February 2016 California Bar Exam Forum

[rcharter1978]

just reserved a hotel room right across the street from the ontario convention center for 4 nights. I am so happy i thought i would share this with the universe. For the last 2 years I had to take an 1.5 hour bus/train trip each day to the bar exam. hopefully the extra rest should give me that tiny increment of points ive needed to pass all these years.

YOU WILL PASS. YOU AND ME BOTH.



Does anybody have baressays premium subscription? Are the rule statement/approach template worth the extra bucks? I am in the market for a commercial rule statement I can recite over and over in paragraph format.

I JUST signed up for the premium service with the rule statement/essay approach templates. I'll let you know if I dig it. There was someone else on this site who was into it, and from what little I've seen, I like it.

[storge]

just reserved a hotel room right across the street from the ontario convention center for 4 nights. I am so happy i thought i would share this with the universe. For the last 2 years I had to take an 1.5 hour bus/train trip each day to the bar exam. hopefully the extra rest should give me that tiny increment of points ive needed to pass all these years.

YOU WILL PASS. YOU AND ME BOTH.



Does anybody have baressays premium subscription? Are the rule statement/approach template worth the extra bucks? I am in the market for a commercial rule statement I can recite over and over in paragraph format.

Some are better than others from what I've seen thus far (been using the Premium BarEssays for about 2-3 weeks). I'm making my own common issue rule statement outlines using a combination of sources for rule statements. What I love about the Premium though are the former grader comments (Premium worth it just for that for me) and the organization of some BarEssays Model answers (although found one incorrect rule statement on a Prop essay yesterday).

[hownowbrowncow]

anyone have an idea as to the percentile rank we should aim for when it comes to the studysmart?

[BrokenMouse]

Has anyone studied and somewhat mastered more than 2 subjects? Up to this point all I did was 1 PT and studied the crap out of property and torts. Those 2 subjects I am comfortable taking the exam right now. Where is everyone else at?

[Raiden]

I have been doing just a bunch of mbe's for contracts, property, torts, and some crim. But I don't feel comfortable for their essays because I have been slacking off on those.

[Zaizei]

I've been doing the following:

*50 MBE questions each day (a different subject every day) since the first week of December (I'm going to do 50 each day until the day of the exam).

*4 full essays for contracts, torts, criminal law and evidence looking at the outline to memorize the law and recall the way I used it for the exam (planning on doing 4 for each subject -except those that I already did- in the time I have left until the exam).

*One full PT.

This is apart from the 2 practice exams I have scheduled (including all - 200 MBEs, 6 essays and 2 PT per exam).

Right now I'm scoring somewhere in between 77-87% (sometimes 90%) for the MBE questions depending on the subject (hopefully I will score better as I practice).

Hope that helps.

[rcharter1978]

I've been doing the following:

*50 MBE questions each day (a different subject every day) since the first week of December (I'm going to do 50 each day until the day of the exam).

*4 full essays for contracts, torts, criminal law and evidence looking at the outline to memorize the law and recall the way I used it for the exam (planning on doing 4 for each subject -except those that I already did- in the time I have left until the exam).

*One full PT.

This is apart from the 2 practice exams I have scheduled (including all - 200 MBEs, 6 essays and 2 PT per exam).

Right now I'm scoring somewhere in between 77-87% (sometimes 90%) for the MBE questions depending on the subject (hopefully I will score better as I practice).

Hope that helps.

Wow, you're doing 4 full essays and one full PT a day? Good for you, thats awesome.

[Zaizei]

I've been doing the following:

*50 MBE questions each day (a different subject every day) since the first week of December (I'm going to do 50 each day until the day of the exam).

*4 full essays for contracts, torts, criminal law and evidence looking at the outline to memorize the law and recall the way I used it for the exam (planning on doing 4 for each subject -except those that I already did- in the time I have left until the exam).

*One full PT.

This is apart from the 2 practice exams I have scheduled (including all - 200 MBEs, 6 essays and 2 PT per exam).

Right now I'm scoring somewhere in between 77-87% (sometimes 90%) for the MBE questions depending on the subject (hopefully I will score better as I practice).

Hope that helps.

Wow, you're doing 4 full essays and one full PT a day? Good for you, thats awesome.

