2018 July California Bar Forum

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Angel66

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Angel66 » Mon May 21, 2018 7:11 pm

thorm87 wrote:I am a practicing attorney who moved to California in December 2017. I took and passed the February 2018 Attorney’s Exam (just the essay/PT day; no MBE). I was lucky because my firm paid for bar expenses and gave me the two weeks off before the exam to study (plus the week of). I studied nights and weekends leading up to the period before my official bar study leave period.

FWIW, here’s how I studied.

BarBri

Enrolled in the BarBri “attorney’s exam” course. Their schedule was pretty unrealistic for working attorneys and also included a lot of MBE drills which I didn’t really need. BarBri was useful for a few things.

First – lectures. Watched each of the lectures for the California subjects, California distinctions, and the general subjects where my recollection from law school was hazy and/or where I had struggled while in law school (contracts, real property). After I watched each lecture, I would use my notes and the Conviser mini-review to create outlines for each subject. I made it a point to have outlines completed for each subject by the time I went on bar leave (approx. 2-3 weeks before exam date) so I’d have time to internalize knowledge in the lead-up.

I also watched Prof. Sakai’s videos on each CA essay subject, which were helpful in re-learning how to write like a law student. Those videos also helped me figure out priority areas for studying.

Second – practice essays. Probably the single most useful tool I got from BarBri were their essay banks and sample essay answers. The sample answers are, obviously, unrealistic in the level of detail they provide, but I found the self-grading scoresheet to be pretty helpful in terms of assessing where I was on each subject area. Barbri graded essays were not as useful. I started off writing essays without a timer and completely open book. Gradually worked my way to timed essays, closed book.

Probably the most useful portion of the essays was identifying “weak spots” in each subject. Went back to my outlines after each essay to either review, update, or correct the relevant subject areas.

Third -- practice PTs. Did about 3-4 timed PTs. I get the sense that these used to be a lot harder. The actual PT we got on the February 2018 bar was way more straightforward and had a lot less material to work through than the PTs BarBri had in their practice booklet. I struggled with time in my practice PTs, especially getting through all of the material in 90 minutes. I felt very confident working my way through the PT we got Tuesday afternoon because there was less material to work through and the issues presented seemed so much more straightforward than what Barbri had given me as practice.

BarSecrets – Graded Essays

Because I wasn’t satisfied with the level of feedback I was getting from BarBri, I bought 6 graded essays from BarSecrets. I actually found this website through the TLS forums re: his predictions for essay subjects. I used the essays in the 2 weeks leading up to the bar exam. I found his/his graders’ feedback to be kind of brutal. After getting a few back, I thought I was going to fail! But I listened to his feedback, adjusted my writing approach, and reviewed “weak” subject areas. I think this aspect of my bar study helped me from getting too complacent in that final stretch.

Flashcards

A few friends gave me their commercial flashcards. I thought these were not so useful, but I did end up making my own for many (but not all) of the subjects. I’d usually make flashcards for a subject right after I completed my outline, and focus on using language that I knew would help me remember the relevant concepts. Commercial flashcards seem to have too much detail, which I don’t find all that useful. Probably the most important part of my study in terms of the actual memorization piece.

Hope this is helpful! Good luck to everyone!
Thank you! I'm taking the attorney exam in this July too and your insight is really helpful. Can I ask how many hours in total did you study for the exam and how many practice essays you did?

Angel66

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Angel66 » Mon May 21, 2018 7:14 pm

justanotheruser wrote:
Angel66 wrote: Thank you so much for your detailed review! Congratulations and I truly admire your courage and persistence. You deserve passing this exam!

BTW, with respect to the PT, you said you did 7-8 under timed condition (1.5 hours). Do you mean you used the past PTs that were actually designed for 3 hours long?
I used the ones here (http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpt/preparing). See ChicoAlto's post above -- it basically sums up my thoughts.

