July 2014 New York Bar Exam Forum

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PennBull

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by PennBull » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:04 pm

bport hopeful wrote:
PennBull wrote:
bport hopeful wrote:Do we ever find out our overall score?
I'd really like to know how closely I toed the line
haha this is why I want to know as well. Most of me hopes I got a 665.
I passed my MPRE with the minimum score and I was super proud

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bport hopeful

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by bport hopeful » Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:54 pm

PennBull wrote:
bport hopeful wrote:
PennBull wrote:
bport hopeful wrote:Do we ever find out our overall score?
I'd really like to know how closely I toed the line
haha this is why I want to know as well. Most of me hopes I got a 665.
I passed my MPRE with the minimum score and I was super proud
Im jealous. I wish I knew EXACTLY how much to study.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by blue920 » Thu Oct 30, 2014 12:37 am

PennBull wrote:
I passed my MPRE with the minimum score and I was super proud
So did I! I had a busy week prior to the test and didn't have much time to study (and didn't really feel like doing it either).

I was shocked that I even got a passing score.

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mr_toad

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by mr_toad » Sat Nov 01, 2014 1:13 am

Is anyone else still waiting for barbri book deposit refund? I mailed mine August 4 and still haven't received anything. I guess they got them around the 10th, so it's been about 12 weeks...

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mcweanis

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by mcweanis » Mon Dec 01, 2014 11:33 am

has anybody gotten their interview/swearing in date yet?

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kapital98

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by kapital98 » Mon Dec 01, 2014 12:14 pm

mcweanis wrote:has anybody gotten their interview/swearing in date yet?
I'm in the Third Department. The admissions ceremony is January 22nd. Time can't go quick enough.

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bport hopeful

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by bport hopeful » Mon Dec 01, 2014 1:08 pm

Fourth Dept. Interview date is December 20. The (tentative) ceremony date is January 14.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by gmr189 » Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:40 pm

I seem to have misplaced my interview letter (i know the location, time, etc.) but does anyone know if we have to specifically bring anything to the interview besides ourselves?

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by jarofsoup » Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:01 am

I need some advice and I think this is probably the best place to turn. I am 3 weeks out from the bar and in a bit of a panic. I took the CA bar last time and was not successful and I am now taking New York.

My MBE is going well (I got a 133 on Kaplan's midterm and got a 140ish scaled on the MBE for CA) and according to Kaplan my essays get 5 to 6s and my MPT was like 9. The essays seem like they are nearly impossible to get 100% right. There is always one issue that is totally fringe or a minute detail.

Is this a normal place to be 3 weeks out? For the NY multiple choice Kaplan has us doing like 33 a day. Is it worth doing this or should I just double up on my MBE? They seem like a crap shoot.

Thank you for any advice.

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bport hopeful

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by bport hopeful » Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:40 am

jarofsoup wrote:I need some advice and I think this is probably the best place to turn. I am 3 weeks out from the bar and in a bit of a panic. I took the CA bar last time and was not successful and I am now taking New York.

My MBE is going well (I got a 133 on Kaplan's midterm and got a 140ish scaled on the MBE for CA) and according to Kaplan my essays get 5 to 6s and my MPT was like 9. The essays seem like they are nearly impossible to get 100% right. There is always one issue that is totally fringe or a minute detail.

Is this a normal place to be 3 weeks out? For the NY multiple choice Kaplan has us doing like 33 a day. Is it worth doing this or should I just double up on my MBE? They seem like a crap shoot.

Thank you for any advice.
I went nuts on the MBE because you more or less know what kind of questions you are going to get asked as opposed to the crap shoot the other question types are.

When I got about a week out, I stopped doing practice essays. But I READ every single practice sample answer. I then went through the sample answers and copy and pasted every rule out of them, by category of law, for quick reference. While I prepped for essays, I made sure to get down the writing style, because a lot of points come from that alone. On test day, I made sure to answer every question as if I knew what I was talking about, even if I didnt, to ensure that I got points for writing style, clarity, analysis, etc.

Themis only gave like 5 NY MC practice sections if I remember correctly. I think I did them all, or thats how many I did. Don't really remember. I do remember that they felt useless and difficult. I was getting around 50% throughout.

If you read through any of the July bar threads, people felt pretty terrible about the MBE. I was in that boat, and depending on the day, was pretty confident that I failed. Ended up passing and got a 158 scaled on the MBE. Was glad I put so much time into the MBE, because I think it starts to become second nature after you take enough of them, even if you have a bad day.

3 weeks out, Id suggest doing a ton of MBE practice sections, make sure youre comfortable with the style of the writing sections, and occasionally do a NY MC section just for kicks since they dont take that long. 33 a day seems way overkill to me, because they are extremely difficult, and theres also no way to know which questions will be on there. One thing I wish I did more of, was take more timed MPTs (I think I did 3 total). I think mine went fine, but they are easy points that dont require real studying or memorization.

Good luck, you'll be fine!