Hahaha could you imagine someone capable of doing all of that + 50 mbe questions every day? I meant to say that I am doing 50 questions per day, and since I started in December I've done 4 essays for each subject I mentioned and one pt in total

[rcharter1978]

I've been doing the following:

*50 MBE questions each day (a different subject every day) since the first week of December (I'm going to do 50 each day until the day of the exam).

*4 full essays for contracts, torts, criminal law and evidence looking at the outline to memorize the law and recall the way I used it for the exam (planning on doing 4 for each subject -except those that I already did- in the time I have left until the exam).

*One full PT.

This is apart from the 2 practice exams I have scheduled (including all - 200 MBEs, 6 essays and 2 PT per exam).

Right now I'm scoring somewhere in between 77-87% (sometimes 90%) for the MBE questions depending on the subject (hopefully I will score better as I practice).

Hope that helps.

Wow, you're doing 4 full essays and one full PT a day? Good for you, thats awesome.

Hahaha could you imagine someone capable of doing all of that + 50 mbe questions every day? I meant to say that I am doing 50 questions per day, and since I started in December I've done 4 essays for each subject I mentioned and one pt in total

LOL, personally, I couldn't, but I figured maybe you were some superhuman. I was on a program of 2 essays a day + 35 MBE's and that seemed wild.

[Zaizei]

I've been doing the following:

*50 MBE questions each day (a different subject every day) since the first week of December (I'm going to do 50 each day until the day of the exam).

*4 full essays for contracts, torts, criminal law and evidence looking at the outline to memorize the law and recall the way I used it for the exam (planning on doing 4 for each subject -except those that I already did- in the time I have left until the exam).

*One full PT.

This is apart from the 2 practice exams I have scheduled (including all - 200 MBEs, 6 essays and 2 PT per exam).

Right now I'm scoring somewhere in between 77-87% (sometimes 90%) for the MBE questions depending on the subject (hopefully I will score better as I practice).

Hope that helps.

Wow, you're doing 4 full essays and one full PT a day? Good for you, thats awesome.

Hahaha could you imagine someone capable of doing all of that + 50 mbe questions every day? I meant to say that I am doing 50 questions per day, and since I started in December I've done 4 essays for each subject I mentioned and one pt in total

LOL, personally, I couldn't, but I figured maybe you were some superhuman. I was on a program of 2 essays a day + 35 MBE's and that seemed wild.

I wish I was that efficient!!! Although 2 days a week I have to do 50 mbe questions and 2 essays... I always end up with a headache

[fadedsunrise]

How many PTs should I be doing?

I've only done 1 so far, may outline one more this week. I basically did 0 the last test and got a 65 on one PT and a 65 average on PT A and 60 average on PT B. Is it worth it to actually do/analyze a good amount, and if so how many?

[Zaizei]

How many PTs should I be doing?

I've only done 1 so far, may outline one more this week. I basically did 0 the last test and got a 65 on one PT and a 65 average on PT A and 60 average on PT B. Is it worth it to actually do/analyze a good amount, and if so how many?

I would strongly recommend you to do more than one full PT.

I know some people think is a waste of time (since you have all the law that you need inside the case) but you have to practice to be faster when you are analyzing the law/cases and trying to get what you need for your task.

The first time I sat for the bar exam (last July) I did none and got a 55 on each one (even though I thought I did pretty well), stupid Barbri... They are pretty good when you're trying to understand and know the law, but when it comes to practice they are awful... Specially the MBEs, I found that they didn't prepare me enough for that part, although I passed (that part), I should have scored way more (from what I scored while doing Barbri's MBE questions).

[a male human]

How many PTs should I be doing?

I've only done 1 so far, may outline one more this week. I basically did 0 the last test and got a 65 on one PT and a 65 average on PT A and 60 average on PT B. Is it worth it to actually do/analyze a good amount, and if so how many?

I'd do a full one every week just to be sure, but really I wouldn't sweat and lose sleep over it if you're consistently doing 65s and 70s (as in, you should have tried various ones by sometime in February, including objective, subjective, and weird ones).

[BrokenMouse]

So far I've read and memorized property and torts outline as thoroughly as I can. I did 1 full property essay and then issue spotted and outlined outloud to myself and went over the answer verbally for every property and tort questions released since 2000. And then for each I read over 70+ scored answers or bar model answers to see if I spotted all the issues and general rules tatement correct. I've done about 50 MBE for those 2 subjects only. 1 full PT for Barbri.

