Monday, June 25, 2007

Real MBE Preview

The NCBE has released "A 100-question, annotated online practice exam using questions drawn from recent MBEs."

Based on the comments I heard about how confusing the MBEs were on the Feb '07 exam, it sounds like this might be something interesting to look at. And it's only $26.00. A heck of a deal at twice the price!

15 comments:

biff said...

This isn't published anywhere else?

The Grand Poobah said...

I think not. But they may respond to an e-mail.

I know they've licensed the questions to Adaptibar, but I don't know who else. The guy at Adaptibar told me that everyone else gets the questions and reworks them to skirt the copyright laws. That may be why we get the screwy questions and nonsense answers once in a while with BarBri and PMBR.

These are advertised to be actual questions from recent exams. I couldn't tell if they specifically from the last exam, or the last few exams. I didn't read the copy on that page very closely.

biff said...

So no one besides NCBE can claim to publish actual questions...hmm.

I might as well order these. Considering what I've already spent this is nothing.

The Grand Poobah said...

That was my thinking. It's a small price to pay for what could be a valuable insight.

Anonymous said...

tell us how the questions are!

The Grand Poobah said...

If you use Adaptibar the questions from the NCBE will look familiar. And because I've commented that I believe Adaptibar's questions are easier than those from BarBri or PMBR you will likely score better on these than you have on other MBEs. I haven't found a place for these in my mind as to how they rank with those from the actual exam because I haven't yet taken the actual exam.

The main difference between the questions from other sources and these from the NCBE is that these don't inspire as many "Huh? What'd they just say?" moments. And as a result they seem easier.

I went through all of the 100 questions yesterday and I had seen about 50% before. Again, that's because because I'm using Adaptibar. I missed 13 of the 100. If they're a true representation of what's on the exam then I'm in good shape. If they're easier then I didn't do myself any favors.

Anonymous said...

You are such a rockstar - you always seem to be on top of the things we need to know. Thanks!

The Grand Poobah said...

Thanks! I've always had a knack for research. What I need now is a knack for essay writing. It's easy to do the things you enjoy. I must figure out a way to enjoy writing essays.

"It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion."

calbar blondie said...

If I'm not mistaken, Adaptibar has those 100 newly released questions loaded into their current program.

The Grand Poobah said...

Blondie, I figured that out after I paid the $26. And that's why I only missed 13 of the 100. I probably mentioned that I had already seen about half of them.

This appears to be turning in to an endorsement of Adaptibar. And I'm fine with that. I paid for that program because it was recommended by a friend who passed. At this point, it looks like that was good advice.

btw... I had already purchased all of the released MBEs that were available from the NCBE when I signed up with Adaptibar. So they have about $170 of my money directly, plus whatever Adaptibar is paying as a license fee. But it's all good as long as I get the benefit. And I feel like I am.

calbar blondie said...

Yes, you sure are. I bought the program as well and will start using it again in about a week when I (hopefully) finish the Finz.

Richard said...

So to summarise - is it worth paying for if i'm on pure barbri course only?

The Grand Poobah said...

Based on the low cost, my opinion is that the 100 questions are a deal. Plus, if you don't require the analytical answers, you can get books of 200 past bar question for $20 each.

And then if you're impatient (like me) the 1998 200 question set is available as a downloadable PDF.

(When I ordered the books they came very quickly (less than a week).)

Anonymous said...

So the previous MBEs available from NCBE actually come in book format? I figured they would arrive in printout format, and I have the PDF version of all 3 MBEs but I like the idea of the book format, especially since I love my MBE Strategies & Tactics book.

I also have the 1992 MBEs. I'm still a little baffled that they were apparently released, but the NCBE doesn't advertise them.

The Grand Poobah said...

I too, find it odd that they don't advertise more. Whatever. Maybe they have an agreement with the various State Bar Associations. Or maybe they're non-profit. Or maybe the people that work there are all from another planet and they don't require Earth currency when they go home on vacation.

Who knows. But, I do know that I have two paperback versions of the answers, dated Feb '91 and July '91, in the stack of stuff looming behind my chair.