Comments from Other Examinees
I write to thank you for your advice. With your advice, I passed New York bar with an MBE score of 161.8. I did not take barbri course this time. It is not effective for me.
Thank you again Joe for what you have done for me. I wish you great success with your career.
I want to thank you for putting together the master essay. It greatly helped me prepare for Feb NY State Bar Exam. I passed and I know that my essay performance had a lot to do with your master essay. Thanks!
I was a retaker for the NY bar - and recenty found out that I passed. Thank you. Your course was what I mostly focused on and found it extremely helpful.
Now that I have finally stopped screaming, I want to let you know that I passed the NY FEB 2012 bar exam. I not only passed, I got a scaled score of 166!!!!! A first time foreign taker who completed their undergrad degree over 6 years ago! Your website was KEY to me nailing this exam so thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
I subscribed to your site for the Feb. 2012 bar exam (which I passed). I have been a licensed lawyer in Canada since 2003 and since I now live in NY, I needed to be appropriately licensed here. I took the exam while working full time and so prioritizing my studying with respect to the NY essays was essential. Just wanted to write you a note to say that I really felt my subscription was money well spent. I would highly recommend your site so if you ever need a reference or testimonial, feel free to reach out.
Thank you Joe! my mbe was 138.1, so i did not even improved it by 20 points from July.. and my thinking is I killed the essays!! again, thanks to you. they are exactly what one needs... especially foreign educated! if you dont mind, I will tell people on all4jds forum about you. and no, i will NOT sell my materials to anyone, i think they are very moderately priced, it is the best money I ever spent and it's amazing how much time you put into that! THANK YOU! I did a bunch of barbri questions and kaplan.. I'd say i studied questions about 60-70% of the time..in the beginning, but the last 4 days i spent doing master. I'd say I did at least 2,000 questions... i did not keep any record of my study, but took notes for each subject on caviats. I think it's immportant to really know the rules for the MBE, so practice practice practice.. I found the videos from barbri/kaplan, with explanations and the "tricks" for mbe were very helpful. I also found your "tips" very helpfull! and your NYMC questions.. I did think that this year's NYMC was no trick - just lots of NY practice questions, matrimonial, real estate, with NY distinctions.. so again - you have to know the law.. MPT was terrible! what else? i have to be honest, i did not listen to any of the mp3s that you have, or essays from the last years, I read and listened your masters over and over.. THANK YOU!
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!! Your strategy and guidance were brilliant. I couldn't have used the 3 weeks I had before the exam any better. I managed my time poorly during the first day and was only able to write about a paragraph for the MPT, but with your strategy to focus on the MBE, I wound up with a 155.6 on the MBE and assume that "scaled" my essays favorably enough to put me over. I just saw your mbetips.com website and was excited to see that you have or are developing something for California. Is that subscription site available yet? I'm also interested in taking NJ and Virginia. If you have subscription content or tutoring available for CA, NJ or VA, I would love to sign up. Thank you so much again for all of your time, efforts and guidance!! I cannot speak more highly of your analysis and help that you've given to me. If I may be of any assistance to you in a capacity, please do not hesitate to reach out.
I am glad to tell you here that I have passed the Feb 2012 bar NY Exam. I did feel that I was doing very well both on Essay and MBE. My scaled MBE score for this time is 151.2. Thank you very much for your advice and help. I am looking forward to meeting you in person in the futurn, and say thank to you again.
Hi Joe! Thank you thank you thank you for all you have done. I finally passed the bar and it was all thanks to you.
Just wanted to send you an email thanking you for your website. I passed the February NY bar on the first try. I did not purchase a bar prep course because I had taken Barbri already for NJ a couple of years ago so I felt that I could try self study by purchasing the books on ebay. In addition, to the books I came across your website, which was extremely helpful! I really appreciate your advice and am confident that your outlines played a large role in my passing.
Passed NY February 2012. Thanks for your assistance.
Just thought that you would be happy to know that I passed the Bar Exam :) Your materials were helpful!
I just passed the February 2012 NY Bar. Your strategy was great. It did work. I did 4,000+ MBE question, including all past released questions. I heard Master & Past Exam MP3 again and again. Although MBE was harder than I expected (134.2 -> 138.9), I think I did well on Essay. As a foreign educated, I think I could not pass the bar without your strategy. I will recommend it to everyone who is going to sit for NY Bar in the future.
Couldnt do it without your help!! your master is a work of genius! THANK YOU!!!!!
I passed! Even though I didn't order your Seperac study packet, your advice to me regarding ruthlessly focusing on the MBE was so invaluable. I actually did less MBE questions than on my first attempt, but I had a more solid understanding of the law this time around. Right before I took the exam, I was scoring around 68% to 76% right and on the February MBE, I got a 148.6! Thanks so much and God bless you.
I received the email this morning saying I passed. I was really surprised. I did not finish the MPT because I did not have enough time + I found it extremelly difficult (compared with the ones I saw before). I'm sending my information because I found your website really helpful. I'm a foreign student and I was really scared about the essays since I'm not good at writing in English. I made flashcards with the info in Masters 2012 High Priority + I read Med Priority several times. I think Masters was the reason I passed (my MBE score was only 124.5 + I did not finish the MPT). Thank you very much for your advice.
I would like to let you know that I passed the bar exam.
I wanted to thank you for all your help and for putting together Master! I ended up passing the NY Bar on my second try with an MBE score of 132. The first time in July of 2011 I was 36 points short, got 629 with an MBE score of 129.5 (I've sent you my score report back then). I went with Barbri the first time and then got a free repeat after I failed. Not to say anything bad about them, but I think if I would have had your Master document the first time, things would have been different. Second time around I didn't even listen to any of their lectures and just studied Master and did MBE practice questions. For MBE questions I was using Kaplan PMBR combination course. What's funny is that the first time I did about 600-700 practice MBE question and ended up with 129.5 MBE scaled score. This time I did about 2,600 questions and got a scaled score of 132. (on PMBR simulated MBE I got 101 in July and 124 in Feb.) I guess the essays pulled my overall score. For the MPT section of the exam I had 80 min left instead of 90 and wrote very little. I followed your advice as to answering last essay first and then going to essay #2 and #1 (same for the second section of the exam). Thank you sooooo much! On the day of the exam, during lunch break as I was looking at Master, I was amazed at how almost every issue that I came across on the exam was marked either high or medium priority.
