The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
|
 |
 
|
BAR TAKERS - GOOD LUCK! A few tips...
Poast new message in this thread
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:25 PM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit If you haven't already, force yourself to get up early the next three days and begin studying in the morning so your brain gets used to being awake and working at the time you'll be taking the bar.
Try out the food/snacks you plan on taking with you by eating them for lunch.
Go for a really long (four hour) walk the night before the bar to wear yourself out and clear your mind.
Don't talk to anyone while you eat lunch doing the exam.
Best of luck. Remember that the exam is simply to root out the incompetent. The perfect bar score is one point above passing.
You'll do just fine. |
 |
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:26 PM Author: Beta background story circlehead wtf, 4 hr walk? lol, no. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127373) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:29 PM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit idk, i am naturally a night person/insomniac. i needed to wear myself out to make sure i actually got a solid night of sleep the night before the exam.
rather than take sleeping pillz/drinking/smoking weed i opted for exercise. |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:30 PM Author: Beta background story circlehead if you aren't exhausted from the exam practice, you're not even in the game. Watch a fucking movie, have a beer. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127420) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:34 PM Author: shaky disturbing jap nah, do a hard workout so you ensure you actually sleep (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127449) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:37 PM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit i didn't study the day before the test. i took my walk and then watched joba pitch a 7 inning shut out over the red sox.
i passed easily. |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:09 AM Author: Beta background story circlehead my friend didn't study the day before the exam. Missed it by a marginal amount. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127705) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:25 AM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit If you think you need to study the night before the exam, you're going to fail. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127805) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:25 AM Author: Beta background story circlehead lol, no. I did this and passed easily. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127813) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:29 AM Author: Mentally impaired weed whacker lodge same (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127842) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:30 AM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit to each their own i guess. no one i know who studied the night before passed. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127845) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:31 AM Author: Mentally impaired weed whacker lodge i studied until the very last minute (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127853) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:32 AM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit that's insane to me. did your last minute studying actually help you? all it would do is make me panic. by about 72 hours out i knew what i knew. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127863) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:34 AM Author: Mentally impaired weed whacker lodge well i passed. i was studying community prop right before the exam, an area i had barely done and it showed up as an essay. i still made up a lot of law though.
i don't think those of us who do this really think that last minute of studying is going to help, it is just something we think we need to do. to not do it would cause me more stress |
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:26 PM Author: gold field Thanks, man. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127374) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:30 PM Author: ultramarine sinister death wish pit no problem. good luck dood. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127416) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:39 PM Author: diverse ocher orchestra pit your positivity touches and concerns me, brother (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127500) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:41 PM Author: gold field Keep that property shit out of this thread! Only positive feelings here, not benefits and burdens. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127513) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:46 PM Author: Razzmatazz state filthpig Bar exam is easy bros. You just need to avoid being bottom 20%, while taking a test with graduates of TTTTs. No fear. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127539) |
|
Date: July 19th, 2012 11:59 PM Author: Mentally impaired weed whacker lodge my tips
i know many say get used to getting up early and take timed practice tests in big blocks to mimic testing conditions. i don't think this is important. i think your body/brain knows this is a very big deal and the adrenaline will get you through it. i never got up to study at 7 AM but i don't think it impacted my bar performance. adrenaline/nervous energy make up for that. now if you don't go to bed until 6 am and then get up at 3 PM that's a different story. but if you get up by 10-11, i don't think you need to prep in that way
keep memorizing. yeah it's last minute but half of this stuff you'll forget the minute the bar is over and so it'll only be part of your short-term memory so keep refreshing
some people think you shouldn't study the day before or even a few days before it or that any studying you do should be minimal. maybe this will work with your personality. but some people, whether it's with a regular exam or the bar, need to be studying right up until the minute they take the test. yes it probably won't help them - but i think it comforts some people to keep studying so if you are that person, keep studying
once one day of the bar is over, forget it. it's going to be hard, especially if you mess up/don't finish something/don't know the subject. you'll want to obsess over it and maybe you'll be convinced you failed (i was). but the key is to forget about it, and keep going. as much as the bar tests your knowledge, it also tests your psychological strength/endurance, especially the CA bar. keep going. even if you had no clue about something, guessed on half the MBE, or whatever, just keep going and you will probably pass because it is a competency test, not a test you have to ace
do not come to xo and do post mortem threads/look at them. whatever you wrote, you can't change it. and if you want to do this, at least wait until the bar is over. also, don't talk to fellow bar takers about the exam.
