Category: Study Materials

Book Review – 2010 Edition of Strategies and Tactics for the MBE

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date February 11, 2010
1 Comment on Book Review – 2010 Edition of Strategies and Tactics for the MBE

With just over 1 week until the February 2010 bar exam, I felt it was a good time to do a book review of one of the best and well-known study guides out there:

Strategies and Tactics for the MBE

Most bar examinees know the 2006 edition with its olive color, but finally a new edition is out, the 2010 edition, and the book is now in two volumes.

Volume 1 is the same format as the old one: 6 chapters (1 for each MBE subject) with practice questions, and a 200-question practice MBE exam in the back.

Volume 2 is approx 300 additional MBE questions.

I was excited to receive the new edition as I believe that the old (2006) edition is still the BEST study guide for the multistate bar exam. However, upon receiving the new edition, I realized that it was very similar to the old 2006 edition. In fact, it was so similar that I felt compelled to get my 2006 copy and compare. Here is what I discovered:

Bar Exam DC Bar Exam MBE Study Materials

Final thoughts on self-study materials for the DC Bar and MBE/MEE/MPT

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date March 3, 2009
9 Comments on Final thoughts on self-study materials for the DC Bar and MBE/MEE/MPT

Now that the Feb 2009 bar is behind us, I wanted to discuss the materials I used… I must be honest, 90-95% of my study was on the MBE. I put in less than 1 week of study on the MEE subjects (much less than 40 hours), and about 20 hours of study for the MPT. So the other 300-400 hours I spent studying were MBE focused… I did this because the MBE is 50% of the exam, and the MBE subjects are usually 2-3 of the 6 essay questions on the MEE. The MPT does not require more than 20-40 hours of study, so I decided to roll the dice and focus heavily on the MBE subjects and MBE test-taking strategies and tactics. I feel that the gamble paid off well, as I was quite comfortable with the MBE material, MBE essay topics on the MEE, and the 3 MEE questions that I did have that were non-MBE subjects, I felt that I did about the same as everyone else I talked to after the exam… So I don’t think I would have gained much by having spent more time studying on the MEE subjects, but I definitely think I would have done worse on the MBE had I studied less for it…

Anyway, on to my ratings of the materials:

Here is my analysis of all the materials on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest)

Bar Exam Study Materials

Washington DC February 2009 Bar Exam – 100% Self Study – Welcome Post

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date October 1, 2008
15 Comments on Washington DC February 2009 Bar Exam – 10015 Self Study – Welcome Post

Welcome… The purpose of this blog is to share tips, strategies, tactics, and information about the upcoming Washington D.C. February 2009 bar exam. Anyone who has taken, or is planning to take the DC bar exam will hopefully find contribute in the comments and find value in this blog.

Quick background on myself, I graduated law school about 8 years ago, and am taking the bar exam simply to be bar certified. I embarked on a different career during my last year of law school and have not looked back, so I am not planning to switch careers now (I currently work in negotiations, not in a legal capacity) but want to take the DC Bar exam now while my workload is not too heavy. I work full-time and will not be taking any time off to study. Only 2-days to actually take the exam.

Now, on to the materials I will be using. Most of these I purchased used locally… I am going to use only self-study means, so no in-class lectures. I have purchased the following materials: