Barbri + What Else? Forum

[sublime]

In need of a Adaptibar discount code please

Sure, just shot you a PM. Just need your email.

[jj252525]

One point I'd like to hear input on (that is somewhat related to this thread) is what everyone is doing with any free study hours outside of Barbri + the other asset. I find myself a bit uncertain as to how to devote any extra time when I've completed Barbri for the day, and have completed my Adaptibar goal for the day.

[sublime]

One point I'd like to hear input on (that is somewhat related to this thread) is what everyone is doing with any free study hours outside of Barbri + the other asset. I find myself a bit uncertain as to how to devote any extra time when I've completed Barbri for the day, and have completed my Adaptibar goal for the day.

Drinking and playing overwatch, honestly.

[learntolift]

One point I'd like to hear input on (that is somewhat related to this thread) is what everyone is doing with any free study hours outside of Barbri + the other asset. I find myself a bit uncertain as to how to devote any extra time when I've completed Barbri for the day, and have completed my Adaptibar goal for the day.

Drinking and playing overwatch, honestly.

sitting out back and watching twitch here

[jj252525]

One point I'd like to hear input on (that is somewhat related to this thread) is what everyone is doing with any free study hours outside of Barbri + the other asset. I find myself a bit uncertain as to how to devote any extra time when I've completed Barbri for the day, and have completed my Adaptibar goal for the day.

Drinking and playing overwatch, honestly.

I should clarify, I meant if you have hours to devote to studying but are uncertain on how to utilize that time.

I've been playing OW as well though. That and DOTA, both of which just anger me anyways.

[learntolift]

One point I'd like to hear input on (that is somewhat related to this thread) is what everyone is doing with any free study hours outside of Barbri + the other asset. I find myself a bit uncertain as to how to devote any extra time when I've completed Barbri for the day, and have completed my Adaptibar goal for the day.

Drinking and playing overwatch, honestly.

I should clarify, I meant if you have hours to devote to studying but are uncertain on how to utilize that time.

I've been playing OW as well though. That and DOTA, both of which just anger me anyways.

i watched the manila majors final the other night. had me up until like 3-4 AM

[Rap Genius]

Yeah, I'm deliberately giving people bad advice because I want them to fail the bar for my own sadistic pleasure...

I know that Adaptibar is BS because I actually USED it. I used it to prepare for the February 2015 bar exam. When I saw the ACTUAL exam, I thought to myself, "What the hell is this?" The Adaptibar questions were easier than the ones on the exam, particularly in Contracts and Property. My MBE was a pathetic 123.2. When I studied for the July 2015 bar, I didn't use Adaptibar. My MBE was a 130.2 (which is still low, but it was enough to pass since I took care of business on the essays).

I'm going to say this one more time: THE NCBE DOESN'T RELEASE PAST QUESTIONS. They're in the business of making your life miserable. They don't play by the rules. It's not like the SAT where the actual questions on past exams are released. There's one caveat: the NCBE releases a few questions from exams 15-20 years ago. Those questions are retired, meaning that they're either based on old law or they don't reflect the format or level of difficulty of the CURRENT exam. If the NCBE was actually nice enough to release MBE's based on the current material then practically everyone would score over 140 on the MBE section. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

So if you want to blow $400 and get a false sense of security then good luck passing the bar.

I have the opposite feeling about the NCBE. I think the company goes out of its way to make things available so that you really don't need a bar prep company to pass the test.

When I first started my Barbri course and learned that there would be 27 questions from subject X, and 13 or 14 would come from subgroup Y, I was like "hell yeah! Barbri did the analysis and can predict the test! This is money well spent!" In actuality, NCBE produces a master outline freely available that tells you exactly what is in bounds, out of bounds, and how many questions will be asked of various subgroups. (If you haven't seen it, I suggest at least glancing at it for 10,000 ft view to studying.) That alone is worth its weight in gold!!!

Think about how much more difficult the exam would be if that information didn't exist and bar prep companies had to "prepare for everything." The only reason Barbri is able to say that you don't need to master everything, just make you get get the core concepts of Y and Z down, is because NCBE openly publishes that it's okay to take that approach and still succeed. To me, that doesn't sound like NCBE is actively working against test takers at all. (It is working for a bell distribution where some students do not perform well, but that is not the same.)

They also provide practice exams using "questions drawn from actual MBEs administered in recent years." I plan to incorporate those on mock exam days.

