July 2016 Texas Bar Exam Forum

[TXforeignlawyer]

I'm a foreign attorney planning to sit the bar in July. I couldn't see a current thread on July's exam so thought it would be helpful to start one. I'm about to start prepping. Not sure yet whether to go with Barbri or Themis?

[TXforeignlawyer]

Also, has anyone who applied to sit the July 2016 exam had confirmation that they are eligible yet? My letter from the Board says that the Admission tickets are available 4 weeks before the date of exam. Is that the earliest date that you can find out whether you are able to sit the Bar exam? I don't want to go and buy a prep course until they confirm that all documents are recieve and I can sit it in July.

Thanks

[KTnKT]

I called down to the office to confirm they had everything from me. About a month or two after I applied, I got a letter confirming my registration and giving additional details.

Personally, I really liked themis. Even if I failed, I wouldn't regret the themis program.

[LadyMary]

Checking in! I signed up for Themis, but won't start studying until May.

[sjwest]

I took Barbri. Really the biggest difference between Themis and Barbri is that Barbri provides you with really great model answers for the essays, and the fact that its the most popular class. Most courses will show you how you are doing compared to your peers taking the same course (e.g., top 40% in torts MBE), but since Barbri is the biggest program, the rankings are more likely to reflect your actual progress.

But if price is an issue, just try to buy old barbri books with the model answers in them.

$.02

[jamescastle]

Was here for July 2015 Texas and February 2016 Texas.
Hope this time I'm just sharing advice and not talking about my studying this time around...

[Kiwi3891]

Good luck everyone on the bar and to those who took the Feb 2016 exam. I took the July 2015 and passed with a 697 and 133 MBE. Here are couple of other study aids I used. Note that I work full time so I had to really make use of my study time.

Prep course: Kaplan--I thought filling out the outlines was a big waste of my time and sent me into panic mode 2 weeks before the exam because I wasn't retaining anything. I almost considered not sitting for the exam. From that point on, each day I studied two essay subjects from the long outline text book. I then did Kaplan practice Essay questions from their book. I did not write out each essay because it was too time consuming, but I did identify the issues, verbalized the rule of law and a general analysis. Then I went through the model answers and formed my own short outline of anything I may have missed. From there I went to the BLE's site and did the same thing for ALL of that essays for that subject. I also went through all of the model answers for that subject and added to my outlines for anything I was shaky on. Note: I tend to retain better when reading my own handwriting so I hand wrote these SHORT outlines.

MBE: I did do a bunch of MBE questions with Kaplan but I stopped using their questions when I wasn't progressing more than 50% at the midterm point.

Adaptibar---loved, loved, LOVED this for the MBE prep. My % went up from 50 to about 75%. The questions were a lot easier to comprehend and the explanation for the answer choices were much more thorough and clear. After all, these are real MBE questions used on past exams. Granted my MBE score of 133 wasn't very good but it would have been a lot worse had I not done Adaptibar.

Critical Pass Flashcards--good tool for anyone that learns with flashcards. These have short bulleted outlines of each topic for MBe and space on the right side of the card for notes. I would have used this more had I had time but when 2 weeks before the exam I was better off reading from the long outlines.

[KTnKT]

Good luck everyone on the bar and to .

Critical Pass Flashcards--good tool for anyone that learns with flashcards. These have short bulleted outlines of each topic for MBe and space on the right side of the card for notes. I would have used this more had I had time but when 2 weeks before the exam I was better off reading from the long outlines.

I hated critical pass. I like flash cards, but I like the kind you can actually flash through in question answer style. These were just straight outline on massive cards. They were so big they weren't any more convenient than the short outline book and had almost the same info. I went through each subject a couple of times then gave up when my house became overwhelmed with stacks of cards everywhere.

In the end I preferred just to read the short outline from themis because it was all in one thin book. Easy to cart around abs less likely to get lost.

[texasbar]

Good luck everyone on the bar and to .

Critical Pass Flashcards--good tool for anyone that learns with flashcards. These have short bulleted outlines of each topic for MBe and space on the right side of the card for notes. I would have used this more had I had time but when 2 weeks before the exam I was better off reading from the long outlines.

