NY Bar Feb Exam: Support Group Forum

[z0rk]

I am one of the unfortunate souls traveling to Albany. I was born and raised in Manhattan, but currently live in Washington, D.C. I am looking at flights up on Sunday and its an arm and a leg, but Amtrak trains on Sunday are cheap. Anyone have experience with Amtrak to Albany? Worth it? I am mostly concerned about crap weather.

[SA2014]

I am one of the unfortunate souls traveling to Albany. I was born and raised in Manhattan, but currently live in Washington, D.C. I am looking at flights up on Sunday and its an arm and a leg, but Amtrak trains on Sunday are cheap. Anyone have experience with Amtrak to Albany? Worth it? I am mostly concerned about crap weather.

Amtrak trains are pretty comfy. Only problem is that once you get to Albany, you're in the middle of nowhere, having only a giant parking lot of cars. Cabs are hard to find, better call ahead or Uber. So if you go, plan on arriving in daylight.

[trustmouse83]

Yeah, i'll second that. I went from Penn to Albany Rennslaer and it's usually around a 3hr 20min trip provided there are no delays, and I can't speak to a Feb administration of the exam but I would imagine snow is at least likely, so maybe travel a day sooner instead of getting caught up in any adverse weather.

The trains are pretty comfortable, and have had wifi for some time. There are also power adapters for your laptop which is pretty useful. From what I can remember I think I paid around 70$ for a return ticket, but that was in the summer time. It might be different in February.

[iwantmybar]

Also going to Albany from NYC.

I'm very concerned about the wether as well.

There is a bus from NYC to Albany but is the bus going to work with the snow?

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Are you all from the south?? Not to be snarky but the rest of the world still turns when there is snow. You will be fine unless there is some huge blizzard on that day.

Just trying to reassure you all. Don't need that additional stress.

[z0rk]

Are you all from the south?? Not to be snarky but the rest of the world still turns when there is snow. You will be fine unless there is some huge blizzard on that day.

Just trying to reassure you all. Don't need that additional stress.

Of course Albany and Buffalo have inclement weather contingencies, but what use is that if your flight is canceled or a bus operator does not want to make the trip. The reassurance is good, but its worth planning in the event that a storm does ground people. The last thing anyone wants is stress about travel and making it to the exam in the event of a blizzard. I am planning to arrive on Sunday, in the event that a storm creates an issue I have Monday to work it out.

Also going to Albany from NYC.

I'm very concerned about the wether as well.

There is a bus from NYC to Albany but is the bus going to work with the snow?

I just booked an early Sunday morning Amtrak train from Manhattan to Albany. With a AAA or student advantage card discount, it came out to under $40. The train station is a 5 minute ride to Empire Plaza and many of the hotels nearby.

[iwantmybar]

Thanks zork and unfrozen caveman.

And yes i'm from the south of Europe so i'm not used to the snow at all. The last time it snowed (and just a bit ), I was about 18 and all the cars stopped like it was the end of the world

[Ineedhelpplease]

I am probably really dumb for not having know but just in case somebody else is using adaptibar, on the practice exams option (under the Questions section) you can customize questions for a subject (ex, just questions on individual rights in Con Law). I looked into it because I want to break down property by going over the more important sections, getting the beasts out of the way first.

Anyway, hope everyones studies are going well.

[flashforward2]

Any advice on Contracts and Property MBEs? I'm doing timed practice and reviewing outlines constantly. It's beyond frustrating.

[NY_Sea]

Any advice on Contracts and Property MBEs? I'm doing timed practice and reviewing outlines constantly. It's beyond frustrating.

Contracts: Get the differences between the UCC and common law down... Without that, you're screwed IMO.

Property: A whole animal in and of itself... I've been doing well on my practice MBEs, but I'm convinced it's only because I started studying the day after results came out and got through all of my outlines at least twice. Know the law, with property they test tricky stuff, but they also test simple stuff like Equitable Conversion. Not every property question is out to get you... It took me a little while to get that. Sometimes the answer really is as simple as "X recorded before Y"

Also, try to learn the buzz words for the rules... This applies in all areas of law tested on the exam. They want those buzz words and in the case of MBE questions, sometimes the difference between one answer and the correct one is the use of those buzz words.

