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Advice for 3Ls in the c/o 2011 for next year's Bar exam
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:25 PM Author: Hairless chartreuse newt this is a response to this post:
Date: July 30th, 2010 12:01 PM Author: ,,,,,,,,.,.........,,,,,,,,,.,.,.
Barbri has a great racket going, because by the time you realize what an overpriced waste of time it is, you don't give a fuck enough to tell 3Ls not to blow their money on it.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1382328&forum_id=2#15652848)
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my advice:
- don't listen to anyone's predictions about what will be tested - don't go to the lectures - if you can buy the CMR, the practice essay book, and the basic MBE practice book, this will be more than enough to study from. you'll save thousands if you don't have a firm picking up the bill. - don't write out the practice essays, but read as many questions as possible and then study the answers (if i had time i would have typed out the main points of the answers into a word document, organized by topic) - study the CMR. the MBE especially tests tons of obscure details that aren't covered in the lectured notes. - do enough practice MBE q's to build your stamina and familiarize yourself with the commonly tested issues. don't go overboard because reading the answer explanations is very time consuming and you're better off skimming the CMR another time.
feel free to add your own advice, even if contradictory |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:30 PM Author: nofapping federal water buffalo I haven't taken the bar, but it seems that your advice to skip lectures and writing out practice essays isn't suitable for everyone. I remember things better if I hear someone say them and if I write them down. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15662981) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:33 PM Author: Hairless chartreuse newt maybe, but consider from a time management perspective
i think there is no question that spending 4 hrs studying from the CMR is more effective than listening to a boring lecture about big picture stuff that is obvious and really not that useful on an exam that tests hundreds of bitchass small details and exceptions
similarly i'd rather read/understand 4 practice questions/answers than spend an hour writing one out |
Date: July 31st, 2010 3:41 PM Author: vigorous bronze native mostly agree. find a way to memorize as much of the cmr as you can--for some it will just be a matter of reading and re-reading it, others (like me) will need to make flashcards. if you need flashcards, don't wait until the week before the test to use them (as i did). the last few weeks should be spent memorizing as much as you can, while looking at model essay answers to get a sense of what is commonly tested, and in what detail you should address it
keep in mind that studying for the bar is not like studying for open-book law school exams, where it is more important to get a sense of how the law works than to get all the details committed to memory (though of course given time limits, committing details to memory helps on ls exams too--it's just not nearly as important as it turns out to be on the bar) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:47 PM Author: Hairless chartreuse newt good point about the closed book vs. open book thing. failing to appreciate this is probably why i procrastinated studying so much.
in lieu of flashcards i extensively underlined, wrote margin notes, and used 2 different colors of highlighters, all to facilitate easier skimming and retention. i felt like a huge faggot while doing all of that, but frankly you're going to need to be a huge faggot for a few weeks in order to pass the bar. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:52 PM Author: glittery potus coffee pot Really disagree with this. Just because the MBE tests on minute details doesn't mean you have to study everything. You're not trying to get an A, you're trying to pass. 95% of bar takers are taking barbri. You know what most of them know, and you pass. You get focused on every single detail in the CMR, and your brain won't be able to absorb all of it. So the MBE tested on Dumpor's Rule. Who gives a shit--nobody got that right.
Get the lecture notes. Transform them into flashcards, rather than outlining. If you just use a flashcard program, it doesn't really take any longer to make them into flashcards. Then memorize all of the flashcards. You will pass easily. I've done this twice. Do this rather than wasting time actually going to lectures, which I think we can ALL agree is an utter waste of time. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:57 PM Author: vigorous bronze native "Get the lecture notes. Transform them into flashcards, rather than outlining. If you just use a flashcard program, it doesn't really take any longer to make them into flashcards. Then memorize all of the flashcards."
i think this is a pretty credited method, but don't get started too late, and add cards when you miss something on a practice essay or mock mbe question |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:00 PM Author: Hairless chartreuse newt ok this is a good alternative perspective. glad we agree that the lectures are a waste of time. the barbri paced program is a fucking joke.
based on my cursory glance at the lecture notes, they were too disjointed and insufficiently detailed to be useful for me. i liked the security of knowing that 99.9% of what i needed to know was within the 700 pages or so of the CMR. plus with my highlighting/underlining method described above, i was able to easily skim for my 3rd and 4th go-through (~120 pages/hour), and by that point i had most of it down. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:02 PM Author: mentally impaired lilac locus boistinker the lectures did seem like a waste of time...but
1. they may have helped and you just dont notice 2. there are going to be more than a few hot wg at the lectures |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:05 PM Author: glittery potus coffee pot 1. you don't have time to do things that might indirectly help when you're looking at the time expenditure for the bar. every minute counts. you burn out. you need to be efficient above all else. and there is zero chance that sitting through a 4 hour lecture is going to help as much as actually typing that shit out or actively memorizing it.
