Best Materials for MBE?? Please Help!! Forum

[myrtlewinston]

I have been watching Jonathan Grossman's MBE lectures (on Adaptibar or on whatstheissue.org). He speaks in plain English and has clarified numerous issues for me.

[SunDevilSparky]

It sounds to me like OP hasn't taken the bar exam before. If that's true, I'd strongly encourage OP to just do Barbri.

I know that a lot of commenters here -- especially the regular commenters -- go on and one about how Barbri doesn't prepare you for the MBE. I completely disagree. I've taken two states' bar exams (hope to hear soon that I'm 2/2), and both times Barbri more than prepared me. The key is to work the program: (1) do all the practice questions and really read the explanatory answers, and (2) watch at least a good chunk of the MBE review videos.

Personally, I think that using lots of various bar prep materials could be completely counterproductive. You'll end up wasting time doubling your efforts -- looking through Barbri and looking through something else. Time is key in preparing for the exam and you absolutely must be judicious.

The people here who complain about Barbri's MBE don't really seem like the crowd you should be taking advice from. THink about it -- some people talk about how they've tried out lots of different programs, and can compare and contrast them. Either they're going off of what they've heard from their friends, or these are people that have had to retake the exam. In either case, this is not advice that should compel someone to shell out hundreds of dollars on additional bar prep material.

This person is 100% spot on. Barbri was AWESOME! I can't speak to other programs, but Barbri helped me pass. I would categorize their questions as more difficult than actual MBE questions. That's good because it forces you to be more systematic with how to approach questions. Their video integrations is absolutely first class. It's the furthest thing from "passive studying."

When my wife and I go on vacation, we often read hotel reviews on TripAdvisor. I can't tell you how many times we read awful reviews about a resort and ended up loving it. The same is true with bar prep courses. Each person is different and responds to different teaching styles.

[BrokenMouse]

I'll probably do the Barbri course, but hearing people saying Barbri doesn't prepare you well for the MBE, I'm looking for the materials to supplement.

Any tips/strategies for MBE would be much much appreciated! Thank you!!!

All u need is emanuel's strat n tactic. Dont just do a bunch of problems. Spend quality time reviewing.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Even though I failed the CA bar, I still highly recommend Adaptibar.

On the most recent CA Feb exam, I scored 1535 scaled MBE (which I believe is around 153 raw MBE). That is a about a 30 point improvement over my previous MBE score where I just used Barbri materials.

If you need an Adaptibar discount, PM me your email address.

[L_William_W]

Adpatibar DOESN'T work. They use questions from the early 1990's. And remember there's a difference between doing a question online and doing it with a pen and paper (I blew hundreds of dollars on Adaptibar). I didn't really like Strategies and Tactics. The questions in that book are MUCH easier than the questions that appear on the actual exam (after 3 attempts, I can attest). The book that has questions that are the closest ones to the real exam is Kaplan MBE. It's expensive, but worth it. The book helped me increase my MBE from 123.2 to 130.2 (which is still a low score, but it was enough to pass the NJ Bar since I pwned the essays).

I'm not a fan of courses like Barbri or Pieper. Sitting in a classroom and listening to boring lectures is passive studying. In order to pass, you have to actively engage in the material (again, this is based on experience). That means making your own outlines and doing every essay question you can get your hands on. You don't even have to write the entire essay- simply outline it. And if you get an MBE question wrong, make a flashcard of the relevant rule.

I recommend getting used Barbri materials on Amazon as well as the Kaplan MBE book. Enroll in the Ameribar essay grader online course- they give you essays to complete. Once you complete them, you submit them. Within a day or two, they grade it and offer suggestions for improving the essay. And they grade tougher than the actual bar examiners.

There were questions on the February MBE that were almost identical to some questions I did on Adaptibar. Not to mention, that Adaptibar gives you all of the questions from the OPE's, which are much more recent than 1990s. I believe the last OPE is from 2013.

This post is highly inaccurate.

The OPE's consist of RETIRED questions that DO NOT reflect what will appear on future MBE's. Adaptibar gave me a false sense of security. When I took the February 2015 Jersey Bar (that I flunked with a 123.2 MBE), I used Adaptibar. I was getting about 60-65% of the questions in Property and Contracts correct. When I took the actual exam, I think I got about 9 out of the 27-28 questions correct in each section. After that calamity, I ditched Adaptibar and used the giant Kaplan book. The Kaplan questions are tricky and they're roughly the same in terms of length and subject matter as the questions that appear on the bar. Like I said before, on the July exam, my MBE increased by 7 points (130.2). It was still relatively low, but enough to pass. I figured that if my MBE was in the upper-120's or higher then I would do well enough on the essays to pass. My strategy worked.

Yes, everyone is addicted to new technology, Smartphones, etc., but sometimes studying with a simple pen and paper is more effective.

[SpacedRep]

Redacted

[Neve]

It sounds to me like OP hasn't taken the bar exam before. If that's true, I'd strongly encourage OP to just do Barbri.

I know that a lot of commenters here -- especially the regular commenters -- go on and one about how Barbri doesn't prepare you for the MBE. I completely disagree. I've taken two states' bar exams (hope to hear soon that I'm 2/2), and both times Barbri more than prepared me. The key is to work the program: (1) do all the practice questions and really read the explanatory answers, and (2) watch at least a good chunk of the MBE review videos.

