BarBri Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[kyle010723]

I'm either getting even more stupid, or these MPQ question sets 5 and 6 are way harder than sets 1-4. Is anyone else experiencing this? Should I be concerned?

We've been ridiculing about MPQ 5 and 6 for days now. Welcome to the club.

[Good Guy Gaud]

I'm either getting even more stupid, or these MPQ question sets 5 and 6 are way harder than sets 1-4. Is anyone else experiencing this? Should I be concerned?

Set 5s were awful

[kyle010723]

Contract Clause, escaping patient from a mental hospital, life estate to an unmarried son then to widow then to son of son followed by a gazillion transactions. Need I say more?

[BVest]

How far do you guys have to travel to your testing station?

I'm traveling about 6.5 miles. It's just the far end of downtown from my house.

Texas has testing sites in every city where there's a school except that Dallas and Fort Worth are merged in Arlington which is between the two cities. However, starting in 2016, the February exam will be Austin only (but the July exam will still have multiple sites.

[RaleighStClair]

How far do you guys have to travel to your testing station?

I live in Seattle and the exam is 2 days in Tacoma (like 45 mins-1.25 hours with traffic). It's probably overkill but I got a hotel room down there. I just don't want to deal with the possibility of my car breaking down (which tends to happen), sleeping in on accident (also tends to happen), etc.

[victortsoi]

I'm either getting even more stupid, or these MPQ question sets 5 and 6 are way harder than sets 1-4. Is anyone else experiencing this? Should I be concerned?

We've been ridiculing about MPQ 5 and 6 for days now. Welcome to the club.

should i even do the sets 5 and 6, especially since I've been doing adaptibar? Im a little behind and havent done the mixed sets or 200 question mbe. I'm thinking of doing 2 mixed sets a day in the morning then working on essays in the evening.

[Good Guy Gaud]

I'd skip them if you have other MBE questions you can do. Honestly.

[RaleighStClair]

as a point of reference, back in 2013 i got a 142/200 on the barbri midterm (roughly 71%).

i did part of the emmanuel's "A.M." test two days before the actual bar exam (questions 1 through 61) and got 49/61 correct (roughly 80% correct).

on the real MBE, i got what i estimated to be about 148/190 (roughly 78%) based on my scaled score.

i would say that i did better on the Emmanuel questions than I did on the real thing and also that the barbri questions FELT more like the real MBE questions. it's a weird situation and something you'll encounter -- after you're done, you will feel like the questions were much harder than you were used to, but you'll end up doing better than you were doing on barbri questions. it's just a weird thing of only remembering the tough questions and not being able to self-grade immediately.

Good to know. Thanks!

[kyle010723]

should i even do the sets 5 and 6, especially since I've been doing adaptibar? Im a little behind and havent done the mixed sets or 200 question mbe. I'm thinking of doing 2 mixed sets a day in the morning then working on essays in the evening.

Honestly, I do not think MPQ 5 and 6 are that useful beside drilling down some exceptions within an exception to an exception. However, I would recommend attempting the 200 question MBE. I did not realize how exhaustive it would be to do 200 multiple choice questions.

[rinkrat19]

My test site is on the other side of Portland from the suburb where Rinkdad's house is. 40 min max at rush hour, probably more like 30 min, but not a big deal.

[Good Guy Gaud]

should i even do the sets 5 and 6, especially since I've been doing adaptibar? Im a little behind and havent done the mixed sets or 200 question mbe. I'm thinking of doing 2 mixed sets a day in the morning then working on essays in the evening.

Honestly, I do not think MPQ 5 and 6 are that useful beside drilling down some exceptions within an exception to an exception. However, I would recommend attempting the 200 question MBE. I did not realize how exhaustive it would be to do 200 multiple choice questions.

+1

I'm going to try to jam out two full MBE practice days between now and the real deal. Even the half-day was a bit rough I need the mental stamina.

[kyle010723]

I'm going to try to jam out two full MBE practice days between now and the real deal. Even the half-day was a bit rough I need the mental stamina.

Yea, doing 50 questions set is nothing like doing 100 questions at a time. It is exceedingly hard to stay focus after 75 questions. Oh, and on the real thing, you wouldn't have that big cup of coffee next to you to rely on while pushing through the last 20 questions (at least no food or drinks allowed in IL...)

[rinkrat19]

Oregon says they allow "unwrapped food and a drink with a lid," but you can only take in a quart-sized plastic bag for all your shit including keys, ID, pens/pencils, earplugs, etc. I'm not sure if we're allowed to leave the area during the lunch break, so I'm wondering if that tiny bag is supposed to hold lunch too, or if the unwrapped food and a drink is for snacking. Guess I'll be emailing the organizers to get some clarification.
If I have to fit my lunch in a quart ziplock with pens and stuff, I'm going to be a very hungry and distracted Rink by the end of the 8+ hours the whole day will take.

