BarBri - NY Exam - July 2014 Forum

[greenjuice]

Stupid Wills Q.

What happens if an interested witness is joined by two disinterested witnesses--as well as be an intestate distributee if the will were not established?

I know if she would take as an intestate distributee she would get the lesser of her intestate share or will disposition--but what if there is also 2 other disinterested witnesses? The CMR and outlines make it sound like she would get the full amount bequeathed in the will and the "lesser of" rule wouldn't apply.... is this true?

HALP

My notes say dude gets the original gift with two disinterested witnesses. Without those it's the lesser of rule. Any other thoughts?

if i'm understanding your q correctly, thetashster is correct. if you're getting a bequest under the will and you're a witness, one of two exceptions has to apply: (i) supernumerary (sp?) rule where there are 2 other uninterested witnesses OR (ii) if you would have been an intestate distributee, you take the lesser of the bequest or your intestate share. If neither exception applies the gift fails.

(See essay 18, prompt c, I think this is the situation you're asking about)

[Guchster]

Stupid Wills Q.

What happens if an interested witness is joined by two disinterested witnesses--as well as be an intestate distributee if the will were not established?

I know if she would take as an intestate distributee she would get the lesser of her intestate share or will disposition--but what if there is also 2 other disinterested witnesses? The CMR and outlines make it sound like she would get the full amount bequeathed in the will and the "lesser of" rule wouldn't apply.... is this true?

HALP

My notes say dude gets the original gift with two disinterested witnesses. Without those it's the lesser of rule. Any other thoughts?

if i'm understanding your q correctly, thetashster is correct. if you're getting a bequest under the will and you're a witness, one of two exceptions has to apply: (i) supernumerary (sp?) rule where there are 2 other uninterested witnesses OR (ii) if you would have been an intestate distributee, you take the lesser of the bequest or your intestate share. If neither exception applies the gift fails.

(See essay 18, prompt c, I think this is the situation you're asking about)

Tash, your notes come to the rescue again.

Green, essay 18 nailed EXACTLY what I was struggling with, and put it into much clearer/nice words than my poast.

Danke guys.

[thetashster]

Stupid Wills Q.

What happens if an interested witness is joined by two disinterested witnesses--as well as be an intestate distributee if the will were not established?

I know if she would take as an intestate distributee she would get the lesser of her intestate share or will disposition--but what if there is also 2 other disinterested witnesses? The CMR and outlines make it sound like she would get the full amount bequeathed in the will and the "lesser of" rule wouldn't apply.... is this true?

HALP

My notes say dude gets the original gift with two disinterested witnesses. Without those it's the lesser of rule. Any other thoughts?

if i'm understanding your q correctly, thetashster is correct. if you're getting a bequest under the will and you're a witness, one of two exceptions has to apply: (i) supernumerary (sp?) rule where there are 2 other uninterested witnesses OR (ii) if you would have been an intestate distributee, you take the lesser of the bequest or your intestate share. If neither exception applies the gift fails.

(See essay 18, prompt c, I think this is the situation you're asking about)

Tash, your notes come to the rescue again.

Green, essay 18 nailed EXACTLY what I was struggling with, and put it into much clearer/nice words than my poast.

Danke guys.

if only we could take the exam as a group....

[greenjuice]

That would be so clutch. I wonder what the bar examiners would say if I sent in a special accommodation request to take the exam with a group...

[TrustMeI'mAnActress]

What does everyone think are the most representative MC questions to be using to practice the next few days? Mixed Sets? Half Day Exam Questions? Or Full Day Exam in the MPQ book? Consensus seems to be Mixed Sets are too easy and half day/full day exam questions are too hard. Hmm...

[El Pollito]

What does everyone think are the most representative MC questions to be using to practice the next few days? Mixed Sets? Half Day Exam Questions? Or Full Day Exam in the MPQ book? Consensus seems to be Mixed Sets are too easy and half day/full day exam questions are too hard. Hmm...

Barmax's 99 dollar app, IMO.

[TrustMeI'mAnActress]

Is the format of the BarMax app's questions similar to Barbri's? How do they compare as far as level of difficulty?

[El Pollito]

Is the format of the BarMax app's questions similar to Barbri's? How do they compare as far as level of difficulty?

They're shorter and easier because they're not needlessly convoluted like Barbri questions and you can actually tell what point of law each question is testing. I don't remember if they're real questions (I think they are?), but if they're not, they are a good approximation of the MBE. The explanations are pretty shit, but that's why you have Conviser.

[legalbeagle56]

What does everyone think are the most representative MC questions to be using to practice the next few days? Mixed Sets? Half Day Exam Questions? Or Full Day Exam in the MPQ book? Consensus seems to be Mixed Sets are too easy and half day/full day exam questions are too hard. Hmm...

I'm going to stick to the Mixed Sets for a boost in confidence and throw in some of the Set A/Set B/Drills for something a little more challenging. I'm not doing the SFE because at this point it seems like it would be counterproductive given the general opinion in this thread.

[thetashster]

What does everyone think are the most representative MC questions to be using to practice the next few days? Mixed Sets? Half Day Exam Questions? Or Full Day Exam in the MPQ book? Consensus seems to be Mixed Sets are too easy and half day/full day exam questions are too hard. Hmm...

I'm going to stick to the Mixed Sets for a boost in confidence and throw in some of the Set A/Set B/Drills for something a little more challenging. I'm not doing the SFE because at this point it seems like it would be counterproductive given the general opinion in this thread.

i think it's great to just do whatever it takes to make you feel GOOD, not worse. a big part of the exam is your mindset and how you handle getting into your own head. in other words, the whole thing is a giant mindfuck. do whatever you need to do to not let it get to you.

