Themis Bar Review Hangout - July 2014 Exam Forum

[Gotti]

I like Geis for MBE contracts.

[champ33]

I wish NY was all essays. I'm scoring above average on graded essays (77, 81) but below average in MBE questions (~55% depending on subject). At this point I'm just hoping to be above the bottom 15% for MBE questions and then pass the test based on other 60% of the test.

(It's also possible my essay grader is just being really nice )

Do you mind sharing what you mean about the bottom 15% on the MBE? I guess I just have not come across much definitive and easy to understand information about the number of questions you need correct and the essay scores you need to pass.

[iLoveFruits&Veggies]

I like Geis for MBE contracts.

Me too!

Btw, random question for anyone re: computers & the exam. My husband bought me a PC laptop and I hate it because of Windows 8. So I'm always using my desktop Mac or my Ipad. Just trying to figure out what to do about the exam. Wondering if I should try to buy Windows 7 for it? Or a used Mac online? Or just hope that once examsoft is on it, and I'm at the exam site, I won't even know that it has Windows 8? I'm just so scared that on top of everything else, I'll be stressed about my computer - especially since I have no working "relationship" with it. Any suggestions??

[kapital98]

Do you mind sharing what you mean about the bottom 15% on the MBE? I guess I just have not come across much definitive and easy to understand information about the number of questions you need correct and the essay scores you need to pass.

BOLE doesn't officially release raw MBE scores for tests. However, they have released individual raw scores for each of the six sections of the MBE. This means that educated guesses can be made. See Seperac's breakdowns:

http://www.seperac.com/calc-mbe-febjuly.php

http://www.seperac.com/calc-bar-f13.php#RAWSCORES

Here's a quick example. Lets say you get 50% of the MBE correct (95 questions). That means you have a scaled score of 112.5. This places you in the bottom 5% of test takers!

Lets say you get 60% of the MBE correct. This puts you in the bottom 18% of test takers.

That 10% difference in MBE raw score will probably be a deciding factor in passing assuming you do median on the other 60% of the test (essays, NY MC, MPT). Personally, I won't feel comfortable going into the test until I'm scoring around 70% on the MBE (still only about average for test takers!)

[Gotti]

I like Geis for MBE contracts.

Me too!

Btw, random question for anyone re: computers & the exam. My husband bought me a PC laptop and I hate it because of Windows 8. So I'm always using my desktop Mac or my Ipad. Just trying to figure out what to do about the exam. Wondering if I should try to buy Windows 7 for it? Or a used Mac online? Or just hope that once examsoft is on it, and I'm at the exam site, I won't even know that it has Windows 8? I'm just so scared that on top of everything else, I'll be stressed about my computer - especially since I have no working "relationship" with it. Any suggestions??

I think you'll be fine, but shouldn't you have already downloaded examsoft on your computer? NY/NJ registration and practice test deadline was the end of May...

[iLoveFruits&Veggies]

I like Geis for MBE contracts.

Me too!

Btw, random question for anyone re: computers & the exam. My husband bought me a PC laptop and I hate it because of Windows 8. So I'm always using my desktop Mac or my Ipad. Just trying to figure out what to do about the exam. Wondering if I should try to buy Windows 7 for it? Or a used Mac online? Or just hope that once examsoft is on it, and I'm at the exam site, I won't even know that it has Windows 8? I'm just so scared that on top of everything else, I'll be stressed about my computer - especially since I have no working "relationship" with it. Any suggestions??

I think you'll be fine, but shouldn't you have already downloaded examsoft on your computer? NY/NJ registration and practice test deadline was the end of May...

I felt all the blood rush out of my head when I read this lol!! Can't imagine missing the deadline for registering my computer!! YIKES!!!!! Here's what the CA bulletin says, but I'm going to DOUBLE check though since I just had a minor heart attack! If anyone from CA knows if I've somehow missed an email with a passed deadline please let me know!

"You must complete the certification process no later than Friday, July 25, 2014. After printing your admittance ticket, you should complete the process as soon as possible so if you encounter problems, ExamSoft will have the opportunity to assist you prior to the examination."

[puttycake]

I felt all the blood rush out of my head when I read this lol!! Can't imagine missing the deadline for registering my computer!! YIKES!!!!! Here's what the CA bulletin says, but I'm going to DOUBLE check though since I just had a minor heart attack! If anyone from CA knows if I've somehow missed an email with a passed deadline please let me know!

