Failed the CA bar and I just got my results. Now what? Forum

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lexingtonhr

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Re: Failed the CA bar and I just got my results. Now what?

Post by lexingtonhr » Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:05 am

nathan123 wrote:Sorry to hear that you did not pass.

For some people the MBE is intuitive. For me it was not, which is the reason why I decided to purchase the "Mastering the MBE" video add-on that Adaptibar offers (at a cost of course - believe it cost $99 to purchase, not really sure).

I took the July 2018 bar exam and passed, so I don't know how I did on the MBE. However, if I were a betting man I would bet that I performed very well on the actual MBE because of Adaptibar.

Something "clicked" for me after I watched the "Mastering the MBE," video. That video really taught me how to tackle MBE questions.

After watching that video, and doing 95% of the questions that Adaptibar offered (I averaged 73%-75% correct, can't really remember at this point but it was in that range%), I felt very confident going into the actual MBE.

The morning MBE session was a breeze for me, but the afternoon MBE session was brutal. However, even in the afternoon session I was able to narrow down most of my answer choices to 2 answers.

You did well on the MBE - 142 is an admirable score. However, if you can increase your score to 150s and 160s, you should be set to pass. This would take a lot of pressure off of you on the essays/PT (where there is the whole issue of subjective grading).

Good luck and keep your head up!
The videos were really that helpful? I averaged about 70% on Adaptibar and was confident going into the MBE's, but I ended up with a horrible score. I was mortified--still am. I have no idea what to do moving forward with the MBE practice.. if the videos were helpful to you, I might as well give them a try.

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Re: Failed the CA bar and I just got my results. Now what?

Post by a male human » Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:46 pm

xonimi wrote:This was my first attempt. I used Barbri, Adaptibar, BarEssays, and Emmanuels (I bought this late so I didn’t use it much).

I think I did around 800 MBEs on Adaptibar, about 300 with Barbri and Emmanuel. I didn’t write out many essays but I issue spotted and reviewed plenty. My essays were the main reason I failed, especially the PT (see below for score breakdown).

I’m not sure what to do now. Should I try Barbri again? I don’t think I used Barbri the way I should have. I skipped over a lot of assignments because they seemed like a waste of time but maybe they weren’t. I think maybe if I had stuck with their schedule and did everything assigned in addition to working with the other supplements I had, I may have had a different outcome.

I’m only considering repeating them because its free and I need a set schedule. I’m not sure how I would schedule my days without a bar course. I wouldn't know what order to study each subject in and how many days to spend on each one. My hesitation for taking another course is that I don’t know if I can afford spending over $1000 again and possibly fail a second time.

I feel really lost and confused. I don’t know how to approach studying or even when to start. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you.

Essay 1: 60/50/55
Essay 2: 60/65/62.5
Essay 3: 65/65/65
Essay 4: 55/55/55
Essay 5: 75/70/72.5
PT: 55/55/55

Raw Written: 420.0
Scaled Written: 1403.5820
Scaled MBE: 1422.00

Total Scaled Score: 1412.7910
My thoughts about your concerns:

Barbri
Don't waste your time with Barbri lectures unless you really need a review of a specific subject or they are review videos of a practice exam or something. They will drain your time and energy, and you will forget 99% of it anyway.

Scheduling
I don't recommend blindly following any one set schedule. Barbri gives you one schedule to everyone, including to people with infinite time and no other responsibility whatsoever, to people who have full-time jobs, to people who have to take care of kids and family. Personally, this doesn't make sense.

Instead, I recommend creating your own flexible schedule that caters to your weaknesses and strengths (you can still take inspiration from existing schedules): https://www.makethisyourlasttime.com/ma ... -schedule/. Don't shy away from this. Spent an hour up front so that you know what to do every day. Clarity = productivity. Remember that Abe Lincoln ax quote?

MBE
You did pretty well on the MBE, so keep doing whatever you were doing. I highly recommend that you work through your copy of Emanuel's S&T cover to cover (yes, including questions you got right and explanations to all answer choices -- lots of great insights you can learn from). Keep working through Barbri questions too. I think you had a great mix of real and fake questions. If you decide to re-enroll in AdaptiBar, they give you a substantial discount for re-enrolling. $245. No strong rec one way or another about this.

PT
Do more! I'd say at least one per week. I like Tuesdays just because the written portion of the bar is also on Tuesday. Look at more model answers. This is one aspect of the bar where quantity > quality. You want to see how these assignments are put together. You can find plenty of practice MPTs (similar 90-min assignments) from links in this PT guide: https://www.dropbox.com/s/95q0aivag99b7 ... 6.pdf?dl=0

Sure, the PT is not a big part of your score, but don't let it be a submarine torpedo. Very common to ignore the PT until it bites you in the ass. There's plenty of room to improve from a 55.

Essays
Yours is a unique case where your scores vary very widely (20-pt range) while your MBE scores indicate a decent mastery over the law. You clearly know how to put together an essay, IRAC it clearly, etc. because you were able to score a 75. I think further firming up your understanding of the law for the MBE will help since there's a lot of overlap between MBE and essay subjects. You'll probably see three essay questions on MBE subjects. Working through the S&T will likely help. Probably continue using BarEssays too.

Hope this helps.

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