March 2017 MPRE Forum

[PersistentAttorney]

Yayyyy 140!!

Wow - what did you do, write the actual exam paper?

Damn dude. Nice work.

Wow! Congrats! and I thought my 116 was high lol

[happyhour1122]

Yayyyy 140!!

Wow - what did you do, write the actual exam paper?

Damn dude. Nice work.

Wow! Congrats! and I thought my 116 was high lol

I checked my score again its 97 not 99. I think its time for me to change my glasses...

[lawDC2017]

Posting some advice for future MPRE test-takers who may troll this site...

I studied approximately 30 hours during the week before the test, reading the outline, watching each Barbri lecture, taking the practice questions online, and reading the Conviser Mini Review. I then took two practice tests the day before the exam. I felt like my level of preparation was appropriate, and I ended up with score of 110. The only score that matters is the one your jurisdiction requires, but I would rather over-study than be unprepared.

The MPRE is a difficult multiple choice test. For each test, approximately 22% of exam takers score below 80, thus failing most jurisdictions, including CA, NY, and VA. About 10% score below 70, thus failing every jurisdiction. If you put in the time in studying, however, you should do fine.

[yanchunfu]

Yay! 126! and I need only 85 for NY.

I spent a whole week (about 8 hrs a day) studying through Barbri handout and lecture, do all eight practice exams from Barbri and Kaplan. You do need some solid study to pass this.

[inyoureyes89]

Relieved that I passed in all jurisdictions. Needed an 85, but scored well above that. Very relieved that I don't have to retake in August.

FWIW, I studied for about 2-3 hours a day for a week before the exam. Did all the Barbri lectures/outline and did 2 practice exams. I did poorly in PR so I was extra paranoid about failing. Given my score, probably studied more than I needed.

[melainaa]

116 here. I'm taking PR this semester, and started reading the outline on the Wednesday before the exam. I didn't even realize Barbri had videos, but I started by reading the Conviser mini-review, then the full outline (stopping at every topic to do a few of the Yes/No questions in the middle of the book). Once I was done with reading the entire outline, I did 3 of the 4 practice tests. The full outline and 3 practice tests I did on a 9 hour flight the day before the MPRE.
So basically 2 days of an hour or two a day, and one full day of studying.

I came out of the test feeling ok. I felt as though I had at least half the questions right, and I figured I'd have enough of the others that were right that I'd pass. But it's still reassuring to not have to do it again!

[fistfullofdollhairs]

Passed

92. Crammed the day before. I skimmed the Themis outline and completed the corresponding practice questions. Didn't take any practice exams. ~6 hours of study. Totally assumed I failed. Despite passing, I wouldn't recommend my study strategy.

[Toubro]

Passed with a 138.

I seriously thought I would fail the exam after taking it. So did all my friends who also passed. The only ones who didn't pass were those who didn't do the bare minimum (Barbri/Themis outline, and a couple of practice tests). For future test takers who find this thread: you will feel like you failed, but you most likely won't!

[Blackhawks_Fan]

Has anyone actually received an email from the MPRE / ncbex folk yet? If it wasn't for this thread, I wouldn't even know the results had been published....

[happyhour1122]

Has anyone actually received an email from the MPRE / ncbex folk yet? If it wasn't for this thread, I wouldn't even know the results had been published....

No..I was thinking that.
If it wasn't for TLS..i wouldn't know?

[RB78]

I see others giving study tips now knowing their score and I know I would have found similar advice helpful before taking the MPRE, so here is my two cents. I got a 130 and the only thing I ever looked at was the Barbri 2017 MPRE workbook. I did about 15 hours of studying all together and this was definitely overkill. I read the long outline, did all four practice tests in the workbook and went over the explanations to the questions that I had gotten wrong. I can now say that I believe reading the long outline was a waste of time and I could have safely passed with a score over 100 having just did the practice tests. I think practice tests/correct answer explanations are all you need for the MPRE. Moreover, online lectures/reading outlines of the rules are a boring overkill. Yes, over preparing is better than under preparing (under preparing meaning doing nothing at all which is how the only people who I know who failed managed to fail), but I can confidently say that doing 2 practice tests the Thursday before the MPRE and 2 more practice tests the Friday before the MPRE is plenty.

