BarBri Bar Review Hangout - February 2016 Exam Forum

[rcharter1978]

I think its great that a lot of people have come on here to share their success stories. I would caution people though, to think about taking it all with a grain of salt, especially if you're testing in California. We still have one of the only 3 day exams and one of the lowest pass rates. Perhaps some people can pass this exam by sitting down and just really putting in the work for 3 weeks, and maybe that person is you, but maybe it isn't. It's not to take away from the difficulty of the bar exam in other states, I think the bar exam is always hard, no matter where you go. I just think California likes to make their exam even harder.

Yes - it may feel great to take a breather until later this month, but do you think its the best thing for your bar success?

If it is, take the time off because studying sucks monkey balls and burnout is a real possibility.

[fadedsunrise]

Joining. I shelled out for Barbri in the end because it seems like all of my first time passer friends took Barbri, and I think I like it so far, although it's hard to keep the doubt and paranoia completely at bay...

Does anybody really do AMP? I did just one so far and it seemed like a never ending useless mess of fill in the blanks. I just ended up starting to memorize what the program wanted so I could get it over with. For that matter, should I be doing the entire assessments for each subject? They take so long and I'm not even sure what the results mean at the end. I'm scoring between 60% and 75% on the MBEs so far, on average (mostly 60-65 with a few fluke 80's).

I love the lectures though. Much better than Kaplan on the whole, even the boring subjects. I dont think I truly understood how Civ Pro fit together last time, but Freer makes it pretty clear. Schecter was hilariously sarcastic, and Maynard was pretty good too.

[gtg]

Question (I missed this): when we're doing the assessments, are we supposed to do them as open or as closed book? Thanks

[fadedsunrise]

Question (I missed this): when we're doing the assessments, are we supposed to do them as open or as closed book? Thanks

Did they say that somewhere? I've been doing it open book since this is only my first week full time studying and I have a lot to catch up to, FWIW.

[Chueyx1289]

Joining. I shelled out for Barbri in the end because it seems like all of my first time passer friends took Barbri, and I think I like it so far, although it's hard to keep the doubt and paranoia completely at bay...

Does anybody really do AMP? I did just one so far and it seemed like a never ending useless mess of fill in the blanks. I just ended up starting to memorize what the program wanted so I could get it over with. For that matter, should I be doing the entire assessments for each subject? They take so long and I'm not even sure what the results mean at the end. I'm scoring between 60% and 75% on the MBEs so far, on average (mostly 60-65 with a few fluke 80's).

I love the lectures though. Much better than Kaplan on the whole, even the boring subjects. I dont think I truly understood how Civ Pro fit together last time, but Freer makes it pretty clear. Schecter was hilariously sarcastic, and Maynard was pretty good too.

I like AMP cuz it helped me commit the elements to memory and it filled in some things that were missing in the lecture. Good advice by the other guy too.

[rinkrat19]

Question (I missed this): when we're doing the assessments, are we supposed to do them as open or as closed book? Thanks

Did they say that somewhere? I've been doing it open book since this is only my first week full time studying and I have a lot to catch up to, FWIW.

What exactly would it be assessing if you're looking the answers up in the book?

The diagnostics and assessments are how it decides what topics to give you more homework in.

[crumpetsandtea]

Question (I missed this): when we're doing the assessments, are we supposed to do them as open or as closed book? Thanks

Assessments are closed book. The first (graded) essay is open book, but after that you should be doing your essays closed book.

When I took CA over the summer, I did probably the first few essays open book, just to get the rhythm of it down. It worked for me, although I have always been better at the essays than the MBE so YMMV.

Also, for those of you stressing out about stuff: you are going to pick up SO MUCH in the next few weeks. I remember starting in on the last 3 weeks of prep and surprising myself with how much I remembered that I didn't know at all when I started. I know it's scary and I know there's a lot of pressure, but remember that EVERYONE FEELS THAT WAY, and Barbri specifically designs the course to make you feel like you're behind.

