2020年剛過了10月的遠程考試。在申請季，我從寄託法律專版上了解了很多信息，十分感激前輩的分享。所以我現在想回饋寄託，分享一些複習紐約bar 的備考經驗。由於個人原因，我一開始寫了英文版的經驗分享，再重新翻譯成中文比較複雜。所以我直接把英文版的經驗發出來。如果有任何問題，也可以在這個帖子裡問我。祝大家都如願通過紐約bar。
remote New York bar exam in October 2020. Half of the UBE tested in that remote exam. So my preparation experience might be unique and not the same as the ones who took or are going to take the full UBE. I am a foreign candidate who does not have a systematic learning of MBE subjects coz I didn’t take those 1L mandatory subjects. Final result: MBE 156.6 + MPT/MEE 167.4 = UBE 324. (passing score 266)
Full UBE: MBE (200 multiple choice questions) + MEE (6 short essays) + MPT (two long essays, no legal knowledge tested, usually one memo + one will/trust/contract/other doc type)
1st day morning (3 hours, two long essays): MPT;
1st day afternoon (3 hours, six short essays): MEE;
2nd day morning (3 hours, 100 questions): MBE;
2nd day afternoon (3 hours, 100 questions): MBE.
MBE: 7 subjects – civil pro (introduced into exam since 2015), criminal & criminal procedure, real estate, evidence, contract, torts, conlaw.
MEE: the above 7 subjects + family law, trust, wills, secured transaction, corporations & LLC, conflict of laws, agency and partnership.
MBE: Barbri videos, Barbri handouts, Seperac outlines, Barbri topic-based questions, Emanuel (Strategies & Tactics for the MBE) 1 (7th edition) & 2 (3rd edition), Barbri simulated MBE and review videos, Barbri topic based workshop (25 questions for each MBE topic) and review videos, OPE 3-4;
MEE: SmartBarPrep outlines (covering high, medium, and low testing priority) + Seperac essay predictions (covering 50 high priority);
MPT: Barbri MPT book.
Timetable: an excel sheet that tracks your daily study time and study plan.
First round (roughly one month only covering MBE subjects): Barbri videos (x1.75 speed) + Barbri topic based questions + preparing personal review questions and outlines.
Plenty of statistics suggest bar exam takers spending more time on MBE subjects. There is a chart showing the higher MBE score you got, the less points you would need and less percentage of people you need to outperform for the essay part. MBE is also very objective, the right answer is right and the wrong answer is wrong. However, MEE and MPT are subjective essays, where you might lose points if you didn’t mention the key points or have a really bad formatting that examiners get lost in your long essays. So most people would spend more time on MBE subjects.
MBE subjects are somewhat different from 1L subjects, so I would suggest every candidate watching Barbri videos at a fast speed. After watching the subject videos, practicing those topic based questions are key. Emanuel books cover the released past exam questions, while almost all Barbri questions are made by Barbri itself. I would suggest doing those topic based questions in the first round, so that you do not waste those real past exam questions. Barbri topic based questions are really difficult and tougher than Emanuel and the real MBE questions. I usually got 50%-60% correct, but it seems like everyone is around that range so don’t be too upset about it. I have a google doc to record all the questions I got wrong, briefly summarizing the exam questions, using understandable language to point out why I was wrong and the logic of the correct answer, and summarizing the key points in the answer key to help me understand that question better.
Second round (1.5 months): Seperac outlines + two Emanuel books (roughly 1300 questions)
Seperac outlines are long and very detailed. There are two parts in Seperac outlines, first part outlining the important topic of each section and second part summarizing the rule in the past exam questions. When reading Seperac outlines, try to memorize each sentence. Coz in this round, you should try to recite the rules by heart, not a learning process.
Emanuel books are great practice. Try to do those questions under timed conditions (less than 1.8 mins per question. But don’t look at the clock for each question. Finish 10 questions in 17 mins. Finish 17 questions in 30 mins. Finish 34 questions in one hour, etc.)
The answer keys in Emanuel are the most important. Try to focus more on the underlying rule of each question and fully master each legal rule. Otherwise, if the examiners slightly changed the wording/condition in that question, you would get lost when you didn’t really understand the rules. After finishing these two books, you would probably cover 2000+ questions (including Barbri topic based questions). You would then realize the importance of the review questions coz after completing so many questions, you start to forget why answer A is the correct answer in those questions you got wrong, and you would be likely doing wrong again in those questions. Having a review question doc would help you refresh your memory and deepen your understanding on a certain rule.
When preparing for MBEs, try to outline some confusing concepts and make comparisons between them. Evidence and real estate are the most difficult topics in most people’s eyes. Crim law can be compared to torts. Crim procedure and evidence are linked to Conlaw.
