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andersonxc13

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by andersonxc13 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:49 am

gladiator0flaw11 wrote:Congrats to those that passed FL bar from Feb. I am registering for the July Florida bar exam from NYC. Any easy way to go about this fingerprinting? No one around my area does this. fml
I would just call the Florida Bar and see what they suggest. I'm sure there have been others that have had to do it before.

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by amtornberg » Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:05 am

PBateman1 wrote:For the practicing attorneys who have taken the Florida bar exam: Will they reach out to your current employer? They are making me enter the managing partner/personnel manager on my bar application and it'd really suck if I got a call in the middle of the day from my managing partner asking why I'm taking the bar in a state where my firm doesn't have any offices.
Yes. They sent a form to my current employer asking for background information. My boss had me fill it out 8)

floridasun

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by floridasun » Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:06 pm

Any ideas how long the results take to arrive in the mail? i passed both sections and honestly I am completely surprised that I passed the MBE as I felt very down about how I did as I left the convention center. I did Themis and didn't think the MBE questions accurately reflected just how difficult the MBE was. I wish I had known about Adaptibar earlier on as I feel the explanations in Themis were not the greatest. However, I do say I was not displeased with Themis overall for the price, quality, and quantity. I did about 85% of the program, with a lot of that last 10% just reading the FL essays and sample answers and just doing some outlining. Also, I really want to see the sample answers for the essays, especially that first constitutional law essay (the worst).

andersonxc13

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by andersonxc13 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:46 pm

floridasun wrote:Any ideas how long the results take to arrive in the mail? i passed both sections and honestly I am completely surprised that I passed the MBE as I felt very down about how I did as I left the convention center. I did Themis and didn't think the MBE questions accurately reflected just how difficult the MBE was. I wish I had known about Adaptibar earlier on as I feel the explanations in Themis were not the greatest. However, I do say I was not displeased with Themis overall for the price, quality, and quantity. I did about 85% of the program, with a lot of that last 10% just reading the FL essays and sample answers and just doing some outlining. Also, I really want to see the sample answers for the essays, especially that first constitutional law essay (the worst).
I live in Tallahassee and got mine yesterday around 1 pm. I ended up passing because of my high Florida score. Missed the MBE by literally 1 point... ugh. But I'm just happy that I passed and that I rocked the FL section. Also, I'm getting sworn in today, so pretty happy about that! :)

Getting the results soon depends on where you live from Tallahassee and how fast the mail travels to your city.

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by irishwavend » Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:47 pm

gladiator0flaw11 wrote:Congrats to those that passed FL bar from Feb. I am registering for the July Florida bar exam from NYC. Any easy way to go about this fingerprinting? No one around my area does this. fml
I just went to my local police station. They put it on a card you could send down to Tallahassee. It worked and was easy enough.

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irishwavend

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by irishwavend » Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:58 pm

floridasun wrote:Any ideas how long the results take to arrive in the mail? i passed both sections and honestly I am completely surprised that I passed the MBE as I felt very down about how I did as I left the convention center. I did Themis and didn't think the MBE questions accurately reflected just how difficult the MBE was. I wish I had known about Adaptibar earlier on as I feel the explanations in Themis were not the greatest. However, I do say I was not displeased with Themis overall for the price, quality, and quantity. I did about 85% of the program, with a lot of that last 10% just reading the FL essays and sample answers and just doing some outlining. Also, I really want to see the sample answers for the essays, especially that first constitutional law essay (the worst).
Honestly, I used Barbri but may have only done 10% of their plan. I worked my way through each subject of the conviser mini review for the MBE and Florida, taking notes and highlighting. Then, I just did practice questions and may have completed about half of those, noting which questions I missed and focusing on those rules. Granted, I took a different bar exam 7 years ago so to some degree, this was a refresher after cramming back then. I didn't do any of the essays this time, but if I were to suggest a study plan. I would make a plan to work through every outline. Do a healthy amount of multiple choice in each subject, noting your mistakes or areas of misunderstanding. Then, I would go to the Florida Bar website and pull the essays and model answers and break them down with the laws and application.