2. lol. i've been more apt to hit on girls at a funeral. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:08 PM Author: mentally impaired lilac locus boistinker 1. lectures are a form of easy studying....doing extra intense studying instead of watching the lectures will burn you out
2. funeral chicks are hot! |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:10 PM Author: glittery potus coffee pot if you're looking for a psychological break from studying, then how about not spending it in a 4 hour boring as shit lecture? inefficiency is the devil with bar studying, and those lectures are just plain inefficient.
edit: also, transforming notes into flashcards is a form of "easy studying" if that's what you're looking for. you'll retain stuff better than hearing it, and it's more useful to your overall plan. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:16 PM Author: mentally impaired lilac locus boistinker but you do agree that funeral chicks are hot, right? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663347) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 3:59 PM Author: mentally impaired lilac locus boistinker just do what bar-bri says to do...your firm should be covering the cost, just do what everyone does and it should be ok (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663202) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:01 PM Author: Hairless chartreuse newt barbri recommends studying 15 hrs a day for 75 days. if this is easier for you, go right ahead. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663219) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:04 PM Author: vigorous bronze native not only do they recommend studying 15 hours a day, but most of what they ask you to do is a waste of time. i think you could fail if you just did all the stupid shit they tell you to do, without figuring out a somewhat individualized approach to memorization (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663244) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:04 PM Author: mentally impaired lilac locus boistinker the only thing i deviated from the study plan were
pretty much ignored mpt...just read through the materils didnt do anything
didnt write a single essay, just read through the questions...thought about it....and then read the answers over and over again |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:13 PM Author: glittery potus coffee pot it's inefficient, it's unsustainable, and it causes unnecessary stress when you can't keep up. of course, that will make people think it's a challenge and that they should just do it. well, don't, because not only is it the hardest method, it's also the least effective. double rainbow all the way (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663321) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:04 PM Author: vibrant swollen office the lectures are mostly just to force people into a study schedule. if you have no discipline, then maybe you should go to them. but i agree that they are not an efficient use of your time, even if you watch them in fast forward. the lectures i found most useful were for the performance tests.
make flash cards or outline. you need to condense all that shit into a smaller definite unit of information you can memorize and *recall* when writing an essay.
do at least one practice test. sometimes it's hard to remember that for essays, you need to lay out every elementary detail about the area of law, rather than jumping straight to the analysis that is the heart of the question. it's also not intuitive to people to bring up irrelevant shit, so it helps to practice identifying arguments that could be made but would fail.
pace yourself. the people who studied 8-12 hours a day nonstop from graduation were exhausted the week before the bar. taking the bar is tiring. you'll need stamina to get through 6 hours of 200 MBE questions. eat right, exercise, get sleep, relax, do what it takes to be in top mental shape for the bar.
if you suffer from insomnia, try melatonin. taking the bar is stressful and can keep you up at night or wake you in the middle of the night.
the barbri multiple choice questions were of a different character from the MBE questions this year. i didn't take any old MBE exams, but i wish i had because i feel like i was prepared to ace barbri questions rather than the MBE questions. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:08 PM Author: glittery potus coffee pot i'd go beyond melatonin. ambien is crucial. when you're in that 3-week crunch time before the bar, some days you just hit a wall and cannot study. if that's the case, best to knock yourself out early so you can face a new day, rather than putting around the internet until 3 am.
your point about pace is solid. i think the most efficient overall strategy would be to spend june transforming the notes into flashcards, then spend july memorizing the flashcards. |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:11 PM Author: vibrant swollen office sure if ambien works for you. i actually lose consciousness on it and start doing stuff in my sleep with no recollection of it the next day, so i wouldn't recommend experimenting with it right before the bar, but a few weeks out seems like enough time to figure out how it affects you. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663306) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:19 PM Author: Hairless chartreuse newt i would not call a strategy that involves studying in june "efficient". maybe effective, prudent, wise, etc, but not efficient (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663376) |
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Date: July 31st, 2010 4:39 PM Author: chrome casino round eye using flashcard software is CR. I made approx 1400 "cards" using this program http://ichi2.net/anki/ (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1383201&forum_id=2#15663552) |