So I just received my results for the Feb 2012 Ny bar. I passed. I wanted to thank you for the awesome product you created, I really attribute a lot of my success to the tools on your site and your awesome Master. I think studying the master (unfortunately only 2 weeks from the exam, when i found it) really helped me attack the exam. Also, your Master *High* was 100% on point. I have already recommended it to a bunch of friends ...
I got my results today an can tell you that I finally passed. Unfortunately i cannot report you my essay results. Mbe is 143.3. Thanks for your great site and the master!
I passed!!!!! Joe, thank you so much for all your help!! I am forever grateful to you!
Happy to report that I passed the Feb Bar with 145.9 MBE scaled score. Thank you very for your help. I purchased your Master Feb 2012 and it was extremely helpful. I really appreciate everything, and please let me know if you need anything to help on your stats. Thanks!
I passed! MBE score: 139.8 I cannot tell you how helpful your post-exam analysis was for me, and how helpful your sight is in general. Thank you for taking the time to help so many people. my most sincere regards,
Thank you for your time. After this I have been meaning to put together a small write up of how I used your system to prep for the bar b/s I think it was critical in my success.
I just wanted to thank you again for your subscription. Your masters were spot on as to what issues were on the real exam. Without your site, I wouldn't have felt half as confident and likely wouldn't have done half as well on the essays.
I wish to acknowledge your help which I received by reading your website in 2008. I passed my bar in 2008 after 3 attempts. I did not have your e-mail id earlier and therefore could not write an e-mail to you. I happened to find it now and thought of thanking you for my passing the NY bar. I have my own law firm now and doing well. Thanks again for very inspiring and knowledgeable website.
I'm sure you asked me to tell you how I got on with the exams so I just want to let you know that I passed!! Finally! Thanks fro all your help and support.
Thank you so much for your analysis and advice. You are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
Just wanted to drop you a note to inform you that I PASSSSSSSEDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was sooooo estatic when I got the news! Thank you for all your help and advice. I truly appreciate it!
I would like to say thank you for your best website. I pass the NY Bar this year, my third try. My MBE Score is 149.5. I use the Master, your analysis and the information on your site to prepare. Thank you. And thanks god. It's really hard to take the preparation while you have to work.
I am grateful to you and your program as I really nailed some of the essays bc of your'e spot on predictions.
I used your website often and found many helpful things in my preparation for the Jul 2011 NY Bar. ... I managed to pass the bar with an MBE score of 137.
You are well-known among NY bar exam takers in mainland China. You helped lots of Chinese students pass the tough exam. Thank you.
I just wanted to thank you for the score reports from the July 2010 and February 2011 NYS Bar Exams. I had missed each of those by less than 10 points and 4 points, respectively. I found out on Wednesday that I passed the July 2011 administration of the exam. I believe that it was partly due to the reports that you offered me so that I could focus on my weaknesses in combination with my using m BarBri materials to study my own way (not by the BarBri Method) this time. I think that sitting in the classes simply to get the information wasted a lot of precious time to memorize and accumulate as much material as possible prior to the exam. Having the information in front of me and being able to read it multiple times for memorization purposes was far better for my studies than not being able to do this until the last couple of weeks using the BarBri Method. I have never failed anything before and I truly believe that not sticking to my normal study habits (that were used for many, many years but deferred to when the BarBri Method was stressed) was a huge factor in this. That said, the BarBri materials were adequate and all that I studied (in combination with some borrowed PMBR MBE practice materials). Anyway, just wanted to drop a line to say thanks for actually caring about helping those of us out who have failed the exam once, and again in my case. Your time is much appreciated. Third time's a charm!
I cannot express my gratitude other than just simply saying THANK YOU. ...I got 152.7 scale score and passed the exam :) It was kind of soothsaying that really cherish my entire experience after I received email that I passed. It was even better for me, to write my director of program at St. John's that he should change statistics of program, because when i discussed my preparation for exam with him he told me that no LLM ever passed exam without commercial preparation course specially when I am foreign graduate (and I really have been in U.S. for about 1 year now).
I just wanted to let you know that I passed the July 2011 bar exam (my second try) and I'm convinced the resources on your website enabled me to do so. I simply studied the high and medium priority essay topics and did hundreds of multistate questions from another bar review program. Prioritizing the essay topics helped me free up time to concentrate on the multistate exam. Thank you for providing the only truly straightforward website for New York State bar exam takers.
Joe, once again thank you very much, you are the source of best preparation material and information that I needed to pass this exam. I will recommend your page to everybody who will ever try to pass the bar.
I am DELIGHTED to tell you that I have finally passed the NY Bar on my third time as a foreign taker. Please find my mbe score attached. I can only assume that I scored highly on my written and I put this down to learning to write like an American. Thank you for all your help over the past 2 years and for your Master which I found invaluable.
Hi Joe as you probably know the bar results are out. I am happy to announce i passed. my mbe score was 145.8. lol not the 176 i was hoping for but hey i cant complain. im estatic.
I am a LLM student with little idea about U.S. Law before I came to United States. I chose Property and Evidence in law school here because my J.D. friends told me they are the tough parts in the bar exam. From March to April, I started to reading Emanuel Law Outline to warm up, the average time I spent on this is a little over one hour per day. From April to May, I enrolled in the Kaplan LLM Fundamentals, they sent me two green books, a set of CDs, and gave me access to online course. I spent two hours per day on them. From June to July, the Kaplan Complete Bar Review started and I did my work according to the recommended schedule, roughly 10 hours per day. I did extra hours on weekends additionally, maybe 3 hours per day in average. MBE took the most of my time, I finished the LLM Fundamentals (300), PMBR Red Book (900+), online Question Bank (~1000), MBE Foundation (200), Mid-term (200), Final Review (200), Additional Test (200), so the total questions are round 3,000. The percentage I did was 42% in May, 59% in June, 68% in July, overall was 64%. I only got 55% in Final Review. I spent one month in NY portion, watching the videos and making notes. The PMBR Blue Book is 60% finished. 200 MC, the percentage was a little above 40%. 12 essays, 3 "well below the standard," 2 "below the standard," and 7 "above the standard." All questions were timed. Let me know if I can be of any help. Again, thank you for your help and advices during my bar preparation.