I ended up using most of the past MPTs and also did the July 2017 PT. I did not practice any of the previous PTs that were designed for the 3-hour session. I felt very well prepared using this approach. Good luck!
Noted. Thanks!!

thorm87

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by thorm87 » Mon May 21, 2018 7:45 pm

Angel66 wrote:
Thank you! I'm taking the attorney exam in this July too and your insight is really helpful. Can I ask how many hours in total did you study for the exam and how many practice essays you did?
Not sure total study hours. Beginning mid-January, I'd say on average 20-25 hours per week. Two weeks before, maybe 60 hours each week? I probably wrote out 15 essays. Outlined many more.

barprepforca

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by barprepforca » Mon May 21, 2018 9:34 pm

Hey all! Joining everyone here for the journey. I've started bar prep with BarBri but still wondering what the best way to go about this is. I see people talking about using Adaptibar/CriticalPass/BarEssays, but was wondering if people had specifics as to how many Adaptibar questions per day they did, or how many essays per day, or how many CriticalPass cards they went through. If anyone has specifics to this end, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

FinallyPassedTheBar

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by FinallyPassedTheBar » Mon May 21, 2018 10:01 pm

barprepforca wrote:Hey all! Joining everyone here for the journey. I've started bar prep with BarBri but still wondering what the best way to go about this is. I see people talking about using Adaptibar/CriticalPass/BarEssays, but was wondering if people had specifics as to how many Adaptibar questions per day they did, or how many essays per day, or how many CriticalPass cards they went through. If anyone has specifics to this end, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I did between 25 to 50 Adaptibar questions per day...with a total of 2800 questions completed.

It is my personal belief that test takers should be around 70% correct at 2000 questions minimum to feel somewhat "comfortable" with the MBE. This includes reviewing each answer choice (A through D) for every question, even the questions that you answered correctly.

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justanotheruser

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by justanotheruser » Mon May 21, 2018 10:15 pm

barprepforca wrote:Hey all! Joining everyone here for the journey. I've started bar prep with BarBri but still wondering what the best way to go about this is. I see people talking about using Adaptibar/CriticalPass/BarEssays, but was wondering if people had specifics as to how many Adaptibar questions per day they did, or how many essays per day, or how many CriticalPass cards they went through. If anyone has specifics to this end, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!
I wrote a detailed post covering my process on the first page of this thread, but for the specific details this was my overall approach for a 10-week, full-time study schedule...

MBE: Did 30 questions a day

Essays: First 2.5 weeks -- write out one full essay per topic, two topics a day. Next 5-6 weeks -- outline 2-3 essays per topic, still two topics a day. Last 2 weeks -- issue-spot 4-5 essays per topic, two topics a day.

PT: Did about 7-8 full practice PTs. Did them every other week for the first month or so, and then every week in the last month leading up to the exam. When I did a practice PT, I'd sub them in place of essays.

Hope this helps.

psg190

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by psg190 » Tue May 22, 2018 2:10 am

I'd be interested in knowing how people blended the use of BarBri materials with Adaptibar/baressays/self-study. Did you do all BarBri lectures and then supplement with the other items on a daily basis?

Also interested in knowing how many people memorize mental checklists for each subject. I had tried that approach and was too frazzled during the exam itself to recall the checklists.

barprepforca

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by barprepforca » Tue May 22, 2018 2:07 pm

psg190 wrote:I'd be interested in knowing how people blended the use of BarBri materials with Adaptibar/baressays/self-study. Did you do all BarBri lectures and then supplement with the other items on a daily basis?

Also interested in knowing how many people memorize mental checklists for each subject. I had tried that approach and was too frazzled during the exam itself to recall the checklists.
Same! That's more of what I was wondering. Though the advice i've already gotten has been very helpful, thanks all!

SDChargers

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by SDChargers » Tue May 22, 2018 5:17 pm

I took the Bar exam for the Second time in Feb 2018 and didn't pass, but my overall score improved by 40points.

July 2017 Bar Exam
Essay 1: 75
Essay 2: 55
Essay 3: 55
Essay 4: 70
Essay 5: 60
PT: 55
Raw Written Score: 425
Scaled Written: 1408.54
Scaled MBEs: 1287
Overall: 1347.77
_____________________________________
Feb 2018 Bar Exam
Essay 1: 70
Essay 2: 50
Essay 3: 60
Essay 4: 70
Essay 5: 55
PT: 55
Raw Written Score: 415
Scaled Written: 1346.65
Scaled MBEs: 1428
Overall: 1387.32

First Round - I focused heavy on the essays, especially my favorite subjects (Civ Pro / CP); I took extra time (10mins which carried over to the other essays) and only did about 1000 MBEs.
Second Round - I did a lot of essays but I was not working on rule memorization and my timing at all - I have serious test anxiety issues. I was 10-15 minutes behind on each essay because I took that extra time for the first essay at the beginning of each session (Day session & Afternoon session). I completed approximately 1800 MBE questions and reviewed most of the ones I got wrong.

