THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019 Forum

[ResIpsaLiquor]

Hey ya'll. Been a lurker for months. What a smart, fun, supportive crowd.

Just thought I'd share my experience, hope it helps some of you.

On mixed sets, I was barely cracking 70% (mostly 64-69%). Practice Exams were 62-67%. I bought some real MBE's from Studicata and worked out the Strategies and Techniques book and got 76-77% on all the practice exams! WTH?! These were taken under timed conditions with time to spare. Felt like the ones I got wrong on the real MBE's I either didn't know the law or I got tripped up by the question formatting/misreading/dumb mistakes. Probably 50/50.

It pays off to get as many real MBE questions under your belt as possible. I'm not sure how many of the recent mixed MBE sets are real MBE's or if they're still Themis constructions. The real MBE's to me seemed a lot easier and less "gotcha" like the ones we see on Themis. The practice exams have been real-MBE like but we only get a few of those....

Keep your heads up. We're almost there!

[CaYLaw]

Heading to the States tomorrow so I've saved No. 4 for the flight.

Is anyone else ITT taking in Albany?

I will be taking the UBE in Albany as well. Safe travels!!

[longagotaker]

I am in a major slump, just scored a 48% on the last fl MC yesterday... Lost all my confidence.... The pressure is on

I think most people are experiencing ups and downs scorewise. They seem to add new information or test a lot of exceptions to teach you the rule and then go back to easier tests. I’m sure you will come back up. Don’t lose hope!

[inyourhonor07]

127 on the simulated a week and a half ago and 63 on the final (exam 4) yesterday. Did anyone else think exam 4 was crazy difficult? Not feeling great about that score because I was really hoping for at least a 70.

What are you guys doing to memorize essay rules?

[Lancair]

Hey ya'll. Been a lurker for months. What a smart, fun, supportive crowd.

Just thought I'd share my experience, hope it helps some of you.

On mixed sets, I was barely cracking 70% (mostly 64-69%). Practice Exams were 62-67%. I bought some real MBE's from Studicata and worked out the Strategies and Techniques book and got 76-77% on all the practice exams! WTH?! These were taken under timed conditions with time to spare. Felt like the ones I got wrong on the real MBE's I either didn't know the law or I got tripped up by the question formatting/misreading/dumb mistakes. Probably 50/50.

It pays off to get as many real MBE questions under your belt as possible. I'm not sure how many of the recent mixed MBE sets are real MBE's or if they're still Themis constructions. The real MBE's to me seemed a lot easier and less "gotcha" like the ones we see on Themis. The practice exams have been real-MBE like but we only get a few of those....

Keep your heads up. We're almost there!

Welcome to the thread.

I think Joe Seperac has commented on some of the other threads that the released MBE questions are a bit easier than the actual bar exam difficulty "spread" (about 25% of easy, average, hard and very hard). Hence why people's OPE/adaptibar scores are usually higher than their Themis practice scores.

Exam #4 had some tricky questions. I only got 69% - although an airplane is not the ideal place to take an MBE. Did help make the 12hr flight from Sydney go a little faster though!.

[yennem]

Mixed-subject MBE PQs Session 15 was brutal.... There goes my confidence... lowest score yet 52%

[DodgerBlues1991]

If timing is not really an issue for you, is it bad to be doing the mixed sets in interactive mode, I find it much more helpful to see the explanation for the answer right after I do the question.

[sg.cambs]

Has anyone done the NCBE sample set? http://www.ncbex.org/pdfviewer/?file=%2 ... ument%2F17

I found them pretty challenging and scored lower than I have been on Themis sets. Now slightly freaked out.

[yennem]

If timing is not really an issue for you, is it bad to be doing the mixed sets in interactive mode, I find it much more helpful to see the explanation for the answer right after I do the question.

No, this is the recommended way to study from what I hear. You want to learn the concepts rather than just getting them right or wrong.

[DodgerBlues1991]

Are the essay workshop sheets a good measure of what to know for essays, in other words is it bad that I am relying on that to memorize for the essays

[yennem]

Are the essay workshop sheets a good measure of what to know for essays, in other words is it bad that I am relying on that to memorize for the essays

Where are those located?

[DodgerBlues1991]

Are the essay workshop sheets a good measure of what to know for essays, in other words is it bad that I am relying on that to memorize for the essays

Where are those located?

they are located where the essay workshop videos are.

[CaYLaw]

For those who passed, roughly how many practice MEEs did you complete (timed or untimed). I'm aware practice is key, but I am wondering if I should just do a full deep review this weekend instead. Thanks.

