2018 February CA Bar Forum

Discussions related to the bar exam are found in this forum
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about bar exam prep. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
LockBox

Bronze
Posts: 480
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:05 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by LockBox » Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:29 pm

Tips from an engineer on how to pass the California Bar Exam:

http://scientificmethodbarexam.blogspot ... -pass.html

james11

New
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2013 7:11 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by james11 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:25 pm

LockBox wrote:Tips from an engineer on how to pass the California Bar Exam:

http://scientificmethodbarexam.blogspot ... -pass.html
That blog post seems like an ad for a couple tutors. Getting a tutor for the essays and a second separate tutor for the MBE? That's totally ridiculous.

PorscheFanatic

Bronze
Posts: 159
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 5:19 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by PorscheFanatic » Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:05 pm

It seems like if you dominate the MBE you can get into the "auto pass" territory.

Can one do the same by dominating the essays? It seems like that would be harder to do, since it appears that a lot of the best essays are getting 70-75, so I imagine that doesn't get you crazy high over the 1440 mark but I guess I don't know.

I'm struggling more on the MBEs than the essays, but I'm improving.

FinallyPassedTheBar

Bronze
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 5:27 am

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by FinallyPassedTheBar » Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:07 pm

PorscheFanatic wrote:It seems like if you dominate the MBE you can get into the "auto pass" territory.

Can one do the same by dominating the essays? It seems like that would be harder to do, since it appears that a lot of the best essays are getting 70-75, so I imagine that doesn't get you crazy high over the 1440 mark but I guess I don't know.

I'm struggling more on the MBEs than the essays, but I'm improving.

Yes, I now believe it since test is 2 days with MBE worth 50%. I think it takes more effort to dominate the essays with it's subjective grading scheme. Don't get me wrong, I also think it takes a lot of effort to dominate the MBE, but at least it is not subjectively graded.

Snowflake1

New
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:12 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by Snowflake1 » Wed Dec 13, 2017 12:53 pm

FinallyPassedTheBar wrote:
PorscheFanatic wrote:It seems like if you dominate the MBE you can get into the "auto pass" territory.

Can one do the same by dominating the essays? It seems like that would be harder to do, since it appears that a lot of the best essays are getting 70-75, so I imagine that doesn't get you crazy high over the 1440 mark but I guess I don't know.

I'm struggling more on the MBEs than the essays, but I'm improving.

Yes, I now believe it since test is 2 days with MBE worth 50%. I think it takes more effort to dominate the essays with it's subjective grading scheme. Don't get me wrong, I also think it takes a lot of effort to dominate the MBE, but at least it is not subjectively graded.
I got over 1500 on the MBE and failed. Don't neglect the essays. I think the approach needs to be evenhanded.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Pema

New
Posts: 55
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:46 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by Pema » Wed Dec 13, 2017 7:32 pm

Snowflake1 wrote:
FinallyPassedTheBar wrote:
PorscheFanatic wrote:It seems like if you dominate the MBE you can get into the "auto pass" territory.

Can one do the same by dominating the essays? It seems like that would be harder to do, since it appears that a lot of the best essays are getting 70-75, so I imagine that doesn't get you crazy high over the 1440 mark but I guess I don't know.

I'm struggling more on the MBEs than the essays, but I'm improving.

Yes, I now believe it since test is 2 days with MBE worth 50%. I think it takes more effort to dominate the essays with it's subjective grading scheme. Don't get me wrong, I also think it takes a lot of effort to dominate the MBE, but at least it is not subjectively graded.
I got over 1500 on the MBE and failed. Don't neglect the essays. I think the approach needs to be evenhanded.
Does 1500 mbe (scaled) mean you scored 75 on 50% of the exam? If so, 50's on the essays/PT would equal 62.5% overall and passing?

User avatar
a male human

Gold
Posts: 2233
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:42 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by a male human » Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:20 am

Pema wrote:
Snowflake1 wrote:
FinallyPassedTheBar wrote:
PorscheFanatic wrote:It seems like if you dominate the MBE you can get into the "auto pass" territory.

Can one do the same by dominating the essays? It seems like that would be harder to do, since it appears that a lot of the best essays are getting 70-75, so I imagine that doesn't get you crazy high over the 1440 mark but I guess I don't know.

I'm struggling more on the MBEs than the essays, but I'm improving.