"You must complete the certification process no later than Friday, July 25, 2014. After printing your admittance ticket, you should complete the process as soon as possible so if you encounter problems, ExamSoft will have the opportunity to assist you prior to the examination."

Me too. That freaked me out.

I haven't even been able to print my ticket yet. I don't know if that's odd.

[numbertwo88]

The constitutional law essay questions are literally going to be the death of me

I thought it would be contracts but little did I know ... I'm better than I thought; and of course worse than I thought with constitution essay questions in MA. Hopefully in a month I'll master it because this is so annoying.

Anyone can feel free to share their con law magic if it exists.

[swfangirl]

I like Geis for MBE contracts.

Me too!

Btw, random question for anyone re: computers & the exam. My husband bought me a PC laptop and I hate it because of Windows 8. So I'm always using my desktop Mac or my Ipad. Just trying to figure out what to do about the exam. Wondering if I should try to buy Windows 7 for it? Or a used Mac online? Or just hope that once examsoft is on it, and I'm at the exam site, I won't even know that it has Windows 8? I'm just so scared that on top of everything else, I'll be stressed about my computer - especially since I have no working "relationship" with it. Any suggestions??

Windows 8 isn't actually that different from Windows 7. The main difference is that the start menu is now just an entire screen instead of a list. You can enter "desktop", which will function just as Windows 7 does, just with a new start menu. When in doubt, put your mouse in the lower left hand corner for the start option to pop up (it looks like a button with white windows) and click on that, then click on "desktop". I imagine you'll keep the shortcut to ExamSoft on your desktop. Then, just click on it, and it'll run just as it does on Windows 7 and you won't notice the difference. Just practice that a few time and you'll be good to go. Spending money instead of taking the 1 minute it takes to figure this out would be foolish.

[WonkyPanda]

I like Geis for MBE contracts.

Me too!

Btw, random question for anyone re: computers & the exam. My husband bought me a PC laptop and I hate it because of Windows 8. So I'm always using my desktop Mac or my Ipad. Just trying to figure out what to do about the exam. Wondering if I should try to buy Windows 7 for it? Or a used Mac online? Or just hope that once examsoft is on it, and I'm at the exam site, I won't even know that it has Windows 8? I'm just so scared that on top of everything else, I'll be stressed about my computer - especially since I have no working "relationship" with it. Any suggestions??

I think you'll be fine, but shouldn't you have already downloaded examsoft on your computer? NY/NJ registration and practice test deadline was the end of May...

I felt all the blood rush out of my head when I read this lol!! Can't imagine missing the deadline for registering my computer!! YIKES!!!!! Here's what the CA bulletin says, but I'm going to DOUBLE check though since I just had a minor heart attack! If anyone from CA knows if I've somehow missed an email with a passed deadline please let me know!

"You must complete the certification process no later than Friday, July 25, 2014. After printing your admittance ticket, you should complete the process as soon as possible so if you encounter problems, ExamSoft will have the opportunity to assist you prior to the examination."

Mine still says: "Eligibility status:Eligibility pending" and nothing else. Should I be concerned? I haven't gotten any notifications about registering my laptop yet.

[071816]

I got owned by the 2nd milestone exam. Not too sure how I feel about it.

Edit: Did okay on evidence (about 67%) but terrible on contracts (under 50%) and around 50% on crim and crim pro. In fairness, I haven't done a thorough review of contracts in a while and it's probably my worst subject, but still feels kinda shitty getting a 52% on the milestone when the goal is 60%.

I guess I need to remember that it isn't really the score that matters at this point and that I just need to focus on learning as much as I can from reviewing the correct answers...

[Genuine4ps]

So for those of us who are behind, we're supposed to be completing the MBR lectures first?

What is the logic in this? We're going to have to come back to it anyway, right? And why didn't Themis just prioritize MBEs first instead of adding Secured and Commercial into the mix?

[Gopackgo2010]

@WonkyPanda

I created an account just to answer your question, since I'm going through the same thing. I'm 99% sure it's because the CA Bar hasn't received your final transcript from your law school (certify law school studies). You have until July 15th to make sure that they receive it. I called today and found out that's why my admission ticket is not ready to print. I think part of the problem is that I went to a law school outside the state of CA, since the bar website states that CA law schools do this certification automatically. My school told me they had sent it in, but the bar said they never received it, so I made another request for them to send another official transcript. Hopefully, this is the same reason your ticket isn't ready, otherwise I have no clue. Good Luck!

