Was the MBE harder than you expected Forum

[Neve]

I felt like it was more difficult than the 1200 or so practice BARBRI questions I did.

Mostly because the subject areas seemed so completely different. When doing BARBRI practice questions, I swear I must've had about a billion crim law questions about people stealing without the requisite level of intent, a ton of accords and satisfactions, awkwardly confusing conveyances, and so on.

The MBE seemed to be testing completely different areas for the most part. I recall some eighth amendment and other questions that literally I never encountered in practice.

I couldn't even recall what the Eighth Amendment was about on the exam (and I took Con Crim Pro in law school 2 years ago). Barbri focused on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments, but not the 8th amendment. I do agree with your post. I felt the real MBE was far difficult and different than Barbri practice questions and I cringe at the score I'm going to get in November.

[Sandro]

I felt like it was more difficult than the 1200 or so practice BARBRI questions I did.

Mostly because the subject areas seemed so completely different. When doing BARBRI practice questions, I swear I must've had about a billion crim law questions about people stealing without the requisite level of intent, a ton of accords and satisfactions, awkwardly confusing conveyances, and so on.

The MBE seemed to be testing completely different areas for the most part. I recall some eighth amendment and other questions that literally I never encountered in practice.

There was a federal housing statute that I never saw in Barbri's materials. But Barbri did have 50 questions on larceny distinctions.

[Neve]

Does anyone know how scores on the Barbri questions correlate to scores on the actual MBE? Is there a correlation or is this whole thing a crap-shot?

Not to say that I did great on the Barbri question sets, but my last mixed set was acceptable/in the passing range.

[spleenworship]

Does anyone know how scores on the Barbri questions correlate to scores on the actual MBE? Is there a correlation or is this whole thing a crap-shot?

Not to say that I did great on the Barbri question sets, but my last mixed set was acceptable/in the passing range.

I have been told they match up reasonably well.

[sam9317]

Does anyone know how scores on the Barbri questions correlate to scores on the actual MBE? Is there a correlation or is this whole thing a crap-shot?

Not to say that I did great on the Barbri question sets, but my last mixed set was acceptable/in the passing range.

I have been told they match up reasonably well.

By "reasonably well" do you mean what you get on the Barbri questions is roughly what you get on the MBE? Because I remember Barbri saying that their questions are harder and people tend to score higher on the actual MBE?

[SammyJ]

Does anyone know how scores on the Barbri questions correlate to scores on the actual MBE? Is there a correlation or is this whole thing a crap-shot?

Not to say that I did great on the Barbri question sets, but my last mixed set was acceptable/in the passing range.

I have been told they match up reasonably well.

By "reasonably well" do you mean what you get on the Barbri questions is roughly what you get on the MBE? Because I remember Barbri saying that their questions are harder and people tend to score higher on the actual MBE?

Barbri does say this, but after that travesty/MBE, I don't see how that could be true.

[spleenworship]

Does anyone know how scores on the Barbri questions correlate to scores on the actual MBE? Is there a correlation or is this whole thing a crap-shot?

Not to say that I did great on the Barbri question sets, but my last mixed set was acceptable/in the passing range.

I have been told they match up reasonably well.

By "reasonably well" do you mean what you get on the Barbri questions is roughly what you get on the MBE? Because I remember Barbri saying that their questions are harder and people tend to score higher on the actual MBE?

Barbri does say this, but after that travesty/MBE, I don't see how that could be true.

[ebo]

I wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat from a nightmare about missing 120/200 MBE questions last week

[TheFactor]

I've only talked to one real life person who thought the MBE was especially difficult. For me, it was about what I expected - a lot of gimmes, a couple dozen tough ones, and a handful of wtf super-random questions.

Surprised to see everyone freaking out.

[jd20132013]

Lol

[Neidermeyer]

I thought that the MBE was more difficult than what Barbri prepared me for. I completed approximately 1200 practice questions, scored a 113/200 on the full practice MBE in June (I hadn't started prepping too hard yet) and a 76/100 on the simulated final I took a week before the MBE. I left the MBE feeling bad about parts of it and not sure if I passed, although I guess that's generally how it goes. There just weren't as many strings of easier questions as I was expecting. There were several times I read a question and immediately knew what answer I wanted to see (because it mimicked a Barbri question), and that answer wasn't a choice. It was almost like they were asking what the second best answer was (since they left the best out). Also, there were several questions over material that Barbri either glanced over or said "don't worry about this," as it likely won't appear. All in all, I'm still not sure how I feel. I think it's more likely than not that I passed, but my gut tells me its very possible that I could have failed too.

