February 2016 California Bar Exam Forum

[ilovetheatre]

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.

The spreadsheet was created to help those awaiting results deal with the anxiety. The person who created and updated the spreadsheet chose to stop once every state, except CA, had released results.

The MBE is identical for the 190 scored questions. The AM and PM sessions have the same scored questions (so as to prevent unfair advantages and cheating), and each session has ten different MBE packets with the question orders mixed and the unscored questions varying.

[MrMustache]

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.

California does not release your MBE score anymore. All I got on my failed exam was that my scaled MBE was 1500 points, if I had passed the bar I wouldn't have seen that all.

The MBE test is the same in all states. if you pass the bar in one state, you can transfer your passing MBE score to another state and not take it again, if you meet certain requirements. I'm not really sure

[Raiden]

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 averaging near 90%?! That is awesome, what tips would you have for tackling the MBE?

[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 averaging near 90%?! That is awesome, what tips would you have for tackling the MBE?

Just keep practicing and make sure to read the explanation for every single option on each question (get to know why you got that question right or wrong). Also, is very important to do each day a certain amount of MBE questions, what ever you can and feel comfortable with (20, 30, 50...).

[hotsummer]

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.

Do you mind sharing specifically which essays you felt that frustration from? i'd like to take a look at them too. Or did you feel that way from most of essays you looked up?

[BrokenMouse]

Has anyone been doing practice essays? I've completely shut out MBE and doing MBE essays only. I find this helps me memorize the rules and outline better. I plan to start MBE practicing after I cover all the MBE essay subjects first with as many essays as I can.

[barexamjuggernaut]

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.

The spreadsheet was created to help those awaiting results deal with the anxiety. The person who created and updated the spreadsheet chose to stop once every state, except CA, had released results.

The MBE is identical for the 190 scored questions. The AM and PM sessions have the same scored questions (so as to prevent unfair advantages and cheating), and each session has ten different MBE packets with the question orders mixed and the unscored questions varying.

Awesome. Thank you very much for taking the time out to respond and help me out ilovetheatre and MR. MUSTACHE. I see that there's no way for me to "like" your comments or tag Mr. Mustache (obviously because this is a forum not facebook) so the only way for me to express my gratitude was to post this whole new comment. If I have any more questions I'll private message you guys. Hope that's cool.

Good luck to everyone on this upcoming exam. Prepare, visualize, and succeed!

BarExamJuggernaut

[a male human]

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 averaging near 90%?! That is awesome, what tips would you have for tackling the MBE?

Just keep practicing and make sure to read the explanation for every single option on each question (get to know why you got that question right or wrong). Also, is very important to do each day a certain amount of MBE questions, what ever you can and feel comfortable with (20, 30, 50...).

Agree with all and particularly the bolded part

[barprepblues]

having trouble retaining the information from 3 weeks ago, partially because i'm learning it for the first time. i blame certain professors. t10 does not equal quality academics...

[a male human]

having trouble retaining the information from 3 weeks ago, partially because i'm learning it for the first time. i blame certain professors. t10 does not equal quality academics...

The more they assume you probably don't need the help the higher up you go in the rankings.

Keep testing yourself, friend, so that you'll have gotten enough experience being tested come bar week.

[barprepblues]

having trouble retaining the information from 3 weeks ago, partially because i'm learning it for the first time. i blame certain professors. t10 does not equal quality academics...

The more they assume you probably don't need the help the higher up you go in the rankings.

Keep testing yourself, friend, so that you'll have gotten enough experience being tested come bar week.

thanks for the encouragement. sadly, 150k worth of tuition did not buy an understanding of basic subjects. our torts professor didn't teach duty (existence or breach of) and the criminal law professor left out mens rea, homocide, rape, and the 4th amendment.

going up the creek without a paddle

[BrokenMouse]

So far only thoroughly covered property, torts, and civ pro... by thoroughly I mean I issue spotted and outlined every real essay question released since 2000 or so or however many baressays had. I dont think I will have enough time to keep studying so thoroughly this way. I am sacrificing the MBE and PT.

but then again I get scared shitless when some subject shows up on the bar that I didn't really study... and that's how I got screwed on the Takings Clause last time. There just seems to be no real way to retain ALL the rules. I think most of us would be lucky to just get like 4-5 essays where we sort of know it by heart and 1-2 essays where we are screwed. Cuz then we can depend on PT and MBE to save us.