The first time I took the Bar, I realized 75% of the way through that the videos were worthless and I basically wasted my time daydreaming with each video. If you are a visual learner, ignore this. However, most people I've spoken with had this feeling. You'll be much more efficient sticking your nose in the outlines, writing out notes/making note cards, memorizing, and applying the rules through multiple choice.

Anyway, that's my suggested recipe for passing. I swore I failed at least one part, but passed both. AND, I was behind my schedule above. I didn't realize the essay and model answers were posted on the Florida website until too late which just made me unnecessarily nervous because I knew I should've broken them down and memorized the rules they were using. Granted, I did break down the Florida outlines into handwritten notes two days and one day before the test. Aside from the constitutional question, I felt really good about the rest of the Florida portion. We'll see how the scores shake out.

Whew! All that said...I hope it helps anybody taking the Bar in July. Good luck!

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by irishwavend » Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:03 pm

Oh, one other thing... Another test taker and I spoke with an older lady from Chicago who was a very experienced trusts & estates attorney. For the trust essay, she went straight for the answer and didn't strategize to get points. DON'T DO THAT! She had a huge sinking feeling after she spoke with us, because it isn't about the answer. It's about your analysis. They want to see that you know the issues, you know how to get the law, you know the law, and you can come to a conclusion. It's way more about thought process and showing your work than it is about the answer. The answer is the reason they have a multiple choice section. The essay is to see how you think. You need to collect points.

For example, in the essays (which are posted publically), I saw nothing where the Homestead exemption would apply, but you can bet I squeezed the rule in there, only to say it didn't apply. By doing that, I showed that I knew the issue existed, I showed the law, and I showed it didn't apply. Points, points, and points. (At least that's my theory, anyway.)

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by floridasun » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:59 pm

floridasun wrote:Any ideas how long the results take to arrive in the mail? i passed both sections and honestly I am completely surprised that I passed the MBE as I felt very down about how I did as I left the convention center. I did Themis and didn't think the MBE questions accurately reflected just how difficult the MBE was. I wish I had known about Adaptibar earlier on as I feel the explanations in Themis were not the greatest. However, I do say I was not displeased with Themis overall for the price, quality, and quantity. I did about 85% of the program, with a lot of that last 10% just reading the FL essays and sample answers and just doing some outlining. Also, I really want to see the sample answers for the essays, especially that first constitutional law essay (the worst).
Got the results today in Tampa. Part A: 147, Part B 150. No clue how i pulled off that MBE, all my wrong questions must have been the 25 throw away questions. I am a little disappointed that the FL Bar does not include a breakdown of part A for those who passed. I am gonna have to ask my bar prep teacher to track those down since I know he gets that information. Good job to everyone who passed, to those that didn't hang in there, you will rock the July bar. Good luck to everyone in July, I'm praying that you guys get a nice Family Law essay to rack up those points!!!!!

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Jibjib40 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 6:43 pm

Failed - got scores in mail today. Already barred in NY and was working full time. Self-studied using a retread Barbri CMR and AdaptiBar, and incorporated Critical Pass near the end. Probably needed another few days of Flashcards to get me over the hump on the MBE. 135 - FLA 132 -MBE.133.5 average. I'll be seeing you July folk in Tampa. We got this. Biting the bullet and signing up for Themis.

I will utilize critical pass early and often this round.

Congrats to the February passers and good luck July takers.

Shocked by my MBE as I scored 75, 79, 81, and 89 on the NCBE practice exams, 1-4, respectively. Was hoping that would carry me and expected a mediocre FLA score.

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happyhour1122

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by happyhour1122 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:02 pm

Jibjib40 wrote:Failed - got scores in mail today. Already barred in NY and was working full time. Self-studied using a retread Barbri CMR and AdaptiBar, and incorporated Critical Pass near the end. Probably needed another few days of Flashcards to get me over the hump on the MBE. 135 - FLA 132 -MBE.133.5 average. I'll be seeing you July folk in Tampa. We got this. Biting the bullet and signing up for Themis.

