Kaplan Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[robinhoodOO]

This just in lads and ladies (MBE info that is actually sort of a helpful indicator):

MBE Scoring: Your Midterm and Final

The national raw score average for the Midterm MBE was around 115. On the actual exam, your raw score will be scaled, a statistical method that usually adds between 10 and 20 points to the raw score.

The national raw score average for the Final MBE Practice Exam was 120. Again, on the actual exam, your raw score will be scaled, adding between 10 and 20 points to the raw score.

For the MBE exam, we usually recommend that you aim to get about two-thirds (67%) of the questions correct. This gives you a cushion; in case you fall a little short of that goal, you will still likely be in passing range, given adequate performance on other sections of your bar exam.
Your Final MBE score is a status report of where you are in terms of your ultimate goal and a tool for improving your Exam-day performance. As Professor Chris Fromm points out in his Final Review videos, a purposeful review of the Final Practice Exam's questions should itself add several points to your Exam-day performance. Indeed, learning to avoid some common pitfalls or gaining insight into a 'Big Ticket Item' can translate into significant improvement. So, even if you are below the 120 average, you are on track to succeed if you can hone in on those extra 10 to 20 points that every one of you can find by working through the Final Review sessions, using your Final Study Plan (which will appear after you complete the Final Review) and staying focused over this last week of study. Good luck! The entire Kaplan Bar Review team is looking forward to celebrating your success!

Wait, when the hell was the Final Practice exam? I still have lectures (and only an optional "Practice Exam" scheduled for next week)! Did I miss something? Or is everyone else just on a much different schedule?

Many people have not taken the Final or interim final exams yet based on their Schedules. Don't worry!!!! I assume this is based on historical finals and person's whose schedules have had them already taking the Final...

I just wanted to post this generally in case people didn't see it on Kap's website.

[shredderrrrrr]

Many people have not taken the Final or interim final exams yet based on their Schedules. Don't worry!!!! I assume this is based on historical finals and person's whose schedules have had them already taking the Final...

I just wanted to post this generally in case people didn't see it on Kap's website.

Ok, that makes sense. I did appreciate you posting it nonetheless!

[shredderrrrrr]

They saved the worst for last. This securities lecture with wayne barnes is unbearable.

100% agree. Went too fast, didn't line up with the outline. Great way to go out.

My schedule had this lecture yesterday, but I completely agree. What is up with the last week or two of lectures being so incredibly awful? Did Kaplan just think, "Hmmm, we have 12 full days of content left...lets squeeze it into 7 by just having the lecturers fly through material"? I was stoked to have that same lecturer but was so pissed once I found out he was doing the fast and brief "figure it out yourself" approach.

To add insult to injury, that outline...what the fuck. Whoever did it didn't even try. Not only was it formatted awfully (at least as it showed up for me), it just copied entire portions of the outline and then cut out the majority of each paragraph but for the first 6 words, leacing you to fill it back in. Considering how fast the lecturer went, it was just a hunt through the outline to re-type every fucking pargraph. What happened to having to just fill in a few words here of there to complete the sub-elements and whatnot?

/rant

[shredderrrrrr]

On a positive note, my final lecture was Family Law with Maillard. Probably one of my favorite lecturers of the course. Absolutely perfect. Kept it brief and to the point, but went at a good a pace and conveyed all the information effectively. Good lecture to end on.

[robinhoodOO]

They saved the worst for last. This securities lecture with wayne barnes is unbearable.

100% agree. Went too fast, didn't line up with the outline. Great way to go out.

My schedule had this lecture yesterday, but I completely agree. What is up with the last week or two of lectures being so incredibly awful? Did Kaplan just think, "Hmmm, we have 12 full days of content left...lets squeeze it into 7 by just having the lecturers fly through material"? I was stoked to have that same lecturer but was so pissed once I found out he was doing the fast and brief "figure it out yourself" approach.

To add insult to injury, that outline...what the fuck. Whoever did it didn't even try. Not only was it formatted awfully (at least as it showed up for me), it just copied entire portions of the outline and then cut out the majority of each paragraph but for the first 6 words, leacing you to fill it back in. Considering how fast the lecturer went, it was just a hunt through the outline to re-type every fucking pargraph. What happened to having to just fill in a few words here of there to complete the sub-elements and whatnot?