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by thelawyerguy » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:27 pm

jarofsoup wrote:I need some advice and I think this is probably the best place to turn. I am 3 weeks out from the bar and in a bit of a panic. I took the CA bar last time and was not successful and I am now taking New York.

My MBE is going well (I got a 133 on Kaplan's midterm and got a 140ish scaled on the MBE for CA) and according to Kaplan my essays get 5 to 6s and my MPT was like 9. The essays seem like they are nearly impossible to get 100% right. There is always one issue that is totally fringe or a minute detail.

Is this a normal place to be 3 weeks out? For the NY multiple choice Kaplan has us doing like 33 a day. Is it worth doing this or should I just double up on my MBE? They seem like a crap shoot.

Thank you for any advice.

I would stop doing NY Multiple Choice. It's a complete crapshoot and it's only worth 10% of your overall score. When I took the NY Bar, I'm not sure I did better than random guessing on the NY multiple choice. Given that it's only 10% of your overall score, it's not worth the time investment to learn all the NY Multiple Choice law. You'd be better off doing 33 more MBE questions each day.

Keep in mind that you don't need to get 100% right on the essays. This isn't about perfection but getting as many points as you can. Make sure you hit all the easy points both on the essays and NY MBE.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by PuneetSquare » Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:20 am

I would stop doing NY Multiple Choice. It's a complete crapshoot and it's only worth 10% of your overall score. When I took the NY Bar, I'm not sure I did better than random guessing on the NY multiple choice. Given that it's only 10% of your overall score, it's not worth the time investment to learn all the NY Multiple Choice law. You'd be better off doing 33 more MBE questions each day.

Keep in mind that you don't need to get 100% right on the essays. This isn't about perfection but getting as many points as you can. Make sure you hit all the easy points both on the essays and NY MBE.
I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I certainly did better on the multiple-choice than I would had I merely been randomly guessing. I have no doubt that I would have failed the NY Bar if I hadn't studied up for the multiple choice. My success was in no small part owed to the doctrinal classes I took in school. Take Evidence and Jurisdiction! I wouldn't have passed the bar without them. Eat your vegetables, kiddos. You'll thank me later.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by 5ky » Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:30 am

PuneetSquare wrote:
I would stop doing NY Multiple Choice. It's a complete crapshoot and it's only worth 10% of your overall score. When I took the NY Bar, I'm not sure I did better than random guessing on the NY multiple choice. Given that it's only 10% of your overall score, it's not worth the time investment to learn all the NY Multiple Choice law. You'd be better off doing 33 more MBE questions each day.

Keep in mind that you don't need to get 100% right on the essays. This isn't about perfection but getting as many points as you can. Make sure you hit all the easy points both on the essays and NY MBE.
I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I certainly did better on the multiple-choice than I would had I merely been randomly guessing. I have no doubt that I would have failed the NY Bar if I hadn't studied up for the multiple choice. My success was in no small part owed to the doctrinal classes I took in school. Take Evidence and Jurisdiction! I wouldn't have passed the bar without them. Eat your vegetables, kiddos. You'll thank me later.
I'm strongly of the opinion that there's no one right way how to law school or study for the bar.

That being said, studying specifically for the NYMC is a 100% waste of time. You'll pick up enough studying for the NY essays that you can do okay on the NYMC.

Barbri doesn't even really give you materials to study for it. I don't understand how you would specifically study for it, to be honest.

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PennBull

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by PennBull » Wed Feb 11, 2015 2:21 am

I studied more than I should have for the NYMC and I was still just absolutely guessing on a shitload of questions.

Get your MBE up to a nice score, have your shit together for the essays, stay awake for the skills essay, and give a good faith effort for the NYMC.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by JenDarby » Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:01 am

PuneetSquare wrote:
I would stop doing NY Multiple Choice. It's a complete crapshoot and it's only worth 10% of your overall score. When I took the NY Bar, I'm not sure I did better than random guessing on the NY multiple choice. Given that it's only 10% of your overall score, it's not worth the time investment to learn all the NY Multiple Choice law. You'd be better off doing 33 more MBE questions each day.

Keep in mind that you don't need to get 100% right on the essays. This isn't about perfection but getting as many points as you can. Make sure you hit all the easy points both on the essays and NY MBE.
I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I certainly did better on the multiple-choice than I would had I merely been randomly guessing. I have no doubt that I would have failed the NY Bar if I hadn't studied up for the multiple choice. My success was in no small part owed to the doctrinal classes I took in school. Take Evidence and Jurisdiction! I wouldn't have passed the bar without them. Eat your vegetables, kiddos. You'll thank me later.
Alternatively watch a lot of law and order. You absolutely do not need any doctrinal classes to pass the bar. And definitely do NOT waste time studying for the NY MC. As others have said it is truly a crap shoot and shouldn't make or break your score.

If you only knew what was on Lean Sheets, but you knew it well, you could pass the bar.

The most important thing for your essays is to nail down a solid outline structure with individual paragraphs for the issue, rule, analysis and conclusion. You can say garbage throughout them but if you look organized and can identify issues and rules you will at least grab some points.

