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Alt123

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Re: TLS Community Advice Needed!

Post by Alt123 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:13 am

As for how good Barbri MBE is... I'll say this: On test day (July 2017), I felt completely flabbergasted. I completed 98% of barbri and did every single question set, even the ridiculous sets 5 and 6 for each subject where I would routinely score anywhere from 40-50% correct on average it seemed. I felt like I failed for sure. The only thing keeping my going was scoring 75th percentile on the midterm test which made me feel like I was awful.

I literally felt like I guessed on 80% of the questions after narrowing it down to two. I don't know how I did, all I know it was at least 150 scaled (because I can apparently waive into North Dakota) and I passed the first time. However, I felt like shit for months thinking I failed. I think even though the questions were very different, the system must have at least been helpful at teaching me the "method" to narrow down the correct answer.

Edit: I'll add one other thing - Don't trust predictions. I followed Dr. Sacuzzo like a lot of people did just out of morbid curiosity but... I know at least 2 people who did not practice torts essay formatting because people weren't predicting it and then they more or less drew a blank on how to write a basic negligence/products liability essay. I would also recommend against not devoting the full time to each essay. PTs can be fully fleshed out in 90 minutes if you have a strategy.. what that looks like for you is your own choice. I always spent 25-30 minutes preparing/outlining and then 60 minutes smashing the keyboard. I think devoting the full 60 to an essay is worth it, because I don't think you need to spend extra time on the PT if you actually practice them and get good at looking for what they're trying to get you to look for. I would normally read/outline for about 8-10 minutes, write for 45-ish, and then spend the last 5 double checking formatting (which seems to be very important for CA) and throwing in last minute issues/analysis if I spotted any. I think having the extra time to sure it up and get as close to a 65 as you can is a good idea.

rayforoc

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Re: TLS Community Advice Needed!

Post by rayforoc » Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:58 am

Alt123 wrote:As for how good Barbri MBE is... I'll say this: On test day (July 2017), I felt completely flabbergasted. I completed 98% of barbri and did every single question set, even the ridiculous sets 5 and 6 for each subject where I would routinely score anywhere from 40-50% correct on average it seemed. I felt like I failed for sure. The only thing keeping my going was scoring 75th percentile on the midterm test which made me feel like I was awful.

I literally felt like I guessed on 80% of the questions after narrowing it down to two. I don't know how I did, all I know it was at least 150 scaled (because I can apparently waive into North Dakota) and I passed the first time. However, I felt like shit for months thinking I failed. I think even though the questions were very different, the system must have at least been helpful at teaching me the "method" to narrow down the correct answer.

Edit: I'll add one other thing - Don't trust predictions. I followed Dr. Sacuzzo like a lot of people did just out of morbid curiosity but... I know at least 2 people who did not practice torts essay formatting because people weren't predicting it and then they more or less drew a blank on how to write a basic negligence/products liability essay. I would also recommend against not devoting the full time to each essay. PTs can be fully fleshed out in 90 minutes if you have a strategy.. what that looks like for you is your own choice. I always spent 25-30 minutes preparing/outlining and then 60 minutes smashing the keyboard. I think devoting the full 60 to an essay is worth it, because I don't think you need to spend extra time on the PT if you actually practice them and get good at looking for what they're trying to get you to look for. I would normally read/outline for about 8-10 minutes, write for 45-ish, and then spend the last 5 double checking formatting (which seems to be very important for CA) and throwing in last minute issues/analysis if I spotted any. I think having the extra time to sure it up and get as close to a 65 as you can is a good idea.
Thank you for the response. I’m still up in the air regarding barbri (frankly your comments make me more inclined to use them). It’s going to be either that huge Barbri book or I buy adaptibar in the next couple days, as right now I’m going through S&T.

I take your point concerning predictions. I am still going to study these three subjects in terms of essay outlining/ reviewing n writing, but I’m going to guess that community property, civil procedure, and torts will not be covered this time. But again, I’m going to study them because I think neglecting any subject would be stupid. For example, I remember when I didn’t study public nuisance because I didn’t Think it was important and then one of the tort questions from last feb asked for public nuisance.

Also, congratulations!

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