/rant

This is why I spent the weekend finishing lectures early, as opposed to finishing tomorrow. Now I'm doing essays, MBE's, and 1-2 page outlines to learn the law for essays, etc.

The CA Community Property lecturer was god awful...Much like the one you mentioned. Good thing I aced that shit in law school and spent a semester working for a family law attorney assisting with asset tracing, etc. No idea how anyone could learn from her outline, bar notes, or lecture

[shredderrrrrr]

My final lecturer emphasized how confidence was the key to success on the exam and that we should thus be confident in our abilities to make sure we do well. Counterintuitively, that just made me less confident because it means my current lack of confidence (that I've had all during prep) is going to make me bomb the test! It's like telling a paranoid person not to worry so much, because paranoia will get them killed.

[robinhoodOO]

My final lecturer emphasized how confidence was the key to success on the exam and that we should thus be confident in our abilities to make sure we do well. Counterintuitively, that just made me less confident because it means my current lack of confidence (that I've had all during prep) is going to make me bomb the test! It's like telling a paranoid person not to worry so much, because paranoia will get them killed.

Isn't Iowa's pass rate in the top 5 across the country? YOU FUCKING GOT THIS, BRO! No more doubting...for any of us (period).

[shredderrrrrr]

My final lecturer emphasized how confidence was the key to success on the exam and that we should thus be confident in our abilities to make sure we do well. Counterintuitively, that just made me less confident because it means my current lack of confidence (that I've had all during prep) is going to make me bomb the test! It's like telling a paranoid person not to worry so much, because paranoia will get them killed.

Isn't Iowa's pass rate in the top 5 across the country? YOU FUCKING GO THIS, BRO! No more doubting...for any of us (period).

It's pretty damn high. If I recall correctly, the pass rate for the exam (and more importantly for me, for Drake students) typically hovers around 90% (though I think it has been closer to mid-80s recently). So I keep telling myself, "Come on, you're better than the bottom 15% of the class," but then I see my stack of things I need to memorize and my terrible quiz scores...and I get discouraged.

But thanks for the motivation! We can all do us! I guarantee those of us in this thread are working harder than the majority of people who will be taking the test.

[fadedsunrise]

My final lecturer emphasized how confidence was the key to success on the exam and that we should thus be confident in our abilities to make sure we do well. Counterintuitively, that just made me less confident because it means my current lack of confidence (that I've had all during prep) is going to make me bomb the test! It's like telling a paranoid person not to worry so much, because paranoia will get them killed.

Isn't Iowa's pass rate in the top 5 across the country? YOU FUCKING GO THIS, BRO! No more doubting...for any of us (period).

It's pretty damn high. If I recall correctly, the pass rate for the exam (and more importantly for me, for Drake students) typically hovers around 90% (though I think it has been closer to mid-80s recently). So I keep telling myself, "Come on, you're better than the bottom 15% of the class," but then I see my stack of things I need to memorize and my terrible quiz scores...and I get discouraged.

But thanks for the motivation! We can all do us! I guarantee those of us in this thread are working harder than the majority of people who will be taking the test.

But but California...
For every 2 essays I do there's another 20 I haven't done, or haven't studied in detail. Not to mention I've abandoned all practice of CPT's beyond like the last time they made us submit one, HAHAHA.

[despina]

My final lecturer emphasized how confidence was the key to success on the exam and that we should thus be confident in our abilities to make sure we do well. Counterintuitively, that just made me less confident because it means my current lack of confidence (that I've had all during prep) is going to make me bomb the test! It's like telling a paranoid person not to worry so much, because paranoia will get them killed.

Ha yes. My mom would always say that when she was pregnant with me, the doctors would tell her "don't stress about the pregnancy, because stress is bad for the baby." Which of course calmed her right down, hahaha...

[shredderrrrrr]

What is the protocol in the (unlikely) event we get a gay marriage question at some point? Are we supposed to consider the recent SCOTUS case? Or is there like a closed window for the state of the law (presumably when the test was drafted)?

[despina]

What is the protocol in the (unlikely) event we get a gay marriage question at some point? Are we supposed to consider the recent SCOTUS case? Or is there like a closed window for the state of the law (presumably when the test was drafted)?

Kaplan had a note on this a few weeks ago in the Academic Support -> Course Updates section.