Joe! Finally I can email you with good news. I PASSED :) MBE 144.1...didn't know they don't tell you the NY score when you pass, but I guess that's not important. Thanks for your advice and for doing what you do for people like me. You make a difference! With the sincerest gratitude,
I am writing to let you know that I passed, on my third try, with a 148.4 MBE! Thank you so much for the wealth of information you have provided me in the past year and most importantly your words of encouragement. Thank you!
Just found this morning that I passed the July 2011 bar exam with an MBE score of 133.4. ... Thank you so much for all your help. I couldn't have done without your service!!!
I just received my notice of certification a few hours ago. I can't belive I passed it! But I only have my scaled MBE score (144.9) on the notice. Do you think know how can I know my total score? I tried the private lookup link on your website but it didn't tell me my score either. Many many thanks.
Joes, I PASSED, and I still can't believe it 141 Scalled MBE.
I just want to let you know that I finally passed the NY Bar on my 3rd attempt & I owe you a big hug and a thank you. I really sucked at the MBE, but I took your advice this past fall and I read your entire website and I bought OPE 1 & 2 and Master 2011 and I passed. It felt awesome. My passing MBE score was 138.0 (my first attempt was a 119.6)!!! Thank you so much for the score breakdowns that you gave me when I failed those 2 times -- I must tell you, I am not a math person but I found comfort in your statistics, because numbers and logic are real and true & this exam is like a bad acid trip where nothing is real.
I passed!!!!! Thanks for all your help. Your website might have saved my life! I got a 149.8 on the MBE. I'm positive it was because of your master outline and the phrases for all the essays. All I used to study was your website, PMBR MBE books and a Barbri NY Essay book with 150 NY practice questions in it from 2005. Thank you!
I was a great resource and most especially the MP3 which I always listened to every night. It was like my sleeping pill because every time I started to listen to them I some how calmed down and was able to go to bed because it was a reassurance of what I knew and had read from your masters. My scaled score was 133.0 I do not want to know what that means but the the congratulations at the top of the letter was enough for me! I made it this time on my 6th attempt.
I just passed the Feb NY Bar Exam and want to thank you. Your site has been so helpful and your score analysis was the best thing ever. your site is truly amazing and I hope you will continue the great work!
Thanks again for your assistance with the course. I passed on the first try, and am able to waive into DC.
Thank you for your help!!! I passed the feb bar with 149 MBE score.
You sent me an analysis of my failed July NYBE results. I meant to email you sooner to thank you for all your advice. As you recommend on your site, I took Kaplan this time for the MBE, focused on doing lots of practice MBE questions, used your Master to study for the essays (I found this EXTREMELY helpful), and then applied what I had memorized to practice essays. My MBE went up from 126 scaled to 143.9.
I got my result this morning and I passed with a scaled MBE of 136.4. I got 129 last July. Thank you for all your support. The informations you provide on your site were invaluable to me. I reviewed all the past NY essays posted on your site and used Master like a bible. I'm soo happy and grateful to God.
I got the results back and I passed the NY bar exam. I got a 143.9 scaled score on the MBE, and don't know how I did on the essays. I just wanted to thank you and your site for the help - it really did focus on MBE (especially) study time, stay organized and efficient, and learn what to focus on to hit that 140 target, which was the right way to go about taking practice questions and exams for the multi-state.
Joe! I am not sure if you remember talking to me a few weeks before the bar exam when I was flipping out and sent you a very desperate email, but I wanted you to know that I PASSEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't tell you how grateful I am for your website and your phone call that day. I REALLY couldn't have done it without your outlines and your advice. I followed exactly what you said to do (which was to bust my ass on the MBE questions and do what I could with the essays), and I studied until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, and I ended up with a 161 scaled MBE score, which is wayyyyy higher than I ever expected (and was undoubtedly helped along by the higher than usual scale). I am another example of your philosophy that the best way to pass the bar is to go hard on the MBE. Thanks so much for EVERYTHING!
I found out this morning that I passed the NY bar exam on my second try. However, they didn't send the full score information -- only the certification which states my MBE as 144.7. (My score was 129.1 in July.) I wanted to thank you for your help and your program
I spoke to you on the phone from Arizona. We had that refund and reorder issue. Anyhow, just like to say thank you for your help. I passed the February bar. Literally just memorized your best answers from the last 10 bar exams. Although I totally missed the secured transaction question, everything else went well.
I passed. Found out minutes ago. And you were right -- my MBE went up 10 points -- to 149.8 I can't thank you enough. As I think I said when we spoke before the test, the fact that you did the real empirical research -- that apparently Barbri has not done -- based on all available information (such as failing test taker's scores), sets you apart from other test prep services and advisors. And your outlines were critical as well. I will certainly be telling everyone back at Rutgers that taking the NY Bar without using your service is a huge mistake.
I do not think I would have passed the bar without the MASTER FEB 2011 document. My computer decided to die 20 minutes before the exam on NY Writing day. I had to spend 6 hours writing out the essays and MPT. More importantly, I had to make sure that I remained calm and collected otherwise I would have failed the exam. I was on auto pilot once I began writing out the essays because I had read all the three documents (high priority topics, medium and low priority) I finished the essays and barely finished the MPT because I was tired. MY MBE score was 138. I had figured it would have been 140 based on the Kaplan 3 day review course. Nevertheless I am not complaining. I passed the bar. It was my first time to sit for the exam. Thank you so much for the documents and sending us information about the bar exam. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes one can pass the bar exam even though the computer malfunctions during the exam.
Joe, thanks for your help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I passed !!!!!!!!!!!! I had a 144.7 on the multistate !!!!!!!!!!!!