Third round (3 weeks): SmartBarPrep for essay + Seperac predition essay + Barbri simulated MBE and review videos + Barbri MPT book
It’s about time for you to do Barbri simulated MBE. As you could imagine, Barbri simulated MBE is harder than you thought. I scored 112/200 as a raw score (bottom 26%) and I was in a panic. But you should not feel defeated but very lucky coz you finally found out the concepts/rules you got them wrong all the time after watching the review videos. The review videos were so great coz they not only talked about the practice questions, but they summarized and explained the difficult concepts in each MBE subject to you using those questions. I also realized the downside of reading Emanuel answer keys is that you would spend hours reading those answer keys, without someone explaining to you in a plain language in a very short amount of time. Some of the wrong concepts in your mind would not be necessarily corrected just by reading. Review videos are very efficient. I then did all the rest of Barbri subject workshop and watched their review videos.
Also, it’s time for you to start prep for essays. Although I mentioned in the beginning that you should spend more time on MBE, please don’t ever underestimate the essay part. At the end of the day, the essay part makes up 50% of the UBE points. Think about it this way, if you happen to recite some MEE rules and you get tested on it, you will be able to type those rules and apply the facts confidently... but if you never saw those MEE rules, you are very likely to bomb the essay part and cannot think of any word...After I found out my simulated barbri MBE result was shit and I barely started the essay part, I decided to spend most of the time during the last three weeks on reciting the MEE outlines and practicing the essays. I do believe practicing MPT for at least a few times saved me and helped me get a really high score in my essay part. I encountered two technical issues and my laptop got restarted twice when I was taking MEE, and the topics I got tested weren’t something I recited very fluently, so I don’t think I scored high in MEE section.
First, watch the introduction to the essay part on Barbri and those Barbri MEE subject videos (covering all those other MEE subjects) and get yourself a full picture of that subject. Then start reading MEE outlines (SmartBarPrep), which are helpful not only becoz they give you materials to recite and prepare for the rules tested in MEE, but also they deepen your understanding on MBE subjects. When trying to recite those rules word by word, MEE outlines help you figure out some difficult concepts. It worked for me in civil pro. If you are running out of bar prep time, focus on high priority outlines first coz they were the most frequently tested during the past 20 years.
When writing MEE essays, CRAC is important (Conclusion- rule- application- conclusion) for each paragraph. And you would realize the rules you recited are important coz they give you basis on your application. If you forget rules in MEE, you could just make up some rules with your common sense and continue your application- don’t leave them blank.
I used Seperac prediction essay (50 high priority) to practice. I only managed to practice 30 of them coz I was running out of the bar prep time. I used them to help me remember the rules, check how they structure the essay and how they apply the facts.
In terms of MPT, I practiced four MPT memorandum under timed conditions and familiarized myself with the other types of legal writing (trust, will, contract). Barbri suggested 45 mins for reading + 45 mins writing. After the first time of practice, I realized that I could not write a well-structured MPT in 45 mins. I also could not finish the reading materials in 45 mins. I came to realize that MPT does not test how well you understand the materials, but how good you could pull out a well-structured essay covering main points. Then I managed to keep my reading time under 30-35 mins by skipping the facts in each case, and returning to those facts when I need to make comparisons of the fact pattern. The sequence of reading the files should be: first Library (rules first, then cases from latest to earliest) and then Files (figuring out the fact pattern we are about to analyze). Jot down the notes on rules, names and holdings of each case as you read in the Note-taking area. Since it was a remote bar exam, we use Examplify so we don’t have the advantage of highlighting the text in the files. Therefore, practicing MPT at least once in the mock exam program is very important, so that you could familiarize yourself with the program (e.g. how to transfer notes to the essay part, how to zoom in and out, and how to use your time wisely).
For the last 3-5 days, I reviewed all my 110-page long review questions, and I practiced OPE 3-4 under timed conditions.
1. Find two or three good study mates when you prepare for exams. My experience was that I talked to my friends about the rules and questions I don’t quite understand. I then understood those confusing concepts better by those discussions. Two or three friends would correct the wrong concepts in your mind and keep you on a good track.
2. Update your laptop to the latest version. My Macbook restarted automatically twice when I was taking MEE. I talked to an Examplify agent and he told me that certain Macbook versions did not serve Examplify perfectly and that’s why I encountered technical issues during exams.
3. My bar prep time was roughly three months. Try to start bar prep time early becoz usually people only have less than two months to prepare if they start bar prep after graduation.
4. Keep track of your effective study time, deduct the time you eat, think about something else, etc. That timetable would keep you motivated to study more efficiently.
5. Bar prep was very challenging and stressful. I got very anxious from time to time during bar prep and wanted to give up many times. But don’t give up.