July 2017 -- Barbri UBE Hangout Forum

[NB12017]

To some extent the bar exam is impossible to fully prepare for. There's so much material that a good portion of your success will come down to luck (e.g. the exam test on things you remember). It's a bit of a scam if you ask me.

Not to get into conspiracy theories, but the law business is like a private club. They only want a certain amount of people to become lawyers. The bar is deliberately designed to generate a bell curve. This is not a test of minimum competency- of course everyone knows the elements of adverse possession and negligence. It's basically a test to weed people out of the business. That's why they keep adding these esoteric topics to bar exams. If you look at the bar exams from the early-1990's, they were MUCH easier.

Conspiratorial or not, you wouldn't be the first person to say that. I'm not willing to go that far, but like I said above, the whole thing seemed a little mean. I can't quite place it, nor could I attempt to articulate it without running afoul of the rules.

“It was not unexpected,” says Erica Moeser, the president of the NCBE, which creates the multiple choice part of the test. “We are in a period where we can expect to see some decline, until the market for going to law school improves.”

That's a couple years ago, but you can read a lot into that, if you so choose.

[TheWalrus]

Does anyone know what the requirements regarding returning the books is?

[cricketlove00]

Does anyone know what the requirements regarding returning the books is?

There's a link online. You gotta fill out a form and you have to pay for your own shipping, which I'm sure is ridiculous.

[gta]

Barbri recommends FedEx or UPS for book shipping, but definitely go with USPS Media Mail. Comes with tracking included in the price. You will have to ask for this at the desk if you go into a post office as it is only available for limited types of items being shipped, including books.

Other USPS services were going to be about $30 for me and UPS/FedEx looked to be about the same, or maybe $25, but Media Mail was $13.

[Pneumonia]

If I used the "direct bill" option and my firm paid for Barbri, do I still need to return the books? I never paid a deposit. (I don't know if the firm paid a deposit.) If returning them isn't going to net me or my firm any dollars, then I'd rather keep them or sell them...

[de minimis]

If I used the "direct bill" option and my firm paid for Barbri, do I still need to return the books? I never paid a deposit. (I don't know if the firm paid a deposit.) If returning them isn't going to net me or my firm any dollars, then I'd rather keep them or sell them...

Same situation. I'm not returning them, but will probably sit on them for a bit just to make sure there's no fallout.

[lawhopeful100]

If I used the "direct bill" option and my firm paid for Barbri, do I still need to return the books? I never paid a deposit. (I don't know if the firm paid a deposit.) If returning them isn't going to net me or my firm any dollars, then I'd rather keep them or sell them...

I used Kaplan last year and returned my books hoping to get money back. The money just was directly refunded to my firm and since it was my firm's card that made the purchase I couldn't get the money sent to me via check. In hindsight I shouldn't have returned the books and just kept them or sold them myself.

[RDA2930]

If I used the "direct bill" option and my firm paid for Barbri, do I still need to return the books? I never paid a deposit. (I don't know if the firm paid a deposit.) If returning them isn't going to net me or my firm any dollars, then I'd rather keep them or sell them...

Same situation. I'm not returning them, but will probably sit on them for a bit just to make sure there's no fallout.

Barbri sent me an email a couple weeks ago saying that because my firm was direct billed and I didn't pay a deposit, I don't have to send back my books. Maybe check spam to see if they sent it to you too. If your firm was direct billed you likely don't have to send them back.

[Pneumonia]

Thanks all!

[jman77]

I sent mine back yesterday. Had to pay $18.65 for USPS flat rate shipping (found a way to fit all the books in one box). Fedex/UPS was going to cost about $60.

Had the option to direct bill to the firm but chose to charge it to a credit card I opened and get reimbursed instead. The charges for the course plus the registration fee were more than enough to meet the minimum spend for the sign-up bonus, so free 50,000 points for me.

[cricketlove00]

Can results come out now?

