Barbri paced program question? Forum

[jarofsoup]

So here's my issue, I suck at the single subject question sets. 50%or less. I rock the multiple subject timed "practice" tests (70-80%). Is there a reason for the discrepancy? Do they put easier qus on the 30 minute timed tests?

Edit: I can't spell.

Probably over analyze the questions when not timed. I feel like the biggest trap is assuming that there is a trap when there is not.

[AJS30]

So here's my issue, I suck at the single subject question sets. 50%or less. I rock the multiple subject timed "practice" tests (70-80%). Is there a reason for the discrepancy? Do they put easier qus on the 30 minute timed tests?

Edit: I can't spell.

What are the multiple subject timed practice tests? I haven't been assigned any of these...

[El Pollito]

On a separate note, I don't know if this is the best thread to ask this, but can people who have passed the bar talk about what percentage of the paced program they completed? I've spoken to people who said they only completed 60-70% and passed and am just curious what TLSers would have to say. (NY bar in my case, but other bars too if you wish.)

23% IIRC

[AJS30]

Does anyone have a good way of determining whether a notice or race-notice statute is being presented in the question. For some reason I'm having difficulty with this.

[ph14]

Does anyone have a good way of determining whether a notice or race-notice statute is being presented in the question. For some reason I'm having difficulty with this.

Our property lecture basically said this:

1. If it mentions "recorded first" or something along those lines, it's either race or race-notice.
2. If it mentions "without notice" or something along those lines, it's either notice or race-notice.
3. If it mentions both, then it's race-notice.

[jd20132013]

On a separate note, I don't know if this is the best thread to ask this, but can people who have passed the bar talk about what percentage of the paced program they completed? I've spoken to people who said they only completed 60-70% and passed and am just curious what TLSers would have to say. (NY bar in my case, but other bars too if you wish.)

23% IIRC

Wow

Was that all you did, or did you only do 23 because you were doing other study methods that weren't "check-off-able"?

[El Pollito]

On a separate note, I don't know if this is the best thread to ask this, but can people who have passed the bar talk about what percentage of the paced program they completed? I've spoken to people who said they only completed 60-70% and passed and am just curious what TLSers would have to say. (NY bar in my case, but other bars too if you wish.)

23% IIRC

Wow

Was that all you did, or did you only do 23 because you were doing other study methods that weren't "check-off-able"?

The latter. I decided that the program was inefficient and spent 80% of my time drilling MBE questions.

[lisavj]

So here's my issue, I suck at the single subject question sets. 50%or less. I rock the multiple subject timed "practice" tests (70-80%). Is there a reason for the discrepancy? Do they put easier qus on the 30 minute timed tests?

Edit: I can't spell.

What are the multiple subject timed practice tests? I haven't been assigned any of these...

They aren't assigned, it's an option in the app.

[Helpful]

edit: nm

[jd20132013]

On a separate note, I don't know if this is the best thread to ask this, but can people who have passed the bar talk about what percentage of the paced program they completed? I've spoken to people who said they only completed 60-70% and passed and am just curious what TLSers would have to say. (NY bar in my case, but other bars too if you wish.)

23% IIRC

Wow

Was that all you did, or did you only do 23 because you were doing other study methods that weren't "check-off-able"?

The latter. I decided that the program was inefficient and spent 80% of my time drilling MBE questions.

Cool. I probably can't do that because of how my state is weighted (60 % essays/40% MBE) but I'm definitely going to buy that 500 question MBE question book and do a lot of them.

Mastering the MBE means you'll at least master the essay topics that overlap, like crim and property, so theres that...

[lmr]

Does anyone have a good way of determining whether a notice or race-notice statute is being presented in the question. For some reason I'm having difficulty with this.

Our property lecture basically said this:

1. If it mentions "recorded first" or something along those lines, it's either race or race-notice.
2. If it mentions "without notice" or something along those lines, it's either notice or race-notice.
3. If it mentions both, then it's race-notice.

The confusing part is that both say "without notice"---this description helped me:

❏ Typical phrasing of a notice statute under the MBE: “No conveyance or mortgage of real property shall be good against subsequent purchasers for value and without notice unless the same be recorded according to law.”
❏ Typical phrasing of a race-notice statute under the MBE: “No conveyance or mortgage of real property shall be good against subsequent purchasers for value and without notice, who shall first record.”

Race notice is apparently never used on the real mbe.

[El Pollito]

Cool. I probably can't do that because of how my state is weighted (60 % essays/40% MBE) but I'm definitely going to buy that 500 question MBE question book and do a lot of them.

