The MBE Decoded: Multistate Bar Exam (Bar Review)

I have both the CA Essay book and the new MBE Decoded and based on working off both books I totally disagree with the person who gave MBE Decoded a poor rating and I'll tell you why: MBE DECODED VS. CA ESSAY BOOK 1. The essay book is great in providing subject outlines and black letter law/rule statements with cheat sheet and memorization sheets but does not prepare you for the tons of nuances that the MBE tests on. The content is very, very different and presented very differently too. If you get answers wrong even though you UNDERSTAND AND KNOW the rule and feel frustrated about the gap in your logic and the logic of the MBE exam-writers then you need MBE Decoded!! WHY THIS BOOK IS BETTER THAN OTHER BOOKS PREPARING FOR THE MBE? 2. MBE Decoded is a unique and an invaluable asset if you are focused on improving your MBE score because (a) the subject matter is dealt with comprehensively with an MBE focus, delving into the type of details and examples you need for the MBE but not necessarily for the essays (other content-based books like Themis and BarBri cover the material from a general MBE and essay perspective); and (b) the book is like combining BarBri and Emanuel's Strategies in one. MBE Decoded is detailed (to the extent necessary for the MBE portion of the exam) for each MBE subject and presents the material in a very digestible format - simple rules and everything broken up into easy to review/memorize bits. 2. Strategies are presented cohesively, in simple language with a flow and focus on each section. Chapters are easy to absorb and not a heavy review. Not like Emanuel with some BOOM BOOM general strategies and practice questions. Plus there are a lot more of strategies and tips compared to Emanuel and 've just stopped using Emanuel. 3. It has very few practice questions so it is not duplicative of Adaptibar and Kaplan, BarBri and Emanuel's MBE practice questions. 4. Very user-friendly (color/font-coded) in how MBE tips are given, high-tested areas are highlighted and many decoy tips. 5. Lots of examples. Some of the examples I have seen on the released MBE questions. So if you remember specific instances on what rule/strategy to use when you could potentially avoid losing many points in daily practice and exam. 6. There are visual cheat sheets and then there is a subject-based cheat sheet ti help memorize rules and test yourself. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

I often don't write reviews but when a book comes along that has a profound positive effect in my life, I feel its necessary to show my appreciation to the authors. First, I will preface this by stating I was just an average student at best in law school, not too bad, definitely not great. I was initially discouraged about my chances of passing the bar the first time as I struggled heavily with multiple choice questions in law school, but after receiving Professor Basick's and Professor Schindler's MBE Decoded workbook in the mail, I'm stating to become a believer! Not only is each subject of the MBE explained and covered extensively , but the book also details: a) how to attack the MBE portion of the Bar exam using a systematic approach; b) lots of guided illustrations and charts to keep the reader engaged and further facilitate learning ; c) "cheat sheets" that encompass the entirety of each of subject in a few pages which makes things much easier to reference and reinforce and MEMORIZE, d) Decoy "duck" answer choices within each subject and sup-topic that the professors have masterfully flagged so you know when the bar examiners are trying to trick you (hint: they do it a lot); e) MBE questions to practice at the end of each subject which is then detailed on a step by step basis so you can see the proper thought process when attacking questions, f) a full explanation as to how to approach the exam online (which shockingly, to my knowledge, most expensive bar courses have not adapted to) and much more! The truth is I have all but abandoned my expensive bar prep company's materials for the MBE subjects and have used this book in its place and I could couldn't have been happier with that decision. For those of you who purchased their widely-regarded Essay Exam Writing for the CA Bar Exam workbook, this workbook is equally as crucial and will be a big part of the reason why I pass! Thank you to the authors for helping us tackle this beast of an exam!!!

very comprehensive for bar review.

I have really fallen in love with this book as the comprehensive outlines are the best that I’ve seen out there. I am using BarMax and adaptibar, and the outlines in this book were far better at explaining the issues than BarMax or adaptibar. Not only are the outlines engaging, good and thorough but they also take time to slip in MBE tips and highlight where decoy answers could trip you up. I’m just really loving this book. It’s giving me a lot more confidence on answering the questions already in the two subjects that I’ve read. There are also some practice questions but not that many so this really isn’t a great book for practice questions, but I think it is the best book I found for substantive review. This book provides specific examples of decoys and tricks with analysis of how the NCBE writes their questions. At first, I thought I wouldn’t use this book, but I found the civil procedure section to be very helpful and I think that I might gain at least a few points on the exam and hopefully a lot more, which makes the hundred dollar expense worth it to me. I found that this book provides another little jolt of information so that even when you don’t know the answer, you can apply the principles in this book and make a pretty good guess. Or when you do know the answer, you are less likely to be tricked by the decoys. This whole process is costing so much money. What’s another hundred dollars for a few points. Down with the NCBE

Buy this book now. This is not for you to practice, no practice Qs in there just the ones they used per subject to literally decode the MBE Qs, get used to the NCBE's format. Thank you to the authors for writing it in the simplest possible way, they dumbed down the subjects to plain tricks,patterns and traps. My advice is to read this book after doing around 500 Qs in total for all 7 subjects like I did, but perhaps it will work the same before that. LOVE IT!!! I used this with the Emanuel and Adaptibar and crushed the MBE with room to spare. Get it, you won't regret it!!

I waited until I got my results to write this review. This morning, I found out I passed. I can absolutely say that this book was the saving grace. MBE is what you can control most when you go into bar prep. Essays are a crapshoot and the PT's are also unpredictable. This book helped me bump up my MBE score by AT LEAST 10%. For some subjects, it bumped my score by 20%. If you are on the fence about getting this book, GET IT. Read the whole thing or if crunched for time, focus on the subjects you struggle most with. This was my BIBLE during bar prep. Cannot stress how much this made a difference for me. Basick helps you find the patterns so even if you aren't 100% sure, you can choose the right answer. Immense appreciation for this book. I recommend to everyone.

I PASSED! Second time retaker here, I used this book and UWorld the second time around (no course) and scored in the 73rd percentile!!!! GET THIS BOOK, learn the decoys and MEMORIZE the BLL cheat sheets!! I do not normally leave reviews but I sincerely wish I had this the first time around 10/10!!

Every student getting ready for the bar needs this book. Excellent break down by the authors.