I know you tend to service a great number of re-takers, but your advice was the most amazing thing I came across as a first time taker esp. because I was not able to afford a Bar Review course. I spent a few hours pouring over your advice and it helped me restructure my entire study approach and I am happy to report that I was successful.
Your advice works. Plain and simple. If you ever need a real person to stand up and testify to this, please call on me.
I used Seperac last exam and passed NY on my third try!
I just wanted to let you know that I passed the NY bar exam in July finally! I wanted to thank you for your hard work, your excellent website and great materials. Keep up the good work. It will help many future bar takers in years to come.
Just thought I'd drop you a quick line to let you know I passed the NY bar. As a foreign educated student (Dublin, Ireland) I solely attribute my being able to pass down to MASTER. Without it I would've found the essay component too overwhelming to study. I mailed you just after the exam in July and truly thought I'd failed. The MBE was unlike any BarBri mock but I ended up scoring 141.5 so I was very surprised. Plus the essay questions seemed like they came from left field, as if the examiners were trying to nit-pick obscure issues, but again MASTER dealt with it! Your website is amazing and I wish you every success in the future. I am recommending future Irish bar exam takers to subscribe to Seperac.
I got results I passed!!! Yay! By the way I upped my MBE by like 15 points this time, so I'm sure that helped. Thanks for your help.
I wanted to let you know that I passed the bar !!!! (My MBE score was 137.6) ;-) Thanks for your website it is very insightful!
thanks for your help Joe I finally passed the July bar. your analysis and advice were a great help. I got a 146.5 which is 2 plus points higher than any other sitting- out of 10 times. twice I got a 144 and all the rest were 134- 138 (or maybe a couple of times even lower).
joe - i just wanted to let you know that i finally passed ny - i am thrilled - i got a 638 in july - a 648 in feb - and then a pass with a 144.7 mbe score - on the other 2 exams i got 133 mbe - a big thing was the confidence that my feb raw score would have passed me in july - you told me this - and i therefore was confident that the end was in reach - my mbe score would have been enough that i would have passed even in feb, however, i would have come a little bit short last july - this third try was when i took your advice cold and swallowed my logic - and thankfully it paid off best wishes to you for all of your assistance during this very stressful period of time in my life.
I just passed NY exam on the first try, 17 years out of law school (passed CA in 1993), relying almost exclusively on Separac materials and some outdated PMBR books. Thanks so much! Well worth the subscription price
I am foreign LLM. Perhaps you don't remember me, but I bought your master outline for the July 2010 exam. I got my bar result yesterday, I passed! I wanted to thank you for all the advice you gave me during my exam preparation. Also, I want to ask you about my MBE scaled score. It was 126.1 and I made it. I am very surprised because when I took the exam in July 2009, my MBE was 132.8 and I didn't pass. I don't know what was my writing score for this exam, but I assume that it was high enough to help me to pass this exam.
I have no doubt that this would have been impossible without your notes and study-plans. It was my third attempt (and not the best of the three), but I believe my essays pulled me over since my MBE is about the margin @139.2. That said, these essays were the most difficult amongst my three attempts. Thank you!
And thanks again for hugely contributing to my success at the NY Bar exam!
Thank you again and good luck to you as well with this website - it is a lifesaver.
I am the mother (now of 3) and foreign attorney who had taken the bar exam when I was pregnant and with 2 kids. I am writing to THANK YOU for helping me pass the NY bar exam. I basically followed most of your advice and adjusted your program to my needs and hectic schedule. I read most of the past essays (at least as far back as 1993) and tried to make a summary of them. Read all the high and medium priority topics, and some low priority ones as well. Tried to listen to all the audio. I also purchased the "Strategies and Tactics for the MBE" book which was of great help and use, and subscribed to "Adaptibar." I had taken the Barbri course in the past which was not bad, but for a person with a schedule full of responsibilities, other than studying, it is an impossible task to sit in class and after that, go home and just study, study, and sudy. I think the Barbri people (and for that matter, all the other companies that offer these types of bar prep classes) should be honest to the LL.M. or foreign attorneys who are taking this class and tell them that they need about 1 year of preparation. To sit for the class, and then on their own, review everything. Especially now that the cost of the exam increased to 3x what it used to be for the foreign attorneys. I understand that there are other issues, such as the time that they are allowed to remain in the US after they graduate from law school, among other considerations, but I bet you that most foreigners do not pass this test on the 1st try. You cannot imagine (well, maybe you can ;-D) the feeling I felt when I saw the e-mail with the news, the great news that I had passed this exam. I thank you and wish you and your family many blessings and that God may keep you well for many years to come in order that you may continue helping many others as you helped me. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Thanks very much for your help. I received news that I successfully passed the July 2010 NY Bar Exam. This was my second attempt. If it is helpful to you, my MBE scaled score was 145.5. I am happy to assist with your exam analysis in the future and provide any information that may be of use to you. I really appreciate the support you provide, which helped me get through the re-taking process.
I think it was December last year that I sent you my score card for evaluation. As I prepared to sit the exam the second time around, I found your evaluation and comments to be very instructive. I now do not hesitate to recommend your site to anyone I know taking the New York Bar. I actually passed the february exam. By knowing my weak areas I was able to develop a strategy for my success. i must also inform you that the 2005 outlines posted on your site were very helpful. I used them to prepare and made my notes on the various subject areas in the margin. I wanted to say thank you!!!! Oh my score for the MBE was 142. I also took your advice and used Kaplan for the questions, I developed a different level of confidence in my approach to the exam. So once again, thank you for your work. I think as a foreigner it certainly gave me the appropriate perspective on the Bar Exam.
Thank you for your advice. I passed the NJ February bar having followed your advice. What I did this time was totally focus on the MBE by writing out the rules and keeping my score. In the last two weeks, my friend and I did 4 practice MBEs in addition to the writing out the essay questions. My score went up from 121 to 138. Thank you for the work that you do, I wanted you to know that it helped me.
FYI, passed the bar thanks to you and MASTER.
I just wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude for all your consistent advice and support throughout my numerous attempts of the New York Bar Exam. I received notification on Friday that I was successful and I have never experienced sheer euphoria like it in my life. I feel obligated to you because I don’t think it would have been possible for me to conquer it without your assistance. The sacrifices, blood, sweat and tears seem so insignificant now that I have reached my goal. Thank you so so much and I am eternally grateful for everything you have done to ensure my success.
