Official Kaplan July 2017 Bar Thread Forum

[Asroma]

I went from 116 midterm to 127 final.

[Pass302]

Chris just used John Cena in a MBE review. I am so happy.

[scubasteve2]

Is the Kaplan grading of CA essays accurate?

[p3aceandl0v3]

Anyone else like VERY behind? I'm gunning to get the midterm done Tuesday

[stannis]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one totally thrown off by the classification of principal/interest for trusts. Hopefully we don't get that on the real thing.

My progression has gone from 126 (diagnostic) to 130 (midterm) to 142 (final). Going to watch the full final exam video reviews the next 2 days.

Then alternate between the following until test day:
--50 MBE Questions and thoroughly review 1 MBE subject
--2 practice MEE questions and thoroughly review 1 MEE subject.

I suppose I should attempt 1-2 MPTs before test day.

[mandyjay11]

I hope I wasn't the only one who saw a score decrease from mid term to final. I still don't have the law memorized so that set me back a bit and I missed quite a few because I wasn't reading closely enough. I do feel myself getting pretty tired/ burnt out by putting in 8-10 hour days consistently since the beginning of Bar prep (and taking Saturday's off). I've followed Kaplan fully (except I don't use their flash cards because I've made my own). I'm 90% completed and that's because I haven't written some of the MEEs for topics I don't feel comfortable with. I'm pretty worried at this point but trying to remain positive and trust that I'm doing enough to pass.

Anyone else in the same boat?

[nybar2017]

For folks who have done the Mee practice test already, or those about to review the answer key, the answer to the first question is wrong. Thought it was worth sharing as they haven't sent an update out:

[+] Spoiler

On the first question about takings, I emailed asking why the answer didn't consider the installation of the floodlights a permanent physical invasion, meaning that there is a taking with having to resort to the balancing test. Their answer was: "This essay has already been flagged for review and revision. Yes, the floodlights are a "permanent physical invasion" under the relevant case law."

When I asked what the answer should say they suggested "Because the U.S. Supreme Court found that the forced installation of cable television wiring, pursuant to a state statute, was a taking under the Fifth Amendment as a permanent physical presence on the property, the forced installation of these floodlights is also a taking."

The case is Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419 (1982). The Supreme Court held that when the character of the governmental action is a permanent physical occupation of property, it is a regulatory taking to the extent of the occupation, without regard to whether the action achieves an important public benefit or has only minimal economic impact on the owner. They established the permanent physical presence test for regulatory takings. No balancing test is required for this one"

[jdk]

I hope I wasn't the only one who saw a score decrease from mid term to final. I still don't have the law memorized so that set me back a bit and I missed quite a few because I wasn't reading closely enough. I do feel myself getting pretty tired/ burnt out by putting in 8-10 hour days consistently since the beginning of Bar prep (and taking Saturday's off). I've followed Kaplan fully (except I don't use their flash cards because I've made my own). I'm 90% completed and that's because I haven't written some of the MEEs for topics I don't feel comfortable with. I'm pretty worried at this point but trying to remain positive and trust that I'm doing enough to pass.

Anyone else in the same boat?

My score decreased by two points, but I still crushed the MBE.

Beware of burnout! I "peaked" about a week too early. Don't be afraid to take a day or two off.

[soonerfreak]

So I finished the final MBE review today and clicked on the FSP. I had no idea that the FSP would start today. I can just move stuff around but it is kind of annoying that it wouldn't just start on the next day since it becomes available after a full days work.

[Pass302]

So I finished the final MBE review today and clicked on the FSP. I had no idea that the FSP would start today. I can just move stuff around but it is kind of annoying that it wouldn't just start on the next day since it becomes available after a full days work.

Same thing happens to me... I was not expecting that at all.

[2new2this]

I hope I wasn't the only one who saw a score decrease from mid term to final. I still don't have the law memorized so that set me back a bit and I missed quite a few because I wasn't reading closely enough. I do feel myself getting pretty tired/ burnt out by putting in 8-10 hour days consistently since the beginning of Bar prep (and taking Saturday's off). I've followed Kaplan fully (except I don't use their flash cards because I've made my own). I'm 90% completed and that's because I haven't written some of the MEEs for topics I don't feel comfortable with. I'm pretty worried at this point but trying to remain positive and trust that I'm doing enough to pass.

Anyone else in the same boat?

I'm in the boat with you... hopefully we've got more than one life jacket. lol My score went down by 12 points! So... hopefully it's just fatigue and not be getting dumber by the day. I'm betting that it's probably the former. Try not to lose confidence and stick with it (projecting a bit, here). Make sure to give your brain a study break and do whatever will help keep your stress levels low as freaking out will make things worse. If you feel like you're drowning, take Dory's advice and just keep swimming.

Okay, I'm done with the boat analogy. Good luck!