I will utilize critical pass early and often this round.

Congrats to the February passers and good luck July takers.

Shocked by my MBE as I scored 75, 79, 81, and 89 on the NCBE practice exams, 1-4, respectively. Was hoping that would carry me and expected a mediocre FLA score.
That's a odd mbe score if you received that high on ncbe exams.... how did you feel coming out from exam?

Jibjib40

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Jibjib40 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:24 pm

Happy hour - I felt the morning session was hard and was also not on my game. I felt that the MBE took the reasoning and rules of the AdaptiBar questions one step further or twisted them in ways previously untested. Obviously, I was a handful of cr away from victory. Maybe I choked. Maybe partially misbubbled a few? Still at a loss.I breezed through the afternoon, comparatively. I may have peaked two weeks early and experienced diminishing returns from repeated practice questions without focused flashcard drilling.

I've never been strong on MBE and passed ny with average essays and the mpt (my strength) five years ago. At least I think so bc MBE was similar. Essays scores were not released back then. Anyway, this round I poured over the MBE and spent 75% of my time on it.

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by amtornberg » Fri Apr 14, 2017 1:50 pm

Jibjib40 wrote:Failed - got scores in mail today. Already barred in NY and was working full time. Self-studied using a retread Barbri CMR and AdaptiBar, and incorporated Critical Pass near the end. Probably needed another few days of Flashcards to get me over the hump on the MBE. 135 - FLA 132 -MBE.133.5 average. I'll be seeing you July folk in Tampa. We got this. Biting the bullet and signing up for Themis.

I will utilize critical pass early and often this round.

Congrats to the February passers and good luck July takers.

Shocked by my MBE as I scored 75, 79, 81, and 89 on the NCBE practice exams, 1-4, respectively. Was hoping that would carry me and expected a mediocre FLA score.
@Jibjib40 - check your PM

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Derek Vinyard

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Derek Vinyard » Sun Apr 16, 2017 3:51 pm

I'm in. Florida will be my first bar exam. I was thinking of doing Washington State at first and then changed my mind to Florida a couple weeks after I paid the WS application fee. Washington at least offers a partial refund. :evil: :x

Is anyone else here doing self study? I am going to be using some of the used books from ebay, but its disappointing that there are not many preparation options for the Florida specific exam. Im all set for the mbe (in terms of preparation materials), but does anyone have any suggestions on the best Florida part A exam book to get???

Moreover, does anyone familiar with Florida law know how much the law in Florida State has changed over the past 4 or 5 years, as I am interested in buying some of the older preparation books to save $$ and am trying to figure out if older books will be suitable in preparing for this exam, or at least helpful. Has anyone used the older books to prepare for part A and received decent results? How different are the older FLORIDA preparation books compared to the newer ones???

Lastly, if anyone has any useful Florida outlines or materials, please PM them my way. Perhaps we can trade an outline or 2. 8)

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Anonymous Defender

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Anonymous Defender » Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:25 pm

Any word if Florida is going UBE?

irishwavend

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by irishwavend » Mon Apr 17, 2017 11:21 am

136 Florida; 136 MBE. Doesn't get any closer than that.... Studied juuusssssttt enough...

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Derek Vinyard

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Derek Vinyard » Tue Apr 25, 2017 4:14 pm

Is anyone else here having application issues???? I submitted all my information, but am still waiting on my application to be processed. There is no way to figure out if all of the information I submitted is sufficient, other than waiting for a reply by regular mail or directly calling the examiners in Florida. It really is a difficult process without having the benefit of sending documents or communicating by website or email. Frustrating!!!

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by wwwcol » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:30 pm

Anonymous Defender wrote:Any word if Florida is going UBE?
FL will not switch to UBE.

