3L and the City: A review of bar reviews

By Maria Vasos
Chicago-Kent College of Law

The academic year is now over and those of us who have graduated are starting the daunting task of preparing for the bar exam. Almost as daunting a task is finding the bar preparation course that meets your needs.

There is a virtual cornucopia of companies that purport to have the ”key” to bar passage, at a variety of price ranges. On May 27 in Chicago, and June 2 in surrounding areas, BarBri, the big kahuna, got underway with its course schedule. It consists of roughly seven weeks of daily lectures in both video and live format. And there are podcast upgrades, essay help, and other perks that you can add to your basic course package.

BarBri books contain subject outlines and practice exams. I am told that the books alone make BarBri worth its $2,500 fee. I hope this proves to be true because I have joined the BarBri masses. In one advertisement, BarBri boasts that 80,000 Illinois lawyers have used it. This is compelling because I learned that the bar exam is scored against the other test-takers.

Say, for example, that a huge percentage of the test-takers marked C as the correct answer for number one, but the examiners had the correct answer as B.

If enough people marked C, then according to the examiners, obviously there is something wrong with that question, so that question would be either thrown out or credit would be given for both answers. Theoretically, if someone could orchestrate a gigantic coup, wherein all of the test-takers would mark C for every question, everyone would be guaranteed to pass and no one would have to stress about it.

Similarly, I was told by a Kaplan PMBR associate that ”Some 70 to 80 percent of students now take the Kaplan PMBR class as practice for that multi-state section.”

Kaplan PMBR, which is now cooperating with LexisNexis, offers a six-day foundational course and a three-day final review course, which flanks BarBri before and after, for a price tag that ranges from $500 (for the three-day course) to $1,100 for the full deal. Nonetheless, I decided not to sign up for Kaplan PMBR.

I have also decided not to sign up for courses by PassYourBar.com, from the Reed Law Group.

However, PassYourBar does seem to have an extraordinarily high bar passage rate. Ninety-seven percent bar passage is the rate for those who have had their one-on-one tutoring and 92 to 93 percent bar passage for those who have had their small class instruction. But, high odds of passage do not come for free. The one-on-one tutoring will set you back about $14,000. A slightly more practical option is the small class instruction, which costs $4,595.

What does seem to be successful — and very reasonably priced — is AdaptiBar, for which I have signed up. AdaptiBar is online, but is different from a review course or tutorial. It is a web-based program that helps you practice skills for MBE test-taking. For example, it will give you a question and four possible answers. It times your answer, as well as gives you feedback on whether or not you got it right and how you can do better in the future.

On the website, the sample is shown: ”Your answer is wrong. The correct answer is D. You answered in 1 minute 13 seconds. If you had spent an additional 24 seconds reviewing the question and answers, then based on your prior performance, your chances of answering the question correctly would have increased by 55 percent.” Finally, it explains the correct answer in detail.

But one of the best features is that the software adapts to what you actually need, hence the name: Adaptibar. If you are answering all of the negligence questions correctly, it will stop asking you those questions and, instead, focus more on your weaker areas, say, strict liability.

Adaptibar focuses on efficiency in studying and efficiency in test-taking. The cost of Adaptibar is less than $400 and they will give you 105 percent of your money back, if you complete the program and don’t pass the first time. Not a bad bang for your buck.

Finally, MicroMash MBE Review seems similar to Adaptibar in that it tests your strengths and weaknesses, but it is a software program that you download instead of an Internet-based program. They also offer topical outlines and test-taking strategies at an additional cost. There are three package levels that range from $500 to $1,000. MicroMash also has a money-back guarantee, but you have to remember to upload all of your MicroMash test results to their website by the Friday immediately following the administration of the bar exam, or you won’t qualify for the guarantee three months down the road when you get your bar results back and find out to your dismay that you actually do need a refund.

All of these courses and programs have their positive and negative aspects. What may work for some, may not work for others. I suggest that you research them all as I have done, (they each have a website and information online), and pick what suits your needs best. Good luck!