Personally, I think that using lots of various bar prep materials could be completely counterproductive. You'll end up wasting time doubling your efforts -- looking through Barbri and looking through something else. Time is key in preparing for the exam and you absolutely must be judicious.

The people here who complain about Barbri's MBE don't really seem like the crowd you should be taking advice from. THink about it -- some people talk about how they've tried out lots of different programs, and can compare and contrast them. Either they're going off of what they've heard from their friends, or these are people that have had to retake the exam. In either case, this is not advice that should compel someone to shell out hundreds of dollars on additional bar prep material.

But blanket statements from commenters don't help either. For some, Barbri alone will be enough, but for others, supplemental in the form of Adaptibar, Critical Pass, or Emauel's, will be required. Not everyone has the same strengths and weaknesses in test taking skills coming into the bar exam so naturally some test takers will need extra practice in areas that they struggle with. Yes, time is key and must be used judiciously - however, we cannot forget that Barbri is a cookie-cutter program and does not tailor to a test taker's individualized needs.

[thegrayman]

+1 for adaptibar

Incredibly useful MBE study aid. Probably single best resource for running up your MBE score.

[Dotson525]

Has anyone used The Multistate Goat by Jessica Klein ESQ? I saw mixed reviews on Amazon. The book claims to contain the most recent OPE's from NCBE. I am a little leary of some of the rave reviews. I could be wrong though.

[Law&coffee]

Strategies and Tactics for the MBE, and Strategies and Tactics for the Multistate Method are two books I very much recommend.

--Sean

Emanuel's Strategies and Tactics for the MBE is a great tool. It contains tips in addition to practice questions and tests and explanations. I also like Critical Pass.

[myrtlewinston]

Any thoughts on Kaplan's Qbank?

[myrtlewinston]

Seperac. Even if you're not taking the UBE, his MBE outlines are the most exhaustive I've seen (unless you have time and patience to go through the bar companies'
big "outlines.") They also highlight the important rules. I'm struggling with Evidence, but that's because I haven't memorised the nuances yet (they're all in the outlines). I'm going with Grossman for the big picture and Seperac for the details.

I am enrolled in Pieper. The lectures are good but really long and I couldn't keep up. Plus, I'm a visual learner.

[Law&coffee]

Adpatibar DOESN'T work. They use questions from the early 1990's. And remember there's a difference between doing a question online and doing it with a pen and paper (I blew hundreds of dollars on Adaptibar). I didn't really like Strategies and Tactics. The questions in that book are MUCH easier than the questions that appear on the actual exam (after 3 attempts, I can attest). The book that has questions that are the closest ones to the real exam is Kaplan MBE. It's expensive, but worth it. The book helped me increase my MBE from 123.2 to 130.2 (which is still a low score, but it was enough to pass the NJ Bar since I pwned the essays).

I'm not a fan of courses like Barbri or Pieper. Sitting in a classroom and listening to boring lectures is passive studying. In order to pass, you have to actively engage in the material (again, this is based on experience). That means making your own outlines and doing every essay question you can get your hands on. You don't even have to write the entire essay- simply outline it. And if you get an MBE question wrong, make a flashcard of the relevant rule.

I recommend getting used Barbri materials on Amazon as well as the Kaplan MBE book. Enroll in the Ameribar essay grader online course- they give you essays to complete. Once you complete them, you submit them. Within a day or two, they grade it and offer suggestions for improving the essay. And they grade tougher than the actual bar examiners.

There were questions on the February MBE that were almost identical to some questions I did on Adaptibar. Not to mention, that Adaptibar gives you all of the questions from the OPE's, which are much more recent than 1990s. I believe the last OPE is from 2013.

This post is highly inaccurate.

The OPE's consist of RETIRED questions that DO NOT reflect what will appear on future MBE's. Adaptibar gave me a false sense of security. When I took the February 2015 Jersey Bar (that I flunked with a 123.2 MBE), I used Adaptibar. I was getting about 60-65% of the questions in Property and Contracts correct. When I took the actual exam, I think I got about 9 out of the 27-28 questions correct in each section. After that calamity, I ditched Adaptibar and used the giant Kaplan book. The Kaplan questions are tricky and they're roughly the same in terms of length and subject matter as the questions that appear on the bar. Like I said before, on the July exam, my MBE increased by 7 points (130.2). It was still relatively low, but enough to pass. I figured that if my MBE was in the upper-120's or higher then I would do well enough on the essays to pass. My strategy worked.

Yes, everyone is addicted to new technology, Smartphones, etc., but sometimes studying with a simple pen and paper is more effective.

It's hard to say why Adaptibar didn't work for you without really delving into your study habits (hours studied per day, whether you were reviewing right and wrong answers, whether you were using it in conjunction with a bar prep program, etc.) While I haven't personally used Adaptibar, the program have received raving reviews and if I were to take another bar exam, I would add Adaptibar and Critical Pass to my MBE tool kit.

[Jss]

Any suggestions for standalone Civ Pro practise questions?