I obviously have to pick up the pace now that bar is about a month and half away. I plan to do black letter law outline memorizing in the morning and then do essays throughout the day to help apply the concepts and memorize. I hope to finish outline reviewing by the end of January so that February will be all just MBE + essay practice. I am not sure where I will fit in the MBE in my time as of right now. I'm more obsessed with reasonably perfecting the black letter law at the moment. Perhaps once all the MBE essay subjects are done I will split up half a day to MBE and half a day to essays.

I try not to stress out of PTs too much because I am unsure if that's something I can really improve on. But I will do 2 per week starting February.

[BrokenMouse]

Does anybody have this February's essay prediction? I saw one on youtube and it's interesting but want to see if there is some consensus out there. Not that I won't be studying everything thoroughly though.

[MrMustache]

Does anybody have this February's essay prediction? I saw one on youtube and it's interesting but want to see if there is some consensus out there. Not that I won't be studying everything thoroughly though.

I've seen:
1. Ks/Remedies
2. Torts/Remedies
3. Property/Remedies
4. PR
5. Evidence (maybe crim law cross)
6. Wills/Trusts/BA

In the end, they end up predicting almost every subject. Watch, given my luck, we'll be the first to get CA civ pro- that's my prediction.

[fadedsunrise]

Does anybody have this February's essay prediction? I saw one on youtube and it's interesting but want to see if there is some consensus out there. Not that I won't be studying everything thoroughly though.

I've seen:
1. Ks/Remedies
2. Torts/Remedies
3. Property/Remedies
4. PR
5. Evidence (maybe crim law cross)
6. Wills/Trusts/BA

In the end, they end up predicting almost every subject. Watch, given my luck, we'll be the first to get CA civ pro- that's my prediction.

As long as they don't royally screw us with CA Civ Pro AND CA Evidence

[a male human]

Does anybody have this February's essay prediction? I saw one on youtube and it's interesting but want to see if there is some consensus out there. Not that I won't be studying everything thoroughly though.

I've seen:
1. Ks/Remedies
2. Torts/Remedies
3. Property/Remedies
4. PR
5. Evidence (maybe crim law cross)
6. Wills/Trusts/BA

In the end, they end up predicting almost every subject. Watch, given my luck, we'll be the first to get CA civ pro- that's my prediction.

Who predicted that? If it's Bar Secrets, they predict like 10 subjects in total ("oh maybe this will appear... or not... if this one appears, study these 5 of 6 possible subtopics...") and they haven't always been right either lmao

I would urge all not to rely on predictions because all subjects are fair game. You could simply prioritize which subjects to study only if you're limited by time, but hopefully no one just ignores certain subjects. Don't bet another 6 months of your life.

CA civ pro is a hot potato tho so idk about that

[Metal_Inquisition]

So far I've read and memorized property and torts outline as thoroughly as I can. I did 1 full property essay and then issue spotted and outlined outloud to myself and went over the answer verbally for every property and tort questions released since 2000. And then for each I read over 70+ scored answers or bar model answers to see if I spotted all the issues and general rules tatement correct. I've done about 50 MBE for those 2 subjects only. 1 full PT for Barbri.

I obviously have to pick up the pace now that bar is about a month and half away. I plan to do black letter law outline memorizing in the morning and then do essays throughout the day to help apply the concepts and memorize. I hope to finish outline reviewing by the end of January so that February will be all just MBE + essay practice. I am not sure where I will fit in the MBE in my time as of right now. I'm more obsessed with reasonably perfecting the black letter law at the moment. Perhaps once all the MBE essay subjects are done I will split up half a day to MBE and half a day to essays.

I try not to stress out of PTs too much because I am unsure if that's something I can really improve on. But I will do 2 per week starting February.

How do you memorize the BLL? I have a really hard time memorizing shit, which I know is a huge, huge contribution as to why I failed last time. Wanted to see if maybe you can shoot some tips my way.