It still does not seem real. You inspired me with your motivational words of encouragement and analytical breakdown of my results. Although I was studying for this exam independently I found your website an integral tool for my revision progress and it was so beneficial knowing that you were there to assist whenever I needed you. I hope you know that you have made so many bar candidates dreams come true. Thank you for everything.
I just wanted to let you know that I passed the New York State Bar exam. I was also able to keep my job. Thank you for all your help and guidance. You advice and outline were crucial to my performance on this bar exam. I focused on the MBE and my score went up again about 5 points, giving me a 143.2. I read through you whole outline but rewrote the high and medium topics in my own words, which was particularly helpful on the corporations and real property essays. Keep doing what you do…you are amazing at it.
I passed the bar exam and I just wanted to say thank you for all your help with everything in particular the masters it helped me organize myself for the NY day so I could spend more time on the MBE. Thanks once again,
Joe, thank you for the materials. I passed NY on the first try (passed CO 2 years before on first try - took barbri). Your approach is much easier. Thank you.
I doubt you remember me among the many who wrote to you but..I passed! With 140 on the MBE, I'm pleased. I did what you said - logged the rules and memorized them - and focused on the MBE, doing 3000 practice questions. Also BarWrite's 3 day course helped so much with the essays as I had been studying on my own with old books and this was the first time I had face to face contact. Even though I had more recent material and more recent summaries, I always came back to your summaries from 2005 because I found the lay out the easiest to refer to and learn from. I'm pleased for having studied on my own, in Europe, 7 years after graduating from law school, with a bunch of old books from 2007, and while on maternity leave. A big THANKS!
I am happy to inform you that I passed the NY State Bar Exam. My appreciation for all you have contributed to my quest in realizing this achievement is beyond expression. Thank You!
I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for your website seperac.com. I visited it every day when i was preparing for the bar and followed all you did. Guess what? It worked out! I passed the bar yesterday ( took it once in february and passed) with a 144.8 on the mbe. I took your advice and made sure i did all the pmbr red questions and compared my scores to yours. Thank you very much. feel free to print this or share it with anybody who wants to take the bar and use your method. It WORKS! God Bless you! Everyday i freaked out i went to your site. I studied about 15 hrs a day for two months and took barbri also. Again, Thank you so much, i cannot thank you enough, for your website definitely gave me the confidence and blue print to passing the New York Bar on one's first try.
I bought your Master Outline for the February 2009 exam, after having failed the exam in July 2008. I failed that exam too, and the July 2009 one as well. However, it was your advice to concentrate on the MBE part of the exam which I followed for the July 2009 and February 2010 exams, and which helped to dramatically increase my MBE score from a low 124.2 and 123 in the first two exams to 141 and 149.6 in the last two exams. I wish therefore to convey my thanks to you, since I have the happy news to tell you that on my fourth attempt at the exam, I passed! Plugging away has paid off. For your information, I always advise anybody intending to sit the NY bar exam to visit your website as part of their study and revision process. Many thanks, and the best of good fortune in all your endeavors,
Thanks for all of the information and links. I'm not a retaker, sitting it for the first time and as I'm a foreign legal education candidate, probably need all the help I can get! I agree with you in your assertion that the best way to prepare for the exam is to break down previous exams and analyze them. I'm pretty much following your daily schedule in that I listen to BARBRI lectures then test myself, usually majority of my day is spent on multiple choice questions then reading outlines and making flash cards. I'm already feeling burned out so early on, but I'll persevere and keep going. Thanks again for all the advice, great site!
Hi Joe - just wanted to let you know that I passed the NY state bar exam, using only Seperac and the 3-day course on the MBE. I also purchased and studied the 2 OPE on NCBE. My score on MBE was 152 scaled. They gave no results re any other parts of the test. Thanks for your website!!
your website kicks ass. I am taking the Feb 2010 bar, 1st time taker (just finished my JD MBA up at Fordham in December). WOW, your logic is amazing and our learning styles are very similar. I learn 10 x better from doing PMBR questions/explanations than staring at an outline. Also, during law school, i would make "canned answers" to bring into open book tests because i know issues would come up and I would copy verbatim. Seems like your MASTER is the equivalent of that. Your website is amazing stuff, kind of overwhelming to take in after a good reading. Anyways its awesome and will use it as a reference.
No proper words can express my thanksfulness for all your time and advices. Your analysis show me whole picture of my weakness. I am going to address them and focus on MBE and those weak subjects.
You are nothing short of a revelation. Just like you suggested, I will re-take the Exams in July, 2010.
I am reading your email, digesting every details, and my eyes are swelling up with tears. I have never had such a comprehensive analysis of my results. Even when I took the first bar review course and paid for a one on one tutor, everything pales compared to you. I am so grateful for your input, analysis and advise, words cannot express how overjoyed and confident I feel about studying and preparing for the July, 2010 exam. Thank you so much for the links and pointers.
THANK YOU.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your prompt reply, great advice, and kind personal attention. I really wish I subscribed to your site earlier instead of wanting to wait until completing the Barbri material. To think about it, it doesn't make sense. Your site is about prioritizing but if I went through all the Barbri material first I would not be prioritizing at al. Silly me.
Again thank you.
I am sure you know how much you are helping the students throughout the country by providing the material and your experience which in turn makes the study for the bar exam easier. The proof is that I have a friend whom I referred to you website (I met him during the Feb. 2009 exam. I took the February 2009 exam and failed by 20 points. I did not take the July 2009 because my office could not give leave without pay. My February bar exam proved me that working and studying for the bar exam is not right thing to do. But my friend took the July 2009 exam.). He bought your 2009 Master essay for July 2009. He registered to NCBE OP1. He also registered to PMBR on line course. Guess what? he passed the bar exam. He was so happy. He was saying that your materials and the information you provided him were extremely helpful. I decide to do what he has done. Hopefully this time I will pass.