Yes, I now believe it since test is 2 days with MBE worth 50%. I think it takes more effort to dominate the essays with it's subjective grading scheme. Don't get me wrong, I also think it takes a lot of effort to dominate the MBE, but at least it is not subjectively graded.
I got over 1500 on the MBE and failed. Don't neglect the essays. I think the approach needs to be evenhanded.
Does 1500 mbe (scaled) mean you scored 75 on 50% of the exam? If so, 50's on the essays/PT would equal 62.5% overall and passing?
You get the scaled scores via conversion equations that are different for each exam. It's not a straight %.

onlyoncemore

New
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:47 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by onlyoncemore » Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:35 pm

Every time I see something like this, I want to see Adaptibar algorithm...;
Your Time: You answered this question in 1 minute and 7 seconds. Had you answered 7 seconds sooner, then based on your prior performance, your chances of answering correctly would have increased from 0% to 62%
lol
what

onlythreemonths

New
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:06 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by onlythreemonths » Fri Dec 15, 2017 1:13 am

Kaplan says you can't move for a new trial on inadequate damages, but you can for excessive damages. Adaptibar says you can move for a new trial for inadequate or excessive damages. Anyone know who is correct?

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


bacillusanthracis

Bronze
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 1:30 am

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by bacillusanthracis » Fri Dec 15, 2017 4:21 pm

onlyoncemore wrote:Hello hello,

Just checking in as a second time taker for the Feb. bar.

Scores rounded to the nearest number
Scaled Written: 1465 :D
Scaled MBE: 1280 :oops: Worst areas (I swear, this'll make anyone here feel better);
  • Torts 3.5
  • Evidence 9.9
single digits y'all. I basically got every single of those questions wrong - fucking hell.


Guess what I'm going to be working on the next few months.

I used Kaplan my first time because they sold themselves as solid MBE preppers. I didn't actually use them much for essays. Did much better on essays, as scaled score shows so obviously, SO SCREW YOU Kaplan . I acutely remember feeling waves of panic during the MBE day. I felt like the questions were nothing like Kaplan's and they were much harder. So this time, I am using Adaptibar and Emmanuels. Any other recommendations for MBE questions? I still have Kaplan's MBE question book... i guess i'll go through that too :? .

I read the previous post predicting that the MBE writers are working around the supplements out there... hope I'll somehow get this MBE magic in the bag and not be killed [again] next round. Please let Adaptibar help.

Ugh.

alright.

LET'S DO THIS SHIIIIIT.
A word of advice on Adaptibar. Actually, several words. I did okay on the essays and PT. By quick math, I averaged about 64.3. But I fucking bombed the MBE.

First, by the time bar prep ended, I'd racked up over 2,000 questions on Adaptibar. My average was in the mid-70%. I felt good. However, I think what happened was:

1. I inadvertently did quantity over quality. Rather than go to a more extensive explanation in a book (e.g. Barbri, Kaplan), what I would do is write the rule I missed on a notecard, learn it, and then move on. I worked my ass off doing that. The problem is, I learned the rules in isolation rather than in a more comprehensive manner than you'll find in say an Emmanuel or Barbri book. And it really fucked me on the MBE. To be clear, the answer explanations on Adaptibar are NOT ENOUGH.

2. By doing almost all of my MBE practice on a computer screen, when it came to doing them on paper, it ended up throwing me. I had actually thought about this and didn't think it would be a problem, but the questions on exam day looked a lot longer than what was on Adaptibar. That's not really the case (although I think they throw in some serious monsters on the MBE that Adaptibar doesn't have), but it looked like it when I taking the test.

3. The Timer: don't worry about time too much. Yeah, Adaptibar tells you what your time was, but by the end, my time per question was down in the 1:10 range or so. That should've told me I wasn't reading carefully. Instead, I took it to mean that I was kicking ass on time. Wrong. And sure enough, I finished both section well before most people in the room.

4. Repeat Questions: repeats started showing up well before they should have, and the ones that do repeat tend to show up again and again. I don't know if it's a glitch in the system, but by the 3rd time you see the same question and can answer it without having to read it, it shouldn't keep showing up. But it does.

Let me be clear: I don't blame Adaptibar for me failing the bar. It was how I used it that led to me failing.

I recommend Adaptibar as a supplement, but not as a primary source of study for the MBE. What I saw on the second day of the bar was so unfamiliar looking that it caused me a lot of anxiety--and that was nothing but bad. I have never experienced serious text anxiety and I didn't experience it on Day 1, which I thought was going to be my biggest obstacle. But on Day 2, holy crap.

