BarBri Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[ohhoney]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

[rinkrat19]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

oh ffs.

[jamescastle]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

lmfao

[3|ink]

Are the barbri essays harder than the real essays? Or does that vary by state?

Seems like no matter how comfortable I feel about a topic, I can't write a decent essay.

[Redamon1]

Are the barbri essays harder than the real essays? Or does that vary by state?

Seems like no matter how comfortable I feel about a topic, I can't write a decent essay.

For CA at least, the Barbri essays are actual past bar essays.

[old_soul]

A few days ago, we had the second Essay workshop for Barbri. Thought it was helpful for the MBE-essay subjects. I can't imagine why they don't do something like that for the state-specific topics.

[DesperadoOfColumbia]

That Property MPQ 5: WTF? There's no way any of the real MBE property questions are as difficult as the easiest of that set.

I got like 6 of them right, I could've gotten a better score if I just did it drunk, but MPQs are all over the way hard so don't kill yourself over it.

Also I'm doing like 45-50% on MBE stuff (except for crim, I'm fucking great at crim I guess). Had a total breakdown but one of the junior attorneys at my firm emailed me to tell me that that's really pretty normal and just calm my god damn jets.

And what i with the essays? I get a score, then little boxes in PDF format, but there's no way to read the comments. Also 2 of my essays have n't been graded yet.

[kmp127]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

lmfao

oh now i feel like a winner. i wonder if there's a scrooge mcduck vault out there with all the barbri money that someone swims in

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow's is from Bill Cosby.

[charlesxavier]

Anybody else have trouble occasionally (maybe once or twice on the Simulated MBE) with the questions that ask "If X is found liable/not liable for Y, it is most likely because:"

Every once in a while I screw up because I'm not sure if the party can actually prove the defense/element. For example, on the MBE:

I missed the hockey criminal law question because I (rather wrongly) assumed that Defendant could actually prove that there was consent to that sort of contact.
However, I also missed the torts question about the doctor and the seizure patient because I thought "there's no way that it isn't foreseeable that taking a patient off seizure medication could cause an accident while driving."

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

The Barbri percentiles are up for the simulated MBE. But they are definitely not perfect. For Civil Procedure on the topic of subject matter jurisdiction i got "4/4 100%" on the questions which puts me in the "43rd percentile." Huh?

[myrtlewinston]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow's is from Bill Cosby.

Then Subway Jared. He's already in Franzese's Property notes.

[mr.hands]

Anyone else getting dangerously close to burning out? Just looking at my notes makes me sick and I've got 2 weeks to go...

[Ludacrispat26]

The Barbri percentiles are up for the simulated MBE. But they are definitely not perfect. For Civil Procedure on the topic of subject matter jurisdiction i got "4/4 100%" on the questions which puts me in the "43rd percentile." Huh?

When many people get 4/4, it is possible to get 4/4 and be in the 43%. That's how statistics work. It just means you beat 57% of people.

Remember, you got 4/4. You couldn't have possibly done better. That's all that matters.

[bstefans1]

People should really think about and consider the subjectivity that goes into grading the essays. Two essays can literally be the exact same and receive different scores depending on the grader and how they view things. This is why the MBE is so important. If you score well on the MBE and really have those rules down, it not only basically guarantees you pass (subject to you not being a complete idiot and getting no credit on the MPT or Essays), but it also transfers over to the essay section a lot more than the other way around.

Even if you don't know your state distinctions, you still get massive points for spotting the issue, stating the MBE rule, and applying the facts.

I've barely looked at the essays and don't plan to until sometime next week (except for the ones we had to send in for grading).

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

The Barbri percentiles are up for the simulated MBE. But they are definitely not perfect. For Civil Procedure on the topic of subject matter jurisdiction i got "4/4 100%" on the questions which puts me in the "43rd percentile." Huh?

When many people get 4/4, it is possible to get 4/4 and be in the 43%. That's how statistics work. It just means you beat 57% of people.

Remember, you got 4/4. You couldn't have possibly done better. That's all that matters.

I hear you, but their color coding system marks several areas as ones I need to focus on and these are areas where I got 100% of the questions correct...but a lot of other people did to. So thats a flaw in the system.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

People should really think about and consider the subjectivity that goes into grading the essays. Two essays can literally be the exact same and receive different scores depending on the grader and how they view things. This is why the MBE is so important. If you score well on the MBE and really have those rules down, it not only basically guarantees you pass (subject to you not being a complete idiot and getting no credit on the MPT or Essays), but it also transfers over to the essay section a lot more than the other way around.

Even if you don't know your state distinctions, you still get massive points for spotting the issue, stating the MBE rule, and applying the facts.