My friends who took the bar before me cautioned me that NO ONE completes 100% of the barbri assignments. You should shoot for probably like 70-80%. I technically complete 90% but I checked off every "study for [tomorrow's subject]" and small stuff like that even if I didn't technically read CMR. I think (and this may be CA specific) the key to passing is to make sure you DO NOT NEGLECT THE ESSAYS. CA weighs the essays 60%. You should ABSOLUTELY be spending a good chunk of your 2nd month of studying practicing for the essay section for California. All the people I know who failed said they didn't put enough time into the essays.

[jamescastle]

I think its great that a lot of people have come on here to share their success stories. I would caution people though, to think about taking it all with a grain of salt, especially if you're testing in California. We still have one of the only 3 day exams and one of the lowest pass rates. Perhaps some people can pass this exam by sitting down and just really putting in the work for 3 weeks, and maybe that person is you, but maybe it isn't. It's not to take away from the difficulty of the bar exam in other states, I think the bar exam is always hard, no matter where you go. I just think California likes to make their exam even harder.

Yes - it may feel great to take a breather until later this month, but do you think its the best thing for your bar success?

If it is, take the time off because studying sucks monkey balls and burnout is a real possibility.

Agree with all this. Did 75% of BARBRI in July 2015 and still failed. Just because other people did it one way and studied doesn't mean you will necessarily be able to do the same thing.

[storge]

Anyone have prior experience with (or know someone who did) the BarBri Mini Review 1 day 8 hour program? Was it worth the extra money? Any thoughts and feedback greatly appreciated!

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Don't know if I can do these property lectures...

[fadedsunrise]

Definitely going crazy...

Took time off the exact schedule to make my own outlines, about 3-4 hours per outline. Started scoring 75% on MBE sets right after making the outlines.

Went back to lecture schedule today, did one set of Torts MBE as assigned. 38% O_O

[BVest]

Definitely going crazy...

Took time off the exact schedule to make my own outlines, about 3-4 hours per outline. Started scoring 75% on MBE sets right after making the outlines.

Went back to lecture schedule today, did one set of Torts MBE as assigned. 38% O_O

Which set are you on. They get shitty around set 5. (Though for torts I was always around 38%.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Does anyone look at the results breakdowns on StudySmart? I consistently get more questions ranked as easy wrong than intermediate and advanced. What up with that?

[lawst_]

Don't know if I can do these property lectures...

Holy christ, SAME.

I decided I'd only watch lectures for MBE topics but 3 days of property is killing me. And I still want to make my own outline after the lectures.

Anyone have secrets to share on mastering property? This has consistently been my weakest area, including in law school. I freak out about it on the MBE, too, as the fact patterns are ridiculously long, which makes them even more daunting.

[fadedsunrise]

Don't know if I can do these property lectures...

Holy christ, SAME.

I decided I'd only watch lectures for MBE topics but 3 days of property is killing me. And I still want to make my own outline after the lectures.

Anyone have secrets to share on mastering property? This has consistently been my weakest area, including in law school. I freak out about it on the MBE, too, as the fact patterns are ridiculously long, which makes them even more daunting.

I find property lends itself pretty well to flashcards/Critical Pass flashcards. Property is nonlinear and not all related but a lot of the topics have very specific elements to remember as opposed to say, contracts. Did Maynard do your lectures? I'm in CA and had her lectures first. She wasn't the most interesting but she was organized, as opposed to say...Gold on Evidence. CA's schedule is on that now and holy crap I don't get what he's doing with reorganizing the evidence rules and the format of his lecture notes. Debating just going back to my Kaplan notes on Fromm's lectures and skipping the evidence stuff.

On another note: what's the consensus on outlining, if any? I stopped to outline most of the subjects to date in CA and feel like it might be good for letting things sink in more. I didn't outline the first bar around. However, I'm now 6% behind the Barbri schedule and catchup sucks, not to mention I don't do any of the AMPS. Stop outlining and do the Barbri schedule or keep outlining and flex the Barbri schedule?

[Ineedhelpplease]

Don't know if I can do these property lectures...

Holy christ, SAME.

I decided I'd only watch lectures for MBE topics but 3 days of property is killing me. And I still want to make my own outline after the lectures.