What suggestions? Advice?

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JulyRepeater

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by JulyRepeater » Tue May 22, 2018 6:20 pm

Is anyone here signed up for the “Productive Mindset Intervention Program"?

If so, what does it entail? I guess the deadline to sign up was before the Feb 2018 results came out so for retakers, we're SOL :x

xonimi

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by xonimi » Tue May 22, 2018 9:37 pm

I'm really unsure of how to go about studying. I have Adaptibar and Critical Pass Flashcards along with my Barbri materials. I'm not sure how or when to use each of those resources. I don't know what to do after attending the lectures. Do we do essays and MBE questions from day 1? and when do I incorporate memorization tools like Critical Pass?

I had my first class today which was the Essay Introduction lecture and I haven't really done much after. I completed the work assigned on Barbri which was just preparing for Evidence and watching the Evidence lecture. Do I just do exactly what I'm assigned and stop there? or should I also be doing practice questions already?

Nightcrawler

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Nightcrawler » Wed May 23, 2018 12:42 am

JulyRepeater wrote:Is anyone here signed up for the “Productive Mindset Intervention Program"?

If so, what does it entail? I guess the deadline to sign up was before the Feb 2018 results came out so for retakers, we're SOL :x
Legend says that Adolf Hitler and Martin Shkreli were working at the California Bar before getting into politics and business respectively. Really useful to give "help" to mostly July first-timers who have a pass rate of 60% instead of the ass-raped February takers. Thanks guys.

Anyway, let's not freak out. From what I read somewhere, that program entails watching 2 45-minute videos about motivation. It looks like the CA Bar is deciding which bikini to wear in view of a tsunami. They are clearly just taking time to perpetuate their agenda. I wish someone would fucking jump in and help us (like the law schools were doing a year ago). Sad.

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a male human

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by a male human » Wed May 23, 2018 1:00 am

Nightcrawler wrote:
JulyRepeater wrote:Is anyone here signed up for the “Productive Mindset Intervention Program"?

If so, what does it entail? I guess the deadline to sign up was before the Feb 2018 results came out so for retakers, we're SOL :x
Legend says that Adolf Hitler and Martin Shkreli were working at the California Bar before getting into politics and business respectively. Really useful to give "help" to mostly July first-timers who have a pass rate of 60% instead of the ass-raped February takers. Thanks guys.

Anyway, let's not freak out. From what I read somewhere, that program entails watching 2 45-minute videos about motivation. It looks like the CA Bar is deciding which bikini to wear in view of a tsunami. They are clearly just taking time to perpetuate their agenda. I wish someone would fucking jump in and help us (like the law schools were doing a year ago). Sad.
Wow! .~*Motivation*~. That's great.

“How do I get motivated?”

People love to complain about being unmotivated. Asking about it is just going to get you into a pity party with other people who also “don’t have motivation.” The blind leading the blind.

To be fair, it’s a gray area. Who wants to study for the bar exam?

If you’re asking this, don’t count on motivation to come to you first. “Motivation” and “inspiration” are fleeting. It comes and goes based on the situation, difficult to summon at will.

In the first place, would you actually get some studying done even if you were motivated? Even if you did have the perfect tools?

The question isn’t so much motivation as your willingness. So the better question to ask might be how to make doing it easier.

Answer: Just start first, and the momentum to continue comes after.

The initial hump is the hardest part. A wildfire starts with one branch. Opening the document is the hardest part of writing it (so leave it open). Doing that first rep is the hardest part (so leave that dumbbell in plain sight). Getting out of bed is the hardest part, but you’re on your way once you get up and take a shower.

Motivation follows action. “It's easier to act your way into thinking than think your way into acting.”

In other words, you do use a bit of discipline to get it going. Then you find yourself a bit more motivated. You feel some momentum building. You forget that you were ever “unmotivated.” Doing this consistently establishes a habit of studying, which reduces the friction even more. And then, you get better.