I hated critical pass. I like flash cards, but I like the kind you can actually flash through in question answer style. These were just straight outline on massive cards. They were so big they weren't any more convenient than the short outline book and had almost the same info. I went through each subject a couple of times then gave up when my house became overwhelmed with stacks of cards everywhere.

In the end I preferred just to read the short outline from themis because it was all in one thin book. Easy to cart around abs less likely to get lost.

I really liked the critical pass app. It was cheaper than the physical cards and handy to have on my phone. I read them when I was waiting in line for something or down by the pool, and right before bed. They served as a great sedative

[lnh819]

I'm signed up for Kaplan. Is there a particular day we're supposed to start our course, or is that up to us?

[The Mixed Tape]

CHECKING IN

[LadyMary]

Sooo we're getting close to the start line

[jamescastle]

Sorry guys. I was super busy this past weekend (and look to be this weekend as well). But I'll make a couple posts about what worked for me on attempt two and how I learned and improved from attempt one to attempt two sometime soon-ish.
When do the prep programs start? Oh, and congrats on graduating for most of y'all.

[mada]

I am taking the Texas bar this summer. I thought I would join in to keep myself accountable. I am hoping my barbri stuff comes online soon. I keep checking it every day and so far nothing is up except for the "early start" stuff. I have the books so I have started a little on those. Anyway I will try to keep up with this thread.

[DueProcessDoWheelies]

I just passed the February exam after failing the first time. This community helped me out when I was studying (and after I failed) so I think I should give back a little. I'll be here for to provide advice, moral support, and complaints about bar prep companies for the next couple of months.

But just before it all starts here's some drive-by advice:

The sooner it starts, the sooner it's over.
Suffer now so you don't have to later.
Lectures aren't that great for learning (unless it's a subject you are totally unfamiliar with).
Over-study for the MBE. It's a bitch, yo.
Dont neglect the P&E. It could be what pushes you over the hump.
Do a fuckton of practice essays. Clean out your Barbri/Kaplan/Themis essay book.

And finally... This is just a licensing test. It has no bearing on whether you'll be a good attorney or not. It's a rite of passage, nothing more. It does not measure your worth as an individual or as an attorney. Just accept this and get through the exam.

[Federalist]

Have you already decided which bar review course you're taking? I'm also a foreign trained attorney sitting for Texas Bar Exam next July. Haven't decided between Barbri or Themis. A couple of years ago I chose LLM Bar Exam for the NY exam and passed with no problem. What would you guys recommend? Barbri or Themis?

[TXforeignlawyer]

I was thinking of Barbri mainly because it seemed quite a few posters on here were taking it and I really don't know which one is better. How about you? I'm now sitting the Feb 2017 bar (hopefully).

[Jaqen]

Checking in.

Anyone know when we find out which testing center we're assigned?

[BVest]

Checking in.

Anyone know when we find out which testing center we're assigned?

You learn when you get your admission ticket (which is pretty late in the game if you're trying to book travel). I don't think too many people have had any trouble getting their preferred location lately though.

[Jaqen]

Checking in.

Anyone know when we find out which testing center we're assigned?

You learn when you get your admission ticket (which is pretty late in the game if you're trying to book travel). I don't think too many people have had any trouble getting their preferred location lately though.

Gotcha, thanks.

[AllDangle]

Tagging. Taking BarBri; kicking it off today with the intro lecture.

Anyone planning on getting Adaptibar in addition to Barbri?

[Kragoth180]

Checking in

[emkay625]

Tagging. Taking BarBri; kicking it off today with the intro lecture.

Anyone planning on getting Adaptibar in addition to Barbri?

July 2015 taker here who took Barbri. Honestly, Barbri is enough. If you do what they say each day you'll be fine. And while the first couple of days are pretty light, in a week or so it really ramps up. I don't see how someone would have time to do much else.

[philippian413]

deleted

[suralin]

PM me wit your email address and can send discount code for Adaptibar.

when you're back, don't do this again