I promised myself that if I had passed I would send you an epistle detailing my process so you can use it to help your students. Alas, I have forgotten most of what I did, and I will spare you the agony of reading through all that stuff. Attached is my skeleton Master 2005. I feel that coring down Master to point form was useful: 1. in terms of being able to read through it quickly; 2. because you had said that Master should be changed slightly so that thousands of students did not write the same thing and annoy examiners. When I just started using your technique I would read all the topics for the particular past paper that I would practice. So if I was going to do July 1995, I would only read those topics, then answer the questions (cheap, I know). Thing as well is that I had started a new job on 6 July 09, so I needed effective ways to maximise my time. So I made an outline. So I could study everything and then test myself on somethings. Perhaps an outline of MASTER only becomes effective if you had read MASTER thoroughly before. I hardly read any outlines. If I read Wills once I read it alot. Some of them I never read any at all. I just studied MASTER. I studied all the topics basically in equal measure. Paying more attention to things like fruit of the poisonous tree and things like that. In the exam itself, the criminal portion was very dissapointing. I was minded to give the paper back to the invigilator and ask her to return with a criminal question more challenging (hubris, I know). It was a theft question that was'nt even theft (strange I know, imagine how perplexed I was in the exam, I had to read that question over and over and over to make sure that I was not missing something; you know, I was looking to see if it was a trick questin, but saw no real tricks). The only thing with the criminal question is that it had a portion on issuing bad checks or something like that. I remember reading that a few times from MASTER, but had not really paid much attention. I did the best I could though. I never got a chance to study during the noon break but I guess that did'nt hurt me too much. The week before the exams, I had focussed almost exclusively in terms of practice, on the area of Wills. I thought Wills would threaten to spoil my show. Believe me, your explanation of the elective share statute is the simplest anywhere. When I read elective share from MASTER I was like huh? it's that easy? listening to it on the BARBRI lectures and reading it in the BARBRI books gives it a kind of complexity that is very daunting indeed. I think elective share actually came on the exam. thing is i cant remember because I practiced it so much. Ahhh, a trust question came on the exam. thats for sure! hahaha lol. I was thinking during the exam cmon Joe, you said trust would not come!! j/k I know you didnt say trusts wouldnt come. But I think I had enough about me to fashion a reasonable response. I dont think I did well on the NY multiple choice, but I think I might have murdered the MPT. That was the only time in all the times I have done the MPT that I finished, comfortably within time. I had 15 minutes at the end. I was like yeh, this is a good feeling. Looked over, tweaked and stuff. For the MBE I was much less accomplished. I think I started off well in the morning. I had a brilliant idea a few days before the exam, that I would simply IRAC the multiple choice like I did the essays. So I started off very slowly, trying my best to be deliberate. But by the time I was 50 questions in, I realised that my timing was wayyy off. So I had to motor (well by my own modest standards). I finished just in time but I think my accuracy suffered. But at least this way you can tell your students that you know of a guy who passed with a scaled score of 122.8. I made a rules list of the MBE questions I got wrong. My mother had suggested I do that even before I saw your sight (always listen to momma). I had made a rules list for the MPRE and it worked. But man the MBE is a different kettle of fish. I think the MBE still has the hoodoo over me. When I was doind the mock MBE, I was getting like 108 and 112. I was depressed. I told myself that if I could get a raw of say 125 then I would give myself a chance. At the end of the day, I did'nt even get 125 raw. 122.8 is less than 66.5%, thus MASTER must have been what did it. Thanks for MASTER man. Enough of me. keep spreading the word. I am sure you have made many people very happy.
I am reading your email, digesting every details, and my eyes are swelling up with tears. I have never had such a comprehensive analysis of my results. Even when I took the first bar review course and paid for a one on one tutor, everything pales compared to you. I am so grateful for your input, analysis and advise, words cannot express how overjoyed and confident I feel about studying and preparing for the July, 2010 exam. Thank you so much for the links and pointers.
Thanks for devising such an efficient study tool. The letter from the NY Bar notifying me of my passing score is of little surprise. My sentiment after leaving the NY Bar was the antithesis of the one I experienced in Tampa after sitting for the Florida Bar. Although no one is ever “knows” how they performed immediately after sitting for the exam, I had much greater confidence in the essays I wrote. Specifically, I caught issues that BarBri fails to address in their outlines, but which are identified in Master. The greatest attribute of Master is its ability to siphon out the important material. When I prepared for Florida’s Bar Exam, I spent countless time using BarBri’s approach, but felt fortunate to have received certain essay topics. By contrast, I left the NY exam knowing I addressed topics, i.e. negligent supervision of children, some evidence topics, etc., that others missed. Thanks again for your help in making this process as painless as possible. Out of curiousity, how many Master Outlines do you typically sell? Students are foolish to not spend the $300 to ensure a high essay score. As an aside, I purchased BarBri’s big book and MPT book, but rarely, if ever, used either to prepare. My studies, without the helping hand of a typical bar review course, entailed using Master and your BarBri outlines.
I passed. Your materials made a huge difference in the way I studied and it worked. Working a full time job while preparing for the Bar was so difficult because time was "of the essence". I do not think it would have happened without your tools. Thank you so much.
Your website should become a necessary vehicle for anyone studying for the NY bar exam. I was able to pass on the first try with just your website and a few outlines I purchased from EBAY. I just want to say thanks for making this tremendous effort to help.
Thanks! I know at this time you might be submerged underneath a flood of emails. But man! please view this one! mine! as being special!!! I realise that I am not making proper sentences! forgive me! I would not have passed had it not been for your help. I am not from America and I found the NY Bar to be quite baffling!
I took it three times. now the first time i was way off. the second time, someone turned me on to your site like a few days, maybe 5 days or so before the exam. I came within 4%. I would not have done that well had it not been for your site! Additionally, when I sent you mails, you responded and I was able to see through your logic.