Good luck! We're all gonna be fine!

[blawndeambition]

Anyone in Chicago studying for the NY bar? Looking for a study partner.

[iwantmybar]

Have you guys started to study for the NY topics?

[flashforward2]

I've started studying for corporations, wills and a little bit of DR but I'm no where near where I need to be on NY Practice and the NY distinctions.

[anshulkalra]

I am a repeater here. I am taking adaptibar as a secondary course to improve on the MBE. So far I have done around 150 practice question and my average is score is about 61%. Do you guys this is a good consistent score to have to pass the MBE on the bar exam? Obviously I try to get around 65-70 % but when you accumulate questions from all MBE subjects it becomes quite difficult to achieve that.

[myrtlewinston]

Doing NY Practice now. It's not scintillating.

[NY_Sea]

Have you guys started to study for the NY topics?

Going at BARBRI's schedule/pace, so I'm doing a NY topic today... Admin. I've done Agency/Partnership too, but I started studying the day after we got results, so I've already had a couple run throughs of all my outlines, NY and MBE.

Good luck again everyone! Let's use this for any reassurance/motivation/kick in the ass we need!

[myrtlewinston]

Is anyone having trouble writing essays and MPTs in the recommended time?

[z0rk]

SPOILER ALERT FOR SECOND GRADED ESSAY, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED IT YET. If you have, please see my question contained in the spoiler.

[+] Spoiler

Our last graded essay had an unconscionability issue on it. Am I mis-remembering or did Professor Epstein say that it is a relatively untested issue?

Are these essays written by Barbri or actual essays from the Bar?

[NY_Sea]

SPOILER ALERT FOR SECOND GRADED ESSAY, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED IT YET. If you have, please see my question contained in the spoiler.

[+] Spoiler

Our last graded essay had an unconscionability issue on it. Am I mis-remembering or did Professor Epstein say that it is a relatively untested issue?

Are these essays written by Barbri or actual essays from the Bar?

I think most are actual essays... If you look in the bottom corner, I think most, if not all essays say "July/Feb 20xx". That makes me think they're real essays. As for the unconscionability issue, they might not test it,

[+] Spoiler

but given the agent's conduct and the contract terms, I didn't really know what else they were really looking for... Doesn't mean BARBRI's awful graders didn't give me a 45 for not listing all of the factors the judge would consider for unconscionability

[jbarl1]

Where is the best place to get practice NY multiple choice questions? I bought a set of Kaplan books but just realized there are no NY multiple choice questions (too busy working on MBE to notice before).

This is the only book I can seem to find? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145368 ... 885&sr=1-1

Any advice would be great - thanks guys!

[jbarl1]

Does anyone have a breakdown of what the topics of the essays usually are? Like, for example, essay 1 usually is a Property/Wills/Corporation question. I know that Kaplan has provided breakdowns like this before, so I was hoping that someone had how the NY ones are usually broken down. Thanks!

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Does anyone have a breakdown of what the topics of the essays usually are? Like, for example, essay 1 usually is a Property/Wills/Corporation question. I know that Kaplan has provided breakdowns like this before, so I was hoping that someone had how the NY ones are usually broken down. Thanks!

This might help: http://www.smartbarprep.com/essayanalysis/

[myrtlewinston]

Where is the best place to get practice NY multiple choice questions? I bought a set of Kaplan books but just realized there are no NY multiple choice questions (too busy working on MBE to notice before).

This is the only book I can seem to find? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145368 ... 885&sr=1-1

Any advice would be great - thanks guys!

I asked Pieper the same question. They said the only way to prepare is to know NY CPLR very well, as that's where most of the questions come from. The questions are very weird!

[iwantmybar]

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about that NY MCQ.

Last july I got a pretty good score (above average ) at that thing and it was the first time I was taking a NY MCQ... (and i'm not good at MCQ, I score 121 on the mbe).

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Newbie question that I can't seem to find answer to: For the MPT and NYMC portion, is that lumped in with the other 2 essays so that you have to manage time on the MPT and NYMC together with the essays?