Maryland Bar Laptop Use (Battery/Extension Cord) Forum

[Harry Ballsogna]

For those taking the Maryland Bar, do you know if there will definitely be outlets to plug our laptops in?

The laptop requirements page notes that you can bring a 6 foot extension cord. I'm afraid that won't be long enough if I get stuck in the middle of the room without a close outlet. --LinkRemoved--

I've heard horror stories about people running out of battery power in other states during essays.

Anyone know?

[Harry Ballsogna]

Anyone know?

[philosoraptor]

I cannot imagine this would be a problem. They would have to know that anyone counting on using a laptop who went through that whole ridiculous procedure and paid a good chunk of change would pitch a fit if they didn't have outlets.

Unrelated, but I think you're the only other Maryland person I've seen so far. How's it coming?

[astro1819]

Jumping in as a fellow MD bar taker.

I sincerely hope there will be outlets, since my battery charge lasts about 20 mins without power... I never had a problem during three years of law school exams so I figure that it'll be fine and at worst I can write them by hand as a backup.

Feeling decent about the exam generally. I'm fully confident about MBE performance, but I'm nervous about the weight of the essay portion. I've been practicing essays a ton but haven't quite mastered the art of getting all necessary information down onto the page without going over time or on tangents. I'm starting to see trends across the years, but occasionally I'll run into a topic that throws me off.

Any idea what the average written score is? 4.0? 5.0? The scoring system seems to revolve around a person's deviation from the average written score. For example, if a test-taker receives the exact average essay score, then the contribution to your scaled score will equal zero. Score below the curve and you score negative, which starts subtracting big points from your total. Score above the written curve and it's your's to lose.

[philosoraptor]

Jumping in as a fellow MD bar taker.

I sincerely hope there will be outlets, since my battery charge lasts about 20 mins without power... I never had a problem during three years of law school exams so I figure that it'll be fine and at worst I can write them by hand as a backup.

Feeling decent about the exam generally. I'm fully confident about MBE performance, but I'm nervous about the weight of the essay portion. I've been practicing essays a ton but haven't quite mastered the art of getting all necessary information down onto the page without going over time or on tangents. I'm starting to see trends across the years, but occasionally I'll run into a topic that throws me off.

Any idea what the average written score is? 4.0? 5.0? The scoring system seems to revolve around a person's deviation from the average written score. For example, if a test-taker receives the exact average essay score, then the contribution to your scaled score will equal zero. Score below the curve and you score negative, which starts subtracting big points from your total. Score above the written curve and it's your's to lose.

Based on everything Barbri has said, a 4 seems to be the average score on the essays. One of the essay guys gives a hypo of somebody passing, with 14 points to spare out of 600, with an average of a 4 on the essays and a 126 raw on the MBE (like 140 scaled), which he assumes is median for that year. I highly doubt 5/6 is average on essays, but 4 sounds about right. If you can get 2/3 of the points on everything, you should be good to go.

[astro1819]

Based on everything Barbri has said, a 4 seems to be the average score on the essays. One of the essay guys gives a hypo of somebody passing, with 14 points to spare out of 600, with an average of a 4 on the essays and a 126 raw on the MBE (like 140 scaled), which he assumes is median for that year. I highly doubt 5/6 is average on essays, but 4 sounds about right. If you can get 2/3 of the points on everything, you should be good to go.

OK sounds good. In that case it seems reasonable. I anticipate that even if I drop below a 4 on one or two, I can make up for it on a stronger essay.

How are you feeling?

[philosoraptor]

Pretty good -- just doing MBE questions, a few essays a day, and reviewing flashcards at this point. I've sort of let a few minor subjects fall by the wayside, especially commercial paper and family law. But those usually have extracts, so I'm not overly worried. I also need to make a few flashcards for Maryland distinctions on MBE subjects -- those I've definitely been putting off.

The way I figure it, with 10 essays, at least 5 will be on MBE subjects (with at least one on torts), at least one will be a PR essay, at least two should have extracts, and the other two are likely to mix in MBE or PR material. It will be tough for them to completely take us by surprise. If we can get 5s or 6s on the ones we know are going to be on there (PR and torts), that gives a bit of wiggle room for stuff like family law and commercial paper. And of course if you kill the MBE, that's a bit more room.

Have you done all your C&F stuff yet?

[astro1819]

Nice. I like your breakdown of the essay topics, that seems to be spot on. The extracts are clutch, especially with civ pro, commercial paper and secured transactions. I also need to review the MD distinctions. Lately I've been spreading the practice around fairly evenly between MBE questions, essays and reviewing outlines. I'm completely off the Kaplan plan, most of which I completed.

What is C&F?

[philosoraptor]

C&F = character and fitness, with the interview and all that.

[Harry Ballsogna]

In hindsight, my OP seems a little silly. I'm sure it won't be a problem.

I'm really focusing on essays at this point. Even with the extracts, I feel a little screwed on Commercial paper. Also, how did you guys prepare for the PR stuff? I've spent the least amount of time on that, which is kind of dumb since its guaranteed to be on test.

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

[astro1819]

C&F = character and fitness, with the interview and all that.

Ah yes, that ole' thing. E-bar displays status "investigation in character committee", no interview yet.

[astro1819]

In hindsight, my OP seems a little silly. I'm sure it won't be a problem.

I'm really focusing on essays at this point. Even with the extracts, I feel a little screwed on Commercial paper. Also, how did you guys prepare for the PR stuff? I've spent the least amount of time on that, which is kind of dumb since its guaranteed to be on test.

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

PR seems to focus heavily on competency, client funds, fees, advertising and client conflicts. The rules are pretty straightforward, so I feel pretty comfortable with them. As for the conflicts of interest, the representative answers seem to be rather generic and not too detailed. Just memorize the buzz words and we'll be fine.