[Germaine]

I see others giving study tips now knowing their score and I know I would have found similar advice helpful before taking the MPRE, so here is my two cents. I got a 130 and the only thing I ever looked at was the Barbri 2017 MPRE workbook. I did about 15 hours of studying all together and this was definitely overkill. I read the long outline, did all four practice tests in the workbook and went over the explanations to the questions that I had gotten wrong. I can now say that I believe reading the long outline was a waste of time and I could have safely passed with a score over 100 having just did the practice tests. I think practice tests/correct answer explanations are all you need for the MPRE. Moreover, online lectures/reading outlines of the rules are a boring overkill. Yes, over preparing is better than under preparing (under preparing meaning doing nothing at all which is how the only people who I know who failed managed to fail), but I can confidently say that doing 2 practice tests the Thursday before the MPRE and 2 more practice tests the Friday before the MPRE is plenty.

Here is the problem though. For whatever reason, the MPRE seems to be way more YMMV than other tests we've taken. We all know people who did what you did and failed, got lower scores and got higher scores. And people who did more than what you did with equally disparate results. (I did what you did and got 118, but my study buddy failed.)

I can't put my finger on why the MPRE seems so much more unpredictable, but it definitely is.

[evergirl23]

I see others giving study tips now knowing their score and I know I would have found similar advice helpful before taking the MPRE, so here is my two cents. I got a 130 and the only thing I ever looked at was the Barbri 2017 MPRE workbook. I did about 15 hours of studying all together and this was definitely overkill. I read the long outline, did all four practice tests in the workbook and went over the explanations to the questions that I had gotten wrong. I can now say that I believe reading the long outline was a waste of time and I could have safely passed with a score over 100 having just did the practice tests. I think practice tests/correct answer explanations are all you need for the MPRE. Moreover, online lectures/reading outlines of the rules are a boring overkill. Yes, over preparing is better than under preparing (under preparing meaning doing nothing at all which is how the only people who I know who failed managed to fail), but I can confidently say that doing 2 practice tests the Thursday before the MPRE and 2 more practice tests the Friday before the MPRE is plenty.

Here is the problem though. For whatever reason, the MPRE seems to be way more YMMV than other tests we've taken. We all know people who did what you did and failed, got lower scores and got higher scores. And people who did more than what you did with equally disparate results. (I did what you did and got 118, but my study buddy failed.)

I can't put my finger on why the MPRE seems so much more unpredictable, but it definitely is.

I agree with this completely. I did very little to prepare for either time I took the MPRE (2 different jurisdictions, passed both times) but know people who did a lot more than I did and struggled. And I don't think that is because I am somehow smarter or something - I think it is just the nature of this particular exam. I also think the MPRE is, to some degree, a common sense exam. Which can make it more difficult for law students and lawyers because common sense can be pushed aside for legal complexity.

[Jibjib40]

Read free themis outline once - wrote some notes from each section into my own outline - studied about 3 hours. 102. This was my second MPRE as my old score expired.

[RaceJudicata]

Just got mpre score notification email, lol... thanks for keeping me ahead of the game tls

[happyhour1122]

Just got mpre score notification email, lol... thanks for keeping me ahead of the game tls

Same. I thought they changed my score... scared me for a sec.

[RaceJudicata]

Just got mpre score notification email, lol... thanks for keeping me ahead of the game tls

Same. I thought they changed my score... scared me for a sec.

Haha i thought the same thing and took a second look.

[happyhour1122]

Just got mpre score notification email, lol... thanks for keeping me ahead of the game tls

Same. I thought they changed my score... scared me for a sec.

Haha i thought the same thing and took a second look.

Thank God, its finally over with this BS!

[scoomer]

Yayyyy 140!!

Wow - what did you do, write the actual exam paper?

Damn dude. Nice work.

Wow! Congrats! and I thought my 116 was high lol

135! Was so surprised!

[ur_hero]

What worked for me is just skipping straight to answering practice questions. As many as possible (i.e., all available), carefully reading explanations of all answers. I did this for all Themis and Barbri questions available online. I probably spent less than an hour or two skimming the actual outlines.

The material is not that broad, so you'll pick up on rules pretty quickly. More importantly, you'll start learning to distinguish the seemingly logical [wrong] answers from those that are right. In my opinion, that's what makes the MPRE confusing - not that the material is at all vast or complex. I passed first try, over the 90th percentile (last year.

This just worked for me - so I understand that reading and memorizing an outline may work better for others.