I'm going to assume that the MBE is unlikely to have an on-point question about gay marriage with respect to con law (which standard of review applies, etc). But there might be married gay couples so I'd go ahead and treat them like any other married couple (they have spousal privilege, can have tenancy by the entirety, etc).

[despina]

How many Qbank Q's have folks done at this point? I've done all of the assigned sets in the syllabus, plus random sets on my own as I go back and review specific topics (or really anything to pretend I'm being productive while procrastinating writing essays). I just passed 1000 Q's today, which seems like a LOT, but it seems like a lot of folks are doing a lot of extra ones?

I also feel like I'm plateauing with the MBE as my memory of topics I haven't reviewed in a while starts to atrophy. Any ideas for how to get beyond this besides... review everything, all the time?

[theramblinman]

How many Qbank Q's have folks done at this point? I've done all of the assigned sets in the syllabus, plus random sets on my own as I go back and review specific topics (or really anything to pretend I'm being productive while procrastinating writing essays). I just passed 1000 Q's today, which seems like a LOT, but it seems like a lot of folks are doing a lot of extra ones?

I also feel like I'm plateauing with the MBE as my memory of topics I haven't reviewed in a while starts to atrophy. Any ideas for how to get beyond this besides... review everything, all the time?

I am just over 800 online, but I have done extra questions in the book. Sometimes I cannot take starring at my computer screen any longer. I recall my law school telling us that doing over 1000 questions was a big indicator of success.

Also, think about how many extra questions we have done- intro diagnostic, the foundation series, check point quizzes, etc. It is kind of crazy to think about how many of these questions we have already answered... and how many more we have yet to do.

[despina]

How many Qbank Q's have folks done at this point? I've done all of the assigned sets in the syllabus, plus random sets on my own as I go back and review specific topics (or really anything to pretend I'm being productive while procrastinating writing essays). I just passed 1000 Q's today, which seems like a LOT, but it seems like a lot of folks are doing a lot of extra ones?

I also feel like I'm plateauing with the MBE as my memory of topics I haven't reviewed in a while starts to atrophy. Any ideas for how to get beyond this besides... review everything, all the time?

I am just over 800 online, but I have done extra questions in the book. Sometimes I cannot take starring at my computer screen any longer. I recall my law school telling us that doing over 1000 questions was a big indicator of success.

Also, think about how many extra questions we have done- intro diagnostic, the foundation series, check point quizzes, etc. It is kind of crazy to think about how many of these questions we have already answered... and how many more we have yet to do.

Woo I like this 1000 Q --> success business.

And yeah, I definitely haven't done most of the assigned book questions -- I haven't cracked the practice MBE book in weeks. Mostly because as much as I hate staring at the computer screen, I love instant feedback in the form of the data and graphs.

As I think I've said elsewhere in the thread, it drives me nuts that the intro diagnostic, midterm, and "final" assessment questions are not factored into the Qbank data especially with respect to the charts showing progress over time. I shouldn't have to do a lot of clicking to see, for example, how I did on mortgages in the intro vs midterm vs now.

[robinhoodOO]

How many Qbank Q's have folks done at this point? I've done all of the assigned sets in the syllabus, plus random sets on my own as I go back and review specific topics (or really anything to pretend I'm being productive while procrastinating writing essays). I just passed 1000 Q's today, which seems like a LOT, but it seems like a lot of folks are doing a lot of extra ones?

I also feel like I'm plateauing with the MBE as my memory of topics I haven't reviewed in a while starts to atrophy. Any ideas for how to get beyond this besides... review everything, all the time?

1,200+

I'm shifting to only the book starting tomorrow, as I'm tired of QBank's. Also, same thing happened to me a bit today during a 100 set, but I still did surprisingly well. Gotta start remembering this shit...

[odoylerulez]

How many Qbank Q's have folks done at this point? I've done all of the assigned sets in the syllabus, plus random sets on my own as I go back and review specific topics (or really anything to pretend I'm being productive while procrastinating writing essays). I just passed 1000 Q's today, which seems like a LOT, but it seems like a lot of folks are doing a lot of extra ones?

I also feel like I'm plateauing with the MBE as my memory of topics I haven't reviewed in a while starts to atrophy. Any ideas for how to get beyond this besides... review everything, all the time?