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by rkreymer » Sat Apr 29, 2017 6:33 pm

Is anyone interested in selling their Florida MC? TIA

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by rkreymer » Sat Apr 29, 2017 7:03 pm

Any reviews on Florida Multiple Choice Section of Florida Bar (Kindle Edition) by Vital Bar Prep? Any and all input will be greatly appreciated!!!!

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by rkreymer » Sat Apr 29, 2017 7:05 pm

Geaux12 wrote:I'm tempted to pay the ridiculous price for this Florida essay supplement I just found on Amazon: Essay Rule Paragraphs for Florida Bar Exam by "Vital Bar Prep" (whoever the fuck "Vital Bar Prep" is).

ETA: It's available for $30 cheaper on their website, $97 total. I'm going to give these people a call and try to get some questions answered + see if I trust them.

Did you use them? Are they worth it? THanks!!!

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Young Marino

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Young Marino » Mon May 01, 2017 7:36 am

rkreymer wrote:
Geaux12 wrote:I'm tempted to pay the ridiculous price for this Florida essay supplement I just found on Amazon: Essay Rule Paragraphs for Florida Bar Exam by "Vital Bar Prep" (whoever the fuck "Vital Bar Prep" is).

ETA: It's available for $30 cheaper on their website, $97 total. I'm going to give these people a call and try to get some questions answered + see if I trust them.

Did you use them? Are they worth it? THanks!!!
Checking in.. I posted on the 3L thread over in the lounge that although my Barbri course doesn't start for another 16 days, I've been doing some bar prep the past few weeks predominantly using the Barbri early start materials. I find myself consistently scoring between 50%-57% on mbe topics sets with a few low to mid 60% scores mixed in. Is this a good place to be in before the prep course even starts?

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by krjackson59 » Mon May 01, 2017 9:14 am

If I can do nothing else to help, I hope that these two suggestions will be well used:

1.) USE ADAPTIBAR!!!! If you have to sell the shoes off of your feet to afford it, its worth being barefoot.

2.) If you are a repeat-taker and are looking for the end all solution (especially if living in South Florida); use Johnathan Grossman and http://www.whatstheissue.org/. The website seems sketch, I know, but the results are not. He can help you whether in-person or not. I went from failing my first bar by 3 points on the MBE and 2 points on the local day, to making the bar my bitch after the use of Adaptibar and the tutoring of John. Together, those resources are less expensive than Barbri anyway so consider as a first time test-taker also.

Good luck! I've gone on to bar in 2 other jurisdictions since passing FL as my first and I'll tell you, FL was hands down the hardest, but also the one I'm most proud of.

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Young Marino

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Young Marino » Mon May 01, 2017 9:33 am

krjackson59 wrote:If I can do nothing else to help, I hope that these two suggestions will be well used:

1.) USE ADAPTIBAR!!!! If you have to sell the shoes off of your feet to afford it, its worth being barefoot.

2.) If you are a repeat-taker and are looking for the end all solution (especially if living in South Florida); use Johnathan Grossman and http://www.whatstheissue.org/. The website seems sketch, I know, but the results are not. He can help you whether in-person or not. I went from failing my first bar by 3 points on the MBE and 2 points on the local day, to making the bar my bitch after the use of Adaptibar and the tutoring of John. Together, those resources are less expensive than Barbri anyway so consider as a first time test-taker also.

Good luck! I've gone on to bar in 2 other jurisdictions since passing FL as my first and I'll tell you, FL was hands down the hardest, but also the one I'm most proud of.
Thanks for the advice I'll definitely look into it. I actually get Barbri for free as I was a student rep throughout all of law school so cost isn't that big of an issue and I am a first time taker. But back to my original question, are the percentages I'm getting okay at this point or should I be really worried/doing something else to prepare for my bar course? I won't be doing anything bar related after Thursday until my Barbri course begins so please let me know. Thanks!

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Young Marino

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Young Marino » Tue May 16, 2017 9:41 pm

Anyone else starting Barbri tomorrow?

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Re: Florida Bar Exam - Official Thread

Post by Roberrrrto » Mon May 22, 2017 3:19 pm

I am.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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