Kaplan Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[gabewatch]

What do people think so far? I'm not that impressed. Taking New York. Why are they having us work on New York essays today when we have not reviewed any NY specific law yet? It feels somewhat pointless.

[gregfootball2001]

Huh, interesting. My Kaplan course (Georgia) did a day of MPT, and then dove into MBE subjects. Two days of evidence so far. Boring, but I suppose it'll get the job done.

I've been watching on 1.5x so far, but then again I took evidence in school - don't think I'll be able to do that for all of the subjects.

[gabewatch]

Hmm yah, 1.5x is the only way to watch some of these. We did MPT and then MBE civ pro earlier this week. NY course appears to have only about 2 hours of stuff on the schedule for today though so that is pretty awesome.

[LAW813FL]

If only Fromm could teach every subject. How are you guys feeling about the Qbank questions? I thought the diagnostic test was a huge waste of time, but I have started to notice patterns on the questions, and I don't know if that is good or bad.

[SiRR]

I thought the diagnostic test was a huge waste of time, but I have started to notice patterns on the questions, and I don't know if that is good or bad.

Totally agree. My time would have been better spent doing anything else - looking over old outlines, foundation courses, nothing.

California doesn't start until Monday, but I've been working through the foundation courses for classes I didn't take (like Evidence), or other stuff my 1L profs didn't cover or I'm weak in (hello, estates). I'm finding the foundation courses quite helpful.

I think the QBank is very helpful and I plan to use it as my primary study tool, particularly because MBE reinforces memorization and rapid recall. Not sure what to think about the fact you're noticing patterns, I've only done about 150 or so (aside from diagnostic). I thought Kaplan's MPRE questions were adequately test like, hoping for the same in MBE (no reason to suspect otherwise).

[orangecup]

If only Fromm could teach every subject. How are you guys feeling about the Qbank questions? I thought the diagnostic test was a huge waste of time, but I have started to notice patterns on the questions, and I don't know if that is good or bad.

I skipped the diagnostic. Thought it was a waste since I didn't know any law. Of course I'd test poorly.

Been liking the Qbank questions so far, although I noticed one in Civ Pro that seemed wrong.

I've only done 65-70 MBE questions so far for Civ Pro. Getting around 70% right - not sure if that's good or not. I'm still missing out on some of the nuances. Starting outlining for Civ Pro today (not sure if this is useful, maybe spending time drilling MBE questions is better, but I figured it's a good way to learn the rules through distillation. I may just end up getting critical pass flashcards instead, but not sure) - I think I'll keep it light and wait until tomorrow to do some more MBE problems.

Also, the NY essay portion today was definitely useless. We haven't learned any law yet, so it was just us sitting back and watching a guy explain things I vaguely remember from 1L.

[hotsummer]

Why did some of you feel the diagnostic a huge waste of time? Was it too easy or not a good set of questions…?
I personally thought it's probably more straightforward but still a good start to figure out what areas I should focus though...

[gabewatch]

Lol at Fromm suddenly breaking out the glasses for the civ pro foundations course, but none of the others.

[underthirty]

.

[SiRR]

Why did some of you feel the diagnostic a huge waste of time? Was it too easy or not a good set of questions…?
I personally thought it's probably more straightforward but still a good start to figure out what areas I should focus though...

For me it had nothing to do with the ease/straightforwardness of the questions. My complaints are logistical. I felt it was a waste because it was scheduled before any of the foundation courses and before lectures for some material I didn't even take in law school. I know the idea is for us to know where we are weak to know where to concentrate, but that strikes me as illusory.

Even for classes I have taken, I need to review all of the law before I'm ready to even practice test. So, before even having a single bar review lecture, my answer to "what are your weak areas?" is "everything, duh." I didn't need a five-hour test to illuminate that for me. I know I'll need to review everything, with my weakest areas being, you know, the classes I've never taken. I should have taken the diagnostic no earlier than after the foundation courses.

[Scubasteve1315]

Are we supposed to have a book with the MBE Bar Notes that we fill out during the lectures or are we supposed to print out the .pdf version of each lecture?

I don't see the bar notes in any of the materials I received. Thanks...

[underthirty]

.

[orangecup]

Are we supposed to have a book with the MBE Bar Notes that we fill out during the lectures or are we supposed to print out the .pdf version of each lecture?