The fact is, that if I would've scored on the MBE what I had scored with Adaptibar, I would've passed. But that's not what happened. Not even close. So many of my results were significantly less than chance that literally a chimpanzee with a crayon could have scored better.

So go ahead and use Adaptibar, but beware of how you're using it. Because of the way I used it, I developed a false sense of security and things turned out really bad.

Best of luck.

onlyoncemore

New
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:47 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by onlyoncemore » Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:05 pm

onlythreemonths wrote:Kaplan says you can't move for a new trial on inadequate damages, but you can for excessive damages. Adaptibar says you can move for a new trial for inadequate or excessive damages. Anyone know who is correct?
Not sure if it'll be of much help but I did a quick google search and found
"Ordinarily, errors are not waived on appeal by the failure to make a motion for new trial. (Civil Appeals, ¶ 8:278.) But this rule does not apply for a claim of inadequate or excessive damages. In order to preserve the issue for appeal, you must seek a new trial on damages. (Jamison v. Jamison (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 714, 719, 79 Cal.Rptr.3d 561.) Beware — this rule applies to both jury trials and to bench trials. (Id. [“A failure to timely move for a new trial ordinarily precludes a party from complaining on appeal that the damages awarded were either excessive or inadequate, whether the case was tried by a jury or by the court.”])"
From http://www.ehrlichfirm.com/news-stories ... ake-4.html

and
The 1967 amendments placed the ground of inadequate damages in the same category, established inadequate and excessive damages as separate grounds for a new trial and, as to the latter ground, eliminated the pre-existing statutory qualification which theretofore read: "... appearing to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice." [2] Where a new trial is granted on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence, inadequate damages, or excessive damages, the overall effect of the 1965 and 1967 amendments is not only to require the trial court to specify its reasons for granting the new trial on the particular ground stated, but to raise a conclusive presumption the new trial was granted only for the reasons so specified. (Code Civ. Proc., § 657; Mercer v. Perez, 68 Cal. 2d 104, 119 [65 Cal. Rptr. 315, 436 P.2d 315].)
from https://law.justia.com/cases/california ... 4/645.html

note; CA specific. If/when I get to CivPro, hopefully i can come back and answer with certainty.
Still chipping away at Torts, Evidence, and ConLaw. lol. help...
bacillusanthracis wrote: ....

A word of advice on Adaptibar. Actually, several words. I did okay on the essays and PT. By quick math, I averaged about 64.3. But I fucking bombed the MBE.

First, by the time bar prep ended, I'd racked up over 2,000 questions on Adaptibar. My average was in the mid-70%. I felt good. However, I think what happened was:

1. I inadvertently did quantity over quality. Rather than go to a more extensive explanation in a book (e.g. Barbri, Kaplan), what I would do is write the rule I missed on a notecard, learn it, and then move on. I worked my ass off doing that. The problem is, I learned the rules in isolation rather than in a more comprehensive manner than you'll find in say an Emmanuel or Barbri book. And it really fucked me on the MBE. To be clear, the answer explanations on Adaptibar are NOT ENOUGH.

2. By doing almost all of my MBE practice on a computer screen, when it came to doing them on paper, it ended up throwing me. I had actually thought about this and didn't think it would be a problem, but the questions on exam day looked a lot longer than what was on Adaptibar. That's not really the case (although I think they throw in some serious monsters on the MBE that Adaptibar doesn't have), but it looked like it when I taking the test.

3. The Timer: don't worry about time too much. Yeah, Adaptibar tells you what your time was, but by the end, my time per question was down in the 1:10 range or so. That should've told me I wasn't reading carefully. Instead, I took it to mean that I was kicking ass on time. Wrong. And sure enough, I finished both section well before most people in the room.

4. Repeat Questions: repeats started showing up well before they should have, and the ones that do repeat tend to show up again and again. I don't know if it's a glitch in the system, but by the 3rd time you see the same question and can answer it without having to read it, it shouldn't keep showing up. But it does.

Let me be clear: I don't blame Adaptibar for me failing the bar. It was how I used it that led to me failing.

I recommend Adaptibar as a supplement, but not as a primary source of study for the MBE. What I saw on the second day of the bar was so unfamiliar looking that it caused me a lot of anxiety--and that was nothing but bad. I have never experienced serious text anxiety and I didn't experience it on Day 1, which I thought was going to be my biggest obstacle. But on Day 2, holy crap.

