July 2014 New York Bar Exam Forum

[Codicil]

I figure it's not too early to start the thread seeing as my Kaplan books arrived yesterday.

I'll be studying in Boston and, as I have no NY residence, expect to take the exam in Albany. Am I the only one who is actually looking forward to studying for the bar exam after classes are over?

[northwood]

Here's to the start of the bar exam nightmares.

[IFoughtTheLaw]

For those registering for the exam, note that they e-mail you your password in plain text. In other words, they have extremely poor password security, and I would highly recommend not using any of your standard password on their website, but a bar-specific password.

[thegrayman]

And so it begins

[PennBull]

sup

[smokyroom26]

do not want.

[northwood]

did anyone get their confirmation/ test center information from BOLE yet? Does it come via USPS or by e-mail?

[Bigbub75]

do not want.

[northwood]

Just in case you may be wondering: For those that signed up for the NY bar and will be graduating later this month- the BOLE certificate of attendance and handwriting sample form will be emailed to you within the next two weeks. If you got an email about using a laptop for the essay portion of the exam today, take it as a sign that you have successfully completed and submitted your application. But as a friendly reminder, you have until May 29th at 4:30PM EST to complete all four parts of the installation process, or you will be ineligible to use a laptop on the exam.

[5ky]

did anyone get their confirmation/ test center information from BOLE yet? Does it come via USPS or by e-mail?

It comes by email. Last year it didnt' come until June

[kapital98]

Checking in. Glad to see familiar faces and new ones!

I'm taking Themis.

[JenDarby]

I'm doing Kaplan, and the diagnostic MBE questions are putting me to sleep at work.

[nowinGA]

I am doing Themis and plan to do the directed study for NY, starting on May 21. Actually looking forward to getting started - and being done - with this whole thing. Bring it.

[reasonable_man]

I passed NY in 08' with a very high MBE. I took studying very seriously and treated it like a job. Several years later I passed NJ with about 3-days of studying (and a VERY low MBE score). I'm happy to answer questions.

[northwood]

I passed NY in 08' with a very high MBE. I took studying very seriously and treated it like a job. Several years later I passed NJ with about 3-days of studying (and a VERY low MBE score). I'm happy to answer questions.

What was your typical day like? Did you find typing or handwriting notes to be easier ( im doing pieper). Did you do a lot of essays, MBE each day? Also how did you plan out studying for the 2 weeks before the bar.


Thanks for taking the time to answer questions.

[kapital98]

I passed NY in 08' with a very high MBE. I took studying very seriously and treated it like a job. Several years later I passed NJ with about 3-days of studying (and a VERY low MBE score). I'm happy to answer questions.

What was your typical day like? Did you find typing or handwriting notes to be easier ( im doing pieper). Did you do a lot of essays, MBE each day? Also how did you plan out studying for the 2 weeks before the bar.


Thanks for taking the time to answer questions.

[reasonable_man]

No problem at all. I know how stressful this is going to be for you guys.

I took Pieper too (for NY). Pieper People Pass

My average day looked like this:

Mon to Fri:
Get up, quick breakfast and then off to class
9 to 1 (ish) listened closely and typed notes for the entire class. Basically, when he said "rule" I wrote down what he said. If you typed notes in law school and plan on typing your exam answers, then type. If you hand wrote during law school and plan on hand writing your exam, then stick to that. Don't change what works for you now.

At the end of class, I would work out for about an hour and have a quick lunch - something healthy.

After that, I would go to the library and study from about 3 till about 8 or 9. During that time, I would spend a block of time reviewing what happened in class that day (small block), another block of time doing the assignment for tomorrow. The most important block of time each day was the time I spent doing 30 to 50 MBE practice questions timed. I did this every day (I took PMBR, now Kaplan, just to get my hands on extra MBE questions). Do 30 to 50 MBE questions a day. You will become a machine. This is so very key to passing on your first try. If I had to cut anything out (time-wise) believe it or not, what got cut were the assignments (because they cover everything thats assigned in class anyway). I did practice essays (but only the ones that were handed in to be graded). I did not do any extras and instead focused on other study methods.

On Saturday I would spend a half to a full day studying. I did not roll on the Sabbath and so Sunday was usually a free-day or a very light study day.

I definitely had some slack off days up until July 4th (and I chilled and drank during our Nation's birthday for sure). This is fine, so long as you really lock it in after July 4th.

The 2 or 3 days before the exam I got my uncle, smart guy - non-lawyer, to sit down with me and quiz me on random stuff in my outlines. This was something that I think really helped.

[JoanSloan]

It comes by email. Last year it didnt' come until June

So how do people go about travel & accommodation?

A lot of people I know already booked hotel rooms and flights. When I called the hotline I was told there's no way to predict whether Albany or Buffalo will be filled to capacity for out-of-state test takers.

From word of mouth it seems like Albany is where everyone books, anyways. Am I missing something? I wonder if you just have to take a leap of faith that Albany will be available come July.

[5ky]

It comes by email. Last year it didnt' come until June

So how do people go about travel & accommodation?

A lot of people I know already booked hotel rooms and flights. When I called the hotline I was told there's no way to predict whether Albany or Buffalo will be filled to capacity for out-of-state test takers.

From word of mouth it seems like Albany is where everyone books, anyways. Am I missing something? I wonder if you just have to take a leap of faith that Albany will be available come July.

I booked refundable hotels in both Buffalo and Albany, and then canceled the one I didn't need. Seemed to be pretty common to me -- when I called to cancel the reservation I didn't need, the woman asked if I wasn't taking the bar exam in that city. It's my recommendation to go ahead and do that now so you don't have to worry about it later, but that's just me.

I don't think Albany is where everybody books at all. There were like three thousand people in Buffalo I believe.

[shock259]

Finally got my Kaplan materials. Class starts in about a week. Eek. Not ready for this. Do not want.

[AJS30]

I am starting to get nervous about timing on the NY day. Maybe I'm just thinking about longer fact patterns on law school exams, but I feel like I'm really going to struggle with doing 3 essays and 50 multiple choice within 3 hours and 15 minutes. I feel like on essay/mc exams in school there would only be about 10-15 multiple choice questions, if that.

[5ky]

The NYMC are not particularly easy. They were, however, very easy to read. By that I mean the question was immediately apparent, unlike MBE questions. You could read t in a few seconds and then pick your answer/make your guess. I doubt I did all that well on them, but I was able to finish them in about 50 minutes.

[northwood]

Anyone know where to get some good practice NY specific multiple choice questions? Particularly by civ pro?

[5ky]

Anyone know where to get some good practice NY specific multiple choice questions? Particularly by civ pro?

I actually don't know of any, but I think that would be a waste of time. You'll get more mileage out of using that time to do (i) MBE questions and (ii) studying the state subjects for the essays. You'll have to learn a shit-ton of NY Practice for the essays anyway. Just accept you'll get like 25-30 out of 50 correct and call it a day. The Barbri NYMC are NOTHING like actual thing. (the MBE, however, were extremely good, I thought; i couldn't tell a difference at all)

[AJS30]

Anyone know where to get some good practice NY specific multiple choice questions? Particularly by civ pro?

I actually don't know of any, but I think that would be a waste of time. You'll get more mileage out of using that time to do (i) MBE questions and (ii) studying the state subjects for the essays. You'll have to learn a shit-ton of NY Practice for the essays anyway. Just accept you'll get like 25-30 out of 50 correct and call it a day. The Barbri NYMC are NOTHING like actual thing. (the MBE, however, were extremely good, I thought; i couldn't tell a difference at all)

Do you think the Barbri MBE questions were sufficient or should I purchase additional materials?