PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out Forum

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thesealocust

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PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Sun May 19, 2013 8:42 pm

They're also trying to teach you the law - based on you being the least common denominator.

Study hard, but don't give into their mind games. They're trying to get in your head and make you anxious, not just present the task at hand in a reasonable fashion.

The bar exam is just a licensing test. Everyone who got into law school can pass it, and if you don't you can just take the damn thing again.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Stinson » Sun May 19, 2013 8:45 pm

I understand the terror before they make the sale, but once Barbri has my firm's money you'd think they could chillax a little.

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Joe Quincy

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Joe Quincy » Sun May 19, 2013 8:46 pm

RE mind games... Is it true that BarBri's essay questions and grading are way harder than IRL?

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Bronte

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Bronte » Sun May 19, 2013 8:47 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I assumed the "YOU WILL BE DOOMED IF YOU TAKE THE ONLINE COURSE" disclaimer falls into this category as well?

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by 09042014 » Sun May 19, 2013 8:54 pm

Bronte wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I assumed the "YOU WILL BE DOOMED IF YOU TAKE THE ONLINE COURSE" disclaimer falls into this category as well?
I'm sure watching it by yourself will ruin your chances compared to watching it on a TV/VCR in a room like you watching Reading Rainbow in third grade. Clearly the later is superior.

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thesealocust

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Sun May 19, 2013 8:55 pm

Joe Quincy wrote:RE mind games... Is it true that BarBri's essay questions and grading are way harder than IRL?
Yes.
Bronte wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I assumed the "YOU WILL BE DOOMED IF YOU TAKE THE ONLINE COURSE" disclaimer falls into this category as well?
It's mind games all the way down.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Bronte » Sun May 19, 2013 9:37 pm

Yeah I'm thinking I'll pass on group movie day five times a week. I think they figure people just won't watch the videos if they're not coerced.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Joe Quincy » Sun May 19, 2013 9:38 pm

Bronte wrote:Yeah I'm thinking I'll pass on group movie day five times a week. I think they figure people just won't watch the videos if they're not coerced.
I found a tutor for VA online who actually argues some of the lectures aren't worth watching at all given the rarity of which that subject is tested, the ease of learning, etc.
Last edited by Joe Quincy on Sun May 19, 2013 9:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by BCLS » Sun May 19, 2013 9:39 pm

This thread makes me feel a bit better. I wish they would cut the crap.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by 09042014 » Sun May 19, 2013 9:40 pm

Joe Quincy wrote:
Bronte wrote:Yeah I'm thinking I'll pass on group movie day five times a week. I think they figure people just won't watch the videos if they're not coerced.
I found a tutor for VA online who actually argues some of the lectures aren't worth watching at all given the rarity of which that subject is taught, the ease of learning, etc.
The Themis Illinois organizer said they don't have one for Fed. Tax because it hasn't been tested in 20 years.

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shepdawg

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by shepdawg » Sun May 19, 2013 10:44 pm

I was pissed when I kept getting 60 and 65's on my BarBri grades essays until someone told me that probably translates into 70 on the real exam. Is this true?

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by sublime » Sun May 19, 2013 10:48 pm

..

rad lulz

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by rad lulz » Sun May 19, 2013 11:27 pm

Thanks TSL

This actually makes me feel

Somewhat better

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thesealocust

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Sun May 19, 2013 11:37 pm

shepdawg wrote:I was pissed when I kept getting 60 and 65's on my BarBri grades essays until someone told me that probably translates into 70 on the real exam. Is this true?
It's probably not that formulaic, but yes, BarBRI tries to make everyone think they're on the verge of failure (even though most non-shitacular law schools boast very high bar passage rates; never just look at statewide - those are deflated by foreign attorneys, people who went to Cooley, etc)

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by rad lulz » Sun May 19, 2013 11:39 pm

thesealocust wrote:
shepdawg wrote:I was pissed when I kept getting 60 and 65's on my BarBri grades essays until someone told me that probably translates into 70 on the real exam. Is this true?
It's probably not that formulaic, but yes, BarBRI tries to make everyone think they're on the verge of failure (even though most non-shitacular law schools boast very high bar passage rates; never just look at statewide - those are deflated by foreign attorneys, people who went to Cooley, etc)
My school's is 98%

State is 80%

TSL this is actually very helpful

For my neuroticism

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thesealocust

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Sun May 19, 2013 11:46 pm

2% of your class is going to be unlucky, ill, injured, pregnant, suffer a death in the family, etc. It's a minimum competency test designed to (a) be very hard and (b) require a very low score to pass.