[Good Guy Gaud]

AZ basically doesn't let us bring anything. Can't bring own pencils, earplugs, etc.

[3|ink]

How far do you guys have to travel to your testing station?

In my shitty state (Virginia), they have only one testing location. And it's in the middle of nowhere (Roanoke). And everyone has to dress up. (Not sure if that's the rule in other states as well.)

lol dress up?

Full suit.

I actually saw a guy take the MPRE in a suit. i asked 'You realize this isn't the bar exam, right?

[Good Guy Gaud]

How far do you guys have to travel to your testing station?

In my shitty state (Virginia), they have only one testing location. And it's in the middle of nowhere (Roanoke). And everyone has to dress up. (Not sure if that's the rule in other states as well.)

lol dress up?

Full suit.

I actually saw a guy take the MPRE in a suit. i asked 'You realize this isn't the bar exam, right?

I would be sweating hardcore by the end of the day. What a nightmare. I'm sorry, man. Lol.

[kyle010723]

Oregon says they allow "unwrapped food and a drink with a lid," but you can only take in a quart-sized plastic bag for all your shit including keys, ID, pens/pencils, earplugs, etc. I'm not sure if we're allowed to leave the area during the lunch break, so I'm wondering if that tiny bag is supposed to hold lunch too, or if the unwrapped food and a drink is for snacking. Guess I'll be emailing the organizers to get some clarification.
If I have to fit my lunch in a quart ziplock with pens and stuff, I'm going to be a very hungry and distracted Rink by the end of the 8+ hours the whole day will take.

IL told us to bring a 2-1/2 Gallon Ziplock bag so we can fit our laptops in there. I didn't even realize they make a bag that big. Oh, no pen or pencil allowed. 45 min lunch break. No food, drinks, candies (including cough drops).

[rinkrat19]

Oregon says they allow "unwrapped food and a drink with a lid," but you can only take in a quart-sized plastic bag for all your shit including keys, ID, pens/pencils, earplugs, etc. I'm not sure if we're allowed to leave the area during the lunch break, so I'm wondering if that tiny bag is supposed to hold lunch too, or if the unwrapped food and a drink is for snacking. Guess I'll be emailing the organizers to get some clarification.
If I have to fit my lunch in a quart ziplock with pens and stuff, I'm going to be a very hungry and distracted Rink by the end of the 8+ hours the whole day will take.

IL told us to bring a 2-1/2 Gallon Ziplock bag so we can fit our laptops in there. I didn't even realize they make a bag that big. Oh, no pen or pencil allowed. 45 min lunch break. No food, drinks, candies (including cough drops).

I guess we're just supposed to balance our laptops and cords and external mice and drink and quart-sized bag and hope we don't drop anything vital. A larger bag would solve so many problems! The LSAT allowed a gallon bag, at least. (I think the MPRE too, right?)

Oregon mentions quite a few prohibited items kind of scattered around amongst the other paragraphs of exam-day logistics, but no comprehensive list of what we CAN and CANNOT bring in. Their description of the test itself (question types, scoring, etc.) was similarly scattered. I want to smack whoever wrote everything up because they're an idiot.

[rinkrat19]

Bleh. I much preferred the shirtless rock climber to sweaty-armpit powerlifting Tom Sizemore-looking dude.

[Outis Onoma]

How far do you guys have to travel to your testing station?

In my shitty state (Virginia), they have only one testing location. And it's in the middle of nowhere (Roanoke). And everyone has to dress up. (Not sure if that's the rule in other states as well.)

I spent big $$$ for a hotel room across the street from the convention center where the test is held. I am not a morning person.

[RaleighStClair]

Just noticed that 20,000 people have taken torts questions on Studysmart, while only 18,000 have taken property questions. Have 2,000 people really just given up on property? Haha.

[brotherdarkness]

Just noticed that 20,000 people have taken torts questions on Studysmart, while only 18,000 have taken property questions. Have 2,000 people really just given up on property? Haha.

As in 2000 ppl have not taken property questions period? That doesn't seem right...

[kyle010723]

Just noticed that 20,000 people have taken torts questions on Studysmart, while only 18,000 have taken property questions. Have 2,000 people really just given up on property? Haha.

Is giving up an option? Honestly after today's essays and MPQ5, I'm about to throw my hands up.

[RaleighStClair]

I dunno what the numbers mean exactly, but that's my guess. Or the number of people who have done enough sets to be included in the rankings maybe.

And I feel ya. I'm basically at a loss for what to do at this point.

[kyle010723]

And I feel ya. I'm basically at a loss for what to do at this point.

I decided to do some none Barbri MBE questions and scored around 73% after 30 questions. Think I feel slightly better that I can finally fall asleep now.