The fact is, that if I would've scored on the MBE what I had scored with Adaptibar, I would've passed. But that's not what happened. Not even close. So many of my results were significantly less than chance that literally a chimpanzee with a crayon could have scored better.

So go ahead and use Adaptibar, but beware of how you're using it. Because of the way I used it, I developed a false sense of security and things turned out really bad.

Best of luck.
@bacillusanthracis; Thanks for sharing your experience with Adaptibar. Yeah, definitely know that panic feeling... so definitely not putting too much faith in the tools I have anymore lol. Just going to be butt fuck hard on myself for a while.

One that definitely rings for me is that some of the Adaptibar question answers are not enough. For ex: some of the answer choice explanations are like "this is wrong because it's not hearsay within hearsay" - well shit, no really? Where's the explanation that the second layer is not hearsay? But I'm digging through my outlines, notes, and asking other people when I get to places like that. Sometimes I've had luck finding the question in Emmanuel's S&T and that's just awesome. Either way, it's getting me to re-study without actually feeling like i'm re-studying so there's that at least.

So out of curiousity, since you did well on essays and bombed on MBE's, pretty exactly like me, how else will you be prepping for MBE this time? I'm always keeping my eye open for any better method to study this madness...

Pema

New
Posts: 55
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:46 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by Pema » Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:39 pm

Those of you above who didn't do well on the MBE, what do you attribute your success on the essays to?

onlythreemonths

New
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:06 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by onlythreemonths » Fri Dec 15, 2017 9:40 pm

onlyoncemore wrote:
onlythreemonths wrote:Kaplan says you can't move for a new trial on inadequate damages, but you can for excessive damages. Adaptibar says you can move for a new trial for inadequate or excessive damages. Anyone know who is correct?
Not sure if it'll be of much help but I did a quick google search and found
"Ordinarily, errors are not waived on appeal by the failure to make a motion for new trial. (Civil Appeals, ¶ 8:278.) But this rule does not apply for a claim of inadequate or excessive damages. In order to preserve the issue for appeal, you must seek a new trial on damages. (Jamison v. Jamison (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 714, 719, 79 Cal.Rptr.3d 561.) Beware — this rule applies to both jury trials and to bench trials. (Id. [“A failure to timely move for a new trial ordinarily precludes a party from complaining on appeal that the damages awarded were either excessive or inadequate, whether the case was tried by a jury or by the court.”])"
From http://www.ehrlichfirm.com/news-stories ... ake-4.html

and
The 1967 amendments placed the ground of inadequate damages in the same category, established inadequate and excessive damages as separate grounds for a new trial and, as to the latter ground, eliminated the pre-existing statutory qualification which theretofore read: "... appearing to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice." [2] Where a new trial is granted on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence, inadequate damages, or excessive damages, the overall effect of the 1965 and 1967 amendments is not only to require the trial court to specify its reasons for granting the new trial on the particular ground stated, but to raise a conclusive presumption the new trial was granted only for the reasons so specified. (Code Civ. Proc., § 657; Mercer v. Perez, 68 Cal. 2d 104, 119 [65 Cal. Rptr. 315, 436 P.2d 315].)
from https://law.justia.com/cases/california ... 4/645.html

note; CA specific. If/when I get to CivPro, hopefully i can come back and answer with certainty.
Still chipping away at Torts, Evidence, and ConLaw. lol. help...
Thanks, dude! Still chipping away with you. We got this.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


rayforoc

New
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 9:36 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by rayforoc » Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:47 am

1. Can Anyone speak to the quality of the NCBE's MBE prep?

They are selling four 100 question exams ($50 each), and I want to assume that their explanations of why answers are wrong or right are sound. Another TLS member warned me that their explanations might not encompass why answers choices are right, but their model on the site does. Anyway, I am still working through S&Ts and will jump on Adapitbar after, but reading bacillusanthracis' post was jarring because that's precisely how my experience with Adaptibar was too.

2. Lastly, if anyone is working with Barbri's questions right now, how do you feel about them thus far?

I still have brand new MBE Barbri shit from last cycle I never used.

PorscheFanatic

Bronze
Posts: 159
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 5:19 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by PorscheFanatic » Sat Dec 16, 2017 12:49 pm

Just want to get your thoughts on my study plan...