Progress and mastery are motivating. Study until you feel motivated.

There, I saved you 90 minutes.
Last edited by a male human on Wed May 23, 2018 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Angel66

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Angel66 » Wed May 23, 2018 1:12 am

justanotheruser wrote:
Angel66 wrote: Thank you so much for your detailed review! Congratulations and I truly admire your courage and persistence. You deserve passing this exam!

BTW, with respect to the PT, you said you did 7-8 under timed condition (1.5 hours). Do you mean you used the past PTs that were actually designed for 3 hours long?
I used the ones here (http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpt/preparing). See ChicoAlto's post above -- it basically sums up my thoughts.

I ended up using most of the past MPTs and also did the July 2017 PT. I did not practice any of the previous PTs that were designed for the 3-hour session. I felt very well prepared using this approach. Good luck!
Justanotheruser, I looked at the link you posted above. It seems that only the old exams can be downloaded for free. The most recent PTs cost like... $25 per exam?? That's kinda insane...

Did you just use the old PTs or did you actually buy the newer ones? Thanks!

justanotheruser

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by justanotheruser » Wed May 23, 2018 2:31 am

Angel66 wrote:
justanotheruser wrote:
Angel66 wrote: Thank you so much for your detailed review! Congratulations and I truly admire your courage and persistence. You deserve passing this exam!

BTW, with respect to the PT, you said you did 7-8 under timed condition (1.5 hours). Do you mean you used the past PTs that were actually designed for 3 hours long?
I used the ones here (http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpt/preparing). See ChicoAlto's post above -- it basically sums up my thoughts.

I ended up using most of the past MPTs and also did the July 2017 PT. I did not practice any of the previous PTs that were designed for the 3-hour session. I felt very well prepared using this approach. Good luck!
Justanotheruser, I looked at the link you posted above. It seems that only the old exams can be downloaded for free. The most recent PTs cost like... $25 per exam?? That's kinda insane...

Did you just use the old PTs or did you actually buy the newer ones? Thanks!
I only used the free ones. And then I used the PT (for free) from the July 2017 Cal bar exam.

Hope that helps!

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santoki

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by santoki » Wed May 23, 2018 3:51 am

Finding it largely useless so far to tackle MBE questions that I have not covered yet. Barbri starts with Evidence tomorrow--do you guys think it is a good idea to simply wait until the subject starts to practice MBE questions on the topic?

I plan to start Evidence questions on Adaptibar tomorrow and then slowly add new topics into the mix as they get covered in the course.

Nightcrawler

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Nightcrawler » Wed May 23, 2018 11:20 am

a male human wrote:
Nightcrawler wrote:
JulyRepeater wrote:Is anyone here signed up for the “Productive Mindset Intervention Program"?

If so, what does it entail? I guess the deadline to sign up was before the Feb 2018 results came out so for retakers, we're SOL :x
Legend says that Adolf Hitler and Martin Shkreli were working at the California Bar before getting into politics and business respectively. Really useful to give "help" to mostly July first-timers who have a pass rate of 60% instead of the ass-raped February takers. Thanks guys.

Anyway, let's not freak out. From what I read somewhere, that program entails watching 2 45-minute videos about motivation. It looks like the CA Bar is deciding which bikini to wear in view of a tsunami. They are clearly just taking time to perpetuate their agenda. I wish someone would fucking jump in and help us (like the law schools were doing a year ago). Sad.
Wow! .~*Motivation*~. That's great.

“How do I get motivated?”

People love to complain about being unmotivated. Asking about it is just going to get you into a pity party with other people who also “don’t have motivation.” The blind leading the blind.

To be fair, it’s a gray area. Who wants to study for the bar exam?

If you’re asking this, don’t count on motivation to come to you first. “Motivation” and “inspiration” are fleeting. It comes and goes based on the situation, difficult to summon at will.

In the first place, would you actually get some studying done even if you were motivated? Even if you did have the perfect tools?

The question isn’t so much motivation as your willingness. So the better question to ask might be how to make doing it easier.

Answer: Just start first, and the momentum to continue comes after.

The initial hump is the hardest part. A wildfire starts with one branch. Opening the document is the hardest part of writing it (so leave it open). Doing that first rep is the hardest part (so leave that dumbbell in plain sight). Getting out of bed is the hardest part, but you’re on your way once you get up and take a shower.

