Top Law Schools

I took Barbri this summer in preparation for the July UBE and I absolutely hated it for many reasons. I felt terribly unprepared for the UBE come test day. Assuming I need to take the bar again, I’m looking for prep course recommendations. Would you suggest Themis or Kaplan? Why? I have the critical pass flashcards and will use those in addition to any course I take this time around.

HarrisonK wrote:I took Barbri this summer in preparation for the July UBE and I absolutely hated it for many reasons. I felt terribly unprepared for the UBE come test day. Assuming I need to take the bar again, I’m looking for prep course recommendations. Would you suggest Themis or Kaplan? Why? I have the critical pass flashcards and will use those in addition to any course I take this time around.

Kaplan is cheaper and just as good if not better than barbri. I enjoyed the program, however, I would recommend buying Emmanuels Strategies and Tactics 7th edition for the mbes because neither bar prep program offers licensed NCBE questions and S&T has around 700 of them. It worked wonders on boosting my performance for the mbe as I saw a dramatic increase in my practice mbe sets. I will know for sure when nj releases their scores whether it truly helped me improve, but i feel like it did.

Just one correction--it's the 6th edition. I only know this because I'm always checking for new editions.

But agreed--pick up that book. And as to Kaplan or Themis, they both provide a very similar product, and I think you won't go wrong with either. Just always be willing to approach bar prep with a bit of independence--don't feel obligated to do exactly what they assign exactly when they assign it. Everybody has different needs.

Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)

Hi, I am considering taking Kaplan and was wondering if Do they offer early access to the material?

I took Kaplan and I hated but I passed and apparently didn’t bomb the MBE since I got at least a 150 scaled. I think the MPT grading helped and reviewing numerous sample essay answers helped. The Kaplan reviewer hated all of my essays but I think their expectations were unrealistic. So, I’d recommend Kaplan. I did supplement with OneSheets for the MEE and MBE and it helped me see the forest from the many freaking trees.

I am a foreign attorney and took the Cali bar in July. I used Kaplan and also used BarMax for the MBE questions. I liked Kaplan for the essay and MPT practice tests. No limit on graded essays and you could access sample essays. The MBE was made up as you know but then I also found the MBE part of the exam tough going.

With Kaplan you get access to the online material straightway which is basically the MBE question bank and essays. I have heard lots of people say they didn't like Barbri. As you have already taken the exam once I would go for Kaplan because at best you just need a refresher if you don't pass.

Blueplanet wrote:I am a foreign attorney and took the Cali bar in July. I used Kaplan and also used BarMax for the MBE questions. I liked Kaplan for the essay and MPT practice tests. No limit on graded essays and you could access sample essays. The MBE was made up as you know but then I also found the MBE part of the exam tough going.

With Kaplan you get access to the online material straightway which is basically the MBE question bank and essays. I have heard lots of people say they didn't like Barbri. As you have already taken the exam once I would go for Kaplan because at best you just need a refresher if you don't pass.

Did you take Kaplan’s LLM course or the regular one? Didn’t you use Kaplan’s MBE questions at all?

[quote="KkayL"]I took Kaplan and I hated but I passed and apparently didn’t bomb the MBE since I got at least a 150 scaled. I think the MPT grading helped and reviewing numerous sample essay answers helped. The Kaplan reviewer hated all of my essays but I think their expectations were unrealistic. So, I’d recommend Kaplan. I did supplement with OneSheets for the MEE and MBE and it helped me see the forest from the many freaking trees.[/

Congratulations! It seems that they and you did a decent work. Thank you!

Bambalover wrote:Did you take Kaplan’s LLM course or the regular one? Didn’t you use Kaplan’s MBE questions at all?

I took Kaplan's Bar Review course and used their MBE questions along with the BarMax licensed ones. In your case as you have already taken the exam once and therefore have a grounding in the subject you should be fine with Kaplan (assuming you don't pass but thinking positively you may pass and not need either!).