Themis Bar Review Hangout - Feb. 2016 Exam Forum

[Raiden]

FWIW, I have been using adaptibar which uses real MBE questions, and scored 85 on their 100 question set, but then scored a 65 on the Themis Am question set. I still haven't done the PM sessions because of the bad taste in my mouth...But just know Themis may be giving you harder questions that are on the bar, keep your confidence up and half of the battle is already won.

[attjen]

Any of u guys completed less than 60% of the THemis prog??? Just wondering.....

[Gamecubesupreme]

OMG this THEMIS Mixed MBE Set #4 Question ID#6685 really pissed me off.

Basically a woman looked after another person's house, with the instruction being that she cannot go to the bedrooms. The woman then walked into the bedroom because the door was wide open with the intent to steal a necklace. She found the necklace by opening a jewelry box. Question asked if she was guilty of burglary under common law.

Answer was No, because she did not break into the master bedroom. Ugh, such a subjective call. I honestly thought going into the bedroom, when you were explicitly told not to, constitutes a breaking and entering.

But I guess what makes this question interesting was the other two choices being:

Yes, because she exceeded the scope of the homeowner’s consent to her presence in the house.
or
Yes, because she formed the intent to take the necklace before she entered in bedroom.

Under my preconceived notion that she was definitely guilty, I had a hard time figuring out which of the two is the better answer. This should have tipped me off the BOTH were actually incorrect because MBE questions rarely have two plausible answer choices.

[KTnKT]

OMG this THEMIS Mixed MBE Set #4 Question ID#6685 really pissed me off.

Basically a woman looked after another person's house, with the instruction being that she cannot go to the bedrooms. The woman then walked into the bedroom because the door was wide open with the intent to steal a necklace. She found the necklace by opening a jewelry box. Question asked if she was guilty of burglary under common law.

Answer was No, because she did not break into the master bedroom. Ugh, such a subjective call. I honestly thought going into the bedroom, when you were explicitly told not to, constitutes a breaking and entering.

But I guess what makes this question interesting was the other two choices being:

Yes, because she exceeded the scope of the homeowner’s consent to her presence in the house.
or
Yes, because she formed the intent to take the necklace before she entered in bedroom.

Under my preconceived notion that she was definitely guilty, I had a hard time figuring out which of the two is the better answer. This should have tipped me off the BOTH were actually incorrect because MBE questions rarely have two plausible answer choices.

That one got me too.

[legaleasel]

how everyone feel? ...for Florida, commercial paper - really?!

I think Themis did a good job exposing us to the type of questions and issues to anticipate.

[washed out]

It was decent, and I don't regret the decision to pay $1k on it (I had early discount, or something because another person told me they paid $1.5K). As long as you did not simply rely on the lecture handout and read the full outlines, then you should have been prepared.

There was one glaring error in the Themis Texas Real Property outline on non-judicial foreclosure. The timing of a public foreclosure sale in Texas must be the first Tuesday of each month from 10 am to 4 pm. Outline said it is the first Monday.

[Lawllipop]

FWIW, I have been using adaptibar which uses real MBE questions, and scored 85 on their 100 question set, but then scored a 65 on the Themis Am question set. I still haven't done the PM sessions because of the bad taste in my mouth...But just know Themis may be giving you harder questions that are on the bar, keep your confidence up and half of the battle is already won.

I hope that's the case. I only did themis mbe questions but they were all really hard and felt almost impossible to get good scores (and when i did, i felt like i just got really lucky on that set lol). I actually had just quit in the middle of one of the mixed mbe sets (i usually take them in interactive mode) because the answers were just ridiculous, and i didn't want to drive down my confidence because it was too close to the exam.

I find that the lectures give you a decent foundation to each topic, but they don't explain too much, and lack a lot of details (only so much to fit into <20min and they all talk so slow!). A lot is left for you to figure out as you do the practice exams and put together the puzzle pieces. I added a lot to my notes just by pasting rules from the answer explanations into my outlines.

Still felt like I was pretty under prepared for the actual exam, but it seems like it's the same for a lot of people.