Mastering the MBE means you'll at least master the essay topics that overlap, like crim and property, so theres that...

I don't think either bar I took counted MBE for more than that. It's more learnable and easier to realistically drill than state essay crapshoot topics, there's a ton of overlap between MBE and the essays, it's really hard to fail if you can score over 160 or so, and you get credit on the essays for making up rules and correctly applying them.

[MoneyMay]

Cool. I probably can't do that because of how my state is weighted (60 % essays/40% MBE) but I'm definitely going to buy that 500 question MBE question book and do a lot of them.

Mastering the MBE means you'll at least master the essay topics that overlap, like crim and property, so theres that...

I don't think either bar I took counted MBE for more than that. It's more learnable and easier to realistically drill than state essay crapshoot topics, there's a ton of overlap between MBE and the essays, it's really hard to fail if you can score over 160 or so, and you get credit on the essays for making up rules and correctly applying them.

THis is what I am beginning to resort to. I realized I wasn't retaining anything b/c of all the shit BarBri throws at us and I was just going through the motions sometimes. I got Adaptibar and now I am drilling those questions, and am still doing the BarBri Questions, but I doubt I will watch another BarBri video. For me at least, drilling questions/ sitting down and just memorizing this shit is what works for me. The videos are really boring and I don't retain much from them.

[mvpforme]

This is so frustrating. I feel like I'm not retaining any information. Every time I write a practice essay I either don't know the rule at all or just have a vague understanding of it. After the essays I type up the rule and add it to a flashcard, but I have yet found the time to review the flash cards. I spent 30 mins writing about J&S Liability today before "learning" for the second time in as many weeks that my state recently abolished it.

Also for the MBE, I was scoring around the 70th percentile but my numbers are dropping. I want to review the MBE subjects but can't find the TIME.

[LSATNightmares]

I hate to be that guy, but I am stressing out horribly over the essay part of the bar. I have done good/passable on most MBE subjects (except Real Property) but when it comes to essay questions, it's sand and a sieve. I look at the question, I read the answers, and it seems to make sense to me, but it fades so quickly. I am just having a hard time pulling something out of nothing when it comes to essay fact patterns, and I have no idea why.

How are you guys preparing for essays as compared to the MBE? What in the hell can I do to make myself remember better?

I was having a similar problem, even with the MBE, so I started making a list of things I should remember but tend to forget. I write them out and will make it handy for review later.

[LSATNightmares]

So here's my issue, I suck at the single subject question sets. 50%or less. I rock the multiple subject timed "practice" tests (70-80%). Is there a reason for the discrepancy? Do they put easier qus on the 30 minute timed tests?

Edit: I can't spell.

I don't know why you keep freaking out about your progress. Just like with the PT you did, you're rocking everything. The vast majority of people are doing worse than you, so don't worry. Otherwise, other people might start to feel bad.

[lisavj]

So here's my issue, I suck at the single subject question sets. 50%or less. I rock the multiple subject timed "practice" tests (70-80%). Is there a reason for the discrepancy? Do they put easier qus on the 30 minute timed tests?

Edit: I can't spell.

I don't know why you keep freaking out about your progress. Just like with the PT you did, you're rocking everything. The vast majority of people are doing worse than you, so don't worry. Otherwise, other people might start to feel bad.

I assure you that according to barbri I am doing so "well" on the practice problems that I'm in the red part of their slider bar in comparison with their national sample... Bottom 2% in crim. and I did check that I was reading it correctly bc the app re reminds me how it works every time I open it...

[nygrrrl]

Cool. I probably can't do that because of how my state is weighted (60 % essays/40% MBE) but I'm definitely going to buy that 500 question MBE question book and do a lot of them.

Mastering the MBE means you'll at least master the essay topics that overlap, like crim and property, so theres that...

I don't think either bar I took counted MBE for more than that. It's more learnable and easier to realistically drill than state essay crapshoot topics, there's a ton of overlap between MBE and the essays, it's really hard to fail if you can score over 160 or so, and you get credit on the essays for making up rules and correctly applying them.

It's very helpful to hear you saying things like this (especially for those of us who are also finding the program to be inefficient.) I didn't know that we get credit on the essays for making up rules and applying them correctly: if you think of any other tips like that, would you mind posting them? (Also, Fox's thread about the MBE is great for anyone who hasn't read it.)

[ShitLawOrBust]

Cool. I probably can't do that because of how my state is weighted (60 % essays/40% MBE) but I'm definitely going to buy that 500 question MBE question book and do a lot of them.

