July 2017 -- Barbri UBE Hangout Forum

[Germaine]

FWIW: I bought two of the MBE official practice tests (OPE 1 and 4, I think). The questions are so much easier than Barbri. I'm assuming they're a better representation of the real MBE, so if you're struggling w/ Barbri questions, try not to stress too much.

[JustaQ]

Anyone have a will handout and a trusts handout that they'd be willing to pass along? Eternal gratitude would be returned

[RDA2930]

Any thoughts on how we're supposed to be doing on essays at this point? Just self-graded that simulated written exam and got significantly below passing on every substantive essay and didn't have time to finish the MPT...is this normal or too late in the game to improve?

[Subban_Fan]

I know you're all probably pretty tired of the motivational quotes and stuff (you get more than enough of that from Barbri). But I saw this quote from what some consider the smartest mind of our generation, and I thought it was helpful to me so I thought I'd share it: "Education is a complex, multifaceted, and painstaking process, and being gifted does not make this less so." - Terence Tao

http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/ ... -91-92.jpg

[LSATWiz.com]

Any thoughts on how we're supposed to be doing on essays at this point? Just self-graded that simulated written exam and got significantly below passing on every substantive essay and didn't have time to finish the MPT...is this normal or too late in the game to improve?

Not at all. I'm happy to provide written feedback on any essay (first one free of charge, if you think the feedback is beneficial, I can provide more - PM me).

[FormerChild]

Any thoughts on how we're supposed to be doing on essays at this point? Just self-graded that simulated written exam and got significantly below passing on every substantive essay and didn't have time to finish the MPT...is this normal or too late in the game to improve?

Have you done essays under timed conditions before this? How did you approach the essays? Did you just jump right into writing or take a few minutes to organize thoughts, make a brief outline and attack from there? Do you think it was just the particular subject matter tested or were you generally just moving slow? Do you think you would've done better had you started with the MPT?

I think your problem could be easily fixed if it was your first time, if you just jumped into writing without thinking first and/or, just by coincidence, the questions were on a topic you're weak in. Either way, do essays under timed conditions and your time management will improve. Think about your answer before you begin writing. Stay disciplined in your time management. It's probably not normal at this point in time, but there is still time to improve if you know where to focus your time and energy.

[FormerChild]

I think I'm over Barbri's dumb*** questions, man. On AdaptBar, I'm scoring at like a 70% over 85 torts questions, and improving daily. But on Barbri's torts quizzes, I'll get literally like a 8 or 9 out of 18, and typically just get worse. This is pretty much the same for me across all MBE subjects. I get they want to make the questions harder than on the actual MBE, but I mean at what point does it become counterproductive

[Futuregohan14]

I just wish there were some way to see where my essays stand relative to my peers. I know that the nature of grading essays makes it close to impossible to provide the kind of detailed, to-the-percentile broad analysis we get for MBE questions, but it makes me nervous not knowing where I really stand. I'll self-grade and not do spectacularly, but then I'm left wondering how close the Barbri grading checklist is to the real thing (ex: I'm left wondering if, on test day, will I get credit for making these statements of law in my Rules section that Barbri isn't giving me credit for, even though they're clearly relevant). And while I'm beating myself up for missing a rule Barbri wanted me to hit, I'm then wondering if I'm missing more issues on these essays than the majority of my peers are on the same practice essays (which would govern how worried I would be). There's no way to tell.

I guess it's just out of our hands. All I know for sure is that I need to devote some more time to killing the MPT. Something tells me I'm going to need all the low-hanging fruit I can get in order to feel comfortable about my odds of passing this thing.

[Germaine]

I think I'm over Barbri's dumb*** questions, man. On AdaptBar, I'm scoring at like a 70% over 85 torts questions, and improving daily. But on Barbri's torts quizzes, I'll get literally like a 8 or 9 out of 18, and typically just get worse. This is pretty much the same for me across all MBE subjects. I get they want to make the questions harder than on the actual MBE, but I mean at what point does it become counterproductive

Right there with you. Keep reminding myself that Barbri's business depends on people crediting them with passing the bar, so they have to tweak the Qs toward the hard end (keeps us working, and creates impression of big improvement when results come back). I took two of the real MBE 100 Q sets and was btwn 75% and 80% -- about 20% higher than my Barbri sim score two days earlier.