[Harry Ballsogna]

In hindsight, my OP seems a little silly. I'm sure it won't be a problem.

I'm really focusing on essays at this point. Even with the extracts, I feel a little screwed on Commercial paper. Also, how did you guys prepare for the PR stuff? I've spent the least amount of time on that, which is kind of dumb since its guaranteed to be on test.

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

PR seems to focus heavily on competency, client funds, fees, advertising and client conflicts. The rules are pretty straightforward, so I feel pretty comfortable with them. As for the conflicts of interest, the representative answers seem to be rather generic and not too detailed. Just memorize the buzz words and we'll be fine.

Are those areas substantially different than the ABA rules? I watched the lecture and they had some nit-picky stuff, but I already know the basics of conflicts and stuff.

[philosoraptor]

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

What do you mean?

[Harry Ballsogna]

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

What do you mean?

I didn't realize that the MD Bar has all the past exams and model answers up their website. I've just been doing the Barbri essays, that I'm assuming are made to model past essays. I'm talking about these:

http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examq ... swers.html

[astro1819]

Are those areas substantially different than the ABA rules?

There are a few nuances, but none stand out. Honestly I have forgotten how the ABA rules differ.

One example is that Maryland has a strict rule against advertising as a "specialist" (except for the label "Patent Attorney"). The ABA rules are slightly more relaxed from what I remember.

[astro1819]

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

What do you mean?

I didn't realize that the MD Bar has all the past exams and model answers up their website. I've just been doing the Barbri essays, that I'm assuming are made to model past essays. I'm talking about these:

http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examq ... swers.html

Too bad they don't supply the recent MPT question prompts...no way that I'm paying NCBE $25 for two questions...

[Harry Ballsogna]

Are those areas substantially different than the ABA rules?

There are a few nuances, but none stand out. Honestly I have forgotten how the ABA rules differ.

One example is that Maryland has a strict rule against advertising as a "specialist" (except for the label "Patent Attorney"). The ABA rules are slightly more relaxed from what I remember.

Cool thanks.

I'm glad I finally found some MD bar exam bro's. Its been a lonely internet prepping for this shit.

[Harry Ballsogna]

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

What do you mean?

I didn't realize that the MD Bar has all the past exams and model answers up their website. I've just been doing the Barbri essays, that I'm assuming are made to model past essays. I'm talking about these:

http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examq ... swers.html

Too bad they don't supply the recent MPT question prompts...no way that I'm paying NCBE $25 for two questions...

I wrote out half of a couple that barbri had. I'm not really sure there is any way to prepare for them other than make sure you follow directions. I'm pretty sure I can whip out a cogent memo or brief at this point. I just hope its not something weird, like draft interrogatories.

[philosoraptor]

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

What do you mean?

I didn't realize that the MD Bar has all the past exams and model answers up their website. I've just been doing the Barbri essays, that I'm assuming are made to model past essays. I'm talking about these:

http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examq ... swers.html

Looks like that page has only the out-of-state attorneys' exam questions. Maybe you have to buy the general bar questions?

I assumed Barbri had real (old) questions and that's why they had "board's analysis" answers rather than real model answers.

[philosoraptor]

I'm glad I finally found some MD bar exam bro's. Its been a lonely internet prepping for this shit.

+1

[Harry Ballsogna]

Another stupid mistake... I just found out 2 days ago that all of the essays have been released by MD. Up until that point I've just been doing the barbri one.

What do you mean?

I didn't realize that the MD Bar has all the past exams and model answers up their website. I've just been doing the Barbri essays, that I'm assuming are made to model past essays. I'm talking about these:

http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examq ... swers.html

Looks like that page has only the out-of-state attorneys' exam questions. Maybe you have to buy the general bar questions?

I assumed Barbri had real (old) questions and that's why they had "board's analysis" answers rather than real model answers.

Click on the link that says "Representative Good Answers" for each year. I'm pretty sure those are the normal bar exam questions. That PDF has questions and answers.

You're probably right on Barbri, I dunno. I'm just tired of the Barbri flame of insanely hard fake MBE questions. I like seeing questions and answers directly from the source.

[astro1819]

I'm glad I finally found some MD bar exam bro's. Its been a lonely internet prepping for this shit.

+1

Haha, I totally agree. I went to an out-of-state law school and am not in MD for the exam prep...did all the prep online. It'll be strange to walk up and see 1500+ people who went through the same hellish experience...glad to chat with you guys before the big day.

[Harry Ballsogna]

I'm glad I finally found some MD bar exam bro's. Its been a lonely internet prepping for this shit.

+1

Haha, I totally agree. I went to an out-of-state law school and am not in MD for the exam prep...did all the prep online. It'll be strange to walk up and see 1500+ people who went through the same hellish experience...glad to chat with you guys before the big day.

Yep, same. Out of state and studying out of state. I'm flying in Monday afternoon. I keep wondering if there is something huge I'm missing that all the in-state people will know about.

[philosoraptor]

I'm glad I finally found some MD bar exam bro's. Its been a lonely internet prepping for this shit.

+1

Haha, I totally agree. I went to an out-of-state law school and am not in MD for the exam prep...did all the prep online. It'll be strange to walk up and see 1500+ people who went through the same hellish experience...glad to chat with you guys before the big day.

Yep, same. Out of state and studying out of state. I'm flying in Monday afternoon. I keep wondering if there is something huge I'm missing that all the in-state people will know about.

Lol, I doubt that, and even if they did learn a few extra things in school, it's nothing a few flashcards can't fix. I did LS in Texas but am just down the road in D.C. now.