Question for anyone who prepped for the MBE using MBE Edge/ Multistate Edge (they're the same thing just changed the name).
This is what I'm using this time around... I've done a bunch of MBE practice questions (500+ so far), but with a little over 2 weeks left I feel like I'm kind of stuck getting around 55% correct during each practice section. (this is with the exception of property which I do worse on)
Wondering what you did/what I should do to get myself over the hump and get the percentage of correct answers up.
So far I've only been doing them online, do you think switching to the books is going to be worth it? I don't feel like going back to the outlines at this point is helpful (keep in mind I've studied for this test three damn times now, I've read these outlines a gazillion times), so I'm just kind of wondering what to do.
I got some tips and tricks from my tutor last week but am just reaching out to see if anyone else has anything they can offer me.
I suppose if you didn't use the Edge program you could answer this too.
You can reply in the comments (make sure your e-mail address is set up so I can reply to you!) or email me at legallyfabulous1@gmail.com.
Thanks!!!!
I didn't use the MBE Edge program (just Bar Bri/Kaplan), but I found with Kaplan, the questions in the book were *much* better questions/ more written like the actual mbe questions. I thought the online questions were the reject/leftover questions that weren't good enough to make it into the book. I always did much better on the book questions than the online questions no matter what the topic was. Obviously I can't say whether the same would be true for MBE Edge but I might give it a shot for a day or 2 and see if yours numbers improve at all. Sorry this isn't exactly novel help but I thought I'd share my observations.
ReplyDeleteI did use MBE Edge/Micromash ... and the same thing happened to me toward the end. I think part of what is happening is maybe how you have your settings. Mine were set to give me new questions and to also challenge me on areas where I needed the most improvement. In the subjects I thought I knew better, I started having more issues. It made me relatively paranoid leading up to the test.
ReplyDeleteWhat did help was when I did some of the written questions as practice prior to the test. Because it wasn't gearing toward "challenging" me, I actually got to test what I was absorbing by doing all of those questions (and learning all the nuances that made the difference between right and wrong).
I had also done a lot of the software on "study" mode... I switched to test mode at some point, and that helped more too. I kept second-guessing myself when I would answer a question, read an explanation, and then have to move onto the next question. Answering them all at once and reading the results after was better for me toward the end.
I hope that helps a little bit!
I'm not using the MBE edge program. I'm taking the Florida bar and am not sure we have that down here. I do however have this program called AdaptiBar that I bought, which is an online testing site full of old MBE questions from the actual past MBE exams. I try everyday to do 25-50 questions, on all 6 subjects and find that my average there is about 50 -60% while my average on actual written BARBRI exams tends to be somewhere between 60-70%. I'm starting to think that maybe it's the computer and the fact of not being able to circle and underline key words and issues is a lot of the reason. Can you print out these computer questions and take practice exams?? I've also heard that it doesn't matter so much the fact that you're getting wrong to begin with. What matters is that you are diligently reading the answers and explanations to fully understanding why the answer is what it is. For some practice quizzes that are 18 questions, it takes me 3-4 hours to go through the explanations. Which totally sucks, when at the end of the day I've only done about 38 actual questions and the assigned homework was for double that but I know what I've learned, I truly learned and understand. Hope this helps and I wish you tons of luck!! The 3rd time's a charm =)
ReplyDeleteIf the d@mn bar people would just remove the MBE a lot more people would pass this thing. It's such a stick in the mud.
ReplyDeleteI'm not using the bar Edge, I'm using Kaplan. But my tutor gave me a couple strategies to make everything click into place:
ReplyDelete- Read the answer prompt first, and then the answer choices. Based on what the question actually wants, you can usually eliminate at least one answer off the bat because it doesn't go to the prompt. For example, if the prompt says, "Will the defendant be liable in a negligence action," you can eliminate the answers that say "Yes, because he's strictly liable" (strict liability doesn't go to negligence) or "Yes, because he committed battery" (intentional torts don't go to negligence). You can usually eliminate the ones that are just plain wrong, like "Yes because once you start to rescue someone you can abandon them without recourse." Then, before you even get to the fact pattern you just increased your chances of getting it right.
-If you can, re-do the ones you get wrong. Put them all together and make another quiz for yourself. Then you know if you're learning why you're getting certain questions wrong and how you should change your thinking. If you keep getting certain ones wrong, then you know to either go back to the outlines or drill that sub-topic until you get it.
Stupid, m*$&#($f$#($*$ MBE :-(
I didn't use that, but I used the Kaplan/PMBR QBank (it was the only form of Kaplan available in Nevada). If I got more than 60% right it was pretty impressive unless it was ONLY torts, which I was better at, or only property, which I was thrilled to get 1/3 or so right.
ReplyDeleteDon't go back to your books/outlines! You probably already know the law, and at this point I would focus on all the little sh*t nuances that trip everyone up.
ReplyDeleteHaving failed once, I can tell you the best way to do this is to read the answers to all the questions you get wrong. Even better, make a quick bullet point sheet of the rules of law from those answers. I hated doing this because I'm lazy but really found that doing everything I avoided doing during the first bar prep is what helped me pass the second time.
Good luck!!
I used PMBR and found that the questions were much closer to the ones on the actual bar exam. I think it's normal to drop in percentage right before the test, from what I recall. The only thing I did was to just keep at it and do question after question. I did use a book and I think, before the bar, I had done 2,000 or so questions. Not much help, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI know it seems like going back to the outlines is fruitless, but maybe try doing so in a different way. When I got stuck around the same MBE score, like you are, I went back and hand wrote note cards that repeated almost verbatim what the outlines said. Somehow the hand writing seemed to drive the outlines home a bit better, and I saw a significant rise in my practice MBE scores after taking that time to really go back and focus on the outlines again.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it can definitely be helpful to use the paper format questions rather than just the online stuff. They seem to simulate actual test conditions a bit better.
I hope you find something that works well for you. Best of luck!
I'm a first-time bar taker (and freaking scared as shit of this exam), so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I found Kaplan really, really helpful. I failed the MPRE first time around after having done just Barbri, but when I did Kaplan the second time around, I scored high enough to pass in every state. I know that the MBE is a different animal, but I find that I have lots of trouble with the structure of the question, and not the law itself. The Kaplan question-based strategy was really helpful. It forces you to go through each question that you missed (and the ones that you may have correctly answered but for the wrong reason).
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I just found your blog a few days ago, and it has been a godsend. Thank you for that! And good luck!