[a male human]

So far only thoroughly covered property, torts, and civ pro... by thoroughly I mean I issue spotted and outlined every real essay question released since 2000 or so or however many baressays had. I dont think I will have enough time to keep studying so thoroughly this way. I am sacrificing the MBE and PT.

but then again I get scared shitless when some subject shows up on the bar that I didn't really study... and that's how I got screwed on the Takings Clause last time. There just seems to be no real way to retain ALL the rules. I think most of us would be lucky to just get like 4-5 essays where we sort of know it by heart and 1-2 essays where we are screwed. Cuz then we can depend on PT and MBE to save us.

I know that feel

There's always 1-2 WTF essays that make you throw a hail mary on the essays

And hope the PTs and MBE won't screw you this time

So at least know how to bring up the issues on the essays so you can bullshit your way through in desperate times. IF you don't have time to thoroughly cover each subject, pick essays such that they cover a broad range of issues.

[lacrossebrother]

starting today.
feeling good and ready to tackle this thing. gonna start with the easy essay subjects this week.
will be posting here for accountability.

Week of 1/18
-Monday: Biz Assocations review material 2 hours; outline essay .5 hours.
-Tuesday: Wills/Trusts/Estates. Review 2 hours; outlines W&E essay .5; outline Trusts essay for .5.
Wednesday: Prof Respon. Review material 2 hours. .5 hours outline.
Thursday: Review the above three for three hours.
Friday: Community Property review 2 hours; .5 outline.
Saturday: Hit remedies and ucc 9 quickly. then review all of above for 4 hours.
Sunday chill.

Week of 1/25:
Goal of the week: Master MBE & Cali Evidence; light review of contracts.
Details forthcoming. will include light drilling of mixed mbe sets too.

Week of 2/1:
Goal of the week: Master MBE & Cali Civ. Pro.; light review of property.
Details forthcoming. will include more intense drilling of mixed mbe sets since civ pro shouldn't take any extra time.

Week of 2/8
2/8: torts
2/9: crim
2/10: conlaw.

2/11--> test
25 hours drill mbe mixed sets and review problem areas.
15 hours: general essay work, primarily on evidence & CCP.


---

Can anybody confirm the veracity of this thing that I found on Scribd in a book called Cali Bar Tutors?



Would be comforting to know for sure that I don't need to learn anything special for Cali Torts, etc. I can't find an official source to confirm that though.

[InTheWideLand I Walk]

lacrossebrother- wills and a lot of the concepts from business associations are tested on the mbe but in a weird way with different rules than the essay. - they are just labeled as other subjects.

[InTheWideLand I Walk]

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.

YES. WE SHALL PASS!

[lacrossebrother]

lacrossebrother- wills and a lot of the concepts from business associations are tested on the mbe but in a weird way with different rules than the essay. - they are just labeled as other subjects.

I've taken the mbe before. I was mostly wondering about the essays I guess --do I in fact not need to learn California torts, crim, and contracts distinctions?

[a male human]

lacrossebrother- wills and a lot of the concepts from business associations are tested on the mbe but in a weird way with different rules than the essay. - they are just labeled as other subjects.

I've taken the mbe before. I was mostly wondering about the essays I guess --do I in fact not need to learn California torts, crim, and contracts distinctions?

That's correct

[fadedsunrise]

Has anyone been doing practice essays? I've completely shut out MBE and doing MBE essays only. I find this helps me memorize the rules and outline better. I plan to start MBE practicing after I cover all the MBE essay subjects first with as many essays as I can.

I'm doing the essays Barbri assigns, which I think has been about 2-3 per subject (so 8-10 total so far?). Can you recommend the trickiest essays you've done so far? I feel like I can handle a straight subject essay from each of the subjects covered so far, but I can still get thrown on crossovers [and basically did get thrown for a loop on Essays 5 and 6 last July]

[Zaizei]

Has anyone been doing practice essays? I've completely shut out MBE and doing MBE essays only. I find this helps me memorize the rules and outline better. I plan to start MBE practicing after I cover all the MBE essay subjects first with as many essays as I can.