[mandyjay11]

I hope I wasn't the only one who saw a score decrease from mid term to final. I still don't have the law memorized so that set me back a bit and I missed quite a few because I wasn't reading closely enough. I do feel myself getting pretty tired/ burnt out by putting in 8-10 hour days consistently since the beginning of Bar prep (and taking Saturday's off). I've followed Kaplan fully (except I don't use their flash cards because I've made my own). I'm 90% completed and that's because I haven't written some of the MEEs for topics I don't feel comfortable with. I'm pretty worried at this point but trying to remain positive and trust that I'm doing enough to pass.

Anyone else in the same boat?

I'm in the boat with you... hopefully we've got more than one life jacket. lol My score went down by 12 points! So... hopefully it's just fatigue and not be getting dumber by the day. I'm betting that it's probably the former. Try not to lose confidence and stick with it (projecting a bit, here). Make sure to give your brain a study break and do whatever will help keep your stress levels low as freaking out will make things worse. If you feel like you're drowning, take Dory's advice and just keep swimming.

Okay, I'm done with the boat analogy. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I think you're probably right. I'll be sure to take breaks and keep on swimming for 15 more days! We can do it!

[tacocohcevoli]

Thanks for the advice. I think you're probably right. I'll be sure to take breaks and keep on swimming for 15 more days! We can do it!

Oh s**t.

[Asroma]

My FSP is heavy on Criminal Law, Torts and Evidence, not my worst subjects. Do they expect essays on those?

[soonerfreak]

My FSP is heavy on Criminal Law, Torts and Evidence, not my worst subjects. Do they expect essays on those?

I got a ton of evidence which was a good bit higher than anything else for me. I feel like they only said the FSP would be done to help us on our weaker stuff. I'm using it as more of a guideline to make sure I review all topics than doing exactly what they say.

[nybar2017]

I got torts, eveidence and crim so far. My guess is that it is the same plan for everyone, or that they are doing what you do best on first, and focusing closer to the date on what you need more work. Who knows though.

[stannis]

Did anyone else not get a FSP?

I "finished" the course but only did about 60% of it.

[Yugihoe]

Did anyone else not get a FSP?

I "finished" the course but only did about 60% of it.

I didn't get one because I didn't do the final yet. I don't think you need to be 100%, but you need to have done the final? Most of my incomplete % is from the MPT and MEE's though, which I'm working through now.

Idk I feel confident enough on the MBE because the detailed analysis shows that I have an overall 74% correct of the 1200 questions I've done so far. On the other hand, I did my first MEE today (real estate) and it was a fucking mess.

[nybar2017]

Did anyone else not get a FSP?

I "finished" the course but only did about 60% of it.

From my understanding, you need to do the MBE and then check off each box under the MBE Final review days (watch the explanation, "review" the questions). As soon as I checked the last box my FSP popped up.

[not guilty]

Florida Kaplan people. I have this book: Kaplan PMBR Bar Exam Florida Bar Points Subject Memorization & Review 2016

but no answer page. can anyone help?

[Yugihoe]

Is it me or did Kaplan not assign essays in every MBE topic? I don't see any for con law notably.

What are you MEE strategy? I've been reading the prompts, and outlining the answers at this point. Then looking at the sample answer outline and sample essay answer. I think this is pretty good and lets me spend a whole day doing one topic and doing like 5-6 essays a day. I wonder if this is sufficient for me to get a grasp of the big picture because this way I am just applying law to the most common ways of testing. I get to avoid actually reading or reviewing the class notes/lecture handouts which I'm not sure will be helpful at this point.

[weaselbee]

MBE went from 68% to 73%.
Contracts, Property, and Con Law killed me on my mid-term.

Since the mid-term I really focused on those subjects and my scores went up by 18, 13, and 16 points respectively. Meanwhile my best subjects (CrimLaw/Pro and Torts) all decreased by a handful of points. I suspect my Evidence and FRCP scores increased by a couple points thanks to reviewing it for CA Evidence and CA Civ Pro.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased. Not sure what my FSP will look like, but I'll definitely stick to my own targeted practice, as it's clearly worked been working. My goal is to get Property and Contracts over the hump and into the 70%s.

Best of luck all! Keep grinding.

[stannis]

Did anyone else not get a FSP?

I "finished" the course but only did about 60% of it.

From my understanding, you need to do the MBE and then check off each box under the MBE Final review days (watch the explanation, "review" the questions). As soon as I checked the last box my FSP popped up.

Thanks, this worked.

[SurfLaw]

MBE went 88 > 94 > 100 from Diagnostic to Midterm to Final. Hopefully the extra 30 points from these next 2 days of review is real....

[tacocohcevoli]

Reviewing the final MBE now:

because the lawyer could strike three potential jurors for any reason other than race or gender

Isn't striking based on skin color (not necessarily related to race) also prohibited? Or am I remembering the skin color rule incorrectly?