[guyindfw1]

I need the Barbri Conviser to prep. Please message me. I can buy the whole set of books as well. Thank you.

[elcee1987]

What kind of BS is this "students are responsible for the shipping fees" crap for book return?? I'm in Oregon and decided to, just for fun, get a quote on the UPS website before lugging this box to the UPS Store. It was $60! Fedex was only like $55, but they'll just lose the package anyway. Obviously I'm going with USPS media mail, mostly because by the time the books arrive in 2 months, I'm sure I'll have forgotten about the deposit and it will be like a happy little surprise. (insert annoyed series of expletives here). This is ridiculous for a box that's gonna get sent straight to the Barbri burn pile as soon as it gets there. Not to mention, Barbri charged us only $25 shipping for this box, so they are obviously getting a corporate rate. They could have easily arranged a corporate rate for the returns and offered us the option to purchase a return label. Anyway. Whatever it takes to get this box 'o' hell out of my house.

[cricketlove00]

What kind of BS is this "students are responsible for the shipping fees" crap for book return?? I'm in Oregon and decided to, just for fun, get a quote on the UPS website before lugging this box to the UPS Store. It was $60! Fedex was only like $55, but they'll just lose the package anyway. Obviously I'm going with USPS media mail, mostly because by the time the books arrive in 2 months, I'm sure I'll have forgotten about the deposit and it will be like a happy little surprise. (insert annoyed series of expletives here). This is ridiculous for a box that's gonna get sent straight to the Barbri burn pile as soon as it gets there. Not to mention, Barbri charged us only $25 shipping for this box, so they are obviously getting a corporate rate. They could have easily arranged a corporate rate for the returns and offered us the option to purchase a return label. Anyway. Whatever it takes to get this box 'o' hell out of my house.

Mine was legit $13.00 so I have no idea what you're doing wrong.

[elcee1987]

What kind of BS is this "students are responsible for the shipping fees" crap for book return?? I'm in Oregon and decided to, just for fun, get a quote on the UPS website before lugging this box to the UPS Store. It was $60! Fedex was only like $55, but they'll just lose the package anyway. Obviously I'm going with USPS media mail, mostly because by the time the books arrive in 2 months, I'm sure I'll have forgotten about the deposit and it will be like a happy little surprise. (insert annoyed series of expletives here). This is ridiculous for a box that's gonna get sent straight to the Barbri burn pile as soon as it gets there. Not to mention, Barbri charged us only $25 shipping for this box, so they are obviously getting a corporate rate. They could have easily arranged a corporate rate for the returns and offered us the option to purchase a return label. Anyway. Whatever it takes to get this box 'o' hell out of my house.

Mine was legit $13.00 so I have no idea what you're doing wrong.

Stuff from the West coast often costs an arm and a leg to go to the East coast

[RDA2930]

Posting for those browsing this thread in 2018 --

Simulated MBE: 130
Actual: 153

I felt terrible walking out of the MBE day. Like, thought-I-failed terrible. It was really tough (and it's likely not representative, but a 153 is on the low end of what's been self-reported on TLS). That being said, I still had a 20 point cushion. Follow the Barbri plan and do as many extra questions as you can and you will be fine.

As for the written portion: I felt AWFUL coming out of it; worse than the MBE day. I ended up with an extremely high score. I think it was a combination of getting lucky (our subjects were comparatively easier than other years, and they were topics I knew at least marginally well), and making sure I did a lot of practice essays. I definitely overstudied (did most Barbri assigned essays and some extras), but I'm glad I did. My best piece of advice is to not neglect the essays til the end; start practicing from the beginning. Also, practice the MPTs. I ran out of time on the second one and was freaking out about it.

tl;dr I followed the Barbri plan and did well on the UBE. Throughout the summer I felt like Barbri was bullshit and was terrified of failing, but it ended up paying off. "Trust the program" is a hard thing to hear when you're in the thick of prepping but I wish I'd listened to that advice; it would've saved me a lot of unnecessary stress. Just my two cents.