February 2017 Texas Bar Exam Forum

[BVest]

I just received the barbri books, oh boy, certainly plenty of holiday reading material! First lecture is online on Monday 19th. Not quite sure where to start with the materials, would like to do some reading ahead of the classes starting in Dallas on Jan 2. I haven't had a chance to look at the instructions yet but I need to figure out what to read/do first. Anyone who has taken barbri before, would appreciate any suggestions as to what to start with?

Start with the calendar and your personalized study plan. (which should be the first thing you see when you log in). It usually starts on today's date, but you can look ahead to future assignments).

[TXforeignlawyer]

Thanks best! Followed your advice and sat in a coffee shop watching the intro video today. I will be flying back to the UK the day the prep starts - MBE immersion - so I'm taking my books on the ten hour flight! I just called the hotels around Palmer Events Center and they are not cheap! I live in Fort Worth so I'm trying to decide whether to drive to Austin or fly. I will prob fly and get the hotel shuttle. Although I don't like the feeling of having to rely on a shuttle for the bar. Anyone know what parking is like? Is there enough parking at the center? That part is kinda stressing me out.

[TXforeignlawyer]

If any of you are based in Fort Worth or Dallas, get in touch. I plan to go to the online lectures in Dallas starting 2nd of January. I'm a lawyer in the Uk now working in Texas. Look forward to sharing our experiences! There is some great advice on here

[bethanyrose09]

If anyone wants a nearly perfect condition of Critical Pass flash cards for the MBE, I'd be happy to sell them to you for a reasonable price. Just message me. They're $130.00 online, but I'll sell them for under $100.

Thanks!

[TXforeignlawyer]

hi, can someone advise where to sign up for laptop option? saw an email to say the extended deadline is tonight?

[TXforeignlawyer]

also how does using the laptop work? my battery is awful

[BVest]

also how does using the laptop work? my battery is awful

There's a power strip under each table (two examinees are seated at each 6-foot folding table). That said, they tell you to bring an extension cord.

[PhatttFat]

If any of you are based in Fort Worth or Dallas, get in touch. I plan to go to the online lectures in Dallas starting 2nd of January. I'm a lawyer in the Uk now working in Texas. Look forward to sharing our experiences! There is some great advice on here

I'm based out of DFW. I'm a re-taker from the July'16 exam.

I took about a week off after results came out, then began studying again. Only doing about 8 hours a day, usually stopping around 4-5, sometimes 6. I feel much more relaxed this time. I have to say that adaptibar's video lectures are a GODSEND -so straight forward and to the point, even better than Reed's, which is what I started out with this second time around.

IMO Kaplan and Barbri are both completely unnecessary. I wish I had realized that the first time. Good luck everyone.

[TXforeignlawyer]

Thanks, maybe I'll take a look at the adaptibar videos. I'm missing the 2 day mbe immersion starting today since I'm travelling overseas. Hope they save the online lecture so I can do it later this week

[Shad2013]

Anyone start MBE practice questions? I am finding some of them to be slightly misleading, but getting the hang of it.

[Shad2013]

This question is for the second timers. So, are the practice MBE questions similar to the real questions? I am finding that about 10-20% of the practice Kaplan MBE questions are vague.

[PhatttFat]

This question is for the second timers. So, are the practice MBE questions similar to the real questions? I am finding that about 10-20% of the practice Kaplan MBE questions are vague.

I did Kaplan the first time - their questions are so much more tedious and a lot longer than the actual MBE questions. The only real bar questions that were as long as Kaplan's questions were real property. I would highly suggest using adaptibar as a reflection of actual bar questions. I wish I had used it the first time around.

I do think Kaplan is good to use a couple times a week to test your knowledge because of how 'in-depth' their questions are.

[BVest]

Let's put it this way, a good MBE question is one that consistently separates the prepared examinee from the unprepared examinee, but leaves all examinees unsure if they got it right.

[viz-luv]

Adaptibar looks great and seems to have a lot of features but FYI barmax does a question bank only for $250 (not the same as the mbe course they offer) in case people are strapped for cash to spend on supplements.

