Failing The Bar: BarBri's Graded Essays.
BARBRI's multiple choice questions didn't sufficiently prepare me, IMHO. PMBR questions were much harder and in turn made the bar questions seem easier. As for the non-MBE subjects that pop up on essays, just have a basic half page to one page outline for the main issues, don't worry about the minutiae just the main issues.
If you are studying for the July 2017 bar exam, ask me any questions. AMA! My short bio: Marino Bar Review was founded by Professor Joesph Marino, named “the go-to-guy for those in need of bar review” by The New York Law Journal after helping JFK, Jr., the most famous retaker, to pass the bar, after failing twice with two other bar courses.
The only thing that helped me pass the bar was the Seperac essays. This was my fourth time taking the UBE bar exam (beginning July 2016). In July 2017, I got a 263 with an MBE score of 139. I never finished the MPTs on any of my bar exams. My friend failed the bar her first try and told me she used Seperac for the essays.
Student Bar Association Every state bar exam is offered twice a year - in February and July. An overview of the subjects that are tested on each state bar exam and the format of the exam can be found on the website of the entity that administers bar applications for the state and in the BarBri Digest, a resource prepared by BarBri.
Last Friday was the 200 Qs Simulated MBE at my Barbri location. I ended up scoring 130, which was a little below my average for the practice drills I've been doing. Still, I'm pretty happy with this score (even though 65% is right on the verge of the passing mark) because when I just started bar prep, I remember my score on the first 100Q simulated MBE was below the 50% mark.
I did about 15 Barbri essays and submitted them for grading even though we were only required to do maybe 3-4 total. The rest were optional and I did all but two on the list. I may still do those last two this coming week just to say I did them all.
Thanks for sharing your story, particularly when you don’t (yet) have the requisite “It all worked out in the end” version. For the record, I don’t think the bar exam has anything to do with how smart you are, or how well-educated you are, or whether you’re a good lawyer or not.