barprepforca wrote:
Thanks for the advice! I have Critical Pass and so far i've found that when I go over the cards on a subject, they match what I learned in BarBri pretty well (the one exception is Ks, which seems to be all jumbled around compared to what the lectures had). My question is... when you did go over cards, how did you approach the information in them? Did you try to remember everything on the card, or just flip through and read the cards?
So this could be a long post, because I thought I had found the same issue (re: jumbled all around) until I realized that Critical Pass breaks down many of the subjects into parts... only later addressing the entire issue seperately. For example, it might reference Freedom of Expression seperately (and in more depth) than the card on the 1st Amendment (which may be more general).
I used them after a long day of MBE practice, and in my last week, Writing (with some MBE practice). Since my mind was much more accustomed to breaking the subjects into their logical parts, and had questions about WTF I thought I knew about a certain subject (before testing showed me I was sketch), using Critical Pass as what became a bedtime ritual after actively diving into the test as much as I felt like could each day was the best way to approach it in my opinion.
I would pick a subject that I thought I was weak on (due to all the practice that day), put the box lid next to me in bed, and flip through the subject (if I wasn't doing this, then it was Adaptibar and review on my phone for a bare minimum of least 15 questions before I went to sleep). Since my mind was focused on brushing up on particular issues, I was focused on reading the cards to look for those issues-which made me a more active reader than I usually am. When I would get to the exact issue I needed, I would spend time making sure I knew the topic (in reality, outside of the issue I was looking for, I would flip through the cards pretty fast, not worrying much about the cards I had accidentally zoned out on. The goal was to get through the subject color, period.).
Doing this every night, even if I wasn't entirely grilling every subject issue into my mind (and many times, I dozed off after spotting my problemantic issue if it was found more than half way through the subject deck... so I had to make time to finish the deck the next day to stick to my goal of digging into another topic that night) made me very familiar with what was in the cards. So when I tested the next day, I would sometimes start digging through a subject just to review the topic card that I was having problems with in testing that day (and I knew that the cards would have a good explanation and rule statement, which would set in a lot more when I realized I had a problem). This created a great way to active study, as finding and reviewing a card if I felt like I needed to brush up on a subject took an extra 5 minutes max.
Outside of that, I referenced my CA topic Leansheet grid on differences between Fed and CA while flipping through topics like Civ Pro and Evidence. It made it a bit more active, and allowed me to write in something (for, e.g., what kind of Felony can be let in in Civ/Crim Ev., or in Rules, the small difference in rules for Class Action). Something like:
EVIDENCE
*CA: Prop 8 Truth in Evidence (distinction for Criminal proceedure)
*Allows in Felony for Acts of Moral Turpitude... (maybe I'd make sure I could list what these were).
*Civ: Something about a 10 year limit, unstated in the las but recognized as a quasi-time limit. (Felony/Misd distinction)
*Crim: Something about the restrictions present for Criminal actions. (Felony/Misd).
*Whatever the rule 403 was for CA as last ditch to get in (301?!)
Just looking at the distinctions in my leansheet and having a simple way to actively learn them through my CP card study was great. All at once put any Fed topic that had CA distinctions into one system of study through my CP cards, and helped me see how simple, and not overwhelming, the distinctions actually were.
Outside of that, my girlfriend at the time decided to quiz me with them one night, which made me memorize through an attempt to state the rules verbatim... even if I did realize that I couldn't for most and then had to take time looking at the rule, this activity helped me to memorize a couple of the most important rules needed for the Essays on test day, and made my girlfriend realize how shitty being a lawyer really is (which finally made her shut up about how "she had taken hard tests before in College... it wasn't that hard to study for hard tests"
).
In short: I. Use them at the end of the day when you're tired, for easy in-bed, box-lid-flipping study of a topic you had trouble with that day. II. Use them to simplify distinctions and for other forms of active study (only so much silent reading you can do before it kills you my friend).