Man I re-did Master and closer to the exam I broke it down to point form about 2 weeks before the exam and kicked myself for not doing so sooner. So it was only 18 pages! i read that many times. I did what you said for the MBE too. but guess what? my MBE was pooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! only got like 122.8 for my scaled score. flip knows how that passed! but alas I don't care! MASTER was what did it! All of the topics on this year's bar was on Master. Trust me! I'm a lawyer! In the essays I felt myself being very very controlled and measured. I had practiced many essays as well. Not sure how many now though. Maybe 70 or so. I did many MBE's over 1,000. never got anywhere close to your accuracy. I was worried man! MCQs for me, are an American phenomena that I have yet to grasp as it relates to the law. I needed to be special on day 1. All I can say is thank's Joe! thanks mr. seperac. thank you a whole lot! I dont know what my overall score is because the letter doesnt seem to say! how do I find that out? If you have the time u can let me know!
Just found out that I passed the July 2009 bar exam. I just wanted to thank you because without my use of Master 2009 I don't think I would have been able to apply my knowledge to the essays nearly as well. Your MBE advice also allowed me to better allocate my studying. Keep up the good work!
I was a subscriber to MASTER 2009 and found out I passed the exam today. I just wanted to thank you for your part in my success. I took no commercial class and self studied and used your MASTER as almost my entire essay studying. So thanks again it feels great to pass on the first try without spending all the money on the barbri courses etc!
No proper words can express my thanksfulness for all your time and advices. Your analysis show me whole picture of my weakness. I am going to address them and focus on MBE and those weak subjects.
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't even believe it. I was surprised to get the notice in the mail just now and I opened it up, very scared to even look at it and when I read the first line, I just shouted, "Thank you, God!!!" and kept shouting it and crying. If you need me to recommend you in anyway, obviously, I am your greatest fan. I just have to take the MPRE again, since my Illinois one expired---so I'll definitely look to you for info on that. THANK YOU! Many, many hugs!!!
I have been telling all my friends that are taking the upcoming exam that they should definitely check your website out as it is hands down the best resource out there.
A colleague of mine recommended this document as he credits it to his passing success!
Hi Joe, Thank you very much for helping me to pass the NY bar! I'm so grateful that you shared your study program and expert advice.
Hi Joe, Seeing as it's official, i.e. just got the letter in the mail, I just wanted to write a short thank you for all the help in passing the NY bar. I failed last summer with a disappointing 598 and I really thought there was no way I could ever pull it off this year! I knew I did well on the essay part, but felt horrible about the MBE. I now know that I only got a 120.2 on the MBE, so I must have really aced the essays! Anyhow, I cannot thank you enough for all the hard work and dedication you put in to helping all of us. I truly believe your master document, website, forum, and advice are the reason for my success! I wish you all the best and keep up the great work!
Your outlines saved me a ton of time (I relied almost exclusively on them), and your advice was spot on. I scored a 157.5 (scaled) on the MBE.
I just wanted to thank you for your site.
Joe,
Thanks a million for your site, encouragement and even some personal help with study details (such as below). I passed the bar with a 139.2 scaled MBE and I'm thrilled to have the exam behind me forever! I also passed the Patent Bar last winter so when I'm admitted I can call myself Patent Attorney.
Your site made it very easy to prioritize essay study time, and clear up enough time to sufficiently focus on MBE questions. I used friends' PMBR and BarBri books, but didn't take any review classes - when others ask me what I used to study I'll mention those books, and then give an enthusiastic endorsement of Seperac.com.
Thanks Again,
THANK YOU AGAIN MR. SEPERAC---
I owe much of my success on the July bar exam to you and your wonderful website.
Truly excellent!
Hey, I wanted to thank you, I think your materials were really very accurate. Im not sure i could have come close to performing like i did on it. But Ill have to wait for the results before i know if they helped me enough, though i think they were.
I PASSED THE JULY EXAM!!!! I had previously failed the exam after spending tons of money on Pieper and wasting hours and hours studying subjects based on how well I thought i understood them, often dedicating myself to subjects that were not tested at all on the exam. this time i was focused on the subjects I needed to know and I am so happy I passed this time. So grateful to you. Thanks again. I made flashcards of the highly tested subjects and used these in combination with the BarWrite essay book by Mary Campbell Gallagher and the MBE Strategies and Tactics book by Kimme Walton. I had extremely limited time - about 20 hours a week for 5 weeks - and no money. As a single mom with a young baby and only my mom to babysit a few days a week I really had to be strategic about how to study. You brought me right to the rules that I needed to memorize. What a fabulous resource. I will be sure to tell others about it. thank you thank you thank you!!
Dear Joe, I am writing to thank you for your guidance and help during the July 2008 NY bar exams. My husband Paolo purchased Master 2008 for me as a present to help me prepare for the exams, and I pored over your website several times during my review--reading your advice, taking note of your tips, and comparing my PMBR scores to yours! While I have yet to receive my MBE score, I am certain that I scored fairly well on that portion of the exam, primarily because of the numerous practice questions I had answered based on your advice. Best of luck to you, and I am grateful that you spent the time to create and maintain seperac.com.
Joe,
I passed the bar exam on my fifth try after following the advice on your site to the letter. I started my preparation on June 1st because my grandmother passed away in May and I was very upset. My main issue on all prior administrations was the MBE, however, I still followed your advice re: the essays and was finally successful. I did 2,061 MBE practice questions. I used Adaptibar and Micromash (I preferred and highly recommend Adaptibar because they provide released questions). I also made MBE Tips flashcards. I would get to work and do 10-15 MBE questions in the morning, 25 at lunch and 17-34 in the evening (averaged about 40 a day). When I got a question wrong I would write down the rule of law on a flashcard and I would review those flashcards everyday on my way to work. On July 13th I did the 1991 MBE and got 151 correct, I felt pretty confident then because thanks to your advice I was right on track.
Even though I had contacted you about purchasing the Master Update, I remembered the advice one of my law school professors had given me, "that the best outline is the one you create yourself," so I went about updating the Master. This I believe was key to my success this time. I predicted pretty accurately what would appear on the exam and in the afternoon during the lunch break I was certain of what the next two essays were. The one way in which I did deviate from your advice was that I answered the MPT first in the afternoon. The first time I took the bar I did the MPT first and got a 62.33, on tries 2-4 I kept getting low scores in the 3 range while my essays were in the 4-5 range. Because I was certain of the essays, I devoted more time to the MPT in the afternoon and for the two essays I did the intro paragraphs and just did very simple analysis of the issues. For the essays I used Mary Campbell Gallagher's Bar Write Method. It really helps you focus on the issues and to get the essays done.
