MD February 2016 Exam Forum

[akcheat]

I like to think that the numbers are relatively lower when people did relatively well on the exam/the exam was "easier"/bar graders were more generous.

That's what I'm hoping for, because if not it's going to be a really low passing rate.

[Em_Banc]

Did any MD repeater think that the essays were any easier or more straightforward than in the past?

I guess I could answer this myself from studying old essays, LOL. I found them to be all about the same.

[akcheat]

Did any MD repeater think that the essays were any easier or more straightforward than in the past?

I honestly did think they were a bit easier than July (Grandma question emphatically excluded). I also thought the MBE was easier than July. If the passing rates are super low, I really do think it'll be because they are grading harder than ever rather than actual difficulty.

[MDGirl]

I don't think the "multiplier" and the "add-on" are numbers SBLE just makes up. Those numbers are all based on calculations such as standard deviation and mean scores. I think the add on is calculated using based on the standard deviation and mean score for MBE and Essays of all MD applicants. Standard deviation has to do with the spread, so if the scores were mostly clustered around the mean, there would be a low standard deviation. But it's very difficult to figure out what happened because the "add-on" calculation uses mean and std for both MBE and essays and looks complication to figure out. The "multiplier" is the std of MD MBE divided by std of essays, so a higher multiplier would mean that it's likely that there was a larger score spread for MBE scores than essays.

This just sounds like I'm rambling on...

[waitingonresults]

Did any MD repeater think that the essays were any easier or more straightforward than in the past?

I honestly did think they were a bit easier than July (Grandma question emphatically excluded). I also thought the MBE was easier than July. If the passing rates are super low, I really do think it'll be because they are grading harder than ever rather than actual difficulty.

I thought after I took the essays that they were more straight forward than previous MD essays that I studied from. It also helped not having a sec trans or comm paper question.

[MDGirl]

Did any MD repeater think that the essays were any easier or more straightforward than in the past?

I guess I could answer this myself from studying old essays, LOL. I found them to be all about the same.

I thought February's exam was a lot better than July. I studied harder too, but still, I thought July's MBE was a killer and the essays were so long -- especially the last essay in both the AM and PM. They were each something like 10 parts and that sucked for me because I had 5 minutes left for each one. I got 1s on those two essays which destroyed me.

[MDGirl]

What really worries me is I did worse on the MBE this time. I guessed on so many in July that I have no confidence in what my score meant compared to this time around. I mean, I could have just made really good guesses in July and scored higher on the MBE. My MBE last July was actually pretty decent. It was the essays that killed me.

Did you guys study using a commercial bar prep? If so, what was your MBE practice score? I used Themis and my score was 134.

[akcheat]

Did any MD repeater think that the essays were any easier or more straightforward than in the past?

I guess I could answer this myself from studying old essays, LOL. I found them to be all about the same.

I thought February's exam was a lot better than July. I studied harder too, but still, I thought July's MBE was a killer and the essays were so long -- especially the last essay in both the AM and PM. They were each something like 10 parts and that sucked for me because I had 5 minutes left for each one. I got 1s on those two essays which destroyed me.

That's interesting. I got a 1 on the wrongful death/professional responsibility essay, and after looking at the model answer I couldn't believe I got so few points on it. I think they were giving out a lot more 1's than normal last July. I mean isn't a 1 supposed to be for a barely responsive answer?

[MDGirl]

That's interesting. I got a 1 on the wrongful death/professional responsibility essay, and after looking at the model answer I couldn't believe I got so few points on it. I think they were giving out a lot more 1's than normal last July. I mean isn't a 1 supposed to be for a barely responsive answer?

My responses were VERY unresponsive. I had 30 seconds left and had not finished reading the call of the question and so I just quickly typed bare minimum for each subpart -- as in 1-3 word answers. I knew I would at least get 1 point by putting down ANYTHING. I was pretty sure that unless there was so sort of miracle, I had failed.

I'm very surprised they only gave you a 1 if you wrote a full answer, even if it was wrong. I would think complete, but totally off track response would at least get a 2. This is why I hate MD's exam. It's so arbitrary and all depends on your grader.

[Em_Banc]

I took the bar in a diff jx and got a 135 MBE, but failed overall. I had been practicing (Themis) at about 60-65% correct. On the actual exam in July I didn't finish either session, and ended up completely guessing on probably 20 in each session. This time around the MBE felt a lot better to me. I finished both sessions, and had been practicing at around 70-74%. I completely guessed on only a handful.

God, hearing about you guys getting those 1s I'm so sorry. I understand if you REALLY barely wrote anything (nothing against you MDGirl, I have terrible timing issues), but a responsive answer?

[Em_Banc]

I thought after I took the essays that they were more straight forward than previous MD essays that I studied from. It also helped not having a sec trans or comm paper question.

^^^this was super helpful. I barely studied sec trans.

[Em_Banc]

Did any repeaters here feel like their scores on July essays somewhat followed their estimates of how they performed?

[MDGirl]

No offense taken. I was not expecting more than 1 on those 2 essays, but a couple of my other essays I had answers almost identical to the model answers and they gave me a 3 and a 4. I was not happy about that.

On the MBE in July I guessed on at least 25% and ran out of time in the AM and filled in the same letter for about 15 questions. I got a 133. For the February exam, I don't remember being totally clueless on any question, but I probably had a pretty confident 50/50 guess on about 50% of the questions and ran out of time in the AM with 4 questions just blank (yes, I know that was stupid, just lost track and didn't get a chance to fill anything in for the last 4 questions.).

[Em_Banc]

Ok. It sounds like your MBE performance was similar to mine in July, hence similar scores. Hoping for a significant improvement this time around. Did anyone who failed ever see a 5 or 6 on an essay? 4 is supposed to be "average." 5 for above average, and 6 for among best in the group. 3 below average but not as bad as 1s and 2s. I really hate the bar exam.

[MDGirl]

I'm really paranoid... I just checked my current seat number on the July exam and that person failed. I hope that seat number is not bad luck!

[Em_Banc]

I'm really paranoid... I just checked my current seat number on the July exam and that person failed. I hope that seat number is not bad luck!

We are the same person. I did that too a while back.

[MDGirl]

I wanted to do it before but I couldn't find the list. Then I forgot about it until now.

[MDGirl]

I've given up on the results page of the SBLE. Now I just have this page up and keep refreshing it for any update: http://www.mdcourts.gov/ble/pdfs/

[Em_Banc]

I've given up on the results page of the SBLE. Now I just have this page up and keep refreshing it for any update: http://www.mdcourts.gov/ble/pdfs/

How on earth did you find this?!

[akcheat]

I'm really paranoid... I just checked my current seat number on the July exam and that person failed. I hope that seat number is not bad luck!

Ugh, my seat number failed the last two exams.

[MDGirl]

I like computers. And I'm nosy.

[Em_Banc]

Anyone know how long MD takes to post the exam questions and representative answers?

[akcheat]

Anyone know how long MD takes to post the exam questions and representative answers?

I want to say it's within a month, but who knows.

[BWill23]

All this talk of 1's and 2's has me nervous! I'm no statistician, but I guess is that the low multiple and add on are because the exam was a bit easier, and everyone performed fairly well as a whole. The downside of that means that the line between passing and failing is going to be an exceptionally close one. As in, there will be a bunch of people with total points between 400-405, and a bunch between 406- lets say 410.

Having second thoughts about checking right at 4:30... or at all this weekend. Who wants to be a downer on Mothers day???

[Em_Banc]

I hear you. I want to have good news for my mom and gma so badly.