Mastering the MBE means you'll at least master the essay topics that overlap, like crim and property, so theres that...

I don't think either bar I took counted MBE for more than that. It's more learnable and easier to realistically drill than state essay crapshoot topics, there's a ton of overlap between MBE and the essays, it's really hard to fail if you can score over 160 or so, and you get credit on the essays for making up rules and correctly applying them.

It's very helpful to hear you saying things like this (especially for those of us who are also finding the program to be inefficient.) I didn't know that we get credit on the essays for making up rules and applying them correctly: if you think of any other tips like that, would you mind posting them? (Also, Fox's thread about the MBE is great for anyone who hasn't read it.)

Link? tyia

[LSATNightmares]

So here's my issue, I suck at the single subject question sets. 50%or less. I rock the multiple subject timed "practice" tests (70-80%). Is there a reason for the discrepancy? Do they put easier qus on the 30 minute timed tests?

Edit: I can't spell.

I don't know why you keep freaking out about your progress. Just like with the PT you did, you're rocking everything. The vast majority of people are doing worse than you, so don't worry. Otherwise, other people might start to feel bad.

I assure you that according to barbri I am doing so "well" on the practice problems that I'm in the red part of their slider bar in comparison with their national sample... Bottom 2% in crim. and I did check that I was reading it correctly bc the app re reminds me how it works every time I open it...

Are you talking about the sliding bar for the simulated MBE? You shouldn't be in the red overall if you got 70-80% right like you said. You would clearly be in the green and clearly above average. Just study criminal law if you're weak with that. I can promise you that a lot of people are in the bottom 2% for a random subject. For me, it was mortgages. If you're expecting to be green for all subjects, that's probably not a realistic expectation this far into the Barbri course.

[jd20132013]

Which Emanuel Strategies and Tactics book are we supposed to buy? the 2009 one or the 2012 one?

[forty-two]

Thanks for sharing all this info on your experience! So helpful!

I have one more question, if you remember…did you have a surprising amount of extra time at the actual MBE? I've heard people say they have more time on the real thing left over than on Barbri practice exams (esp b/c the Qs are supposed to be harder) but one Barbri lecturer said we'll spend MORE time on the real thing because we'll agonize over the decision between two good choices on a lot of questions a lot longer on the real thing than we would on the practice. Just curious as to your experience...

I really worked on timing before I took the MBE, and I finished both sections with about five minutes to spare. I made sure to do 16 or 17 questions every half hour and adjusted as I went along as needed. I could see it taking longer though because there were a lot of questions I could have agonized over. But because of the time constraints I forced myself to pick one and move on.

As for some other things that came up in this thread, yes the MPQ question sets get harder as the number gets higher. I stopped doing the 5's because they were just too nitpicky and kind of destroyed my confidence when I'd get so many wrong. I did more mixed question sets instead.

As for the essays, I panicked and was sure I was going to fail that part because I just couldn't remember everything. That's actually why I put so much effort into my MBE prep, to give me a big cushion for my essay score. But El Pollito is correct about getting partial credit for making up reasonable sounding laws and applying them correctly, at least in my state. We got a riparian rights essay question. Barbri spent all of about 30 seconds on water rights, and I didn't learn anything about that in law school. I made up every single rule I wrote in that essay, applied it, and came up with an answer. I also think I got the subject slightly wrong on one of the others (I thought it was a question about one subject but really it was a question about another), and I still passed the essay section comfortably.

[BaiAilian2013]

On a separate note, I don't know if this is the best thread to ask this, but can people who have passed the bar talk about what percentage of the paced program they completed? I've spoken to people who said they only completed 60-70% and passed and am just curious what TLSers would have to say. (NY bar in my case, but other bars too if you wish.)

I checked off dishonestly because bar study made me crazy and otherwise I was going to have a breakdown, but I also played around with it to get a ballpark of where I would actually be, and I would estimate I honestly did about 30-40% of the paced program. I passed NY and NJ with a 164 MBE.

[ditch digger]

How do you folks feel about the essay portion of the exam? Frankly, I think that I'm a bit fucked as far as my essay performance is concerned. I am able to spot all of the issues, but I'm having some trouble writing down my analysis for each issue within thirty minutes. Also, my rule statements are not nearly as comprehensive as the rule statements in the sample answers.

[ditch digger]

Also, I've haven't been writing all of the essays assigned. I do, however, read the questions, outline an answer, and read the sample answers. Just having a bit of a bar prep meltdown.