I should also tell you that I have taken practically every bar review course available. The first time, I took BarBri. I feel they do not focus enough on the importance of the MBE. I also took the 3 day PMBR course. I believe the presentation just put me in a panic because I only got a 90 on their simulated exam. The second time, I took the Marino Intensive Re-taker review. That was a complete waste of time and money. He did not provide any concrete advice as to how to approach the exam. I did most of the PMBR books the second time but I felt the questions did not look like the actual MBE questions I had experienced on the exam. The third time, I took Pieper and my score increased dramatically. His approach worked for me and I finally understood Contracts and Criminal Law and Procedure (which had been my worst MBE topics). I also took a course called Bar Write and used Adaptibar. The fourth time, I re-took Pieper and used Adaptibar again but my score remained the same. This time I just used my Pieper notes in conjunction with Adaptibar, Micromash, the Bar Write method and did not attend class. Instead I spent those three to four hours I would have spent in class preparing according to your advice. I should also mention that I was working full time this summer and would go to the library after work. I only took off July 21-30th for the test and one night I even went to a concert. I apologize for the long, overly detailed message. My purpose in giving you this information is that it can be of help to you in continuing to help others. It is also an expression of my gratitude. When I found out that I passed yesterday, I immediately thought that it was due to my following your method. I have also not forgotten your request that anyone who benefits from your advice should donate blood. I made a promise to myself that I would donate blood the entire year when I passed the bar. Once again thank you so much for the advice. Your advice was invaluable. If you have any questions or would like me to provide you any of the documents or books I used in preparing to put them on your site just contact me at this email. Once again thanks!
Hi Joe, I was one of the members of your July 2008 study group- one of the 300 who purchased the revised master.
I want to thank you so much- after 14 years of being out of school and having never taken the exam, I passed it on my first try. I do believe that your master and your support, along with the site and the support of others, really made a difference.
Dear Joe
I just received my exam results and I passed on first try. Thank-you so much for your help and for the work you’ve put together to help students like myself. While the exam this year seemed to deviate a bit in terms of format (though I felt it was mainly cosmetic), having that copy of Master 2008 with me at all times really helped for nailing those essays. To be honest, up until the Bar/Bri simulated MBE, I was taking things a bit too easy (failed it) and then did I take the time to read your study regime. I know study habits are supposed to be personal, but I followed your method (bought PMBR books, MBE Annotated etc… did them all, used your spreadsheet etc…) and it delivered! I’ve already recommended your site to this year’s students and I’m sure many of them will find your resources useful. Thanks again!
Joe just wanted to tell you I passed. My story was I was already licensed in another jurisdiction, but only 4 years so no waive in. I took barbri the first time and failed the exam (its really all about mbe), and used your materials the second time and passed. Thanks Joe, your system is awesome.
i used your outlines, tips and "master" to study for the bar exam and found it extremely helpful...wanted to let you know! thank you for your website.
I just wanted to give you a big thankful hug because without your website, I wouldn't have passed the bar exam. I didn't take barbri and i'm an international graduate, (which means the pass rate hardly exceeds 31%)
Your website also hugely helped me work strategically and not to panic.
Given that I found your web-site to be not just useful but phenomenal, you have my word that I will donate my blood as you requested.
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful work.
Hey Joe,
I just stumbled upon your website in the midst of my preperation for the bar exam. This is by far the best thing I could have found to put me on track to pass this exam
Hi Joe: I must commend you and the wonderful website you have put out there, its simply great.
I really love the site and have found it to be very helpful.
I just want to thank you, whomever you are, for your FANTASTIC notes which I've been working off of for the last month and a half (just updating where need be). They are perfect and your site is unbelievable. Thank you!!!
Thanks for all the information and the tips for the exams, very useful.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I used your materials for the NY Bar Exam 2008 (February) and I think they are a huge help !!!
First, please allow me to commend you for your excellent website (seperac.com), and invaluable NY Bar study insight and advice. "Outstanding!" Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart. This upcoming July will be my 3rd attempt to pass the NYS Bar exam, and I'm determined to do so. With your advice and guidance at seperac.com, I believe I can finally accomplish my goal. "God Bless you!"
I want to thank you for the comprehensive materials you have created. I only wish I discovered it the first time I took the NY bar exam-July 2007. My score was 514, it was my multiple choice that I failed most of. I come from england and I have never taken multiple choice before, every answer was similar, but I identified all issues in the essay. I soon realised that even Barbri did not identify or provide breakdown tips like you have done and I just want to thank you. furthermore, I promise to give blood as your modest request for an excellent study guide.
I stumbled on your website the other day and must say that it contains immensely helpful information for which I would like to express my gratitude.
As a foreign student sitting the bar exams in July 2008 (I am in the UK) and opting to study at home, you have provided me with a fair amount of insight into the intricacies of the exam.
Found your website trawing through the net. Let me just say that its probably the best resource in terms of exam technique and strategy into passing what most people reckon is the hardest exam you can do. Fair play to you !!!!!
I happened upon your site whilst wishing to scare myself about NY pass rates for foreign students, you site is a gem of a find.
I have just read the contents of your website and must applaud you on same. It is extremely useful and I only wish I have found it prior to sitting the exam a few weeks ago.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful and informative site on New York Bar Exam. I took the exam for the second time (first time I was 28 weeks prego, and did not care or understood much about the exam) and as I am a foreign law graduate, it was more difficult for me. This time I really wanted to do my best. Luckly I came across your web site and I just followed it as you said.
I passed the NY BAR EXAM. Thank you so much for creating is master piece and I will do my best to promote your web site.
Thank you once again. God bless you guys. You are doing a great job. Bravo, love you all.
I want to thanks you because I found your website very helpful, I took the NY Bar five time and I passed in the fifth attempt because I spend almost two month just concentrating on the information in your website.
I really appreciate your help
If you have any additional questions or comments, please email me at joe@seperac.com.
Click Here to go back to the site.