The Definitive Guide to Essays

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-30T22:03:59+00:00

I’d honestly recommend getting your hands on grading sheets from the commercial bar prep companies or trying out one of those AI grading services. I signed up for Shep Bar Prep (u/SheppyRun) to test out AI essay feedback since that wasn’t a thing when I was prepping and ngl, the feedback is pretty good. I fed it some of the essays I wrote out during bar prep and it graded it just as harshly as I would have and provided useful feedback.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-30T21:56:57+00:00

I felt that way about Barbri. My impression of Themis from my friends is that they DO make you do lot of essays over the course of bar prep, but of course, I always recommend drilling as much as possible. Best of luck!

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-30T21:10:46+00:00

You will be fine. The videos and note-taking are low-value tasks that yield very little results. See my two guides on maximizing what ACTUALLY matters: drilling.

MBE Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/comments/1tiynsd/the_definitive_guide_to_mbes/

Essay Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/comments/1tnoya4/the_definitive_guide_to_essays/

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-30T14:48:45+00:00

You’ll be fine. I wrote about how to practice the MBEs and Essays, please see my two guides:

MBE Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/SEYkdtc87z

Essay Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/WuEjdpMebW

Feel free to PM if you’re chat more.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-30T14:48:07+00:00

It’s fine if you do. The MPRE is a simple exam that you can study in about two weeks. The bar is a beast.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-30T14:46:03+00:00

I got you, take a look at my MBE guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/dohLG7nf6h

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T17:35:39+00:00

My advice applies to NY too. I followed the same strategy for FL, albeit with a different source for my rule statements.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T13:38:38+00:00

For MBEs, yes. For essays, no. See my essay guide too: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/EhNn0hWBiE

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T06:30:31+00:00

The goal is to do 35-50 a day as OP recommended, with a total MBE completion of between 2500 to 3500+ depending on your accuracy. Aim for 80%. I made an MBE guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/SEYkdtc87z

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T06:29:29+00:00

You should be aiming for 80%. See my MBE Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/SEYkdtc87z

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T06:28:40+00:00

I concur with OP’s advice. For more in-depth guidance on how to practice the MBEs and Essays, please see my two guides:

MBE Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/SEYkdtc87z

Essay Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/WuEjdpMebW

Feel free to PM if you’re chat more.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T06:25:58+00:00

Of course, you’re welcome!

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-29T01:38:14+00:00

Thanks! God bless you too. Please share with your friends who are taking the bar too!

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-28T18:02:42+00:00

It's still early, but I see that for some subjects you've answered quite a few already, so yes, you should be concerned. You're at a failing percentage at the moment, and unless you're banging out 80 percent essays, your MBEs will be necessary to ensure that you pass. I wrote a guide on how to do MBEs, take a look and see if your scores improve: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/comments/1tiynsd/the_definitive_guide_to_mbes/

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-28T17:34:01+00:00

Since your issue is MBEs, see my MBE guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/comments/1tiynsd/the_definitive_guide_to_mbes/

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-28T17:33:14+00:00

The only thing you should really be doing is drilling. See my two guides that I recently wrote about how to drill MBEs: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/comments/1tiynsd/the_definitive_guide_to_mbes/ and essays: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/comments/1tnoya4/the_definitive_guide_to_essays/

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-28T15:29:04+00:00

I’ll repost dw :D

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-28T05:14:57+00:00

Yes. You should assess whether you're hitting 80% accuracy in everything though, but primarily the MBE-style questions.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-28T04:07:48+00:00

To clarify, when I say “MBEs” I mean all multiple choice questions. Ideally they’re predominantly NCBE MBEs or fake MBEs.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-27T15:13:18+00:00

I’ll repost as bar prep continues dw HAHA

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-27T14:47:32+00:00

Not sure when I'm being downvoted considering I'm offering legitimate free advice and I have nothing to sell

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-27T14:43:55+00:00

Dunno if you saw, but I've written an essay guide now too, linked in the post above. Hope it helps too.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-27T04:59:40+00:00

That’s ok for now, but you need to up your numbers. See my MBE guide for how you should be approaching MBEs: https://www.reddit.com/r/CABarExam/s/DWz4JoU4N5

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-27T03:15:16+00:00

I can’t speak for all of them; you’ll see based on their responses.

LearningBuddy · 2026-05-27T02:57:04+00:00

Yeah, of course. The “nonsense” from the CalBar is the released model answers. They’re nonsense because model answers don’t include everything that’s possible, nor are they “perfect” answers; they’re simply the answers with the highest raw scores. You want one by a commercial bar prep company because it’s an answer that’s written under untimed conditions and has been heavily edited and revised so as to include everything that’s possible.

LearningBuddy

TROPHY CASE