Bar Exam Study + 40 hour work week = H E L L

[jimmyjohn]

I  @ # ! * I N G Hate the rule against perpetuities!!!!!

My plan is to go over that sh1t once or twice and if I don't understand just forget it and guess on the 1 or 2 RAP questions that will show up on the MBE. 

[NoUsername]

As of tomorrow I'll be half way done with the substantive material.  I feel like this is simply too much volume to be tested in a two day closed-book exam. 

I know every licensed attorney does it, so it is doable.  But right now it just seems like such an immense task of memorization.

[uh huh.]

I'm taking NY and CT, and I have attempted to stick with the BarBri schedule; it is true what you hear - the schedule is causing me to burn out. I have completely cut out reading ANY outlines before the lecture (in fact, I barely crack open the Conviser unless I need help on a subject). I'm finding that doing the practice essays actually helps me cement the law in my head, and I've been making it a point to get in as many multiple choice as possible.

I have to admit, I'm getting a bit freaked out.

[unlvcrjchick]

I'm taking NY and CT, and I have attempted to stick with the BarBri schedule; it is true what you hear - the schedule is causing me to burn out. I have completely cut out reading ANY outlines before the lecture (in fact, I barely crack open the Conviser unless I need help on a subject). I'm finding that doing the practice essays actually helps me cement the law in my head, and I've been making it a point to get in as many multiple choice as possible.

I have to admit, I'm getting a bit freaked out.

You know, quite a few of my friends who passed said that they studied only the workbook and they passed.  Yes, they hardly ever looked at the Conviser.  So, if we can just focus on the material in the workbook, that should be more than enough to pass.  For this reason, I hardly ever read the outlines in the Conviser cover-to-cover.

[NoUsername]

I bought materials from "The Study Group" because they were a lot cheaper than Barbri's.

I am really starting to regret it with this VA Real Property assignement.  The book is just completely unclear, ambiguous, and contradictory in a lot of places.  Many places it looks like someone with a good understanding of the law wrote something down and never looked back to see if it would be clear to someone who is trying to learn VA law for the first time.

For example, as to adverse possession and tolling of time for infancy or mental illness it says "The maximum period, regardless of disability, is 25 years after the right has first acrued."  Does this mean that the total time, including the tolling time and the running time, or does it mean only the tolling time?  And what "right" acruing are they talking about?  Adverse possession isn't a "right" at all until all the requirements have been met, including the time period, after which the tolling of time is irrelevant. 

[ksully]

For what it is worth, here is my bar advice. Do the all assigned MBE questions every day. Plan everything else around that, but under no circumstance ever cut out MBE questions. I did all all the bar/bri MBEs assigned each day and 50 pmbr questions each day. Of all the crap I had to do, answering MC questions and going over the answers is where I learned and remembered the most. Remember, you are not learning torts, property. etc. in bar review, you are learning how to take a test on torts, property, etc.

Also, for anyone who either signed up for pmbr or bought the pmbr 3-day books, that practice test was spot on for how I did on the actual bar exam, almost to a point. I took the test but did not attend the review, I found it more efficient to simply go over the answers myself.

I would say the same for Essay, but the essays are different in terms of substance and weight in every state so you have to use you judgment.   

[NoUsername]

The more I study, the more I realize one thing: this is completely f-ing ridiculous.  How is it in any way practical or necessary to give someone a two day closed book exam on over 20 subjects?!?

Imagine a college professor coming into class on the first day and saying "at the end of this course you will be tested on calculus, physics, biology, chemistry, sociology, psychology, political science, french, spanish, japanese, chinese, american history, european history, world history, geography, arabic, religious studies, and rocket science.  This exam will be closed book."

[jimmyjohn]

The more I study, the more I realize one thing: this is completely f-ing ridiculous.  How is it in any way practical or necessary to give someone a two day closed book exam on over 20 subjects?!?

Imagine a college professor coming into class on the first day and saying "at the end of this course you will be tested on calculus, physics, biology, chemistry, sociology, psychology, political science, french, spanish, japanese, chinese, american history, european history, world history, geography, arabic, religious studies, and rocket science.  This exam will be closed book."

I agree.  For the first time today, I got the feeling that there is no way I'm ever going to pass this exam. 

[PSUDSL08]

I'm taking NY and NJ...

Does anyone have the feeling that the actual bar exam won't be as hard as Barbri's practice MBE and essay questions?

I remember studying for the MPRE through Barbri's lecture, review book, and practice questions and thinking "there is no way I'm going to pass this thing." When I took the MPRE in Aug 07, it seemed so much easier than the practice questions and, like most people I know, I ended up scoring well above every state's minimum passing score. Perhaps the bar exam will prove to be a similar experience...

I've heard from people that Barbri is a big "psych-out" of sorts, and that PMBR is more "realistic" with their expectations in regards to student workload. I felt the same way about the MPRE as well. I kinda half studied the material for the MPRE and scored a 100. While I was taking the Barbri practice tests for the MPRE, I was getting just enough questions correct for a passing score.

At this point, I'm extremely discouraged with my performance on practice essays and multiple choice quesitons. I'm probably averaging about a 10/18 on the individual MBE sets for pretty much every topic (better in evidence, worse in torts), and have scored a 2.6/6 and a 10.5/20 for my NJ and PA graded essays, well below the passing mark. People who have taken the bar keep telling me that you hit a point where everything just "clicks"...unfortunately I haven't hit that point yet. Maybe I should stop dicking around on this site.

[jacy85]

I'm taking NY and NJ...

Does anyone have the feeling that the actual bar exam won't be as hard as Barbri's practice MBE and essay questions?

I remember studying for the MPRE through Barbri's lecture, review book, and practice questions and thinking "there is no way I'm going to pass this thing." When I took the MPRE in Aug 07, it seemed so much easier than the practice questions and, like most people I know, I ended up scoring well above every state's minimum passing score. Perhaps the bar exam will prove to be a similar experience...

Well, for Georgia, the essay questions are the real GA essay exams - I don't think they're bad, it's just that I simply don't KNOW anything really (or I don't feel like I do, anyway).  But they answers are written by BarBri (they try to tell you they're "real" answers, but they lie!), and they make you feel completely incompetent, making you think there's no way in hell you could ever write an answer like that.

But for the MBE questions, I'm sort of the opposite; I worry they're too easy, and for the little I know, I'm getting far too many right.  I've looked through the PMBR books I got on eBay, adn the few questions I've done out of it are WAY harder than the Bar/Bri questions.  I'm thinking the real thing may be somewhere in between.