2020 September California Bar Exam Forum

[Anonymous User]

I really hope that question is not a sample from the FYLSE. I must have missed a few subjects in law school...
[/quote]

Don't worry - this is a sample question in an exam for a dentist.

[CAbar]

Hello all:

Please suggest materials/books to learn the black letter law? Is Barbri Mini conviser a good resource? Any other reco? TIA.

[a male human]

Hello all:

Please suggest materials/books to learn the black letter law? Is Barbri Mini conviser a good resource? Any other reco? TIA.

Yeah, Conviser owns. Forget about Kaplan or Themis.

Plenty of condensed options out there (mine included), which are more suitable for practice and memorization.

[BigLawer]

Is there anything people would recommend for people just needing to learn the law for the CA essays? Taking the attorney exam, got an essay writing workbook, but hoping there is something that covers just the black letter law for the 17 CA exam portions. Guessing Barbri mini conviser is more geared toward the MBE?

[rcharter1978]

IIRC Barbri has a book of outlines for California of specific subjects but I could be wrong

[Heyall]

Hello all:

Please suggest materials/books to learn the black letter law? Is Barbri Mini conviser a good resource? Any other reco? TIA.

Smart Bar Prep is good if you want a clear, one page Doc that you can use on your computer and can easily be used on your phone.

It's about 250 pages, is in clear outline form (one page) and they tell you how commonly tested each rule is, including which essays those rules appeared on.

[CAbar]

Thanks for the reco.

[JDMBALLMMS]

What is going on with the website?
Appears as if changes to the site were skewed and messed up.

[retaker_SF]

What is going on with the website?
Appears as if changes to the site were skewed and messed up.

Today the exam results page has been entirely cleared, as they typically do the week before the exam results are released.

The difference though is that no email has been sent about this, and Feb 2020 exam materials / essays were supposed to be available until July 31.

It's all very suspicious.

[JDMBALLMMS]

Anyone out there?
There is so much silence 2 months to go!!!
Anyone with problem posting?

[umi.1991]

Does anybody have a list of essay/topic predictions for October's exam?

[Anonymous User]

Hope everyone got a letter similar to the one below asking to agree and sign to online testing with deadline of August 21. The email was sent out today.

Dear Applicant,

The October 5–6, 2020, California Bar Examination, will be a remote, online administration. Because the testing conditions for an online administration are different than our typical administration, you must read through and complete the Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Testing Conditions:

THE URL LINK SPECIFIC FOR ME DELIBERATELY DELETED

Please read through this document thoroughly, make selections in all required fields on the form, digitally sign and date the form, and click the Submit button at the bottom. You must complete this form by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 21. If you fail to complete this document by the deadline, your application will be considered abandoned.

To help you know what to expect during the remote exam, and if you have questions related to testing accommodations, please read through the Frequently Asked Questions. We are updating these as needed. If you have any additional questions, submit them to general inquiries in your Applicant Portal .

[Heyall]

Does anybody have a list of essay/topic predictions for October's exam?

Here's one set of predictions:

https://www.calbarbible.com/post/septem ... redictions

Dr. Saccuzzo (spelling) predicted contracts or civ pro instead of crimes.

[Subpoena_Colada]

A list of recommended resources has already been posted in this thread.

I just wanted to chime in because I've been using a new MBE supplement from UWorld ($299) that wasn't included and that others might not be familiar with. They use licensed NCBE questions, and I think they've done a really good job with their explanations—especially for the incorrect answer choices. Their use of images is also really helpful (and unique!). They have a 50-question free trial, so I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Hope this was helpful!

[Anonymous User]

A list of recommended resources has already been posted in this thread.

I just wanted to chime in because I've been using a new MBE supplement from UWorld ($299) that wasn't included and that others might not be familiar with. They use licensed NCBE questions, and I think they've done a really good job with their explanations—especially for the incorrect answer choices. Their use of images is also really helpful (and unique!). They have a 50-question free trial, so I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Hope this was helpful!

Anyone with experience using UWORLD outside this one person touting it.
Thanks in anticipation.

[a male human]

A list of recommended resources has already been posted in this thread.

I just wanted to chime in because I've been using a new MBE supplement from UWorld ($299) that wasn't included and that others might not be familiar with. They use licensed NCBE questions, and I think they've done a really good job with their explanations—especially for the incorrect answer choices. Their use of images is also really helpful (and unique!). They have a 50-question free trial, so I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Hope this was helpful!

Anyone with experience using UWORLD outside this one person touting it.
Thanks in anticipation.

