BarBri - NY Exam - July 2014

[anon919]

I didn't see a thread specific to this particular course AND state. I'm hoping we can make this thread a support group of sorts since we'll be covering the same material.

I wish BarBri had sent some sort of notice that we already had work to complete before our classes kick off next week. I'm covering all these intro videos now and hoping to get through the 100 question MBE Diagnostic exam between today and tomorrow.

It's going to be a fun summer.

[5ky]

I'd skip the diagnostic and use the questions later on instead of wasting them now, but that's just me. As long as you're going to follow the barbri schedule, you'll drill each MBE subject a million times anyway, so so won't really be much of an opportunity to use the results from the diagnostic in your studying. You'll know on your own towards the end which subjects you need to drill ahrder.

[Dafaq]

How is everyone scoring on their practice tests?

[anon919]

I'd skip the diagnostic and use the questions later on instead of wasting them now, but that's just me. As long as you're going to follow the barbri schedule, you'll drill each MBE subject a million times anyway, so so won't really be much of an opportunity to use the results from the diagnostic in your studying. You'll know on your own towards the end which subjects you need to drill ahrder.

Did you get this idea from a past test taker or is it wholly your approach? BarBri noted that the point is to see where you are...basically like the LSAT diag. so I'm thinking it might be best to still do it and gauge where I stand. But I totally hear ya.

[anon919]

How is everyone scoring on their practice tests?

I'll let ya know tomorrow.

[5ky]

I'd skip the diagnostic and use the questions later on instead of wasting them now, but that's just me. As long as you're going to follow the barbri schedule, you'll drill each MBE subject a million times anyway, so so won't really be much of an opportunity to use the results from the diagnostic in your studying. You'll know on your own towards the end which subjects you need to drill ahrder.

Did you get this idea from a past test taker or is it wholly your approach? BarBri noted that the point is to see where you are...basically like the LSAT diag. so I'm thinking it might be best to still do it and gauge where I stand. But I totally hear ya.

I took the NY bar last year. The diagnostic is just relatively worthless because it's subjects that you took 2-3 years ago, generally. It's not like the LSAT which is not a knowledge-based test. There's no score on the diagnostic that you could get that would make me think you couldn't pass the bar. You'll quickly get an idea after you start the program.

[waytoplant]

First time taker here and, FWIW, I took the diagnostic last week and totally bombed it. For a lot of the questions I just started laughing because I had no clue what they were asking or only vaguely remembered the terms they were using, but it gave me a good feel for the types of questions/answers to expect and helped me get back into the mindset of studying and prepping. Watching the videos where the teacher goes over the answers is also pretty helpful in jogging my memory and reminding me of some of the stuff we did 2 years ago, but you gotta do you...

Does BarBri have pre-made flashcards with the BLL on them? If not, any suggestions for good ones to buy?

[5ky]

Critical pass flash cards seem to be the most popular. I didn't end up using them much, but they are generally pretty well regarded.

[salvage]

Quick question: Obviously the box includes the NY Lecture handouts to fill in when following the online lectures, but are there supposed to be lecture handouts for the MS lectures as well? For example, on Wednesday I'm supposed to start by watching the MS Con Law I class, but I don't see any handouts to use to follow along. Am I supposed to just take my own notes? Or follow the MS Outline book? Something else?

[anon919]

Quick question: Obviously the box includes the NY Lecture handouts to fill in when following the online lectures, but are there supposed to be lecture handouts for the MS lectures as well? For example, on Wednesday I'm supposed to start by watching the MS Con Law I class, but I don't see any handouts to use to follow along. Am I supposed to just take my own notes? Or follow the MS Outline book? Something else?

There is definitely a lecture handout for MS Con Law I that has already been uploaded on the site. I just quickly accessed.

Under "Bar Review Lectures" it should be the last column on the right hand side of the screen where "MS Con Law I" is listed.

[anon919]

I'd skip the diagnostic and use the questions later on instead of wasting them now, but that's just me. As long as you're going to follow the barbri schedule, you'll drill each MBE subject a million times anyway, so so won't really be much of an opportunity to use the results from the diagnostic in your studying. You'll know on your own towards the end which subjects you need to drill ahrder.

Did you get this idea from a past test taker or is it wholly your approach? BarBri noted that the point is to see where you are...basically like the LSAT diag. so I'm thinking it might be best to still do it and gauge where I stand. But I totally hear ya.

