Anyone else feel like Conlaw is the hardest section on MBE? Forum

[pizzasodafries]

I saw people writing how generally everyone does the best on Conlaw. I am freaking out since I always do 50% or less on con law questions so far and it feels like even when I get it right I am guessing between two worthy answer choices.

[northwood]

I saw people writing how generally everyone does the best on Conlaw. I am freaking out since I always do 50% or less on con law questions so far and it feels like even when I get it right I am guessing between two worthy answer choices.

I hate con law with a passion

[northwood]

and I legitimately suck at it( which is why I hate con law)

[BullShitWithBravado]

Yeah. It's impossible to just reason your way to the answer when you're not sure what the law is.

Also, OP, if you're still struggling, I would suggest doing all the study smart con law questions. Start out doing sets of beginner questions. Once you're done with those, do sets of intermediate questions and then advanced questions. That helped me raise my accuracy quite a bit.

[pizzasodafries]

Yeah. It's impossible to just reason your way to the answer when you're not sure what the law is.

Also, OP, if you're still struggling, I would suggest doing all the study smart con law questions. Start out doing sets of beginner questions. Once you're done with those, do sets of intermediate questions and then advanced questions. That helped me raise my accuracy quite a bit.

k thanks, I have done about half of them, i feel like stuff applies when the question wants it to. I have no idea when the State Sovereign immunity even applies, but it always sort of makes sense to me that you cant sue the state since they have the Immunity.

[OklahomasOK]

Yeah. It's impossible to just reason your way to the answer when you're not sure what the law is.

Also, OP, if you're still struggling, I would suggest doing all the study smart con law questions. Start out doing sets of beginner questions. Once you're done with those, do sets of intermediate questions and then advanced questions. That helped me raise my accuracy quite a bit.

k thanks, I have done about half of them, i feel like stuff applies when the question wants it to. I have no idea when the State Sovereign immunity even applies, but it always sort of makes sense to me that you cant sue the state since they have the Immunity.

Eh, I have to disagree. The first couple of StudySmart sets are pretty good, the last couple are full of traditional red herrings as correct answers. The Practice Questions tab on BarBri are better than the study smart sets, IMO.

[numbertwo88]

I absolutely hate con law too; I have an undying passionate hatred for the constitution and everything that has been read into it.

I'm banking on the other MBE subjects at this point, with the exception of mortgages/foreclosures because those are a close second to con law.

[ap1987]

Thank god I'm not the only one. I did absolutely horrible on almost all questions sets in conlaw besides the MBE workshop.It was my worst subject on the Simulated MBE.

[portaprokoss]

On the barbri practice mbe I scored 93rd percentile or higher in every subject except con law. For con law I scored 14th percentile.

[VermiciousKnid]

Yep. My last set of mixed MBE questions (Themis) I was above 80% in every subject...35% Con Law. I can spit all the rules out at you, but can't apply them to the questions.

[Lwoods]

Con Law is tricky on the MBE because there have been tight turns to the application of law. So, if you're not familiar with most of the case law, you might miss an obvious answer. Like on the table of establishment law cases...
Displaying 10 Commandments when purpose is not predominantly religious? Valid.
Doing the same when the purpose is predominantly religious? Invalid.
Reimbursement to private schools for administering standardized achievement tests? Valid.
Reimbursement to private schools for writing achievement tests? Invalid.

Or like, how the government can be sexist against men in the draft...because.

[Grapes]

a lot of con law mbe questions are based off of real cases. it shouldn't be that difficult.

property! now thats a tough one. long questions, lots of transactions going on.

[Law-So-Hard]

Con Law is tricky on the MBE because there have been tight turns to the application of law. So, if you're not familiar with most of the case law, you might miss an obvious answer. Like on the table of establishment law cases...
Displaying 10 Commandments when purpose is not predominantly religious? Valid.
Doing the same when the purpose is predominantly religious? Invalid.
Reimbursement to private schools for administering standardized achievement tests? Valid.
Reimbursement to private schools for writing achievement tests? Invalid.

Or like, how the government can be sexist against men in the draft...because.

This. I can't be a conlaw scholar on the past couple decades of Supreme Court decisions especially when it all turns on horribly ambiguous distinctions (to me).

For those in BarBri Guzman's discussion on the always-wrong answers for Con law was really helpful. (i think it was one of the videos for the simulated MBE and comes up towards the end)

[Xferr]

Con Law on the MBE can only take the form of a handful of question types - what's the best theory for the lawsuit (pick the one that actually works, even if they'll probably lose), what's Congress's best defense for its action, etc. They get formulaic if you've seen enough of them.

Con Law on the essays is ridiculous though. A bunch of theories apply to absolutely everything even if the arguments are sure losers. If the essay gives you a bad case, you have to spit out the entire outline sometimes.

[jd20132013]

just did the first abortion quetion i've seen in over a month of studying and had no idea how to answer it. the question was not nearly blatant enough to apply that nonsensical undue burden standard

THe damn question required us to know when fetal viability is. how the hell should I know? and isn't that a quasi-moral question anyway?

[Xferr]

just did the first abortion quetion i've seen in over a month of studying and had no idea how to answer it. the question was not nearly blatant enough to apply that nonsensical undue burden standard

THe damn question required us to know when fetal viability is. how the hell should I know? and isn't that a quasi-moral question anyway?

Source? Viability depends on the state of medical science at the time, so its completely unreasonable to ask that.

[jd20132013]

this was from the Emanuels book.


Which has real mBE questions so if we're lucky we'll get one of these on MBE day

[Tanicius]

Nothing even compares to Contracts in difficulty. The majority of the facts in any contracts question are not relevant to the answer in any way. Get a question about contract remedies, and it's virtually impossible to tell if the answer will hinge on a formation, performance or damages rule. You can know the rules, but the answer will arbitrarily decide that one rule is more controlling than another and you lose anyway.

Property is hard, but once you memorize the rules, your scores will go up. Re-read the rules for contract/deed sales, equitable conversion, marketable title, mortgages, and warranty of deeds. Those five issues account for about 50% of all property questions you get, and they require practically no knowledge of those damned future interests.

[jd20132013]

it is annoying how much time barbri spends on future interests relative to the amount they get tested

contracts and property are probably the hardest section

[At the Drive-In]

it is annoying how much time barbri spends on future interests relative to the amount they get tested

contracts and property are probably the hardest section

Contracts and Property have statistically been the hardest for at least the past 10 years.

[Tanicius]

it is annoying how much time barbri spends on future interests relative to the amount they get tested

contracts and property are probably the hardest section

Contracts and Property have statistically been the hardest for at least the past 10 years.

What I don't understand is why the test creators allow the Contracts and Property question committees to make these ridiculously long questions that only actually test one rule and are worth one point. Crim and Evidence never do this, and Torts only very very rarely does it. At the point where your hypo takes up an entire column on the test booklet, and your answer selection is the only thing in other column, you've written a question that is simply too long with too many moving pieces to be worth just one point.