Yeah, I checked out their QBank because people in the MTYLT Facebook group were raving about it. Pretty sure they don't need fake promotions, nor are they the type to use that sort of tactic.

From what I've seen, if you don't care about the following, then I would actually lean toward UWorld's MBE QBank for your MBE supplementation needs (despite being an AdaptiBar affiliate, I added in info about UWorld in my review of AdaptiBar):

- the analytics and the adaptive system that adapts to your performance level (hence the AdaptiBar name)
- not having the entire universe of available questions. 1350 newer questions is better than having outdated questions, and you should be redoing questions anyway

Pros:
1. $299 price point
2. Philosophy resonates with mine and learning methodologies are solid
3. Visual explanations (where helpful)

I had an hour-long video call with the product manager and am in the process of securing a discount. I can let you guys know about it depending on the terms. In the meantime, check out the trial yourselves: https://legal.uworld.com/mbe/

[Heyall]

To all the numbers experts, what's the difference between 1440 and the new 1390 to pass?

How big of a gap is that? Is it a meaningful difference?

[a male human]

To all the numbers experts, what's the difference between 1440 and the new 1390 to pass?

How big of a gap is that? Is it a meaningful difference?

Based on data on past exams, if the passing score were 1390, it would have resulted in about 8% more people passing.

However, we don't know what the actual effects of that will be for October. Will some graders be more lenient or harsher? Will that affect the scores? Will there be variation in the MBE scores (relative to which written scores get scaled) for better or for worse because of the extra time and pandemic and the fact that there are only 100 questions?

It's a new environment with many variables. If we assume arguendo that everything were the same, 8% higher pass rate is a pretty significant change IMO. It's also great news for those who have been on the cusp or within the reread zone.

[law_underdog]

California usually requires attorneys to be in good standing (e.g.: licensed) for at least 4 years to be able to not take the MBE part of the exam.

In the October 2020 FAQ, they mention that attorney applicants will not have to take the MBE part of the exam, but not mention the 4 years requirement.

I assume they will treat all attorney applicants the same even if you just got licensed (like me in December of 2019).

Anyone knowing more about that?

[cls1650]

California usually requires attorneys to be in good standing (e.g.: licensed) for at least 4 years to be able to not take the MBE part of the exam.

In the October 2020 FAQ, they mention that attorney applicants will not have to take the MBE part of the exam, but not mention the 4 years requirement.

I assume they will treat all attorney applicants the same even if you just got licensed (like me in December of 2019).

Anyone knowing more about that?

I would also be interested in this. I think they would have made this change more prominent if that's what they were doing though.

[retaker_SF]

We have no idea what the scaling will be. The fact that they are refusing to apply the permanently reduced cut score retroactively shows that a 1390 in October will be different than it was previously.

Ironically (and sadly) the whole point of scaling is to ensure constituently, validity / reliability across exam administrations.

Not sure how they will scale without knowing how the multiple choice ("MBE Type Questions") had performed in the past bc NCBE is not providing scaling information.

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone else think some of Barbri's California-specific lectures were trash? E.g. Community Property, Wills. The lectures seemed so disorganized. For CP especially, I was appalled at how terrible the lecture was.

[Anonymous User]

California usually requires attorneys to be in good standing (e.g.: licensed) for at least 4 years to be able to not take the MBE part of the exam.

In the October 2020 FAQ, they mention that attorney applicants will not have to take the MBE part of the exam, but not mention the 4 years requirement.

I assume they will treat all attorney applicants the same even if you just got licensed (like me in December of 2019).

Anyone knowing more about that?

I just called the California State Bar: they make a distinction between the attorney exam and an attorney applicant. The attorney exam is what you registered for if you have been practicing for 4 years or more. If you are an attorney applicant who has been practicing for less than 4 years, then you registered for the regular exam and are doing both essays and the MBE. The FAQ sheet could probably have been worded better, and they could have reminded people that you have to take both if you were under 4 years. Nevertheless, we would have to study for both sections.

[rcharter1978]

Did anyone else think some of Barbri's California-specific lectures were trash? E.g. Community Property, Wills. The lectures seemed so disorganized. For CP especially, I was appalled at how terrible the lecture was.

It's been a long time but doesn't surprise me. Barbri had good lecturers and bad ones. A subject like CP may have fewer options for lecturers since it's more of a state specific subjects.

Trust the conciser or the book of state outlines.

[GS1123]

I just got word that I've been administratively withdrawn from the exam because I didn't sign a form on August 21. I had NO IDEA I had to sign this form! It was not on the list of deadlines before. Also, every email about this apparently went to my junk mail.

Anyone else have this issue? What can be done? I'm shocked!!!