[Shad2013]

This question is for the second timers. So, are the practice MBE questions similar to the real questions? I am finding that about 10-20% of the practice Kaplan MBE questions are vague.

I did Kaplan the first time - their questions are so much more tedious and a lot longer than the actual MBE questions. The only real bar questions that were as long as Kaplan's questions were real property. I would highly suggest using adaptibar as a reflection of actual bar questions. I wish I had used it the first time around.

I do think Kaplan is good to use a couple times a week to test your knowledge because of how 'in-depth' their questions are.

Fair, I am getting about 80% right with Kaplan, but some of the questions piss me off. They are vague or the answer choices do not reflect the question.

[PhatttFat]

This question is for the second timers. So, are the practice MBE questions similar to the real questions? I am finding that about 10-20% of the practice Kaplan MBE questions are vague.

I did Kaplan the first time - their questions are so much more tedious and a lot longer than the actual MBE questions. The only real bar questions that were as long as Kaplan's questions were real property. I would highly suggest using adaptibar as a reflection of actual bar questions. I wish I had used it the first time around.

I do think Kaplan is good to use a couple times a week to test your knowledge because of how 'in-depth' their questions are.

Fair, I am getting about 80% right with Kaplan, but some of the questions piss me off. They are vague or the answer choices do not reflect the question.

You're in pretty good shape with your percentages. The Kaplan questions are going to piss you off for the rest of bar study lol - that just comes with the territory. Kaplan just tries to be vague and convoluted to trick you. The MBE questions on the bar are deceptively simple but because they test on a very specific issue, they can be trickier. But not necessarily more difficult. It's hard to explain fully.

[Shad2013]

This question is for the second timers. So, are the practice MBE questions similar to the real questions? I am finding that about 10-20% of the practice Kaplan MBE questions are vague.

I did Kaplan the first time - their questions are so much more tedious and a lot longer than the actual MBE questions. The only real bar questions that were as long as Kaplan's questions were real property. I would highly suggest using adaptibar as a reflection of actual bar questions. I wish I had used it the first time around.

I do think Kaplan is good to use a couple times a week to test your knowledge because of how 'in-depth' their questions are.

Fair, I am getting about 80% right with Kaplan, but some of the questions piss me off. They are vague or the answer choices do not reflect the question.

You're in pretty good shape with your percentages. The Kaplan questions are going to piss you off for the rest of bar study lol - that just comes with the territory. Kaplan just tries to be vague and convoluted to trick you. The MBE questions on the bar are deceptively simple but because they test on a very specific issue, they can be trickier. But not necessarily more difficult. It's hard to explain fully.

Ah, I get what you are saying. Because the questions are specific one element missing will change the answer? Kaplan's questions are just so damn long!

[pitted]

I will be taking it a second time. I scored a 667 in July. Still bitter about it... First time around I used Themis, and would recommend; however, I do regret spending my last few weeks of studying the way the program is designed. I told myself if I failed that I would spend most of my time reviewing old test essays from the BLE website and going over more practice problems for the MBE from a variety of databases. The MBE was far more difficult than expected, but my score was 134, which is not terrible. I'm currently trying to stitch together advice offered by repeat takers. After three days of Themis for the second time, I realized I will go crazy trying to follow the course all the way through again. My advice for first time takers is to not burn out by the second half of your study program. I heard this a lot from professors and bar takers, but I did not fully understand how real the "burn out" could be until my last two weeks of bar prep. My study habits during law school were complete shit, and for the most part I did not care about my grades. When I started bar prep I tried to overcome my old study habits by committing nearly all of my time to studying. Too much time away from anything social was unhealthy for me and ultimately disrupted my last two weeks of study time.

[vandyclark]

also how does using the laptop work? my battery is awful

When I took it last February they had plenty of outlets & power cords set up.

[vandyclark]

Hello! I'm a repeater. I failed the February 2016 exam & am trying again. Anyone doing BARBRI in Austin? I'm already completely overwhelmed as they started so early this year- with the holidays, inlaws/family visits & a child, I was behind before the class officially started. I'm attempting to "catch up" with the off days if I can. MBE is very hard for me- I'm not sure what else I can do other than practice but if I can beef up the written portions that would help...