[BrokenMouse]

So far I've read and memorized property and torts outline as thoroughly as I can. I did 1 full property essay and then issue spotted and outlined outloud to myself and went over the answer verbally for every property and tort questions released since 2000. And then for each I read over 70+ scored answers or bar model answers to see if I spotted all the issues and general rules tatement correct. I've done about 50 MBE for those 2 subjects only. 1 full PT for Barbri.

I obviously have to pick up the pace now that bar is about a month and half away. I plan to do black letter law outline memorizing in the morning and then do essays throughout the day to help apply the concepts and memorize. I hope to finish outline reviewing by the end of January so that February will be all just MBE + essay practice. I am not sure where I will fit in the MBE in my time as of right now. I'm more obsessed with reasonably perfecting the black letter law at the moment. Perhaps once all the MBE essay subjects are done I will split up half a day to MBE and half a day to essays.

I try not to stress out of PTs too much because I am unsure if that's something I can really improve on. But I will do 2 per week starting February.

How do you memorize the BLL? I have a really hard time memorizing shit, which I know is a huge, huge contribution as to why I failed last time. Wanted to see if maybe you can shoot some tips my way.

1) understand what the law says
2) cover the law and repeat outloud after 30 mins
3) take an essay on that law or issue to see if u can spot it and articulate it.

Usually when you get to step 3 you memorize it.

Let me try.

I just read civ pro venue. For fed ct, venue is entirely for convenience of the parties and the community where the lawsuit will be filed. Venue is proper in the district where any defendant resides if all defendants reside in the same state, or where transaction or occurrence happened. For CA, if it involves dispute over land, aka local transaction, then where property lies. For transitory transaction, if all defendants are out of state then any county superior ct is fine. If not then where transaction occurred, where K was formed, breached, or expected to be performed.

I might have gotten something wrong.

[Raiden]

Maybe I am not reviewing the essays finely enough on baressays.com, but is it just me, or is it hard big differences between 70's and 55's? Sure maybe the rules are a bit off and missing a few issues...but dang, is that enough to lose so many points? What are the major difference that separate high scoring from low scoring essays? It just feels so subjective sometimes.

[barexamjuggernaut]

Greetings all,

First time poster and first time taker here for feb 2016. Taking barbri. I've been hearing a lot of people say they did good on the barbri mbe's but horrible on the real thing. This worries me a bit.

Any ca bar repeaters care to share their simulated barbri score and their actual mbe score? and opinions on why there was such a positive or negative difference?

I decided on barbri because i heard their questions were more difficult than the real thing. and using my logic i thought, well if i practice with more difficult questions i'll do better on the real thing..

Thanks and I appreciate your help.

[MrMustache]

Greetings all,

First time poster and first time taker here for feb 2016. Taking barbri. I've been hearing a lot of people say they did good on the barbri mbe's but horrible on the real thing. This worries me a bit.

There seem to be far more people who did much better on the real thing than they did on Barbri.


Here's a link to TLS member scores, that was posted in the BarBri hangout:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[calbar]

How about Kaplan online mbe qbank civil pro questions? I am doing barbri (6 sets) and pmbr kapln paper questions (175 questions). Are they enough? Adding one more resource is good idea or too much burden? Last time I did Adaptibar civil pro but I think it wss not so helpful. As for outlines, Themis is most comprehensive (almost 100 pages).

[barexamjuggernaut]

Greetings all,

First time poster and first time taker here for feb 2016. Taking barbri. I've been hearing a lot of people say they did good on the barbri mbe's but horrible on the real thing. This worries me a bit.

There seem to be far more people who did much better on the real thing than they did on Barbri.


Here's a link to TLS member scores, that was posted in the BarBri hangout:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Hey thanks for sending me that information Mr. Mustache. Very comforting to see such data. I am currently getting 70+ percent on my barbri mbe's and my goal is to score at least a 150 raw on the simulated 200 mbe test in about a little more than a week. Hopefully with that level of mbe prep, and lots (And i mean lots) of practice essays I'll be smooth sailing into a pass next month.

I do find it interesting that no california takers posted their data on the spreadsheet you provided however. I wonder why that is? I'm assuming the data for ca barbri takers should be similar to everyone on the spreadsheet right? Since all mbe states are the same?

And forgive me if this is a real noob question but do all states use the same 200 questions or do states give different questions? Like is it possible that maybe ca chooses more difficult mbe's?

Thanks again everyone.