stuff anyway? I tried going 12 and at the end nothing sticks. I'm doing 6-8 now and it feels more manageable but I'm sure there's a middle ground there somewhere.

8ish. Some days a little more some a little less. I had similar experiences when I tried to go HAM (nothing seemed to stick at the end of the day)

[Kage3212]

If we signed up for the Barbri review thing, when do we get access to that content? Additionally, where would the videos be located?

Edit: N/m got it. In the Enrolled Student Center for those curious.

[Good Guy Gaud]

If we signed up for the Barbri review thing, when do we get access to that content? Additionally, where would the videos be located?

Edit: N/m got it. In the Enrolled Student Center for those curious.

Any idea on when you're planning to watch the videos? Mind letting us know if you think they're worthwhile?

[Kage3212]

If we signed up for the Barbri review thing, when do we get access to that content? Additionally, where would the videos be located?

Edit: N/m got it. In the Enrolled Student Center for those curious.

Any idea on when you're planning to watch the videos? Mind letting us know if you think they're worthwhile?

Will certainly let you know. We take our midterm tomorrow so I have spent the past few days going over every subject again. Panning to knock out Crim and Con Law today. I might actually watch both crim and con law after going through my notes/critical pass cards for each subject, so maybe I can report back late tonight. Regardless, I can let you know how they are. They are all also done by Guzman, who in the introductory, said some of the information provided may be a review from his previous review lectures (which I believe people had watched/will watch after taking the simulated MBE).

[Good Guy Gaud]

Guzman is a wild one. He goes off on some funny tangents in the midterm review videos lol

[jacksonmead]

Does the PSP include all the essays in our book? I could look forward in time and figure it out but I figure someone probably knows.

[Good Guy Gaud]

Does the PSP include all the essays in our book? I could look forward in time and figure it out but I figure someone probably knows.

I'm pretty sure it does not. If you look about 2/3 through the MEET book there's a section titled 'additional essays' which, as far as I can tell, are not part of the PSP.

[mr.hands]

How much time are you guys spending a day on this stuff anyway? I tried going 12 and at the end nothing sticks. I'm doing 6-8 now and it feels more manageable but I'm sure there's a middle ground there somewhere.

8ish. Some days a little more some a little less. I had similar experiences when I tried to go HAM (nothing seemed to stick at the end of the day)

Same. 8 and if I try to do more, nothing gets done. The people who say they're doing 12+ are either inefficient as hell or full of shit

[diowad]

During June I was doing 8:30-5:30 M-F just like a job. Of course, there were some days when I couldn't get going and would end up messing around more than I should, but generally I was pretty efficient.

I installed a website-blocker on my computer that puts a time limit on how long I can be on the mess around sites (FB, ESPN, etc.) and that has worked quite well. So out of that 9 hours, I was usually pretty productive for 7-8 of them (taking away breaks and lunch).

Now in July, I'll probably bump it up to 6:30 Sun-Fri and go from there. I've found that just having goals each day (daily # of MBE ?'s, # of essays, etc.) make it easier to be efficient.

[kykiske]

About three weeks until exam day. I've been hitting the MBE questions pretty hard, but have neglected the essays. I've maybe written 10 essays total. Haven't even touched some of the subjects. Going to hit the essays hard starting tomorrow. Shooting for 6-7 essays per day.