[runthetrap1990]

I think i'm going to lose it next time Barbri tells me answer B is right...but Answer A was more right.

[esrom55]

Whew....that Torts set 5 kicked my ass.....

[bballbb02]

Who wants to make some essay predictions??

[cnk1220]

Who wants to make some essay predictions??

https://excellenceinlawschool.com/july- ... edictions/

[ConfusedL1]

I think i'm going to lose it next time Barbri tells me answer B is right...but Answer A was more right.

Or terribly worded questions. Adaptibars licensed questions have been MUCH more useful. It's like Barbri cares so much about getting nuances correct they've stopped giving a damn about misleading "gotcha" questions.

[vivala]

I really hope Barbri is harder because I'm barely hitting target now and missed it completely on Contracts 5 (might be in a different order for the UBE - my state doesn't have its own thread so I'm lurking here)

[ConfusedL1]

Um, when are we supposed to be doing the mixed review 4-7? They're not even in my personal study plan.

[runthetrap1990]

I think i'm going to lose it next time Barbri tells me answer B is right...but Answer A was more right.

Or terribly worded questions. Adaptibars licensed questions have been MUCH more useful. It's like Barbri cares so much about getting nuances correct they've stopped giving a damn about misleading "gotcha" questions.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks some of the questions are poorly worded. There are times I'll have to sit and read a fact pattern three or four times to be able to follow because they'll use pronouns without being clear about who those pronouns are referring to, or other just have piss poor phrasing in general.

[sf45]

Um, when are we supposed to be doing the mixed review 4-7? They're not even in my personal study plan.

They're not in mine either, I guess they're for extra practice.

I've also been frustrated with some of these questions. I appreciate that they want to teach us about some weird corners of the law, so I don't mind when they're esoteric, but some are just confusing or poorly written. Also yesterday's crim law set had a problem where an officer shot a "bag lady," which isn't a very nice term.

[msummer]

Does anyone know what is the score Target on barbri- mock exam for the MBE portion?

[msummer]

I think i'm going to lose it next time Barbri tells me answer B is right...but Answer A was more right.

Or terribly worded questions. Adaptibars licensed questions have been MUCH more useful. It's like Barbri cares so much about getting nuances correct they've stopped giving a damn about misleading "gotcha" questions.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks some of the questions are poorly worded. There are times I'll have to sit and read a fact pattern three or four times to be able to follow because they'll use pronouns without being clear about who those pronouns are referring to, or other just have piss poor phrasing in general.

Good to know that I am not the only one who feels like that!

[de minimis]

Does anyone know what is the score Target on barbri- mock exam for the MBE portion?

123
http://images.barbri.com/email/pardot/M ... tGoals.pdf

[msummer]

Does anyone know what is the score Target on barbri- mock exam for the MBE portion?

123
http://images.barbri.com/email/pardot/M ... tGoals.pdf

Thank! I wonder who taught them math. Only at Barbri- 62/100 equals to 63%

[ConfusedL1]

Does anyone know what the "targets" actually mean? Like, are they substantially above passing?

[ConfusedL1]

Here's an example of an infuratingly nuanced question:

Buyer in an installment contract says "as many x product as the buyer chooses to order" and not "as many x product as the buyer shall require," meaning that that promise was illusory.

While true, this level of detail with vague language is crazy rare on the bar exam.

[SowhatsNU]

While we're knocking Barbri's questions:

The Evidence Workshop Question 2 and Set 3 Question 15 ARE LITERALLY THE SAME THING, except in the workshop question the cellmate has hepatitis, and in the Set 3 question he has Aids.

Wonder how many of these questions are just recycled...