Anyone have secrets to share on mastering property? This has consistently been my weakest area, including in law school. I freak out about it on the MBE, too, as the fact patterns are ridiculously long, which makes them even more daunting.

Ive used adaptibar to spit up the main subjects (ex. mortgages) - I review the material and do about 10 questions. I am ok on most of the subjects but servitudes gives me nightmares that crap is horrible.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

NY here: We have the enthusiastic Paula Franzese.

I am only carefully outlining MBE subjects.

[NY_Sea]

Don't know if I can do these property lectures...

Holy christ, SAME.

I decided I'd only watch lectures for MBE topics but 3 days of property is killing me. And I still want to make my own outline after the lectures.

Anyone have secrets to share on mastering property? This has consistently been my weakest area, including in law school. I freak out about it on the MBE, too, as the fact patterns are ridiculously long, which makes them even more daunting.

Ive used adaptibar to spit up the main subjects (ex. mortgages) - I review the material and do about 10 questions. I am ok on most of the subjects but servitudes gives me nightmares that crap is horrible.

Equitable Servitudes: Remember WITNES

W: Writing
I: Intent
T: Touch and Concern
N: Notice
Equitable
Servitude

[barprepblues]

Joining. Just got an email from the firm this morning. They seem optimistic. I'm feeling stupid.

I can't for the life of me score higher than a 61% on property, and we've had since December to learn it. I heard the goal is supposed to be 70% accuracy. Am I the only one who sucks at property here?

...and to make things worse, my worst 1L subjects were crim, conlaw, contracts (in that order; going into litigation just to avoid contracts.)

[BVest]

Joining. Just got an email from the firm this morning. They seem optimistic. I'm feeling stupid.

I can't for the life of me score higher than a 61% on property, and we've had since December to learn it. I heard the goal is supposed to be 70% accuracy. Am I the only one who sucks at property here?

...and to make things worse, my worst 1L subjects were crim, conlaw, contracts (in that order; going into litigation just to avoid contracts.)

Don't forget that if you're doing okay on the other subjects, you don't have to be that high on one subject. For me it was torts, where I would range from 30-50%. On mixed subject exams I was right around 65%, but got a 161 on the MBE.

[barprepblues]

Don't forget that if you're doing okay on the other subjects, you don't have to be that high on one subject. For me it was torts, where I would range from 30-50%. On mixed subject exams I was right around 65%, but got a 161 on the MBE.

I wish I knew more about numbers. What should I be aiming for on the real MBE? 150? 160?

[jackbauer10]

Random Q: When working through the StudySmart Questions, I consistently suck ass. However, when I move to MBE Drills in Enrolled Student Center, or do old MBE practice questions from older study materials (namely late 2000s PMBR and Barbri drill books), I'm missing only a few questions. Is this because MBE questions have gotten harder so I should limit my practice to the newer stuff? Or because StudySmart tests the material in a different way to make sure I understand the concepts? Is this happening to anyone else? (FWIW it's mostly happening with Torts and Property).

[BVest]

Don't forget that if you're doing okay on the other subjects, you don't have to be that high on one subject. For me it was torts, where I would range from 30-50%. On mixed subject exams I was right around 65%, but got a 161 on the MBE.

I wish I knew more about numbers. What should I be aiming for on the real MBE? 150? 160?

135 is passing for most jurisdictions. Getting a 150 or higher gives you a lot of comfort space for the essays.

BTW, here's how people were performing in July on their practice tests vs their actual outcomes:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[MrMustache]

Don't forget that if you're doing okay on the other subjects, you don't have to be that high on one subject. For me it was torts, where I would range from 30-50%. On mixed subject exams I was right around 65%, but got a 161 on the MBE.

I wish I knew more about numbers. What should I be aiming for on the real MBE? 150? 160?

135 is passing for most jurisdictions. Getting a 150 or higher gives you a lot of comfort space for the essays.

BTW, here's how people were performing in July on their practice tests vs their actual outcomes:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Some of those scores...wow. This was inspirational, I'm clearly not trying hard enough, yet.

[barprepblues]

feeling stupid, but where is the Donovan v. Bargain Mart prompt?