upload your exam once you are done. don't wait until the morning after to do it. unnecessary stress
before you install exam software, disable all updates on your computer, including virus software. in fact, just keep it off until the day of the bar. do anything you can to ensure the software doesn't malfunction the day of the bar |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:03 AM Author: soul-stirring slippery gunner hunting ground i disagree re the post mortem xo thread. i was very relieved after the MBE thread last year. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127670) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:04 AM Author: Mentally impaired weed whacker lodge it depends on your personality of course. i didn't want to risk seeing a bunch of answers that were different from mine. i didn't want to focus on the ones i got wrong. but i also never talked about law school exams after they were over (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127677) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:07 AM Author: soul-stirring slippery gunner hunting ground man last year we also had a ton of threads in the days/weeks leading up to the mbe where people would post MBE questions. none of that this year. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1999085&forum_id=2#21127691) |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 12:08 AM Author: Mentally impaired weed whacker lodge yeah those actually really helped me even though sometimes i wasn't 100% sure legit answers were being posted. it still helped to discuss the questions and why the answers were what they were
part of why there is none of that this year must be because registration is closed |
|
Date: July 20th, 2012 1:16 AM Author: Ruby Dysfunction Here are my tips:
1. On the MBE don't skip questions. If you don't know it now after studying for a couple months, it won't come to you in 20 min. The risk of screwing up your answer sheet far outweigh the rewards of attempting the question again in a little while.
2. Some of you will ignore the above tip and skip MBE questions. I recommend that everybody circle the answer choice in the MBE booklet then bubble it in on the answer sheet. That way, if you fuck up your answer sheet and notice it 30 questions later, you can fix it a lot quicker since it will simply be a matter of bubbling in answer choices that you circled in the test booklet rather than reading the questions and doing them all over again.
3. For CA bros., on the PT the graders are harsh if you run out of time and don't finish. When you have about 20 min left, skip ahead and write a strong conclusion. Then go back and finish the body of the PT. That way, if you run out of time the grader probably won't even notice since you have a strong conclusion.
4. If you feel like you failed at the end of the exam, that's good. Most people who pass feel like they failed. Most people who are sure they passed probably failed. After day 3 of the exam the exam was over I saw a group of people outside of the convention center who I knew. One dude was sure he passed and when I told him the issues I spotted in the day 3 essays he told me he thought I missed a bunch of stuff and talked about a bunch of irrelevant stuff. The dude failed.
5. If something goes wrong, don't panic. Regroup and get your focus back to the exam. During my MBE practice I always used a pocket watch to help with timing. On the day of the MBE I forgot my pocket watch and there was no clock in the test center. My heart sank for a second and I got worried as fuck that I wouldn't be able to pace myself and I'd run out of time. I took a deep breach and went to work.
If you computer dies. Go get blue books and hand write your exam. A lot of people claim the graders are easier on hand writers, so it might work out better for you.
6. During the bar exam try to keep your routine as close to normal as possible. I took the exam about 25 miles from my place. In bad traffic it could take 1.5 hours to get to the test center. So I booked a hotel next to the test center. I spent one night there and couldn't sleep for shit. I was stressed out and wanted my own bed, pillows and blanket. I checked out the next day and slept at home for the rest of the exam. I was so much more comfortable and less stressed at home. I had to wake up an hour and a half earlier, but it was worth it.
If I think of any other tips I'll post them later. |