(That being said I did really well on MBE so I suppose it's possible I got little to no points elsewhere lol)

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by Lawst » Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:45 pm

thelawyerguy wrote:
jarofsoup wrote:I need some advice and I think this is probably the best place to turn. I am 3 weeks out from the bar and in a bit of a panic. I took the CA bar last time and was not successful and I am now taking New York.

My MBE is going well (I got a 133 on Kaplan's midterm and got a 140ish scaled on the MBE for CA) and according to Kaplan my essays get 5 to 6s and my MPT was like 9. The essays seem like they are nearly impossible to get 100% right. There is always one issue that is totally fringe or a minute detail.

Is this a normal place to be 3 weeks out? For the NY multiple choice Kaplan has us doing like 33 a day. Is it worth doing this or should I just double up on my MBE? They seem like a crap shoot.

Thank you for any advice.

I would stop doing NY Multiple Choice. It's a complete crapshoot and it's only worth 10% of your overall score. When I took the NY Bar, I'm not sure I did better than random guessing on the NY multiple choice. Given that it's only 10% of your overall score, it's not worth the time investment to learn all the NY Multiple Choice law. You'd be better off doing 33 more MBE questions each day.

Keep in mind that you don't need to get 100% right on the essays. This isn't about perfection but getting as many points as you can. Make sure you hit all the easy points both on the essays and NY MBE.
I agree with this. I didn't even finish the NY multiple choice. I had like more than five not yet bubbled in when time was called. And I know I didn't get all the other ones right. I passed.
My MBE was in the mid/high 130s - ok, but not stellar. Essays are the make or break section. Also, the MPT is a pretty easy section also worth 10%, and you can make up points there so long as you organize your thoughts and writing well - all the information is there.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by jarofsoup » Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:53 pm

Does anyone know how accurate the Kaplan graders are?? I am killing it with them just wondering if this should build confidence.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by EvelynS » Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:03 pm

Hi guys!

I have a quick question. Did anyone here took BarBri and had to miss first 2 days of lectures? I understand it is not the end of the world, but I just want to get a sense of how much I would have to catch up on. Any suggestions/advice is highly appreciated.

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bport hopeful

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by bport hopeful » Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:06 pm

EvelynS wrote:Hi guys!

I have a quick question. Did anyone here took BarBri and had to miss first 2 days of lectures? I understand it is not the end of the world, but I just want to get a sense of how much I would have to catch up on. Any suggestions/advice is highly appreciated.
Your lectures will be online, don't sweat it. The great thing about barprep, is its long. And even though that sort of sucks, it can give your scheduling a lot of flexibility.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by encore1101 » Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:57 pm

EvelynS wrote:Hi guys!

I have a quick question. Did anyone here took BarBri and had to miss first 2 days of lectures? I understand it is not the end of the world, but I just want to get a sense of how much I would have to catch up on. Any suggestions/advice is highly appreciated.
I missed a few scheduled lectures. I made up for it by watching a lecture and a half (i.e. half the lecture I missed plus the one I was supposed to watch that day). It's not that bad, especially since you can watch the videos at a faster playback.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by EvelynS » Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:29 pm

Hi guys! Would you recommend buying some supplements (i.e., Adaptibar, Emanuel's Strategies & Tactics, Critical Pass MBE Flashcards, etc.) in addition to Barbri in order to pass the MBE portion?

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by JenDarby » Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:45 pm

EvelynS wrote:Hi guys! Would you recommend buying some supplements (i.e., Adaptibar, Emanuel's Strategies & Tactics, Critical Pass MBE Flashcards, etc.) in addition to Barbri in order to pass the MBE portion?
No, but I would recommend lean sheets. I think if you only knew everything on lean sheets you could probably still pass. They're very helpful for drilling in all the basics.

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bport hopeful

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by bport hopeful » Mon Mar 16, 2015 11:31 pm

Liked Lean Sheets, but I could super easily have done without. They were mostly just a good piece of mind thing, where I could run through them like a checklist.

I have NO experience with MBE flashcards, but it sounds like something I could dig.

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by Stringer6 » Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:26 pm

MBE Critical Pass flash cards were good

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JenDarby

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Re: July 2014 New York Bar Exam

Post by JenDarby » Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:31 pm

bport hopeful wrote:Liked Lean Sheets, but I could super easily have done without. They were mostly just a good piece of mind thing, where I could run through them like a checklist.

I have NO experience with MBE flashcards, but it sounds like something I could dig.
I suppose where it helped me was the subjects that I decided not to do any reading for (civil procedure, all NY state law matters). I also didn't reread anything from the books (or often read them at all) or make my own short outlines, both of which Kaplan recommended/mandated.

So, I HIGHLY recommend lean sheets for people who aren't using flashcards, making their own short outlines, or doing anythying but watching the videos and filling in the outlines lol.

They really contained almost all I "needed" to know in most subjects, and I wish I had actualy watched less videos and just read the lean sheets for certain subjects.

I relied on the video outlines and lean sheets exclusively, outside of doing practice MBEs. It worked well, but of course we all have different study methods.

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