Unfortunately, in our state, we have to pass the MBE and Essays separately. We only need a 132, which, given the curve estimates would mean about a 112 or so raw.

[TheFactor]

I predict the curve won't be any bigger than usual. It just wasn't that fucking hard.

[OhScalia]

The curve should be just 10 points. MBE was easy

[SammyJ]

The curve should be just 10 points. MBE was easy

sarcasm?

[dallaseagle]

The curve should be just 10 points. MBE was easy

sarcasm?

No, just a thinly veiled brag

[dallaseagle]

I predict the curve won't be any bigger than usual. It just wasn't that fucking hard.

OK, that's it. Time to remove the word "hard" from the lexicon, since there is no further use for the word. TheFactor has deemed the MBE not hard. Therefore, there is nothing under the sun that is hard. No need to be using that four letter word any more. That is all.

[TheFactor]

I predict the curve won't be any bigger than usual. It just wasn't that fucking hard.

OK, that's it. Time to remove the word "hard" from the lexicon, since there is no further use for the word. TheFactor has deemed the MBE not hard. Therefore, there is nothing under the sun that is hard. No need to be using that four letter word any more. That is all.

That's an impressive string of non sequiturs.

[OhScalia]

I don't believe the MBE was that hard. Some hard questions, but it was easy for the most part. I expect a normal curve.

[Guchster]

This speculating about the curve based on personal "feelings" on how hard it was is so fcking stupid.

If you learned anything in law school, it's that your feeling on how you did on exams with curves is not the most reliable indicator for your performance. A few people I know who failed bar exams thought it was easy and were sure they passed, most lawyers I know who passed often tell me they were convinced they failed--I'm sure there are all kinds of crosses in between.

At this point, it's too late and speculation isn't going to help. Just pretend you passed with flying colors--you can deal with the fall out of failing when it happens. Most of us are starting work soon or currently looking for a jobs--we don't need the added anxiety contributed by arguing whose personal feelings are truths when there are so many intangible factors involved here.

[richis7]

MBE was harder than I expected in so far as it seemed different to me than the barbri sets. It could be the fact that I was expecting the MBE to be easier than barbri that made it seem harder to me.

At any rate, I left thinking I had done poorly on the MBE and passed North Carolina. Thankfully we don't have a minimum MBE score, because I am pretty sure my essays carried me.

I'll never know though.

[OhScalia]

This speculating about the curve based on personal "feelings" on how hard it was is so fcking stupid.

If you learned anything in law school, it's that your feeling on how you did on exams with curves is not the most reliable indicator for your performance. A few people I know who failed bar exams thought it was easy and were sure they passed, most lawyers I know who passed often tell me they were convinced they failed--I'm sure there are all kinds of crosses in between.

At this point, it's too late and speculation isn't going to help. Just pretend you passed with flying colors--you can deal with the fall out of failing when it happens. Most of us are starting work soon or currently looking for a jobs--we don't need the added anxiety contributed by arguing whose personal feelings are truths when there are so many intangible factors involved here.

I don't see how the MBE is like law school exams. The MBE is objective and if I do well I will pass regardless of how other test takers fared. Cannot say the same for law school exams.

[JenDarby]

This speculating about the curve based on personal "feelings" on how hard it was is so fcking stupid.

If you learned anything in law school, it's that your feeling on how you did on exams with curves is not the most reliable indicator for your performance. A few people I know who failed bar exams thought it was easy and were sure they passed, most lawyers I know who passed often tell me they were convinced they failed--I'm sure there are all kinds of crosses in between.

At this point, it's too late and speculation isn't going to help. Just pretend you passed with flying colors--you can deal with the fall out of failing when it happens. Most of us are starting work soon or currently looking for a jobs--we don't need the added anxiety contributed by arguing whose personal feelings are truths when there are so many intangible factors involved here.

This is no place for logic, Guchster.

[jd20132013]

Wondering how ppl feel now

[JenDarby]

My scaled score on the MBE was right around my hypo scaled score on practice tests

[KirkwoodGAO]

I left the MBE day thinking that I had done poorly and might have failed the bar, because I was relying on a high MBE to balance out low essay scores. Just like everyone else, the MBE felt very hard to me. I ended up with a scaled MBE in the mid-160s, so you can't really rely on how it felt while you were taking it.