If shit happens, retaking is not a big deal. There's either no stigma, or only a vastly over-stated stigma that exists primarily in the minds of law students nervous they'll fail the bar and be excommunicated.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by sfhaze » Sun May 19, 2013 11:59 pm

thesealocust wrote:If shit happens, retaking is not a big deal. There's either no stigma, or only a vastly over-stated stigma that exists primarily in the minds of law students nervous they'll fail the bar and be excommunicated.
But this is more the case if you end up landing a job only after passing, right? Otherwise do employers typically give study time off, etc., to accommodate a retake by a recent hire?

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thesealocust

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Mon May 20, 2013 12:01 am

sfhaze wrote:
thesealocust wrote:If shit happens, retaking is not a big deal. There's either no stigma, or only a vastly over-stated stigma that exists primarily in the minds of law students nervous they'll fail the bar and be excommunicated.
But this is more the case if you end up landing a job only after passing, right? Otherwise do employers typically give study time off to accommodate a retake by a recent hire?
Basically any big law firm is fine with retaking once - they're invested in you. I've seen it happen, I've heard the speech from my firm's general counsel, etc.

It's obviously helpful to have passed the bar if you're job hunting, but that doesn't mean it's fatal not to.

People make the bar out to be this massive personal judgement. It's not. It's just a licensing test. You have to pass it to practice law, and you can pass it, so you will.

Yawn.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Joe Quincy » Mon May 20, 2013 12:02 am

This didn't help me as my school has too few take VA to release it. However, I found this http://witnesseth.typepad.com/blog/2013 ... exams.html which says VA is the #6th hardest in the nation and boasts the highest average LSAT at 163. So there's that... :?

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Mon May 20, 2013 12:07 am

Joe Quincy wrote:This didn't help me as my school has too few take VA to release it. However, I found this http://witnesseth.typepad.com/blog/2013 ... exams.html which says VA is the #6th hardest in the nation and boasts the highest average LSAT at 163. So there's that... :?
YOU ARE LITERALLY DOING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I AM TELLING YOU TO DO.

"Don't be anxious"

"BUT THESEALOCUST WHAT ABOUT ALL OF MY ANXIETY?!?! DID YOU KNOW THAT IF I FAIL THE BAR EXAM ST. PETER WON'T ALLOW ME INTO HEAVEN AND HALF LIFE 3 WILL NEVER BE RELEASED? DID YOU KNOW THAT THE VIRGINA BAR EXAM IS ACTUALLY CONDUCTED IN A PIT FULL OF SNAKES AND LAVA?"

nb: potentially an accurate description of Roanoake

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by rad lulz » Mon May 20, 2013 12:09 am

TSL how do I not be anxious

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Mon May 20, 2013 8:52 am

rad lulz wrote:TSL how do I not be anxious
You have to shut your eyes and imagine the world in which all of your anxiety comes to fruition, and realize that even if that happens, you're still the person you are, this life is still a grand adventure, and you're just generating stories to tell down the line.

You have to let your mind inhabit a universe where all of these things go down, realize how none of it will be the end of the world and how every situation can be salvaged or turned into an adventure. Life is a twisting path - you couldn't set a perfectly straight course and then follow it even if you wanted to.

Then, once you realize that you legitimately have nothing to lose, you can set about the task at hand with a clear mind.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Joe Quincy » Mon May 20, 2013 11:10 am

thesealocust wrote:
Joe Quincy wrote:This didn't help me as my school has too few take VA to release it. However, I found this http://witnesseth.typepad.com/blog/2013 ... exams.html which says VA is the #6th hardest in the nation and boasts the highest average LSAT at 163. So there's that... :?
YOU ARE LITERALLY DOING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I AM TELLING YOU TO DO.

"Don't be anxious"

"BUT THESEALOCUST WHAT ABOUT ALL OF MY ANXIETY?!?! DID YOU KNOW THAT IF I FAIL THE BAR EXAM ST. PETER WON'T ALLOW ME INTO HEAVEN AND HALF LIFE 3 WILL NEVER BE RELEASED? DID YOU KNOW THAT THE VIRGINA BAR EXAM IS ACTUALLY CONDUCTED IN A PIT FULL OF SNAKES AND LAVA?"

nb: potentially an accurate description of Roanoake
I'm really not anxious. Or at least not very much. I just didn't find the stats reassuring.

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by Bikeflip » Wed May 22, 2013 9:43 pm

Ugh. Last time into the lawl skool stress pit.

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thesealocust

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Re: PSA: your bar review courses are trying to freak you out

Post by thesealocust » Wed May 22, 2013 10:34 pm

Bikeflip wrote:Ugh. Last time into the lawl skool stress pit.
Don't worry. Practice isn't stressful at all.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
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