[yennem]

Are the essay workshop sheets a good measure of what to know for essays, in other words is it bad that I am relying on that to memorize for the essays

Where are those located?

they are located where the essay workshop videos are.

I wouldnt rely on those too much, those are very limited. I would go to the FL bar website and just read through the model answers there.

[Neilt001]

Any themis users find the final review outlines helpful for memorization?

I used those for review and to create one page checklists to help with the "big picture". I really think memorization boils down to daily exposure to the materials and practicing. I find that outlining only helps for compartmentalizing all of the material into your head in a structured way while flash cards, skimming outlines, and primarily practice will help ingrain the more specific details.

Does anyone have any insight into the February passage rates for Themis? Are they similar to the July rates?

Hi there, agreed with daily exposure.

As for Feb pass rates, they're traditionally far lower than July because of all the foreign takers and re-takers. That stat has no bearing on first time domestic takers though, and you should do as well as anyone else. Ie feb is not harder than July.

[Neilt001]

If timing is not really an issue for you, is it bad to be doing the mixed sets in interactive mode, I find it much more helpful to see the explanation for the answer right after I do the question.

No, this is the recommended way to study from what I hear. You want to learn the concepts rather than just getting them right or wrong.

Agreed. Make sure you learn from each mistake. There is no advantage to doing questions and having no idea where you went wrong. (Although it's fine to do a non-interactive set so long as you check your mistakes at the end).

[Neilt001]

For those who passed, roughly how many practice MEEs did you complete (timed or untimed). I'm aware practice is key, but I am wondering if I should just do a full deep review this weekend instead. Thanks.

Hi there,

Personally, I found practice MEE gave a decreasing return on investment. Once you've done a bunch, you're better off focusing on MBEs. I didn't actually write that many MEEs and, instead, just studied the Themis model answers (I highlighted them, marked them up and deleted all fact-specific parts). I studied those hard, but didn't practice the answers as such.

Another thing is that you will inevitably get MEE questions on exam day that you've never seen before and that you'll need to BS your way through. Two of my six MEEs were completely out of the blue and I had to make up the answers. I ended up doing really well because I was able to just keep applying facts to (what I assumed was) the law and I just kept writing. In other words, it's not so much the content as it is the structure and form and the amount. I guess if you're comfortable with that, then you should be ok. But I wouldn't recommend practicing MEEs at the expense of MBEs.

Good luck!

[Neilt001]

Mixed-subject MBE PQs Session 15 was brutal.... There goes my confidence... lowest score yet 52%

Don't lose hope. Pretty sure I scored a few in the low 50s around this time last year. Ended up getting 85th percentile on MBE. Good luck and stay the course!

[Lancair]

Got 88% in the last MBE set this morning. Feeling okay about the whole thing. Just want it to be over now!

Good luck to everyone next week. You'll be fine - remember you basically just need to be on the 33rd percentile to pass.

Thanks to Neil and other previous takers for their helpful comments ITT, your content has been great!

[Neilt001]

Got 88% in the last MBE set this morning. Feeling okay about the whole thing. Just want it to be over now!

Good luck to everyone next week. You'll be fine - remember you basically just need to be on the 33rd percentile to pass.

Thanks to Neil and other previous takers for their helpful comments ITT, your content has been great!

Any time!! Good luck guys! Soon it'll all just be a memory....

[yennem]

Got 88% in the last MBE set this morning. Feeling okay about the whole thing. Just want it to be over now!

Good luck to everyone next week. You'll be fine - remember you basically just need to be on the 33rd percentile to pass.

Thanks to Neil and other previous takers for their helpful comments ITT, your content has been great!

Any time!! Good luck guys! Soon it'll all just be a memory....

Yea, I am seriously so over studying... Cant wait to get this over with!

[sg.cambs]

Got 88% in the last MBE set this morning. Feeling okay about the whole thing. Just want it to be over now!

Good luck to everyone next week. You'll be fine - remember you basically just need to be on the 33rd percentile to pass.

Thanks to Neil and other previous takers for their helpful comments ITT, your content has been great!

Any time!! Good luck guys! Soon it'll all just be a memory....

Yea, I am seriously so over studying... Cant wait to get this over with!

Second that - can't wait for this to be over. Good luck everyone.

[washington_mystics]

Thanks for all the advice and commiseration along the way, good luck everyone!

[Lancair]

Albany is cold and getting colder. Anyone coming up here - dress warmly!

[yennem]

Florida is hot... but the exam room can get cold.