Themis Bar Review Hangout - July 2017 Forum

[the_pakalypse]

Is anyone finding the time allocations unrealistic? Always feel like I'm working much more than 8 hours most days

This, except I'm finding there just aren't enough hours in the day to complete all the tasks so I keep falling further behind instead of catching up. And then I get progressively more assigned each day in an effort to get my schedule to 100% completion. Like, I'm sorry I can't spend 12 hours a day on this, Themis?

you're not alone - like another poster above said, sometimes I will finish everything in a few hours. other days (most days) I will not finish the assigned tasks and it keeps piling on work.

sometimes real life happens and I don't get to study that day. and I started two weeks late on top of that

just keep on truckin' Slytherpuff

Usually, I can get it all done if I'm sufficiently focused, but I'm not reading the outlines and am watching the lectures at 2x speed usually.

However, I also am only aiming for 75% completion, so I'm not sweating it when I can't get something done. At the end of the day, guys and gals, just aim for 75%. If you do better, great.

Yeah, that makes sense. I wish we could adjust the daily schedule to reflect our intended completion percentage.

[SplitMyPants]

His huge tie knot distracts me.

+1000

[yeslekkkk]

I skip McElroy, but I think that at least reading the handouts for Ide-Don is a good use of time. What I've read (maybe even in this thread?) is that the majority of points on essays come from correct/clear organization and that's something I really struggle with. The breakdowns and suggested formatting from the Ide-Don handouts have been very useful to me. His lectures are probably unnecessary, but they do force you to take the time to focus on the handouts.

This might be an incredibly dumb question but who (or what) is an Ide-Don? I haven't encountered this yet

This dude

I know him in real life. Seeing him on Themis is weird af.

[lavarman84]

His huge tie knot distracts me.

+1000

That's a really impressive knot, though.

[gatorfan163287]

Hi. I'm Pam Karlan and this is Jackass.

[michelle3908]

He's for California only I think, but he does the essay workshops

I have him too and I'm taking it in SC

[michelle3908]

His huge tie knot distracts me.

+1000

That's a really impressive knot, though.

I was more distracted by Clark's earring, and why he kept saying good at the end of every lecture. Was he telling himself he did good...

[Jon_Snow]

His huge tie knot distracts me.

+1000

That's a really impressive knot, though.

I was more distracted by Clark's earring, and why he kept saying good at the end of every lecture. Was he telling himself he did good...

Clark is more bearable at 1.4 - 1.6x.

I actually liked that comment from Clark. Much better than the Civ Pro and Con Law guy who reminds of my high school gym teacher who would call us sissies and talk about 'Nam. What is with that intro the Con Law guy did. We get it guy, no SJW stuff when studying con law for the bar.

[Winter is Coming]

I could probably do Clark at 2.5 if it was possible haha. Also helps that Torts is probably the best thing I've retained from 1L.

[michelle3908]

I heard from my state's director on the phone a couple of weeks back and he was very reassuring, but I haven't had to go them with specific questions about anything.

I just got a check in call from my Themis state rep, I was outside walking my dog.

[SeewhathappensLarry]

His huge tie knot distracts me.

+1000

That's a really impressive knot, though.

I was more distracted by Clark's earring, and why he kept saying good at the end of every lecture. Was he telling himself he did good...

Clark is more bearable at 1.4 - 1.6x.

I actually liked that comment from Clark. Much better than the Civ Pro and Con Law guy who reminds of my high school gym teacher who would call us sissies and talk about 'Nam. What is with that intro the Con Law guy did. We get it guy, no SJW stuff when studying con law for the bar.

Those are fighting words. Never bad mouth John Jeffries

[the_pakalypse]

Lol @ Jeffries pronunciation of defendANT and "voir dire"

[Slytherpuff]

UBE people - if anyone's already done the graded Criminal Law essay, do you know if it also tests Crim Pro? I'm behind schedule and did the Crim Law lectures out of order so that I could still do today's essay, but I don't know if I should also find time to do the Crim Pro lectures before I attempt the essay.

[AdInfinitum]

UBE people - if anyone's already done the graded Criminal Law essay, do you know if it also tests Crim Pro? I'm behind schedule and did the Crim Law lectures out of order so that I could still do today's essay, but I don't know if I should also find time to do the Crim Pro lectures before I attempt the essay.

It doesn't test Crim Pro. You'll be fine if you've done the Crim Law stuff.

[Slytherpuff]

UBE people - if anyone's already done the graded Criminal Law essay, do you know if it also tests Crim Pro? I'm behind schedule and did the Crim Law lectures out of order so that I could still do today's essay, but I don't know if I should also find time to do the Crim Pro lectures before I attempt the essay.

It doesn't test Crim Pro. You'll be fine if you've done the Crim Law stuff.