I'm doing the essays Barbri assigns, which I think has been about 2-3 per subject (so 8-10 total so far?). Can you recommend the trickiest essays you've done so far? I feel like I can handle a straight subject essay from each of the subjects covered so far, but I can still get thrown on crossovers [and basically did get thrown for a loop on Essays 5 and 6 last July]

The problem I find with Barbri's assignment is that they do not require you to do more than one full essay for each subject (they make you outline the rest) so you don't really get to understand and learn how to write the law properly for the essay (also I think they only grade like two or three essays during the whole course, when they should be grading at least one or two for each subject). If you can, do all the essays that they provide you with, and get someone to grade them, telling you your weak points and strengths. You need to learn how to write an essay, and Barbri doesn't teach you how. If you think you already know how to write an essay and feel like you can pass with your skills, then just do every essay they assign, but do not outline, I personally think that's a total waste of time.

[fadedsunrise]

Has anyone been doing practice essays? I've completely shut out MBE and doing MBE essays only. I find this helps me memorize the rules and outline better. I plan to start MBE practicing after I cover all the MBE essay subjects first with as many essays as I can.

I'm doing the essays Barbri assigns, which I think has been about 2-3 per subject (so 8-10 total so far?). Can you recommend the trickiest essays you've done so far? I feel like I can handle a straight subject essay from each of the subjects covered so far, but I can still get thrown on crossovers [and basically did get thrown for a loop on Essays 5 and 6 last July]

The problem I find with Barbri's assignment is that they do not require you to do more than one full essay for each subject (they make you outline the rest) so you don't really get to understand and learn how to write the law properly for the essay (also I think they only grade like two or three essays during the whole course, when they should be grading at least one or two for each subject). If you can, do all the essays that they provide you with, and get someone to grade them, telling you your weak points and strengths. You need to learn how to write an essay, and Barbri doesn't teach you how. If you think you already know how to write an essay and feel like you can pass with your skills, then just do every essay they assign, but do not outline, I personally think that's a total waste of time.

I think my problem is definitely recognizing the combinations in which they can throw the law together (issue spotting?). If I know what it is I throw down the relevant rules and the application follows, but I definitely fall victim to "what the eff is this?..." and then failing fabulously by not writing much of anything at all. I do want someone to grade maybe one per subject, but AFAIK Kaplan's grading ranged from very detailed and helpful to very unhelpful last summer. I either got 65+ on things I knew, or 40's and 50's.

[a male human]

fadedsunrise et al.:

I want to suggest that Barbri/whatever model answers are good for seeing a full list of issues to bring up, including the SEQUENCE (and frequency) you bring up those issues. Because merely knowing how to IRAC is just one layer of approaching an essay.

And real answers (e.g., via BarEssays.com) are good for realistic rule statements and their application. Hopefully no fatass paragraphs like those given in some model answers.

Of course, you can look at both for everything. I strived to bring up all the possible issues per the model answers but didn't care for gigantic analysis.

That's why you should consider redoing problems because you can't assume you "got" it after one attempt at an essay.

[storge]

Anyone else sruggling(ed) with Evidence MBE's? Is this one of your stronger MBE subjects? If so, need your help!

I have reviewed BarBri's tips and read through Emanuel's Strategies & Tactics. I improved slightly after Emanuel's to just barely meet BarBri's goal scores, but still do not feel confident with the subject. Will be doing more questions and reading the explanations going forward with hope for improvement, but looking for any other strategies or tips on how to tackle this subject on the MBE. Anyone have a specific thought process they go through/issue priority checklist approach for Ev.Q that is working for them?

[DueProcessDoWheelies]

Damn, you CA folks have Professional Responsibility on your bar? In addition to the MPRE? I'm so sorry...

[BrokenMouse]

Anyone else sruggling(ed) with Evidence MBE's? Is this one of your stronger MBE subjects? If so, need your help!

I have reviewed BarBri's tips and read through Emanuel's Strategies & Tactics. I improved slightly after Emanuel's to just barely meet BarBri's goal scores, but still do not feel confident with the subject. Will be doing more questions and reading the explanations going forward with hope for improvement, but looking for any other strategies or tips on how to tackle this subject on the MBE. Anyone have a specific thought process they go through/issue priority checklist approach for Ev.Q that is working for them?

I would thoroughly study the outline again. MBE is a good tune up study for the essays since it tests in pieces the nuances of the law. When you do bad consistently you dont have a good foundation for it. I literally answered in outline form every essay released for property since 2000. It helped me memorize the rules. My accuracy on the MBE isat 70-80% compared to 50-60 last time around.