BarBri Thread: People taking Barbri for July 2013 exam Forum

[Unitas]

How do you do MPQ2 mixed sets in studysmart? All I see are MPQ1s.

Called them, the MPQ2s are only in the book. It is a mistake they are listed in study smart on today's paced program.

[acsd87]

Has anyone in NY done Essay Guide Plus II?

I'm not doing the videos because they seem like a waste of time but I took a look at the question and answer and I'm relatively certain that there are multiple WRONG NY distinctions in the answer provided. Like, the rules they provide are not the same as the rules provided in the lecture.

1) They state that the test for attempt in NY is "substantial step," whereas the lecture stated it is "dangerous proximity." Seems pretty important given that this example could easily be seen as one in which the defendants took a substantial step towards assault but didn't get in dangerous proximity.

2) They state that solicitation merges with conspiracy and the substantive crime. I am currently looking at my Criminal Law handout which states quite clearly NEW YORK DISTINCTION: SOLICITATION DOES NOT MERGE.

I know Barbri is not always the best at consistency, but to be giving completely contradicting and wrong examples with less than two weeks to go to the exam is just beyond comprehension. Considering calling them and ripping them a new one. And that's not me at all.

[blong4133]

How have people done on the half day exam in the MPQ2? I just took it today and I know it says the goal is 60% but I don't know at what timing that is (mainly, is that the average barbri student score from a month before the exam, because I only have two weeks left). I scored right around the goal.

I got a 62. MPQ2 sets 1 and 2 were significantly easier.

MPQ2's are definitely much easier. The half-day exam seemed very similar in difficulty to the simulated mbe.

[/quote]

Are you all talking about the SFE in the back or the one in the front.

I just did the SFE this morning and got a 70 (which I felt like a lot of the questions I got lucky on). Up from a 120 on the sim mbe a few weeks ago. don't know if this is a sign of improvement, or if the SFE is easier.

[tfer2222]

Has anyone in NY done Essay Guide Plus II?

I'm not doing the videos because they seem like a waste of time but I took a look at the question and answer and I'm relatively certain that there are multiple WRONG NY distinctions in the answer provided. Like, the rules they provide are not the same as the rules provided in the lecture.

1) They state that the test for attempt in NY is "substantial step," whereas the lecture stated it is "dangerous proximity." Seems pretty important given that this example could easily be seen as one in which the defendants took a substantial step towards assault but didn't get in dangerous proximity.

2) They state that solicitation merges with conspiracy and the substantive crime. I am currently looking at my Criminal Law handout which states quite clearly NEW YORK DISTINCTION: SOLICITATION DOES NOT MERGE.

I know Barbri is not always the best at consistency, but to be giving completely contradicting and wrong examples with less than two weeks to go to the exam is just beyond comprehension. Considering calling them and ripping them a new one. And that's not me at all.

no way. haven't looked at that particular essay, but that is extremely annoying. you should call.

solicitation definitely doesn't merge in new york and its definitely dangerous proximity. those are two (of few) distinctions i actually remember well.

[ace_of_spades]

Accord & Satisfaction: does there need to be a dispute as to the amount of debt?

I've found conflicting answers in the BarBri materials

[rnf1292]

Accord & Satisfaction: does there need to be a dispute as to the amount of debt?

I've found conflicting answers in the BarBri materials

There only needs to be a dispute if you are accepting a lower amount than the original debt owed. So if you owe me $100 and we get into a dispute about what is actually owed, and we agree on $80 and you pay me $80, then there has been an accord and satisfaction. But if there is no dispute, you can't just offer to give me $80 because there is no consideration.

[sundevil77]

How have people done on the half day exam in the MPQ2? I just took it today and I know it says the goal is 60% but I don't know at what timing that is (mainly, is that the average barbri student score from a month before the exam, because I only have two weeks left). I scored right around the goal.

I got a 62. MPQ2 sets 1 and 2 were significantly easier.

MPQ2's are definitely much easier. The half-day exam seemed very similar in difficulty to the simulated mbe.

Are you all talking about the SFE in the back or the one in the front.

I just did the SFE this morning and got a 70 (which I felt like a lot of the questions I got lucky on). Up from a 120 on the sim mbe a few weeks ago. don't know if this is a sign of improvement, or if the SFE is easier.[/quote]

I'm talking about the exam called "Half Day" exam located in the front. I haven't done the SFE in the back yet. Did you feel that the SFE questions are as hard as the questions on the Simulated MBE? I'm wondering because although I did well on the Half Day, I think it's a waste of time to answer so many questions based on obscure exception-to-the-exception type of stuff. I don't want to spend several hours getting trolled by Barbri. Consequently, I don't think I'll be doing the "Full Day" exam. I'm interested to know your thoughts on the level of difficulty of the SFE. I would hope Barbri wouldn't send us into the real test with a confidence destroyer, but who knows.