[KTnKT]

I completed about 75%, and felt prepared for just abut everything except the multiple choice. I thought it was brutal, but not sure if that was me or themis. We'll see if it was enough, but generally I have zero regrets about choosing themis at this point.

Although, I thought the p and e prep was seriously lacking. I feel like Themis made it harder than it had to be.

[legaleasel]

Results are coming back; I passed the Florida Bar!!!

[JimmyBee]

Results are coming back; I passed the Florida Bar!!!

Everyone, get moving fast on getting your applications in. I passed NYC in July, found out on Oct 26 (son's birthday) in a letter dated Oct 27, fortunately found a very efficient way of gunning the 50 in a week and a half. I didn't have to go back and get anything from prior legal work because I'd done NONE. I'm told those are particularly hard to bring home. I just needed the character affidavits. And it STILL took five months from the time my applications was deemed finished two weeks before Christmas until last week to get sworn in. You can't help what the Bar puts you through, but YOU should NOT be the rate-determining step. But it's Jimmy Bee, Esq. BITCHES!

[ghramotron]

Deleted

[PishPosh]

I passed MA and no thanks to Themis! I only completely about 50%. The MBE prep wasn't bad but the essay prep was ABYSMAL. The essay answers were really lacking. Thank goodness my school had its own taped lectures on the state topics--that saved me. My grader was terrible, and completely missed MA distinctions.

I had to go rogue with my critical pass flashcards and materials from my school bar classes. If I did not--no way I would have passed solely with what Themis had to offer.

I have NO idea whether Barbri and Kaplan are any better--but directed bar study was NOT for me.

I did like the MBE bank of questions, but I supplemented and studied MBE topics a LOT more than this program suggested. The trick is to know what works for you and don't blindly follow a schedule.

[Tubrid]

I passed MA and no thanks to Themis! I only completely about 50%. The MBE prep wasn't bad but the essay prep was ABYSMAL. The essay answers were really lacking. Thank goodness my school had its own taped lectures on the state topics--that saved me. My grader was terrible, and completely missed MA distinctions.

I had to go rogue with my critical pass flashcards and materials from my school bar classes. If I did not--no way I would have passed solely with what Themis had to offer.

I have NO idea whether Barbri and Kaplan are any better--but directed bar study was NOT for me.

I did like the MBE bank of questions, but I supplemented and studied MBE topics a LOT more than this program suggested. The trick is to know what works for you and don't blindly follow a schedule.

While all the above may be true, I wanted to say that I had the opposite experience. I took both NY & MA as a joint course through Themis, followed the program about 80%, and passed both bars. I went to school out of state for both bars, so I relied solely on the Themis program. While the MA materials were slightly lacking, they were definitely sufficient.

[KTnKT]

I completed 75% and passed Texas first try. Very satisfied with Themis.

[Tzhs]

Used Themis for FL after passing illinois 30+ years ago. Needless to say, remembered zero from law school and the area I practice in is not tested by FL or the mbe.

The FL multiple choice questions were sufficiently similar to the FL Themis materials that I felt well prepared. Based on how different the FL essays were than they have been in prior years, Themis could have (and probably will or should in the future) broaden the essay topics. On the other hand, my essay grader gave great feedback and not only tightened my essay writing skills but also directed me to work on ethics issues for the essays, an excellent and prescient comment.

For the mbe, the Themis practice questions were fine, but I wish that I had been doing all of them in test mode as compared to interactive mode from early on. It is a very different experience. Would have been helpful if Themis had given more guidance on that choice.

Would recommend Themis. It was painful, but it worked.

[rntojd]

Passed CT in 2008 after using Bar Bri. Took and passed NY 8 years later on first try after I completed about 65% of Themis. Never once got a passing grade on my essays, by the way. My grader was harsh, which distressed me at the time, but in the end that was a good thing. Painful, but good. Did OK but not great on the MBE with a 135.9 (compared to a 151 the first time I took it), so I must have rocked the essays. Would definitely recommend Themis, especially since I was working full time while studying.