MBE Exam-Taking Tips Forum

[whitecollar23]

OP and everybody. Chill the fuck out. I don't want to lock this thread because it could be useful, but if it continues to be just bullshit I am going to lock it.

Can you just delete this one and create a new one? And call it "Answering MBE Questions Tips," so that rcharter doesn't get confused and think it's only for tips during the exam itself?

[cuse2016]

Can you just delete this one and create a new one? And call it "Answering MBE Questions Tips," so that rcharter doesn't get confused and think it's only for tips during the exam itself?

lol...............

[SLS_AMG]

OP and everybody. Chill the fuck out. I don't want to lock this thread because it could be useful, but if it continues to be just bullshit I am going to lock it.

Can you just delete this one and create a new one? And call it "Answering MBE Questions Tips," so that rcharter doesn't get confused and think it's only for tips during the exam itself?

As someone who hasn't posted in this thread or taken any part in this discussion, I just want you to know that from an outsider's perspective you're coming off like a petulant little child in this thread. This topic could be helpful, but you've decided to criticize everyone else who attempted to give advice that worked for them and could work for others. Meanwhile, you're acting like you're the authority on the MBE despite never having taken it.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and argue, but as sublime said, you should really cool it. This could be a good thread. Don't ruin it by insulting everyone that tries to help. I think TLS readers are generally smart enough to figure out what does and doesn't work for them.

[LockBox]

What would have helped here is a poll asking who reads the call of the question first vs. who reads it last. Typically, I will start reading the fact pattern up to the end of the first sentence, then glance down to read the call to pick up a clue of what area of law I am in, then go back up. Anyone else have strong feelings about reading the call first vs. not?

[whitecollar23]

What would have helped here is a poll asking who reads the call of the question first vs. who reads it last. Typically, I will start reading the fact pattern up to the end of the first sentence, then glance down to read the call to pick up a clue of what area of law I am in, then go back up. Anyone else have strong feelings about reading the call first vs. not?

I think it's a matter of feel and that everyone is different. Basically, to each their own.

[LockBox]

What would have helped here is a poll asking who reads the call of the question first vs. who reads it last. Typically, I will start reading the fact pattern up to the end of the first sentence, then glance down to read the call to pick up a clue of what area of law I am in, then go back up. Anyone else have strong feelings about reading the call first vs. not?

I think it's a matter of feel and that everyone is different. Basically, to each their own.

Hmm, yes. I can work with this. Good thinking.

[whitecollar23]

What would have helped here is a poll asking who reads the call of the question first vs. who reads it last. Typically, I will start reading the fact pattern up to the end of the first sentence, then glance down to read the call to pick up a clue of what area of law I am in, then go back up. Anyone else have strong feelings about reading the call first vs. not?

I think it's a matter of feel and that everyone is different. Basically, to each their own.

Hmm, yes. I can work with this. Good thinking.

I personally usually don't read the question in advance, but on a long fact pattern, I might glance down at some point.

[LionelHutzJD]

What would have helped here is a poll asking who reads the call of the question first vs. who reads it last. Typically, I will start reading the fact pattern up to the end of the first sentence, then glance down to read the call to pick up a clue of what area of law I am in, then go back up. Anyone else have strong feelings about reading the call first vs. not?

I think it's a matter of feel and that everyone is different. Basically, to each their own.

Hmm, yes. I can work with this. Good thinking.

I personally usually don't read the question in advance, but on a long fact pattern, I might glance down at some point.

I will always read the call first. I find it to be very helpful. I might even skim the answer choices.

Also, and without trying to be a dick, you definitely started this thread inviting people to offer advice and then bashed most of that advice. I would let people decide for themselves whether the advice is useful.

[whitecollar23]

My intent was just to give another viewpoint on those pieces of advice, so that people had a second vantage point on such tips. Not to bash them as if they were completely useless. But I guess with everyone supercharged about the Bar, it didn't come off that way.

[L_William_W]

Great thread for tips. Another one tip is predicting the answer choice after reading the fact pattern. If you have an idea of what the answer should look like, you will be less likely to be persuaded away by the bar's enticing wrong answers.

I halfway agree with this. After a while, I started noticing patterns in both the correct and incorrect answers.

I took the bar 4 times- the 4th time was the charm. I didn't finish it on attempt #1. In the second attempt, my MBE was a pathetic 118.6. In attempt #3, my MBE was a 123.2. In my last attempt, my MBE was a 130.2. That's not a high score, but since I pwned the essays, it was enough to pass.

I have a tip that may or may not work. I won't be held responsible if you use this tip and fail...

After taking the bar multiple times, I realized that there were some subjects that I was better at than others. Torts and crim were my two best subjects. Contracts, civ pro, and property were the bane of my existence. Con Law and Evidence were in between.

My strategy was to get at least 80% of the questions in crim and torts correct. I also aimed to study extra hard in con law and evidence. Those subjects are tricky, but if you do enough of them and know the rules down pat then you can get a good score in those sections. As for my three weakest subjects, I simply went through the motions of studying. i figured that if I got 60% of the questions on the exam correct then my MBE would be in the low-130's and that would be enough to pass since I was very confident in my essay writing ability.

When the exam was over, I felt very confident in torts and crim. In torts, there was only one question that confused me- it was whether a person committed conversion of chattel if they borrowed their friend's laptop with permission and inadvertently slipped on a puddle and destroyed it. In crim, I was befuddled by a question in which a person was robbed and then they chased the robber down the block and punched them. I said that it was assault since it wasn't a self-defense situation. Other than those two, I felt like I got the majority of the questions in torts and crim correct. I also felt confident in evidence and con law. As for the other three sections, I think I got only 1/3 of them correct.

The NCBE no longer releases the breakdown of your performance on each section (this is done to screw over repeaters). However, I'm pretty aware of the ratio of questions I got correct in each section.

The answer to that Tort question is that it would be a conversion, as once you commit the intentional tort of trespass to chattels, you're responsible for whatever happens to it afterward that causes conversion (I'm like 98% sure as to this). As for the Crim Law question, I'd have to look up the law or see the rest of the choices to be sure, but I'm pretty sure that I would need more facts to answer it. If he was trying to recover the property, it would likely be like a hot pursuit in a Torts context, but if he just punched him and the question asked if it was self-defense; it wasn't, as the danger had already disappeared.

Congrats on passing the bar! Must have been an incredible feeling getting your score back and being able to feel a sigh of relief!

You're correct with regards to the torts question. I had already looked up the answer after I went home on day 2. I was nervous as hell since I knew I blew that question. As for crim, I'm still unsure if I got it correct. It's a moot point, but I'm just curious.

If the friend "borrowed" the laptop wouldn't he have consented and thus no intent to trespass?

Just to clear things up, I thought about it again. The friend took the laptop by mistake. They didn't borrow it (it's hard for me to remember a fact pattern from a year ago). And I'm kinda skirting the rules by discussing a specific MBE.

[whitecollar23]

Then it is conversion. Because he had intent to take it, which is all that's necessary for the intentional tort of trespass to chattels and conversion.

[L_William_W]

Yeah, I realized that AFTER I had checked my notes when I got home (you obviously can't check your notes when you're taking the exam).

[whitecollar23]

Yeah, I realized that AFTER I had checked my notes when I got home (you obviously can't check your notes when you're taking the exam).

Really? Welp. There goes my entire exam strategy!