As for the Adaptibar questions, I like them. The feedback I've gotten from my trusted friends who've taken the bar is that those questions are much more representative of what you'll find on test day than the Barbri ones. Will they be an exact match? Of course not -- otherwise NCBE's raw scores would skyrocket out of control compared to prior years and the test would not be of any value.

I am sorry the bar exam didn't go well for you the first time and am happy that it went well-enough the second go around. I also appreciate that you're here to help others. You've passed the bar! There is no incentive for you to give any misleading information. Here's my dilemma though: even when you threw Adaptibar away and studied with superior materials, you still performed below median on the MBE. That suggests to me that you may not be a good standardized test taker. I truly mean no disrespect by this comment. The reality is though that the bar, for better or worse, is a standardized test. Some people are good at them, others aren't. Out of curiosity, what was your LSAT score, if you don't mind sharing?

How do the Barbri and Adaptibar or Kaplan questions differ so much from the actual MBE questions? One thing I have noticed is that Barbri/Kaplan will seem to have information that is completely irrelevant to the answer (as if it were going to ask a question on a different topic). However, I don't feel like the actual MBE did that to us. Their short fact patterns were much more precise.

[Redfactor]

Yeah, I'm deliberately giving people bad advice because I want them to fail the bar for my own sadistic pleasure...

I know that Adaptibar is BS because I actually USED it. I used it to prepare for the February 2015 bar exam. When I saw the ACTUAL exam, I thought to myself, "What the hell is this?" The Adaptibar questions were easier than the ones on the exam, particularly in Contracts and Property. My MBE was a pathetic 123.2. When I studied for the July 2015 bar, I didn't use Adaptibar. My MBE was a 130.2 (which is still low, but it was enough to pass since I took care of business on the essays).

I'm going to say this one more time: THE NCBE DOESN'T RELEASE PAST QUESTIONS. They're in the business of making your life miserable. They don't play by the rules. It's not like the SAT where the actual questions on past exams are released. There's one caveat: the NCBE releases a few questions from exams 15-20 years ago. Those questions are retired, meaning that they're either based on old law or they don't reflect the format or level of difficulty of the CURRENT exam. If the NCBE was actually nice enough to release MBE's based on the current material then practically everyone would score over 140 on the MBE section. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

So if you want to blow $400 and get a false sense of security then good luck passing the bar.

I have the opposite feeling about the NCBE. I think the company goes out of its way to make things available so that you really don't need a bar prep company to pass the test.

When I first started my Barbri course and learned that there would be 27 questions from subject X, and 13 or 14 would come from subgroup Y, I was like "hell yeah! Barbri did the analysis and can predict the test! This is money well spent!" In actuality, NCBE produces a master outline freely available that tells you exactly what is in bounds, out of bounds, and how many questions will be asked of various subgroups. (If you haven't seen it, I suggest at least glancing at it for 10,000 ft view to studying.) That alone is worth its weight in gold!!!

Think about how much more difficult the exam would be if that information didn't exist and bar prep companies had to "prepare for everything." The only reason Barbri is able to say that you don't need to master everything, just make you get get the core concepts of Y and Z down, is because NCBE openly publishes that it's okay to take that approach and still succeed. To me, that doesn't sound like NCBE is actively working against test takers at all. (It is working for a bell distribution where some students do not perform well, but that is not the same.)

They also provide practice exams using "questions drawn from actual MBEs administered in recent years." I plan to incorporate those on mock exam days.

As for the Adaptibar questions, I like them. The feedback I've gotten from my trusted friends who've taken the bar is that those questions are much more representative of what you'll find on test day than the Barbri ones. Will they be an exact match? Of course not -- otherwise NCBE's raw scores would skyrocket out of control compared to prior years and the test would not be of any value.

I am sorry the bar exam didn't go well for you the first time and am happy that it went well-enough the second go around. I also appreciate that you're here to help others. You've passed the bar! There is no incentive for you to give any misleading information. Here's my dilemma though: even when you threw Adaptibar away and studied with superior materials, you still performed below median on the MBE. That suggests to me that you may not be a good standardized test taker. I truly mean no disrespect by this comment. The reality is though that the bar, for better or worse, is a standardized test. Some people are good at them, others aren't. Out of curiosity, what was your LSAT score, if you don't mind sharing?

How do the Barbri and Adaptibar or Kaplan questions differ so much from the actual MBE questions? One thing I have noticed is that Barbri/Kaplan will seem to have information that is completely irrelevant to the answer (as if it were going to ask a question on a different topic). However, I don't feel like the actual MBE did that to us. Their short fact patterns were much more precise.