Awesome, thanks so much!

[whats an updog]

Lol @ Jeffries pronunciation of defendANT and "voir dire"

defendANT fucked me up.

also, Mary Goza the CA PR lecturer is super depressing. I swear when she introduced herself and said she's been teaching bar review for over 20 years you can actually see her soul die a little.

[yeslekkkk]

Lol @ Jeffries pronunciation of defendANT and "voir dire"

defendANT fucked me up.

also, Mary Goza the CA PR lecturer is super depressing. I swear when she introduced herself and said she's been teaching bar review for over 20 years you can actually see her soul die a little.

or how about the fact that she's taken 8 BAR EXAMS. WHY MARY WHYYYYYYY

[villanovajew]

Checking in at 45% complete. At what point does this become easier?

[J-english]

Is anyone else having trouble sleeping? I swear I feel like my brain is in overdrive and I can't get it to shut down. Any suggestions?

[cron1834]

I'm only at about 27% ... is that terrible? Kinda got a little anxious looking at my real-life calendar today.

I just have trouble concentrating on this for more than about 4 hours/day

[helpappreciated]

I'm only at about 27% ... is that terrible? Kinda got a little anxious looking at my real-life calendar today.

I just have trouble concentrating on this for more than about 4 hours/day

I feel you. It feels like I've been stuck in the 20s for three weeks now.

[Samarcan]

Checking in at 26%, too. I don't think it's worth stressing about at this point. I think it will become faster down the road, and am not aiming for 100% completion (which is what the tracker calibrates for) anyway.

[Slytherpuff]

Yeah I'm in the 20s too I think I'll hit 30 tomorrow finally.

[Puffman1234]

I'm at around 26%, although I haven't followed the directed study perfectly (I skipped ahead on a few of the lectures because I was anxious about getting the material into my head early--not a good idea, better to take it slow and steady). The 26% is also somewhat illusory in that I've been cheating by telling the program that I've read the MBE outlines when I have at the very most skimmed them.

I'm glad to see some others are around where I am. I started about 2.5 weeks late (Texas), so today marks the end of my second week of studying. I've only managed to get to two of the graded essays and the due date for the first 3 + the practice MPT is next Tuesday. I don't know if I can get those in but I guess I should probably skip ahead just to try to get my practice MPT graded? The directed study right now doesn't even have me looking at MPT material until after the 20th.

This has so far been a very isolating experience for me, so this post is kind of long/venting/getting the weight off my chest. I actually graduated in May 2015, but have deferred taking the bar until now due to a couple of employment opportunities. This means I don't know anyone in real life who is going through this same process and with whom I could commiserate or vent . I just sit here and study alone all day every day.

Now that I've done about 5 or 6 sets of the real MBE PQs I can see what the questions are like I'm less anxious than I was. Similarly, the practice essay sample answers are very simple and give me greater confidence that I can churn out acceptable answers (although I still don't know any of the law by memory).

What I think would be really helpful is better final review outlines. If I had a condensed 5-7 page outline for each of the Texas exam subjects that I could just memorize I feel like my retention would be vastly improved. But to get a decent outline like that requires I make them myself, and I'm not sure if that's a good use of my time. I'm beginning to think it probably is. The same doesn't yet seem to apply to the MBE subjects because so far I think I've been ok just noting the rules I miss in the MBE practice problems. I have a set of the MBE critical pass flashcards but I've never been a flashcard user so I'm still not sure if I should invest time in that or just read the outlines.

The thing I struggle with is that I simply can't read everything first and THEN practice. The tired of cliche about the marathon really does apply. I've always preferred to just get everything into my head before applying it, but I think trying to do that here would backfire spectacularly given the huge body of information that has to be digested.

Anyways, good luck to everyone. I'm glad I found this thread and can at least commiserate with some others who are dealing with this anachronistic hazing ritual bullshit.

[whats an updog]

I'm at around 26%, although I haven't followed the directed study perfectly (I skipped ahead on a few of the lectures because I was anxious about getting the material into my head early--not a good idea, better to take it slow and steady). The 26% is also somewhat illusory in that I've been cheating by telling the program that I've read the MBE outlines when I have at the very most skimmed them.

26% in two weeks is pretty good man, I've been at it for about 4 weeks and am only at ~35%. I'm pretty sure everyone is in the same boat re: skimming the outlines too, so don't sweat it.

Lol @ Jeffries pronunciation of defendANT and "voir dire"

defendANT fucked me up.

also, Mary Goza the CA PR lecturer is super depressing. I swear when she introduced herself and said she's been teaching bar review for over 20 years you can actually see her soul die a little.

or how about the fact that she's taken 8 BAR EXAMS. WHY MARY WHYYYYYYY

lmao, i definitely came around on Goza. She reminds me of Sweet Dee.