Motivation follows action. “It's easier to act your way into thinking than think your way into acting.”

In other words, you do use a bit of discipline to get it going. Then you find yourself a bit more motivated. You feel some momentum building. You forget that you were ever “unmotivated.” Doing this consistently establishes a habit of studying, which reduces the friction even more. And then, you get better.

Progress and mastery are motivating. Study until you feel motivated.

There, I saved you 90 minutes.
I wish more people like you were working at the California State Bar.

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itsyerboythundercat

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by itsyerboythundercat » Wed May 23, 2018 1:58 pm

xonimi wrote:I'm really unsure of how to go about studying. I have Adaptibar and Critical Pass Flashcards along with my Barbri materials. I'm not sure how or when to use each of those resources. I don't know what to do after attending the lectures. Do we do essays and MBE questions from day 1? and when do I incorporate memorization tools like Critical Pass?

I had my first class today which was the Essay Introduction lecture and I haven't really done much after. I completed the work assigned on Barbri which was just preparing for Evidence and watching the Evidence lecture. Do I just do exactly what I'm assigned and stop there? or should I also be doing practice questions already?

This is just my opinion / what worked for me in another state's exam. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of material and don't think Barbri does a great job on providing real guidance in re: how much to study / how to get started.. this was my way of focusing and narrowing the scope of my studying down and start doing real questions ASAP.

Lectures:
Fly thru the lectures as quickly as possible while still being able to retain the material.
Lectures are good for 1) Organizing material in re: to your approach on an essay 2) Getting a couple of mnemonics down 3) Gaining awareness of the entirety of subtopics that are testable.
- I would try to finish a subject's lectures in 1 day and do some review via Essay / MBE questions.
- I'm taking themis for Cali this round but I took barbri previously and i found the lectures on specific essays and MBE practices way more helpful than general "subject lectures".

ESSAYS
I would try to do 2 essays a day.
One I would do "open book" and the other I would at least try to outline and write rule statements/ elements.
Barbri used to give a ton of essays - not sure if they still do but for this round I am using Baressays to make sure I'm not missing anything. Listen / watch any explainers provided.
-I like to get a handle of the topic before I start memorizing but I would start memorizing mnemonics and rule statements as soon as possible. Felt like memorizing gets a lot easier closer to exam time.

MBE:
Do as many MBEs are you can muster w/ thorough review (aim for 25-30 some questions may not need thorough review).
I went roughly 75% adapti and 25% barbri .
Use the data you get from Adaptibar to see where you are strong / weak etc. The review is the most important part.

Some days are more productive than others and I would slip on doing any essays or even 10 MBEs but the key is to get as much exposure as possible (i hope that it doesn't happen this round b/c Cali is obviously harder but it happens). Start getting familiar with essays and MBEs. Get it wrong --> see why.

PTs - try to do 1 a week??? i don't really have anything useful to say b/c my approach here is definitely weak.

Again, just my opinion and a decent way to get cracking on the material.

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MBernard

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by MBernard » Wed May 23, 2018 7:32 pm

itsyerboythundercat wrote: This is just my opinion / what worked for me in another state's exam. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of material and don't think Barbri does a great job on providing real guidance in re: how much to study / how to get started.. this was my way of focusing and narrowing the scope of my studying down and start doing real questions ASAP.

Lectures:
Fly thru the lectures as quickly as possible while still being able to retain the material.
Lectures are good for 1) Organizing material in re: to your approach on an essay 2) Getting a couple of mnemonics down 3) Gaining awareness of the entirety of subtopics that are testable.
- I would try to finish a subject's lectures in 1 day and do some review via Essay / MBE questions.
- I'm taking themis for Cali this round but I took barbri previously and i found the lectures on specific essays and MBE practices way more helpful than general "subject lectures".

ESSAYS
I would try to do 2 essays a day.
One I would do "open book" and the other I would at least try to outline and write rule statements/ elements.
Barbri used to give a ton of essays - not sure if they still do but for this round I am using Baressays to make sure I'm not missing anything. Listen / watch any explainers provided.
-I like to get a handle of the topic before I start memorizing but I would start memorizing mnemonics and rule statements as soon as possible. Felt like memorizing gets a lot easier closer to exam time.