[puttycake]

@WonkyPanda

I created an account just to answer your question, since I'm going through the same thing. I'm 99% sure it's because the CA Bar hasn't received your final transcript from your law school (certify law school studies). You have until July 15th to make sure that they receive it. I called today and found out that's why my admission ticket is not ready to print. I think part of the problem is that I went to a law school outside the state of CA, since the bar website states that CA law schools do this certification automatically. My school told me they had sent it in, but the bar said they never received it, so I made another request for them to send another official transcript. Hopefully, this is the same reason your ticket isn't ready, otherwise I have no clue. Good Luck!

My stupid school hasn't even gotten final grades out.

[Shane]

So for those of us who are behind, we're supposed to be completing the MBR lectures first?

What is the logic in this? We're going to have to come back to it anyway, right? And why didn't Themis just prioritize MBEs first instead of adding Secured and Commercial into the mix?

What are you talking about? Who said to complete MBE if you fall behind

[WonkyPanda]

@WonkyPanda

I created an account just to answer your question, since I'm going through the same thing. I'm 99% sure it's because the CA Bar hasn't received your final transcript from your law school (certify law school studies). You have until July 15th to make sure that they receive it. I called today and found out that's why my admission ticket is not ready to print. I think part of the problem is that I went to a law school outside the state of CA, since the bar website states that CA law schools do this certification automatically. My school told me they had sent it in, but the bar said they never received it, so I made another request for them to send another official transcript. Hopefully, this is the same reason your ticket isn't ready, otherwise I have no clue. Good Luck!

Awesome, thanks for the response! That makes sense. My last grades didn't come in until about a week ago.

I imagine after that is done, then we can do the whole laptop registration stuff?

[Genuine4ps]

So for those of us who are behind, we're supposed to be completing the MBR lectures first?

What is the logic in this? We're going to have to come back to it anyway, right? And why didn't Themis just prioritize MBEs first instead of adding Secured and Commercial into the mix?

What are you talking about? Who said to complete MBE if you fall behind

I received the message and others have as well.

[Gopackgo2010]

@WonkyPanda

I created an account just to answer your question, since I'm going through the same thing. I'm 99% sure it's because the CA Bar hasn't received your final transcript from your law school (certify law school studies). You have until July 15th to make sure that they receive it. I called today and found out that's why my admission ticket is not ready to print. I think part of the problem is that I went to a law school outside the state of CA, since the bar website states that CA law schools do this certification automatically. My school told me they had sent it in, but the bar said they never received it, so I made another request for them to send another official transcript. Hopefully, this is the same reason your ticket isn't ready, otherwise I have no clue. Good Luck!

Awesome, thanks for the response! That makes sense. My last grades didn't come in until about a week ago.

I imagine after that is done, then we can do the whole laptop registration stuff?

Yeah that's what I assume. I think we can't really do anything until our admission ticket is ready. It's unfortunate too, since my grades were ready a month ago. I have no idea what happened the first time they sent it, but I'm going to make sure they get it this time.

[Duchovnysfan]

Does anyone here have the frequency chart for Michigan? Please msg me if Themis sent one out for this course. Thanks in advance!

[inkincorporate]

First set of contracts MC questions were epically brutal. I'm at 49% now, what are people generally at?

[SilverE2]

First set of contracts MC questions were epically brutal. I'm at 49% now, what are people generally at?

National average is 62%. I'm at 57% for all my contracts MBE sessions. My first contracts session I only got a 38% though. Lol.

[inkincorporate]

Oh sorry I meant for the entire course. Almost panicked there when I saw 62%

[puttycake]

I finished the last of the substantive law lectures today. Thank god.

[SilverE2]

Oh sorry I meant for the entire course. Almost panicked there when I saw 62%

Oh haha, completion rate, not score. They sent a message out yesterday to Florida people that we should be "approaching 50%." I'm at 49% right now. Caught up with lectures but a couple of assignments behind.

[Genuine4ps]

Oh sorry I meant for the entire course. Almost panicked there when I saw 62%

Oh haha, completion rate, not score. They sent a message out yesterday to Florida people that we should be "approaching 50%." I'm at 49% right now. Caught up with lectures but a couple of assignments behind.

I'm behind, and I'm trying to determine if I should just continue to do everything in order or what. What is the logic in skipping assignments and just doing the lectures? My advisor suggested this approach as well. In other words, why not just do everything in order? Thanks.