[sundevil77]

Accord & Satisfaction: does there need to be a dispute as to the amount of debt?

I've found conflicting answers in the BarBri materials

There only needs to be a dispute if you are accepting a lower amount than the original debt owed. So if you owe me $100 and we get into a dispute about what is actually owed, and we agree on $80 and you pay me $80, then there has been an accord and satisfaction. But if there is no dispute, you can't just offer to give me $80 because there is no consideration.

Actually, I believe there must be (1) a dispute; or (2) the debt is not yet due. If the debt is not yet due, you could create a valid accord and satisfaction by accepting a smaller payment before performance is actually due (even if the debt is undisputed).

[bgdddymtty]

Accord & Satisfaction: does there need to be a dispute as to the amount of debt?

I've found conflicting answers in the BarBri materials

There only needs to be a dispute if you are accepting a lower amount than the original debt owed. So if you owe me $100 and we get into a dispute about what is actually owed, and we agree on $80 and you pay me $80, then there has been an accord and satisfaction. But if there is no dispute, you can't just offer to give me $80 because there is no consideration.

Actually, I believe there must be (1) a dispute; or (2) the debt is not yet due. If the debt is not yet due, you could create a valid accord and satisfaction by accepting a smaller payment before performance is actually due (even if the debt is undisputed).

Correct. If there is not a dispute, an accord must include consideration. This is provided by an agreement to pay the debt in some other way. Usually the money is repaid immediately, but it could also be something like paying in a different form (e.g. with a car instead of cash).

[blong4133]

I'm talking about the exam called "Half Day" exam located in the front. I haven't done the SFE in the back yet. Did you feel that the SFE questions are as hard as the questions on the Simulated MBE? I'm wondering because although I did well on the Half Day, I think it's a waste of time to answer so many questions based on obscure exception-to-the-exception type of stuff. I don't want to spend several hours getting trolled by Barbri. Consequently, I don't think I'll be doing the "Full Day" exam. I'm interested to know your thoughts on the level of difficulty of the SFE. I would hope Barbri wouldn't send us into the real test with a confidence destroyer, but who knows.

I don't know if it was easier or if it was because I'm more familiar with the stuff. I know that in the front of the MPQ book, it does say that it is more representative of the more difficult questions, but I didn't find the questions to be much more difficult than the simulated MBE. I felt like it was a little easier to spot the issues, but a lot of the questions had some tricky answer choices. I did awful on the con law questions (got 9 out of 17 right...but Con law has been my worst throughout the entire process), but then I only missed 1 contracts question, and 3 evidence questions. I was at the benchmark for all other subjects.

But as I'm going through the lectures to the questions is helpful. Today is the last day I'm devoting strictly to MBE, and i'm going to switch over to all essay subjects from here on out. There are a lot of the types of questions I've been screwing up on in the SFE and it's good to go through and get a thorough explanation of the answer. But I think after today, I'm going to focus on the essay stuff.

Also, I pulled a 55 of the half-day exam in the front. But I was also in the midst of a melt down when I took it and was having some serious problems focusing. Regardless it was a crappy score.

[ace_of_spades]

Accord & Satisfaction: does there need to be a dispute as to the amount of debt?

I've found conflicting answers in the BarBri materials

There only needs to be a dispute if you are accepting a lower amount than the original debt owed. So if you owe me $100 and we get into a dispute about what is actually owed, and we agree on $80 and you pay me $80, then there has been an accord and satisfaction. But if there is no dispute, you can't just offer to give me $80 because there is no consideration.

Actually, I believe there must be (1) a dispute; or (2) the debt is not yet due. If the debt is not yet due, you could create a valid accord and satisfaction by accepting a smaller payment before performance is actually due (even if the debt is undisputed).

Correct. If there is not a dispute, an accord must include consideration. This is provided by an agreement to pay the debt in some other way. Usually the money is repaid immediately, but it could also be something like paying in a different form (e.g. with a car instead of cash).

Yeah, I think I got confused b/c there is also an accord & satisfaction section in my commercial paper notes that says there must be a bona fide dispute as to the amount of debt.

[Foosters Galore]

CA - Remedies Essay # 6.