I took the NY bar last year. The diagnostic is just relatively worthless because it's subjects that you took 2-3 years ago, generally. It's not like the LSAT which is not a knowledge-based test. There's no score on the diagnostic that you could get that would make me think you couldn't pass the bar. You'll quickly get an idea after you start the program.

Thanks for clarifying.

[salvage]

Quick question: Obviously the box includes the NY Lecture handouts to fill in when following the online lectures, but are there supposed to be lecture handouts for the MS lectures as well? For example, on Wednesday I'm supposed to start by watching the MS Con Law I class, but I don't see any handouts to use to follow along. Am I supposed to just take my own notes? Or follow the MS Outline book? Something else?

There is definitely a lecture handout for MS Con Law I that has already been uploaded on the site. I just quickly accessed.

Under "Bar Review Lectures" it should be the last column on the right hand side of the screen where "MS Con Law I" is listed.

So these are only online and not in the materials Barbri sent? Odd that they would give printed versions of the NY lecture handouts but not the MS.

[5ky]

FYI, I feel like last year, for whatever reason, the Conlaw outline was only online, and wasn't available in the book either. You could print it out if you wanted to fill it in by hand, it just wouldn't be attached with the others in that book. Every other lecture (MBE included) had theirs in the book though.

[plath]

Hi all,

I'm also taking the NY July exam. Studying with Barbri's online course from abroad. English is not my first language and I am a foreign-trained lawyer so hoping for the best but expecting the worst here I was wondering if any of the past takers have any tips on how to study and organize the material? Did you fill out the outlines on your laptop or printed them out? Did you work with the Mini Conviser during the lectures or just read it after? Did you edit you notes to a mini-version and memorized from that? Any tips would be highly appreciated. I am not familiar with much of the stuff (albeit coming from a Common Law jurisdiction) – how many times to you actually go over it? It seems from the schedule that you only study each subject once… Thanks and good luck to you all!

[waytoplant]

Critical pass flash cards seem to be the most popular. I didn't end up using them much, but they are generally pretty well regarded.

Thanks. Also, any tips on how best to use this AMP thing?

[AJS30]

Did you guys watch the review of the MBE diagnostic? Also are most people skipping the AMP stuff?

[anon919]

Did you guys watch the review of the MBE diagnostic? Also are most people skipping the AMP stuff?

I spoke to classmates. Only a few did the whole MBE. Most are working on the AMP material though.

[belowthelaw57]

I think I'm going to class tomorrow just for the hell of it b/c it's the first day just because. But can anyone say from experience whether there is any advantage? I think it may be a waste of time (in the commuting alone) especially for classes like tomorrow where the lecture is already pre-recorded.

[jets098]

I see a lot of people recommend watching the lectures and then doing practice questions related to the lectures in the afternoon. However, in the Interactive Paced Program it seems like you don't do the Studysmart MBE questions until a couple days after the lectures. My plan was just to follow the Interactive Paced Program (as closely as possible).. anybody doing anything differently?

[AJS30]

Are people making outlines from the lecture notes or note cards or just reviewing/highlighting their class notes?

I'm in the process of doing note cards right now after watching the first con law lecture, but not sure if I should do an outline also.

[AJS30]

I see a lot of people recommend watching the lectures and then doing practice questions related to the lectures in the afternoon. However, in the Interactive Paced Program it seems like you don't do the Studysmart MBE questions until a couple days after the lectures. My plan was just to follow the Interactive Paced Program (as closely as possible).. anybody doing anything differently?

For now I am going to try and follow the schedule, but that may change shortly. May do one set of those con law questions tomorrow or friday, but still haven't really done the AMP stuff, so I should probably get on that.

[smokyroom26]

I'm self-studying with last year's materials. Would anyone be willing to share the detailed study schedule/calendar?

[thetashster]

Sure. Here's a calendar to start:

--LinkRemoved--
this is for video locations. if you're online only, you can move everything up by a day.

i can't post the schedule here, but if there's a way to pm, pm me and i can send it to you via email or something.

[prs362]

Are people making outlines from the lecture notes or note cards or just reviewing/highlighting their class notes?

I'm in the process of doing note cards right now after watching the first con law lecture, but not sure if I should do an outline also.

Personally, I'm just trying to rewrite the notes, eventually by memory (which is how I studied my outlines in law school), rather than actually making an outline. No idea if this is a good approach or not, but hey, I'll find out in November.

[jets098]

Has anybody seen answers to the "Lecture Review" questions in the back of the "MBE Practice Questions" book? I noticed them today and was going to do them as some extra review but couldn't find any answers.