Around 1,300 QBank questions, and another 600 or so from other sources (Foundation videos, Blue Book, CPQs, etc.).

I noticed a huge spike in my scores at around 1,800. I've heard that tends to happen at around 2,000 for a lot of people, plus or minus a couple hundred. My goal was to hit a minimum of 2,000 before the exam and get as close as I could to 3,000. 3,000 seems like it will be overkill for me though so I'm going to start backing off soon.

I think I'm going to try to hit the 2,300-2,400 range. 200 from the final, and average 33 a day or so for the remaining time. 33 isn't too bad -- that's about 2 hours of work for me.

[fadedsunrise]

1300-1500?(+?) More if you count the midterm and or diagnostic.

The Qbank is at 1300 for me, I did something in the area of 100-200 in the big paper book, and I bought the Emanuels guide and did extra from there. Stopped for a few days now to really drill essays and beginning to feel like everything is a massive time sink/I can't get to stuff before I forget the rules and have to reread.

I didnt improve much at all before I stopped for a round and read the Critical Pass flashcards, because I kept falling for the instinct traps. So more is probably not always better. I've always been fast though so there's that?

[robinhoodOO]

If anyone needed more proof that the essay graders are incompetent, I had someone review a Community Property essay and say that I quickly showed knowledge by "stating both the Model Rules and CA Rules." Jesus Christ...And he also mischaracterized property in his response (calling a SP asset CP).

Did the graders actually pass the Bar? What the fuck good are these graders when they're shit...

[coffeeandcream]

It really depends, but I generally still include sub-elements (to be clear, some of my sheets are not necessarily only "one" page). My approach is based on how I best recall large amounts of data.

Thx for the tips!

Ugh, I feel utterly incompetent at the essays. Like, even for subjects I've "memorized". I open up a family law essay, and the topics feel like they're side-issues we barely even covered. If I'm presented with this in the exam, how am I supposed to even proceed?

Oh god, I'm here too because I just did the family law essay after listening to the lecture etc etc, and just completely freaked out. Q2, July 2009, all that stuff about jurisdiction and the various acts or whatever? I'm pretty sure the lecturer skipped that stuff, and I took one look and was like.. Oh. My. God. I'm. Failing. The. End.

[wakeJD15]

I'm definitely hitting a wall today, I know I should review for the simulated exam tomorrow but I just can't get anything to stick

[fadedsunrise]

If anyone needed more proof that the essay graders are incompetent, I had someone review a Community Property essay and say that I quickly showed knowledge by "stating both the Model Rules and CA Rules." Jesus Christ...And he also mischaracterized property in his response (calling a SP asset CP).

Did the graders actually pass the Bar? What the fuck good are these graders when they're shit...

Haha
My most recent essay grader's comments basically boiled down to "this is good but it could have been better. Be more specific." No shit, sherlock?

[CurryWithTheShot]

Does anyone know how much harder (or easier) the Kaplan MBE questions are compared to the actual exam? Every test I take I'm in the 55%-60% range and I'm struggling to increase my results. Just wondering if Kaplan questions are on par with the actual exam.

[coffeeandcream]

Does anyone know how much harder (or easier) the Kaplan MBE questions are compared to the actual exam? Every test I take I'm in the 55%-60% range and I'm struggling to increase my results. Just wondering if Kaplan questions are on par with the actual exam.

If it makes you feel better, when I first started doing them, I scored in that range too. I freaked out for three days in early July and did nothing but MC. By the end of the three days, I was getting closer to 65-70%. BUT - I didn't just review the questions I got wrong, but also the ones were I was 50-50 on as well

[robinhoodOO]

Does anyone know how much harder (or easier) the Kaplan MBE questions are compared to the actual exam? Every test I take I'm in the 55%-60% range and I'm struggling to increase my results. Just wondering if Kaplan questions are on par with the actual exam.

If it makes you feel better, when I first started doing them, I scored in that range too. I freaked out for three days in early July and did nothing but MC. By the end of the three days, I was getting closer to 65-70%. BUT - I didn't just review the questions I got wrong, but also the ones were I was 50-50 on as well

This is a good pointer. When I'm taking 100 sets in QBanks, I write down #'s that I do not know the rule cold so that I can review it even if I get it right.