So right now I'm writing out about 8 essays per week on whichever topic I'm working on that week. The first 2-3 essays I write, I feel like it's a better use of my time to write them with an open outline, while I'm learning and memorizing the law better still. It seems like it would be a waste of my time to write those first couple essays completely closed book if I only have 1 page of information in my head or if I would completely miss issues because of lack of law knowledge.

Is this an ok strategy? This way I'm still writing out 5-6 essays each week completely closed book.

bacillusanthracis

Bronze
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 1:30 am

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by bacillusanthracis » Sat Dec 16, 2017 1:34 pm

onlyoncemore wrote: So out of curiousity, since you did well on essays and bombed on MBE's, pretty exactly like me, how else will you be prepping for MBE this time? I'm always keeping my eye open for any better method to study this madness...
I wouldn't say I did "well" on the essays, but they were good enough so that if I'd scored on the MBE like I did on Adaptibar, I would've passed.

This time for the MBE, I'm actually going to do the Barbri program. To be perfectly honest, I completely ignored that part of the course in favor of using Adaptibar the first time around. What I didn't realize was that although Barbri questions aren't actual MBE questions, they test more widely and more in-depth. Maybe a good way to put it is that in addition to testing what's already been tested, they also test for what could potentially tested. It's also a much more systematic, purposeful approach than just testing the hell out of yourself on Adaptibar.

Now, this is gonna sound odd, but I actually did pay to use Adaptibar again for this time around; as a supplement, and also as a warmup for the Barbri program. If, for example, I end up doing all the civ pro questions in the Barbri book, but feel like I need more, I'll go to Adaptibar. But that's it.

One thing I forgot to mention was burnout. By the end of bar prep, I could barely stand to look at an MBE question. And when I signed up for Adaptibar again, it still had my old results; and there it was in black in white. Towards the end I was doing oddball sets of like 9 questions, 13 questions, etc. What happened was that I'd start out with the ambition to 30 or 40 or whatever, and then I'd just quit because it was so goddamn repetitive and the repeats kept popping up over and over.

If you can't do a course like Barbri, Adaptibar really is a good tool as long as you have something else to go to when you get an answer wrong.

Best of luck to you. Hell, all of us.

Snowflake1

New
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:12 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by Snowflake1 » Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:21 pm

Pema wrote:Those of you above who didn't do well on the MBE, what do you attribute your success on the essays to?
I used Kaplan as well as the Strategies and Tactics book for the MBE, and I scored high (over 1500). I think the S&T book contains all the same released questions as everyone else. I didn't spend much time practicing essays though and kind of (falsely) bet that a high MBE score would carry me. This time I am practicing essays every day using BarEssays to pretty much copy the format of the high scoring essays. I can already see that my long paragraph poor-IRAC format cost me a lot of points.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


helpappreciated

New
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2015 6:43 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by helpappreciated » Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:59 am

"Lease provisions restricting assignment or subleases are enforceable, but generally construed against the landlord." --Criticalpass

So is this saying, 1) that these provisions can be enforceable but are generally not enforced by the courts, or 2) if there is some legitimate dispute over the interpretation of a provision restricting assigment or subleases, it will generally be construed against the landlord?

mcmand

Silver
Posts: 722
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 12:45 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by mcmand » Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:06 am

PorscheFanatic wrote:Just want to get your thoughts on my study plan...

So right now I'm writing out about 8 essays per week on whichever topic I'm working on that week. The first 2-3 essays I write, I feel like it's a better use of my time to write them with an open outline, while I'm learning and memorizing the law better still. It seems like it would be a waste of my time to write those first couple essays completely closed book if I only have 1 page of information in my head or if I would completely miss issues because of lack of law knowledge.

Is this an ok strategy? This way I'm still writing out 5-6 essays each week completely closed book.
I pretty much did this up until a couple days before the July exam. I did not have the extra time to separately memorize stuff, and I wanted to do more essays and get familiar with topics, so I figured practicing with notes would help it stick.

Probably should still do some memorization at some point but I think open note essays is okay to start. If I still missed stuff or saw helpful rule statements in the model answers, I copied those onto flash carfs afterward.