Holy. Shit. Its things like this that give me no hope of passing.

[c3pO4]

CA - Remedies Essay # 6.

Holy. Shit. Its things like this that give me no hope of passing.

what, resulting trusts? u didn't know the 7 rules about that like the back of your hand?

no but seriuosly, it just shows you that there WILL be at least one question to which you have no idea what the issues is. just gotta buckle down, make up some rules, and analyze every fact. oh and make sure to do above average on MBE and CPT or else...

[Foosters Galore]

CA - Remedies Essay # 6.

Holy. Shit. Its things like this that give me no hope of passing.

what, resulting trusts? u didn't know the 7 rules about that like the back of your hand?

no but seriuosly, it just shows you that there WILL be at least one question to which you have no idea what the issues is. just gotta buckle down, make up some rules, and analyze every fact. oh and make sure to do above average on MBE and CPT or else...

Uh, yeah, the whole answer was about resulting trusts. My answer did not, at any point, have the word "resulting trust" in it. That's frightening.

[1L1284]

Don't worry, everyone I spoke to felt the same way about this essay. Just remember the curve. If something like this comes up on the real exam, EVERYONE will be screwed which is completely okay.

[kaiser]

Not sure why they save these MPQ2 mixed sets for the end. They seem far too easy, since they totally cut out the hard Q's (and most medium-difficulty Q's for that matter).

[RodneyBoonfield]

For MBE, when (procedurally) may a defendant withdraw a guilty plea? For my state its prior to sentencing. For some reason I cant stop thinking for MBE that it is any time prior to the judge accepting the guilty plea. Is that right?

[kaiser]

For MBE, when (procedurally) may a defendant withdraw a guilty plea? For my state its prior to sentencing. For some reason I cant stop thinking for MBE that it is any time prior to the judge accepting the guilty plea. Is that right?

I think so, but I don't even recall covering this specific point procedural point.

[stratocophic]

If MBE questions are like Barbri Advanced questions, my MBE score is going to be so low that, as a matter of policy, my state's examiners literally won't bother grading my essays. If they're like the Beginner/Intermediate questions, I've got at least a shot at passing comfortably.

Someone with knowledge tell me which of those two outcomes is more likely so I know who I should be cursing for their sadism - Barbri's question writers or the MBE's.

[gp86]

Not sure why they save these MPQ2 mixed sets for the end. They seem far too easy, since they totally cut out the hard Q's (and most medium-difficulty Q's for that matter).

^^^hasn't hit sets 7-9 and the SFE yet

[kaiser]

Not sure why they save these MPQ2 mixed sets for the end. They seem far too easy, since they totally cut out the hard Q's (and most medium-difficulty Q's for that matter).

^^^hasn't hit sets 7-9 and the SFE yet

I heard the SFE is brutal. Which is why I'm confused. Why do these overly-easy sets and then go to the opposite extreme with something overly hard? Why not have us do balanced and representative sets going into the real thing?

[goodolgil]

Got a 74/100 on the SFE and improved in every basically subject except con law where I got more wrong than I did on the double-in-length sim MBE.

I think I'm mostly done studying MBE except for doing a mixed set every other day or so. Most of the questions I get wrong are from misreading or not knowing an obscure rule, and I probably won't be able to improve that significantly from here on out.

[rnf1292]

The SFE is horrible

[c3pO4]

Got a 74/100 on the SFE and improved in every basically subject except con law where I got more wrong than I did on the double-in-length sim MBE.

I think I'm mostly done studying MBE except for doing a mixed set every other day or so. Most of the questions I get wrong are from misreading or not knowing an obscure rule, and I probably won't be able to improve that significantly from here on out.

wow. you are an MBE master. did you do SFE after all the other MPQ2 sets? I did it a week and a half ago after set 3 and it slayed me (51/100) even though i was 123/200 on midterm, but since then i'm scoring 80+ on all mbe sets. gonna take the full day 200 to bring myself back down to earth this weekend.

[stratocophic]

If MBE questions are like Barbri Advanced questions, my MBE score is going to be so low that, as a matter of policy, my state's examiners literally won't bother grading my essays. If they're like the Beginner/Intermediate questions, I've got at least a shot at passing comfortably.

Someone with knowledge tell me which of those two outcomes is more likely so I know who I should be cursing for their sadism - Barbri's question writers or the MBE's.

Cmon. I know one of you gunners knows whether the real questions are more like the Advanced Barbri nonsense or more like the Beginner/Intermediate.