I don't see the bar notes in any of the materials I received. Thanks...

There's a .doc file on the syllabus you fill out with the videos.

[EZ as AsDf]

How long do you all spend on reviewing Bar Points?

[Kiwi3891]

Are we supposed to have a book with the MBE Bar Notes that we fill out during the lectures or are we supposed to print out the .pdf version of each lecture?

I don't see the bar notes in any of the materials I received. Thanks...

There's a .doc file on the syllabus you fill out with the videos.

Are y'all finding that filling out the bar notes is taking a lot longer? I'm constantly having to pause the video. I'm taking the Texas Bar. Started off with Property, then OIl & Gas (mind-numbing), then Wills, Trusts, & Guardianships.

[wakeJD15]

I think its been pretty good so far.

I do wish Fromm would do every lecture

Contracts has been the worst so far, did the 1st day lectures and then was told to do 33 questions about consideration and formation. Only problem is that 17 of those questions were about Parol Evidence and the Statute of Frauds which is covered in on day 2 of contracts. Felt like a huge waste of time

[orangecup]

I think its been pretty good so far.

I do wish Fromm would do every lecture

Contracts has been the worst so far, did the 1st day lectures and then was told to do 33 questions about consideration and formation. Only problem is that 17 of those questions were about Parol Evidence and the Statute of Frauds which is covered in on day 2 of contracts. Felt like a huge waste of time

Yeah, the syllabus isn't great. For Civ Pro (day 1) they tell you to do 33 questions for Erie/Jurisd and pre-trial procedure, but you only cover a small sliver of pre-trial procedure so it's pointless. I started a couple of MBE qbank tests, and there's literally no way to cancel them and return them as unused Qs.

And yes, I feel like the vids, even at 1.5x speed, take roughly the length of the video to complete since I have to pause to jot something down, or take breaks.

[underthirty]

.

[orangecup]

For the February exam, I stopped taking notes from the lectures after a week. I found it took too long and I wasn't gaining anything from the note-taking. I would use the blank Bar Notes to follow along with the lecture instead.

What are these? Just the NY Bar Points book?

[underthirty]

.

[SiRR]

Yeah, the syllabus isn't great. For Civ Pro (day 1) they tell you to do 33 questions for Erie/Jurisd and pre-trial procedure, but you only cover a small sliver of pre-trial procedure so it's pointless. I started a couple of MBE qbank tests, and there's literally no way to cancel them and return them as unused Qs.

I agree with this and find it pretty frustrating. From now on I'm going to wait and do the questions all at once at the end of a unit. I cannot stand doing a 30+ question quiz in the section they recommend only to find out that a third of the questions are from material that hasn't been covered. It's a waste of time and questions.

[gabewatch]

Yeah, the syllabus isn't great. For Civ Pro (day 1) they tell you to do 33 questions for Erie/Jurisd and pre-trial procedure, but you only cover a small sliver of pre-trial procedure so it's pointless. I started a couple of MBE qbank tests, and there's literally no way to cancel them and return them as unused Qs.

I agree with this and find it pretty frustrating. From now on I'm going to wait and do the questions all at once at the end of a unit. I cannot stand doing a 30+ question quiz in the section they recommend only to find out that a third of the questions are from material that hasn't been covered. It's a waste of time and questions.

Ya, that happened today with negligence. . . half the questions were from stuff not covered yet. Also Kaplan should have 1.25X for their lectures.

[cmartin5970]

Is the MBE Practice Questions & Answers book that I received in the mail different from the online MBE question bank on Kaplan's website? I am looking for an extra source of MBE questions

[underthirty]

.

[orangecup]

Ya, that happened today with negligence. . . half the questions were from stuff not covered yet. Also Kaplan should have 1.25X for their lectures.

Same here. The negligence Qs included a lot of contributory/comparative fault stuff, as well as respondeat superior/vicarious liability that we did not cover yet. Maybe half a dozen or more in the set of 33 I chose. I got 22/33 right (not terrible, I suppose). Some of the uncovered stuff I got right, some I got wrong. The ones I got right, I just guessed based on my 1L torts recollection (which is admittedly terrible)

I also noticed that some of the Qs broach on some insane nuances (like how firefighters and police officers, even if the provide a pecuniary benefit in an inspection, are viewed as licensees).