Is not watching lectures a poor idea? Forum

[Traynor Brah]

I'm just starting to put some thought into my study plan. The main question I have is if it's per se reckless to not attempt to watch my Themis lectures?

I have essentially no auditory learning skills and learned everything in law school via old outlines and/or commercial supplements; I went to class very little and basically never paid attention when I did go. I still did quite well at a T20 the first year, and got pretty decent grades the past couple years by just reading an outline a few times before a test, so my tentative plan would be to take a few UBE outlines and a supplement and merge them into my own outline (the process I did to learn 1L classes), and then just do loads of practice questions.

Is that a bad plan? Taking New York.

[Yugihoe]

tag

[Vincent Adultman]

Nah. It's probably fine.

[Johann]

Yeah that's fine. Watching lectures is such a waste of time. Read and reread outlines. Do mbe practice questions.

[RickSanchez]

Here is my take on this. When I started to study for the bar exam, it was my first time studying wills & trusts and criminal procedures. At first, I tried to learn the material by reading the outlines and after spending few days on them I thought I had a good understanding of the subjects. But, when I got to the the practice essays, I realized that I, in fact, was quite lost. I had signed up for the Barbri exam prep and had not used any of their study materials. Did not use their outlines, did not read or attend the lectures, and I completed maybe 3% of their recommended plans. I did, however, watched their lectures on wills & trusts and crim pro (a week before the exam in fact). The lectures filled in some of the (huge) gaps and I felt like I understood the material better, and being the lucky son of a gun that I am, w&t and crim pro were on the bar exam. I honestly think I would have bombed those essays, and probably failed the bar, had I not watched the lectures a week before the exam. So while it may be a waste of time (like it was for me for some of the other lectures I watched - torts for example), if you are having a difficult time tying different concepts together within a subject, it may just be worth your time to watch a lecture on that particular subject.

[B90]

It does depend on how you learn and how your brain retains material.
For me, listening would be a waste of time. I WATCHED the videos at 1.5 or 2x speed (depending on the lecturer) sitting at a desktop computer, with a printout of the lecture handout (I used Themis) and I filled in the blanks while watching. I rarely needed to pause, even at 1.5 or 2x speed. For me, writing while listening helps my brain process the material.
I think it's worth trying a few different ways to see what works. Investing a couple hours trying to figure out what works for you is worth it, IMHO. At least you won't wonder "what if" later on and you will have peace of mind to knowing you gave it a shot. Prep companies' methods work for most people; that is why they exist. Just don't waste too much time doing something that is not working for you.

[blaze1306]

I started Themis about a month ago and I have been watching the lectures at 1.5x. I learn better having heard the lectures and following along doing the outlines. It all depends on how you learn. I can see this being a time issue soon. I work full time and have a family so soon I will have to start picking and choosing which lectures I can watch and what I have to sacrifice in the name of time in order to get done with all the material.

[B90]

I started Themis about a month ago and I have been watching the lectures at 1.5x. I learn better having heard the lectures and following along doing the outlines. It all depends on how you learn. I can see this being a time issue soon. I work full time and have a family so soon I will have to start picking and choosing which lectures I can watch and what I have to sacrifice in the name of time in order to get done with all the material.

+1
If you want reassurance, look up the statistics for how many people passed in your jurisdiction having completed different percentages of the course.

[Nebby]

Yes it's a poor idea. Watch them on 2x speed. You can get a day and a half worth of lectures in one day that way.

[criminaltheory]

Yes it's a poor idea. Watch them on 2x speed. You can get a day and a half worth of lectures in one day that way.

Two, even.

[bacillusanthracis]

As someone else said, it depends. Both on the subject and the nature of the lecture. Last week in Conlaw I really killed it. I only missed 3 out of 25 on the multiple choice. The night before I got on Adaptibar and got 17/20. So I didn't need to sit there and listen to the follow up lecture on Conlaw multiple choice. Instead, I went to the library and worked on essay writing because I suck at it.

So it seems to me that if you know the material well, it's probably best to spend your time somewhere you're having real struggles with. If you don't, then the lectures would probably be helpful.

For bar prep, do whatever you know you need to do. Barbri's schedule is helpful and highly structured, but you're the only one who really knows what you need to be working on.

[Blackhawks_Fan]

What prep course are you doing? I'm doing Themis. Personally, I've found the lectures really, really good and highly recommend them. Especially when reading the handouts back after you've filled in the blanks. Really great summaries. I can't fault the Themis lectures, they've exceeded my expectations in terms of what I have learned. I can only speak to the Themis course but suspect the other courses must be similar. Each to their own though, but personally, if you're doing Themis, would recommend.

[Traynor Brah]

All right, cool. Thanks for your input, everyone!

[lawhopeful100]

Never watched them. Passed by a good margin. Depends how you learn best, but I thought they were an inefficient use of time and thought most people just did them because your bar prep plan tells you to. I found I learned better by just doing practice questions. If you have never taken a subject like evidence or something, I could see it being useful to have someone explain it to you. But for topics you already know, I don't think the videos added much. As with everything else though, do what you think works best for you.

[rcharter1978]

Yes it's a poor idea. Watch them on 2x speed. You can get a day and a half worth of lectures in one day that way.

This sounds like a good compromise. I liked the lectures to give an overview and tie everything together. But I used the cmr (barbri) and the green books for the majority of my studying.

But, if you literally get nothing...absolutely nothing out of lectures it's probably okay to skip it and see how you feel.

[SFSpartan]

For BLL subjects like torts or conlaw (or really any other subject that you've had before), I don't think skipping lectures will be absolutely detrimental. I would watch lectures for subjects you haven't taken before, though - just speed them up to 1.5x speed

[cnk1220]

I never watched lectures, passed on my first try with 35 points to spare.

[sparty99]

I scored below 150 on the LSAT and did not watch the lectures only for the sole purpose of filling in the hand-outs with the answers. If I already had the answers to the hand outs, then I would not waste my time watching the lectures. I found someone else on this sight and we did some of the handouts and swapped so we didn't have to waste time watching all the lectures. You can also tell Themis that you had problems saving some of your lectures and they will give you one or two classes.

Nonetheless, I passed the bar first try.

[Bluem_11]

Helpful to slog through classes like Article 9 and Wills that I didn't take.

Occasionally helpful with good professors who point out **THIS IS IMPORTANT/HIGHLY TESTED** or **never tested** several times.

Often useless.

[B90]

Helpful to slog through classes like Article 9 and Wills that I didn't take.

Occasionally helpful with good professors who point out **THIS IS IMPORTANT/HIGHLY TESTED** or **never tested** several times.

Often useless.

+1

[B90]

Helpful to slog through classes like Article 9 and Wills that I didn't take.

Occasionally helpful with good professors who point out **THIS IS IMPORTANT/HIGHLY TESTED** or **never tested** several times.

Often useless.

+1

Sorry for the double post.