I've barely looked at the essays and don't plan to until sometime next week (except for the ones we had to send in for grading).

Someone at my firm passed the NY bar by only studying for the MBE. He said he literally knew nothing about state distinctions. This takes balls but seems very crazy to me given that in NY 50% of the grade is NY essays and MC, and the essays in certain topics (wills, trusts, secured) have little or nothing to do with MBE subjects and it can be tough to come up with a rule that even approximates the law. I'm focusing on NY subjects and I am also outlining administrative law because i have a feeling it will come up in an essay this year.

[Notmyfavbar]

Anybody else have trouble occasionally (maybe once or twice on the Simulated MBE) with the questions that ask "If X is found liable/not liable for Y, it is most likely because:"

Every once in a while I screw up because I'm not sure if the party can actually prove the defense/element. For example, on the MBE:

I missed the hockey criminal law question because I (rather wrongly) assumed that Defendant could actually prove that there was consent to that sort of contact.
However, I also missed the torts question about the doctor and the seizure patient because I thought "there's no way that it isn't foreseeable that taking a patient off seizure medication could cause an accident while driving."

Missed that same torts question, got pissed and I still don't understand how to properly approach questions like that. It's a total mind fuck for me.

[Devlin]

guys. GUYS. The Barbri ~motivational~ quote for today!!!!!!!!!

#owntheracism.

[Notmyfavbar]

Anyone else getting dangerously close to burning out? Just looking at my notes makes me sick and I've got 2 weeks to go...

def burned out thursday. It was weird because I felt like I was dehydrated and lightheaded all day. Really thought I was going to go to the ER that night. Ended up napping for 3 hours thursday. Slept in Friday. Tried to work on Friday but was going so freaking slow. My brain wouldn't grasp anything, not even the stuff I was reviewing. Today's the first day that I feel decent enough to keep going. Feel like I've wasted so much time but honestly, the catching up on sleep helped so much. I guess I'd rather burn out now than in the middle of the next two weeks.

[charlesxavier]

Anyone else getting dangerously close to burning out? Just looking at my notes makes me sick and I've got 2 weeks to go...

Let's put it this way: My PSP says "Review Torts" and then "Complete Torts MPQ Set 5"

I spent two hours reviewing torts and then did CONTRACTS MPQ Set 5. I didn't even realize it until I finished grading it.

[Neff]

I think I'm pretty burned out too. Did absolutely nothing yesterday and I feel like I just don't give an eff any more. Most of that is due to knowing that the odds of failing are so low now given the effort I've already put in, and that small possibility just isn't enough to motivate me any more. Hope I don't get punished.

[BVest]

The Barbri percentiles are up for the simulated MBE. But they are definitely not perfect. For Civil Procedure on the topic of subject matter jurisdiction i got "4/4 100%" on the questions which puts me in the "43rd percentile." Huh?

When many people get 4/4, it is possible to get 4/4 and be in the 43%. That's how statistics work. It just means you beat 57% of people.

Remember, you got 4/4. You couldn't have possibly done better. That's all that matters.

Actually, it means you beat just 43% of people. Percentiles are not like class ranking... you want to put up a high number.

And Hutz, I agree it's odd. I was initially concerned about my Civ Pro when they posted the percentiles, but it it goes to show how much easier Barbri's civ pro questions are than all their other subjects.

[BVest]

Texas Folk: I have a question about the B&A Essay 22 Model Answer.

[+] Spoiler

I thought partners could limit or even eliminate the duties of Care and Good Faith, but not the duty of loyalty. Was I mistaken? The model answer says all of clause (i) was invalid because partners cannot eliminate any of those duties.

Otherwise I felt pretty good about that one. I didn't mention the control factors in part 2, and I said that Courtney may have been liable in part 3 if the trier of fact found that she was negligent in her supervision of Jen -- which the model answer specifically says is wrong.

ETA: Found the answer finally in the outline (it was with lawsuits rather than with duties). I was not mistaken but the model answer appears to have been, just FYI.

[Barbro]

That Property MPQ 5: WTF? There's no way any of the real MBE property questions are as difficult as the easiest of that set.

I got like 6 of them right, I could've gotten a better score if I just did it drunk, but MPQs are all over the way hard so don't kill yourself over it.

Also I'm doing like 45-50% on MBE stuff (except for crim, I'm fucking great at crim I guess). Had a total breakdown but one of the junior attorneys at my firm emailed me to tell me that that's really pretty normal and just calm my god damn jets.

And what i with the essays? I get a score, then little boxes in PDF format, but there's no way to read the comments. Also 2 of my essays have n't been graded yet.

Got a solid 6/18 on that one. I think Barbri has to be fucking with us at this point.