For reasons I'll explain in greater detail in a future post, I'm taking the bar exam in a new jurisdiction this February. Someone else is footing the bill for my exam preparation, and that someone wants me to take Barbri's course. Problem is, I don't know much about Barbri because I took Kaplan's complete course to prepare for the California bar exam.
To the other attorneys out there: do you think it's necessary to supplement Barbri with the PMBR course or any other material? I have foggy memories of folks complaining about Barbri's multiple choice practice questions, but maybe that's just the KaplanPMBR kool aid talking.
8 comments:
For this summer's MBE, it seemed no one thought they were prepared for the MBE regardless of their test prep company. This was my third MBE, and I found it to be the hardest (in that there were a ton of questions that I felt I had not been prepared for at all). I used Barbri for all 3 tests and didn't supplement with PMBR. For the 2nd and 3rd bars, I had some confidence about the MBE going in because NY (my 1st bar) gives you your MBE score and I had done well. That said, since there is completely new content on the upcoming MBE (civ pro), if you can get the PBMR 3-day course paid for, I think it would not be a bad idea to have access to additional civ pro questions, since no one is really going to know what they'll be like on the real exam.
I also bought the Critical Pass flashcards for this past exam and really liked them. (If you're interested in a used set, let me know.)
Out of paranoia, I did grab a couple volumes of PMBR questions and worked through a few sets in addition to the BARBRI questions and the NCBEX practice test. I ended up being way overprepared, so I don't think it was worth it. But that was then.
My recollection about the BARBRI practice questions was that there were sharply diminishing returns after the first four practice sets, or so--they got progressively more obscure, and the last few sets were far more difficult than the actual test.
I just did BarBri for WI in 2008 and didn't supplement.
Thanks everyone!
@blur_ Yes, I'm interested in the flashcards. I'll send you an email about it.
I took the bar exam in summer 2010 with just barbri. Couple thoughts on barbri: 1) no one I know kept up with the schedule. It is a lot to do and almost impossible to do everything; 2) my year, everyone (myself included) thought the barbri multiple choice were harder than the MBE. We all kind of assumed that barbri did this to scare you, so once you passed, you would endorse it. Just something to keep in mind.
For what it's worth, I work at a BigLaw Firm in Atty Recruiting, and 95% of my incoming Bar takers use BarBri and only 1 or 2 of them supplement with PMBR. We pay for BarBri/Kaplan/BariBri+PMBR (and Themis now, apparently) and it is their choice as to what course they use. Like I said, 95% use BarBri without PMBR supplement.
Barbri has this intimidation factor to it that (hopefully) won't get to you as much given that you've already passed a bar exam. There is more material than you need in the course, and I agree with the comment about diminishing returns on their practice sets for multiple choice. I'd say the new flashcards or whatever they call them that you're supposed to review before lectures are rubbish.
My one tweak to Barbri would be to start practicing essays sooner than they suggest. The main complaint my year (both from passers and failers) was that there were SO MANY ESSAYS crammed into the end of the course that they couldn't retain anything from the practice. They were either perfecting essay writing or retaining material but everyone felt too crammed to be able to do both.
Thanks again, everyone. Really appreciate the input.
The attorney recruiting perspective is really interesting--95% of people opting for Barbri! I had thought the other companies had managed to eek out a little more market share.
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