MBE:
Do as many MBEs are you can muster w/ thorough review (aim for 25-30 some questions may not need thorough review).
I went roughly 75% adapti and 25% barbri .
Use the data you get from Adaptibar to see where you are strong / weak etc. The review is the most important part.

Some days are more productive than others and I would slip on doing any essays or even 10 MBEs but the key is to get as much exposure as possible (i hope that it doesn't happen this round b/c Cali is obviously harder but it happens). Start getting familiar with essays and MBEs. Get it wrong --> see why.

PTs - try to do 1 a week??? i don't really have anything useful to say b/c my approach here is definitely weak.

Again, just my opinion and a decent way to get cracking on the material.
Agree with Thundercat on getting past the lectures ASAP. That’s very close to the study plan I used for Texas. Only difference was I skipped the lectures entirely and instead just bought the lectures notes (and the CMR) from another student already filled-in (doing the same for Ca). What I like to do is rewrite the lecture notes ommitting examples and extraneous material. It’s time-consuming but I find it facilitates memorization. Only other thing I’d advise is skipping Barbri’s AMP exercises. Big waste of time imo. Managed to score into the 150s for the MBE and pass the essays for TX without doing any AMP.

FinallyPassedTheBar

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by FinallyPassedTheBar » Wed May 23, 2018 7:47 pm

santoki wrote:Finding it largely useless so far to tackle MBE questions that I have not covered yet. Barbri starts with Evidence tomorrow--do you guys think it is a good idea to simply wait until the subject starts to practice MBE questions on the topic?

I plan to start Evidence questions on Adaptibar tomorrow and then slowly add new topics into the mix as they get covered in the course.
Forget waiting for the Barbri program to cover a subject. That's a big waste of time. Hell, I feel the lectures are nearly a big waste of time as well. On Adaptibar, first do 50 questions on each subject...one subject every day or every two days. After you have finished 50 questions on each subject, start with your mixed questions.

You will learn a lot of relevant black letter law, just by answering/reveiwing the MBE questions.

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by justanotheruser » Wed May 23, 2018 8:15 pm

santoki wrote:Finding it largely useless so far to tackle MBE questions that I have not covered yet. Barbri starts with Evidence tomorrow--do you guys think it is a good idea to simply wait until the subject starts to practice MBE questions on the topic?

I plan to start Evidence questions on Adaptibar tomorrow and then slowly add new topics into the mix as they get covered in the course.
Scored 1500 on the MBEs but failed in July 2017 (scored 1410). Finally passed the exam last week.

I did Barbri my very first attempt, and it was not for me (surprisingly). Obviously do what you know works for you, but I found it very beneficial to get straight to the MBEs and dive right into things. For me, memorizing outlines didn't help me improve at recognizing certain facts + relevant issues. Initially, it was like drinking out of a fire hydrant but after a while you begin to see the finite universe of certain fact patterns/issues tested on the MBE.

This isn't to say to ditch lectures or outlines. In fact, given how it feels like they're testing more 50/50 issues + obscure concepts in recent MBEs, I think it's important to at least go through the lengthier outlines once or twice. What I did for the MBE was to just do the problems, compile answer explanations on a document, and review outlines/flashcards later that day.

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Nightcrawler » Wed May 23, 2018 10:17 pm

justanotheruser wrote:
santoki wrote:Finding it largely useless so far to tackle MBE questions that I have not covered yet. Barbri starts with Evidence tomorrow--do you guys think it is a good idea to simply wait until the subject starts to practice MBE questions on the topic?

I plan to start Evidence questions on Adaptibar tomorrow and then slowly add new topics into the mix as they get covered in the course.
Scored 1500 on the MBEs but failed in July 2017 (scored 1410). Finally passed the exam last week.

I did Barbri my very first attempt, and it was not for me (surprisingly). Obviously do what you know works for you, but I found it very beneficial to get straight to the MBEs and dive right into things. For me, memorizing outlines didn't help me improve at recognizing certain facts + relevant issues. Initially, it was like drinking out of a fire hydrant but after a while you begin to see the finite universe of certain fact patterns/issues tested on the MBE.