Edit: now that I think about it, my MBE score was high-ish (above 150 per NCBE score services), and I think I racked up lots of points in the afternoon essays (civpro and torts). So my method may not have served me well in other subjects that I was struggling with had they been tested instead (like wills and trusts). But it did help me retain a lot for remedies. And I agree that it's a waste of a good practice essay if you can't remember half the law to put in it. Writing it out, even with notes, will still help with memory.
Last edited by mcmand on Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

onlyoncemore

New
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:47 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by onlyoncemore » Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:04 pm

Just dropping in to say: holy shit is Adaptibar kicking my ass. I've read around in several forums and it seems like the average you want to get to is 70%. Fuck - not near that average. Also, maybe I shouldn't have made a study plan from worst subject to best. I'm feeling like shit - and it's only 2.5 weeks into prep. FML
helpappreciated wrote: #2

User avatar
a male human

Gold
Posts: 2233
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:42 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by a male human » Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:13 pm

onlyoncemore wrote:Just dropping in to say: holy shit is Adaptibar kicking my ass. I've read around in several forums and it seems like the average you want to get to is 70%. Fuck - not near that average. Also, maybe I shouldn't have made a study plan from worst subject to best. I'm feeling like shit - and it's only 2.5 weeks into prep. FML
helpappreciated wrote: #2
Better that AdaptiBar kicks your ass than the bar. Nowhere to go but up!

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


maxmartin

Silver
Posts: 712
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2011 5:41 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by maxmartin » Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:36 pm

a male human wrote:
onlyoncemore wrote:Just dropping in to say: holy shit is Adaptibar kicking my ass. I've read around in several forums and it seems like the average you want to get to is 70%. Fuck - not near that average. Also, maybe I shouldn't have made a study plan from worst subject to best. I'm feeling like shit - and it's only 2.5 weeks into prep. FML
helpappreciated wrote: #2
Better that AdaptiBar kicks your ass than the bar. Nowhere to go but up!
Exactly, it will get better and better!

onlythreemonths

New
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:06 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by onlythreemonths » Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:36 pm

maxmartin wrote:
a male human wrote:
onlyoncemore wrote:Just dropping in to say: holy shit is Adaptibar kicking my ass. I've read around in several forums and it seems like the average you want to get to is 70%. Fuck - not near that average. Also, maybe I shouldn't have made a study plan from worst subject to best. I'm feeling like shit - and it's only 2.5 weeks into prep. FML
helpappreciated wrote: #2
Better that AdaptiBar kicks your ass than the bar. Nowhere to go but up!
Exactly, it will get better and better!
Feeling like shit too. Wondering if I'm really going to be able to remember enough of the rules. But it's only been 2.5 weeks, so we probably should feel terrible. If we keep going, I'm sure we'll feel much differently come February. LET'S DO THIS!

FinallyPassedTheBar

Bronze
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 5:27 am

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by FinallyPassedTheBar » Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:52 pm

Adaptibar kicks everybody's ass. But that's what it's supposed to do. I was hovering around 50% correct when I first started using it (even lower for civ pro). Do your questions sets and study the answers everyday. Your percentages will rise.

justanotheruser

Bronze
Posts: 181
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:57 pm

Re: 2018 February CA Bar

Post by justanotheruser » Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:22 pm

mcmand wrote:
PorscheFanatic wrote:Just want to get your thoughts on my study plan...

So right now I'm writing out about 8 essays per week on whichever topic I'm working on that week. The first 2-3 essays I write, I feel like it's a better use of my time to write them with an open outline, while I'm learning and memorizing the law better still. It seems like it would be a waste of my time to write those first couple essays completely closed book if I only have 1 page of information in my head or if I would completely miss issues because of lack of law knowledge.

Is this an ok strategy? This way I'm still writing out 5-6 essays each week completely closed book.
I pretty much did this up until a couple days before the July exam. I did not have the extra time to separately memorize stuff, and I wanted to do more essays and get familiar with topics, so I figured practicing with notes would help it stick.

Probably should still do some memorization at some point but I think open note essays is okay to start. If I still missed stuff or saw helpful rule statements in the model answers, I copied those onto flash carfs afterward.
Other than this, is there another way people would advise on approaching one's very first essays? It just doesn't make sense for me to approach the first few essays pretty much cold (though I may know more than I think I do because of MBE practice).

Another related question... I know quality > quantity but, ideally, how many total essays will you want to have done (both in total and per subject) by bar exam week? I know a male human's talked about essay cooking and I can sorta compensate for being pressed for time by focusing a bit more on the BarSecrets/Saccuzzo essays predictions.

Thanks!

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Bar Exam Prep and Discussion Forum”