I think I'm like most that would welcome any advice possible???

[maztastic247]

I will be taking it a second time. I scored a 667 in July. Still bitter about it... First time around I used Themis, and would recommend; however, I do regret spending my last few weeks of studying the way the program is designed. I told myself if I failed that I would spend most of my time reviewing old test essays from the BLE website and going over more practice problems for the MBE from a variety of databases. The MBE was far more difficult than expected, but my score was 134, which is not terrible. I'm currently trying to stitch together advice offered by repeat takers. After three days of Themis for the second time, I realized I will go crazy trying to follow the course all the way through again. My advice for first time takers is to not burn out by the second half of your study program. I heard this a lot from professors and bar takers, but I did not fully understand how real the "burn out" could be until my last two weeks of bar prep. My study habits during law school were complete shit, and for the most part I did not care about my grades. When I started bar prep I tried to overcome my old study habits by committing nearly all of my time to studying. Too much time away from anything social was unhealthy for me and ultimately disrupted my last two weeks of study time.

I am in a very similar boat. I also got a 667 on the exam... which still kills me that I was less than a percent a way from passing. I got a 132.2 on the MBE knowing full well that I would probably do horrible on the MBE and would have to make up for it elsewhere, which I knew would be a challenge since I went to law school out of state. I wasn't much of a studier in law school and felt like I spent the beginning of bar prep learning/getting used to studying. I used Barbri which I think is good for first time takers and took studying seriously (for probably the first time in my life). But, by the time "final review" came around I was burnt out and felt like I was delirious from studying.

I had no contact with anyone for the entire time or bar prep. All my friends and family are back in CA and I implemented a strict no visitation policy... which I will not be enforcing this time around. For first time takers I suggest not completely cutting yourself off from the world if that is your plan, the time to just be able to get your mind off the bar exam can be extremely beneficial.

This time around I am using adaptibar, and just going over/ outlining past essay questions and P&E questions as well as doing as many MPTs as I can... I really slacked on practicing for the MPT (I did well in all my writing classes in law school and writing has always been my strong suit) ... needless to say I absolutely bombed (and I do mean bombed the MPT scoring in the 2.6 percentile) the MPT. I also plan on going back and watching the barbri lectures of my weaker subjects just as a refresher and to pick up some things I may have missed the first time around. So here is to hoping I can raise my score by at least 8 points this time around!

[dtjustice]

I graduated in 2001, this will be my 3rd attempt (1st time in Feb 2002 but thought I was leaving Texas and just tested for the experience and July 2007 but it was a joke, my brain didn't even show up for that test and I bombed horribly). I am at about 45-50% on everything right now because I've had serious concentration/focus problems (it's probably Bar Exam PTSD...LOL) and have been on a break from studying. I'm thinking I will focus mostly on the MBE and read every single question/answer in the BarBri P&E/Essay book plus make a list of the rules for last minute review. I'll review MPT stuff probably two weeks prior to the exam. Any other suggestions?

[TXforeignlawyer]

Did anyone go to the Barbri registration and online lecture at the Dallas location this morning? I missed registration today as I was flying back from Christmas break. I plan to attend tomorrow but I'm a little concerned if I will be able to given I missed registration. I tried to call Barbri but they are closed today. Guess I'll just turn up and see.

[Gully1990]

They just posted the General Instructions are projected to come out on May 1st a Monday but a strongly believe we will get them April 28th the Friday before

[TXforeignlawyer]

Thanks Gully. Anyone know of the practicalities/admin stuff we need to look out for before the exam? I recall last year, they send an admission ticket to you. However, I applied but didn't sit the July 16 exam as I had to be back in the UK.

I'm behind on 6 lectures from December, need to catch up on those. Otherwise, I've been watching the daily lecture, working in the afternoon, then trying to read the outline for the next day's lectures in the evening. By night, I'm not taking any of it in! Any tips/advice of study methods/plans would be much appreciate. Just trying to figure out best use of time and optimize the hours in the day!! The volume of material is so vast. I'm on Barbri in case that helps.

Also, I don't know whether to drive to the exam center or get a taxi? Again, any advice from those who have taken the exam in Austin would be great.