This isn't to say to ditch lectures or outlines. In fact, given how it feels like they're testing more 50/50 issues + obscure concepts in recent MBEs, I think it's important to at least go through the lengthier outlines once or twice. What I did for the MBE was to just do the problems, compile answer explanations on a document, and review outlines/flashcards later that day.
Congrats on passing and also on your 1500 on the MBE. May I ask what you used to prepare for the MBE?

Doobydoobydoo

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Doobydoobydoo » Wed May 23, 2018 10:51 pm

Britbrit wrote:To all the repeaters who passed CONGRATULATIONS!!!! what did you do differently this last time that you think contributed to you passing?

I have taken the bar a few times, every time i have used adaptibar, this last time studying I noticed I recognized/knew the answers to the questions without reading the questions. I own the Emmanuel books as well. Does anyone have suggestions on how to attack the mbes this time around?
I took it in July and did not pass. The second time, I pulled out all the stops. I was absolutely determined to pass, and I did. I think you have to invest much more time than you think you need. Not necessarily hours per day, but time as in months spent preparing. I took all of December, January, and February to prepare, and boy did that help.

First, I abandoned Themis and went with Jay Chavkin's Personal Bar Prep course. This course helped me personally, as I am the type of student who benefits from talking out a fact pattern. Jay's class was great for issue spotting training and debunking the law and boiling it down to it's simplest form.

My basic study regimen was 50 mbe questions a day (plus careful review of all my wrong answers) and 2 essays per day. Yes of course I mixed that in with reviewing outlines, reading supplements, and I'd even read cases and read chapters of examples of explanations when I was not sure about some concept. Jay's materials were also very helpful, but ultimately, it comes down to your practice, and your knowing the law, and knowing the test itself. You have to become an expert on the test itself, and how it examines students on their knowledge of these concepts. That's the way to beat it, more so than any one test prep company.

Sapatlawyer

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by Sapatlawyer » Wed May 23, 2018 11:22 pm

Thanks as well. I'm also taking the attorney exam in July and found your comments helpful.
thorm87 wrote:
Angel66 wrote:
Thank you! I'm taking the attorney exam in this July too and your insight is really helpful. Can I ask how many hours in total did you study for the exam and how many practice essays you did?
Not sure total study hours. Beginning mid-January, I'd say on average 20-25 hours per week. Two weeks before, maybe 60 hours each week? I probably wrote out 15 essays. Outlined many more.

justanotheruser

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Re: 2018 July California Bar

Post by justanotheruser » Wed May 23, 2018 11:31 pm

Nightcrawler wrote:
justanotheruser wrote:
santoki wrote:Finding it largely useless so far to tackle MBE questions that I have not covered yet. Barbri starts with Evidence tomorrow--do you guys think it is a good idea to simply wait until the subject starts to practice MBE questions on the topic?

I plan to start Evidence questions on Adaptibar tomorrow and then slowly add new topics into the mix as they get covered in the course.
Scored 1500 on the MBEs but failed in July 2017 (scored 1410). Finally passed the exam last week.

I did Barbri my very first attempt, and it was not for me (surprisingly). Obviously do what you know works for you, but I found it very beneficial to get straight to the MBEs and dive right into things. For me, memorizing outlines didn't help me improve at recognizing certain facts + relevant issues. Initially, it was like drinking out of a fire hydrant but after a while you begin to see the finite universe of certain fact patterns/issues tested on the MBE.

This isn't to say to ditch lectures or outlines. In fact, given how it feels like they're testing more 50/50 issues + obscure concepts in recent MBEs, I think it's important to at least go through the lengthier outlines once or twice. What I did for the MBE was to just do the problems, compile answer explanations on a document, and review outlines/flashcards later that day.
Congrats on passing and also on your 1500 on the MBE. May I ask what you used to prepare for the MBE?
Thanks!

For reference, I have a lengthier/comprehensive post on my experience on page 1 of this thread. So I'd definitely recommend reading that.

As for my MBE prep, I used Emanuel Strategies & Tactics. Once I finished going through S&T, I used Adaptibar exclusively. In total I think I did 1800-2000 total MBE questions. I also studied at a local library almost every day. I did 30 questions a day. Hope that helps!

P.S. Probably not saying anything others haven't already said, but don't skimp on PT/essay prep. I struggled a lot with trying to lean entirely on the MBEs (which I was great at)... but I kept failing over and over with that approach.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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


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