Anyone use Barbri's early start program? Forum

[ellewoods123]

Thoughts?

[S. Goodman]

Thoughts?

Same Question.

[S. Goodman]

Thoughts?

Same Question.

I guess no one else is considering doing it.

[rhs67858]

I am thinking about it too. Probably pull the trigger some time in early March. I feel like my load is light enough this semester to where I could start prepping. I workout like almost 2.5 hours a day, so if I can do that I should be studying for the bar a little early. Responsibilities.

Kind of annoyed at how expensive Barbri is... even with their discounts.

[S. Goodman]

Kind of annoyed at how expensive Barbri is... even with their discounts.

Seriously! But at this point, with all of the time and money invested, is it really worth trying to save a few bucks and risk it? Barbri is pretty uniformly recognized as the best. Probably not, and Barbri knows that which is why the price is what it is. I did the payment plan since 1L, paying $500-1000 every time I got loan money back, it made it sting less!

[THE_U]

Kind of annoyed at how expensive Barbri is... even with their discounts.

Seriously! But at this point, with all of the time and money invested, is it really worth trying to save a few bucks and risk it? Barbri is pretty uniformly recognized as the best. Probably not, and Barbri knows that which is why the price is what it is. I did the payment plan since 1L, paying $500-1000 every time I got loan money back, it made it sting less!

Lol. Barbri isn't terrible but it's far from the best.

At least for the MBE, Barbri is not sufficient IMO.

[S. Goodman]

Kind of annoyed at how expensive Barbri is... even with their discounts.

Seriously! But at this point, with all of the time and money invested, is it really worth trying to save a few bucks and risk it? Barbri is pretty uniformly recognized as the best. Probably not, and Barbri knows that which is why the price is what it is. I did the payment plan since 1L, paying $500-1000 every time I got loan money back, it made it sting less!

Lol. Barbri isn't terrible but it's far from the best.

At least for the MBE, Barbri is not sufficient IMO.

Why should be used for the MBE in conjunction with Barbri?

[kaiser]

Assuming you aren't working during the summer, you will have more than enough time to prep once finals are over (and thats taking into account relaxing for a few days before you get going). BARBRI will try and up-sell you on a bunch of things, but don't get suckered into it. Its not necessary.

When the whole thing is over, almost everyone realizes the same thing about BARBRI: they go out of their way to "scare" you a bit, and make you feel unprepared or behind (even if they don't do so explicitly). There are pros and cons to that. The pro is that it lights the fire under you a bit, gets you working hard, and often makes the real test seem easier by comparison. The con, of course, is that it can make you needlessly worried throughout the prep process. I remember feeling anxious and behind throughout the prep process, only to find the actual test a breeze (as far as difficulty of the material).

[THE_U]

Kind of annoyed at how expensive Barbri is... even with their discounts.

Seriously! But at this point, with all of the time and money invested, is it really worth trying to save a few bucks and risk it? Barbri is pretty uniformly recognized as the best. Probably not, and Barbri knows that which is why the price is what it is. I did the payment plan since 1L, paying $500-1000 every time I got loan money back, it made it sting less!

Lol. Barbri isn't terrible but it's far from the best.

At least for the MBE, Barbri is not sufficient IMO.

Why should be used for the MBE in conjunction with Barbri?

Real MBE questions that have been released. You have a few options: (1) Adaptibar, (2) the Emmanuel's book (the latest edition...search around the forum and you'll find it), (3) the 100 question OPE's from the NCBE

I think Adaptibar is the best bet. You get every single question that has been released from the NCBE (like 1520) and the program itself is great. The Emmanuel book is good too, but has way less questions. The OPE's are 100 question practice exams and there is only like 4 of them.

Barbri sucks at the MBE IMO because their questions are all made up (unlike Kaplan and Themis, who use real MBE questions) and at times, unnecessarily complex and poorly written. I do think it's good to mix in Barbri questions while studying so that you get used to seeing different types of questions (the real MBE itself feels like nothing you studied at all...most people walk out feeling like they didn't study anything all summer) but I wouldn't use them as my main source of questions. For example, the typical average on Barbri's Simulated MBE is something like 50-55% raw, when the real average on the MBE is much higher than that. The average on their "refresher" that you take right before the MBE is like 57%. I guess if you are the type that needs to be terrified in order to be motivated, then Barbri is your best bet.

For me, it was the opposite. Getting pounded day after day was not motivating at all and made me want to just say fuck it.

[rhs67858]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

[THE_U]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

Nope

[rhs67858]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

Nope

I just talked to a rep over the phone. She declared all of BarBri's MBE practice questions come from actual former tests. Where did you get your information from?

[banjo]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

Nope

I just talked to a rep over the phone. She declared all of BarBri's MBE practice questions come from actual former tests. Where did you get your information from?

Did you ask her if they use official, NCBE-released bar questions? Because it's pretty well known that Barbri uses their own ultra-hard questions. OTOH, I don't blame them, since there are less than 2,000 released questions, and many of them are unrepresentative, retired questions from the 90's.

[kaiser]

BARBRI uses real questions. Its one of the main benefits of using them.

[rhs67858]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

Nope

I just talked to a rep over the phone. She declared all of BarBri's MBE practice questions come from actual former tests. Where did you get your information from?

Did you ask her if they use official, NCBE-released bar questions? Because it's pretty well known that Barbri uses their own ultra-hard questions. OTOH, I don't blame them, since there are less than 2,000 released questions, and many of them are unrepresentative, retired questions from the 90's.

No, although what other MBE practice questions would she think I was referring to? I asked about actual MBE former questions. I will probably call again tomorrow to get clarification.

I keep going back and forth between barbri and themis, notwithstanding the little I paid into barbri during 1L. I went to NCBE's website and they have some study aids that might be worth looking into too. Then, there are critical pass cards and adaptibar to supplement with. This will be fun.

[THE_U]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

Nope

I just talked to a rep over the phone. She declared all of BarBri's MBE practice questions come from actual former tests. Where did you get your information from?

I've done every single MBE question released from the NCBE and also most of Barbri's questions while taking Barbri.

I can assure you that not a single question is the same. Nor are the questions even similar. I think it's odd that the rep told you that; she either is lying or is completely misinformed herself.

[rhs67858]

BarBri doesn't use real MBE questions? That is alarming and I am not sure why others would not be making more noise about this. I am going to call them right now. I chose Manhattan over Kaplan for lsat prep specifically b/c kaplan wasn't using real questions. For BarBri's price they should be using real questions and making us breakfast each morning too.

Nope

I just talked to a rep over the phone. She declared all of BarBri's MBE practice questions come from actual former tests. Where did you get your information from?

I've done every single MBE question released from the NCBE and also most of Barbri's questions while taking Barbri.

I can assure you that not a single question is the same. Nor are the questions even similar. I think it's odd that the rep told you that; she either is lying or is completely misinformed herself.

Thanks, THE_U! I am going to figure some things out tomorrow. I just want to maximize my time with the best material.

[hkoas]

Thoughts?

Same Question.

I guess no one else is considering doing it.

I did it. I graduated in 2013. Was not motivated to take the CA Bar. Was offered a job half way through prep and ended up walking out after the AM session on Day 1.

Decided that I wanted to get this license. So I successfully badgered Barbri to give me my free retake. Started the Early Start Program in early early or mid November. I am taking the bar in 11 hours. Will tell you how it goes.

Also available to discuss more in depth after the bar. Feel free to PM me.