I think you're exactly right.

(I have not sat for a bar exam, so obviously I don't have first-hand knowledge on what the MBE will feel like next month. I have never dealt with Kaplan questions before so I cannot speak to that, either.)

I have faced a few questions through Adaptibar and then faced the Barbri counterpart during my Barbri class. My experience has been that Barbri takes the previously-administered test questions released by NCBE and changes them, generally to provide additional facts capable of testing an area of the law that wasn't tested in the original question.

I have my theory on why they do this:

Barbri teaches the test-taking method of reading the question stem before the stimulus. By (1) lengthening the stimulus, and (2) adding additional facts capable of testing another area of the law, they are reinforcing the need to read the question stem first and making students practice at a pace faster than what they'll need to do come test day.

When I do Adaptibar questions, I can generally begin with the stimulus and know (1) what is going to be tested, and (2) what answer I should be looking for. I cannot do that with Barbri's questions, as the stimulus often leads me to believe that legal issue A will be tested and then BAM!, the stem is actually testing legal issue B. Thus, I have to go back and reread a portion of the stimulus.


I do think that Barbri's approach has value. (I am religiously reading question stems prior to stimuli and I don't feel the equivalent "brain fatigue" after doing Adaptibar's questions.) But I also believe that Adaptibar's approach has value too, and I predict the "feel" of Adaptibar's questions will be more in line with what we encounter next month, i.e. the questions will be cleaner in wording and the legal issue being tested.

Ultimately, who knows. I am doing both so hopefully that sets me up for a good place come test day.

[sublime]

Yea, same. I am just doing both and figuring I can learn stuff from each.

[mvp99]

Barbri does throws in completely irrelevant facts, probably to make you read the call of the question first.

E.g. "T ate a hamburger at the restaurant and he noticed that the ketchup tasted pretty bad. He decided to tell the manager when, to his surprise, he found a water on the floor of the restaurant. It was there for over 15 minutes. That reminded T that the pool's water pump at his residential property was not working properly. T decided to call and tell his landlord but the landlord refused to repair the pump. T decided to sue the Landlord. Under what theory, if any, is T most likely to succeed?"

its something like that IMO

[Neve]

I know that Adaptibar is BS because I actually USED it. I used it to prepare for the February 2015 bar exam. When I saw the ACTUAL exam, I thought to myself, "What the hell is this?" The Adaptibar questions were easier than the ones on the exam, particularly in Contracts and Property. My MBE was a pathetic 123.2. When I studied for the July 2015 bar, I didn't use Adaptibar. My MBE was a 130.2 (which is still low, but it was enough to pass since I took care of business on the essays).

So if you want to blow $400 and get a false sense of security then good luck passing the bar.

I took the MBE in July 2014 and it was the last exam before they added Civ Pro. It was also significantly more difficult than anything Barbri prepared me for so I understand the feeling of being in an exam room going, "What the hell is this?" However, the MBE is scaled and if we're all sitting ducks then the duck that prepared with Barbri, Adaptibar, and Critical Pass is going to be in good shape to pass. The NCBE knows this. They know that it's a scaled exam. So expect it to not be a cake walk.

[LionelHutzJD]

I know that Adaptibar is BS because I actually USED it. I used it to prepare for the February 2015 bar exam. When I saw the ACTUAL exam, I thought to myself, "What the hell is this?" The Adaptibar questions were easier than the ones on the exam, particularly in Contracts and Property. My MBE was a pathetic 123.2. When I studied for the July 2015 bar, I didn't use Adaptibar. My MBE was a 130.2 (which is still low, but it was enough to pass since I took care of business on the essays).

So if you want to blow $400 and get a false sense of security then good luck passing the bar.

I took the MBE in July 2014 and it was the last exam before they added Civ Pro. It was also significantly more difficult than anything Barbri prepared me for so I understand the feeling of being in an exam room going, "What the hell is this?" However, the MBE is scaled and if we're all sitting ducks then the duck that prepared with Barbri, Adaptibar, and Critical Pass is going to be in good shape to pass. The NCBE knows this. They know that it's a scaled exam. So expect it to not be a cake walk.[/quote/]

Why do you say it was more difficult if you don't mind me asking. Consensus seems to be that the Barbri questions are more difficult.

EDIT: Quoting

[THE_U]

I completely disagree with L_William

I passed the Feb MBE using mostly Adaptibar and actually saw many similar questions on the real thing.