[peanut123]

MBE Study Buddy is a $10 app and supposedly uses past MBE questions, 300 total. Its explanations are often mediocre, and it only explains why an answer was right (not why others were wrong/not as good), but for just getting in some more practice, it's the best price I've seen.

[Helpful]

Am I missing something, or were the "Half Day" and "Full Day" exams in the MPQ not assigned in the Paced Program/not included in Studysmart? I've glanced and I don't recognize these questions. Is this just extra practice?

[TrustMeI'mAnActress]

Am I missing something, or were the "Half Day" and "Full Day" exams in the MPQ not assigned in the Paced Program/not included in Studysmart? I've glanced and I don't recognize these questions. Is this just extra practice?

Yeah - I believe they're just extra practice. Trying to decide if they're worth doing or not - it's a toss up between these and the Mixed Sets. The Half and Full Day Exams seem to be more difficult than normal, but not as bad as Sets 5 and 6.

[AP-375]

Is there a consensus that the SFE is harder than the Barbri simulated MBE, or the actual MBE?
My score has me pretty anxious.

[lilyorchid]

Hey guys, I ended up getting the Smart Bar Prep Outline. Looks to be helpful.

[pizzasodafries]

If you guys want to feel more comfortable about essays I IMPLORE ALL of you to read Essay 78 in the Released Answer section of the NY Testing book. The first answer was written by some gunner who knows everything. The second answer (which they published since it was an acceptable answer, presumably over 5 points!) was about as bad as you could write an answer. Just read that second answer, and you will realize the bar to getting an acceptable essay score is very very low.

[TrustMeI'mAnActress]

If you guys want to feel more comfortable about essays I IMPLORE ALL of you to read Essay 78 in the Released Answer section of the NY Testing book. The first answer was written by some gunner who knows everything. The second answer (which they published since it was an acceptable answer, presumably over 5 points!) was about as bad as you could write an answer. Just read that second answer, and you will realize the bar to getting an acceptable essay score is very very low.

Are you guys focusing on the released essays in the front of the NYT book (with the model answers) or the essays in the back (with the student answers)?

[Guchster]

If you guys want to feel more comfortable about essays I IMPLORE ALL of you to read Essay 78 in the Released Answer section of the NY Testing book. The first answer was written by some gunner who knows everything. The second answer (which they published since it was an acceptable answer, presumably over 5 points!) was about as bad as you could write an answer. Just read that second answer, and you will realize the bar to getting an acceptable essay score is very very low.

Are you guys focusing on the released essays in the front of the NYT book (with the model answers) or the essays in the back (with the student answers)?

Doing both for the areas I'm weak at or never took before. I find it useful as a way of memorizing the rules by forcing myself to write out the rule statement being called for. For the student answer essays I don't bother to outline because I'll just eye ball it and see if I would've taken my analysis down a similar road.

I practice outlining/writing essays for the front of the book ones though. I do the ones barbri assigns plus the areas I feel insecure about or have choked on in the past.

In terms of multiple choice, I'm also just doing Set A/B/Drills + mixed. I won't be doing Set 6-- it's so cruel and unusual to ask us to do sets where the average score is a 50% this close to the bar.

[lawschoollll]

Is there a consensus that the SFE is harder than the Barbri simulated MBE, or the actual MBE?
My score has me pretty anxious.

I just finished it. I have no idea what the average score is or anything, but I definitely did not do as well as I thought I would.

[TrustMeI'mAnActress]

Has anyone looked at the MBE released questions Barbri has online? I know they say they're older and might not be representative of the real exam, but just curious.

[pizzasodafries]

If you guys want to feel more comfortable about essays I IMPLORE ALL of you to read Essay 78 in the Released Answer section of the NY Testing book. The first answer was written by some gunner who knows everything. The second answer (which they published since it was an acceptable answer, presumably over 5 points!) was about as bad as you could write an answer. Just read that second answer, and you will realize the bar to getting an acceptable essay score is very very low.

Are you guys focusing on the released essays in the front of the NYT book (with the model answers) or the essays in the back (with the student answers)?

I like student answers since Model answer is non attainable for me nor realistic. I want to know how students phrase the issues, how they format their answers, how they cite their rules, easier to try to apply what I see with student answers than with perfect model answers.

[AP-375]

Is there a consensus that the SFE is harder than the Barbri simulated MBE, or the actual MBE?
My score has me pretty anxious.

I just finished it. I have no idea what the average score is or anything, but I definitely did not do as well as I thought I would.

Average is 60%, according to the front of the MPQ book.
I just didn't see any average over my Simulated MBE question, which is why I'm anxious. But apparently the Con Law questions were ridiculous, according to the video.

[peanut123]

Is there a consensus that the SFE is harder than the Barbri simulated MBE, or the actual MBE?
My score has me pretty anxious.

I just finished it. I have no idea what the average score is or anything, but I definitely did not do as well as I thought I would.

I think this has been mentioned but if you look at the front of the MPQ book, the target is 60/100 (with specific break-downs by subject). Of course, who knows what "target" means. Presumably it's somewhere slightly above average.

Edit: whoops - too slow in responding. I go back and forth on this (because the "target" for con law should have been lower maybe) but I am glad to at least have been exposed to those issues. My analysis was right for the general rules but I happened not to know those exceptions, and now I've added them into my notes.

[TrustMeI'mAnActress]

Is there a consensus that the SFE is harder than the Barbri simulated MBE, or the actual MBE?
My score has me pretty anxious.

I just finished it. I have no idea what the average score is or anything, but I definitely did not do as well as I thought I would.

Any consensus on the value of the videos provided as an explanation to the SFE?

[Stringer6]

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