[ellewoods123]

I completely disagree with L_William

I passed the Feb MBE using mostly Adaptibar and actually saw many similar questions on the real thing.

Thank you. This put my mind at ease a little, because I'm really like Adaptibar thus far

[blueapple08]

I completely disagree with L_William

I passed the Feb MBE using mostly Adaptibar and actually saw many similar questions on the real thing.

Even for the Civ Pro section?

[ballouttacontrol]

anyone want to DM me with an adaptibar discount code? thanks!

[sublime]

anyone want to DM me with an adaptibar discount code? thanks!

Sent you a PM.

[LionelHutzJD]

Do any of you think Adaptibar is something to seriously consider once I finish the Barbri lectures for the MBE? I've heard so many good things about Adaptibar but also some bad things. Are ALL of their questions real MBE questions (except Civ Pro) ? Thanks

[sublime]

Do any of you think Adaptibar is something to seriously consider once I finish the Barbri lectures for the MBE? I've heard so many good things about Adaptibar but also some bad things. Are ALL of their questions real MBE questions (except Civ Pro) ? Thanks

I haven't really started with the questions, but my understanding is that they are all real aside from civ pro, yes.

[THE_U]

I completely disagree with L_William

I passed the Feb MBE using mostly Adaptibar and actually saw many similar questions on the real thing.

Even for the Civ Pro section?

No. I don't think Adaptibar has great Civ pro questions, but then again neither does any prep company because of how new civ pro is still. Adaptibar civ pro is ridiculously hard,while Barbri tends to be easy.

[THE_U]

I completely disagree with L_William

I passed the Feb MBE using mostly Adaptibar and actually saw many similar questions on the real thing.

Thank you. This put my mind at ease a little, because I'm really like Adaptibar thus far

It's by far the best MBE prep IMO. Adaptibar with Barbri sprinkled in = pass (at least for me)

[blueapple08]

I completely disagree with L_William

I passed the Feb MBE using mostly Adaptibar and actually saw many similar questions on the real thing.

Thank you. This put my mind at ease a little, because I'm really like Adaptibar thus far

It's by far the best MBE prep IMO. Adaptibar with Barbri sprinkled in = pass (at least for me)

Thanks from the input, from a fellow cane to another .

Question, do you have any tips for the state specific distinctions and rules? The Barbri lectures for these are seriously slacking and I'm having a hard time keeping federal v. state specific rules separate in my mind.

[rcharter1978]

Do any of you think Adaptibar is something to seriously consider once I finish the Barbri lectures for the MBE? I've heard so many good things about Adaptibar but also some bad things. Are ALL of their questions real MBE questions (except Civ Pro) ? Thanks

I think AdaptiBar is great -- but really, you have x amount of time and an almost infinite number of things you can do with your time.

If you're not doing as great on essays/MPT (PTs) than maybe thats where you need to focus your time.

If you're not doing as great on the MBE's, OR if you are in a state that weighs MBE's pretty heavy than yeah, you should do AdaptiBar.

I think Barbri multiple choice can test the concepts, and I remember seeing quite a few really long fact patterns (which Barbri does a lot of IIRC) on the February exam. At the same time, Barbri questions are not MBE questions.

I remember that for the Property portion, Barbri would have these absolutely funky ass problems with drawings and directions. I think you were supposed to determine property lines, or if the description of the property was good enough, or something like that. It was so strange, and there was not one solitary problem even remotely like that on the MBE portion of the Bar Exam. It was absolutely bizarre, and I remember thinking that if I saw anything like that on the bar exam I would just guess, because I never could quite understand those things.

So, yeah AdaptiBar is a great resource -- and it might be especially useful if you want to do a "practice test" with actual past MBE questions. But I would consider whether your time might be better spent on something else. But thats just me....I'm not a very strong writer, so thats where my weaknesses were.

[Neve]

Why do you say it was more difficult if you don't mind me asking. Consensus seems to be that the Barbri questions are more difficult.

EDIT: Quoting

The posts in here had the opposite consensus - the real MBE is more difficult than the Barbri questions. See this for details - http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=233881

[squiggle]

Why do you say it was more difficult if you don't mind me asking. Consensus seems to be that the Barbri questions are more difficult.

EDIT: Quoting

The posts in here had the opposite consensus - the real MBE is more difficult than the Barbri questions.

I can second that. Barbri questions are easier than and different from real bar exam questions.