Seperac for NY bar exam Forum

[bmonroe]

Hello,

Has anyone used Seperac for the NY bar exam ? I recently purchased a subscription for the website and although there's a ton of useful information, it's a bit overwhelming.

For those famillar with the website, what's the best way to organize and put all of the information to use in conjunction with a bar review course ? Did you think the subscription was worth the money ?

[legalmoney]

Seperac is a great program and I believe it's the reason why I passed the bar. I found it was easier to study the rules using these outlines opposed to other courses because of the way everything is organized.

If you have the high priority topics down cold, and a general understanding of the medium priority topics the essays, and to a lesser extent the NYMC portions will be a breeze. I say this because NY repeats multiple issues every year, and by memorizing Seperac's content you're going to be able to regurgitate parts of essays without second thought. These outlines show you how to craft an issue statement, rule, analysis, and conclusion in the exact manner the BOLE is looking for. If you think about it, the information comes from the top essays for the particular rule. You can't lose.

I used Kaplan's redbook and Seperac exclusively, and when I left the exam I knew I passed.

[bmonroe]

First, thanks for replying!

Second, Joe hasn't released the master as of yet for upcoming July bar, but once he does, should I study the master and do practice essays ? I also printed a bunch of pass essays just to read what a "high scoring" answer looks like . Is that a good idea or a waste of time ?

[bluewin888]

is seperac's essay prediction accurate??

How did you find out in real exam?

Seperac is a great program and I believe it's the reason why I passed the bar. I found it was easier to study the rules using these outlines opposed to other courses because of the way everything is organized.

If you have the high priority topics down cold, and a general understanding of the medium priority topics the essays, and to a lesser extent the NYMC portions will be a breeze. I say this because NY repeats multiple issues every year, and by memorizing Seperac's content you're going to be able to regurgitate parts of essays without second thought. These outlines show you how to craft an issue statement, rule, analysis, and conclusion in the exact manner the BOLE is looking for. If you think about it, the information comes from the top essays for the particular rule. You can't lose.

I used Kaplan's redbook and Seperac exclusively, and when I left the exam I knew I passed.

[atlien]

I know, for a fact, I would not have passed the bar exam without Seperac. I found that a number of issues he flagged as high priority were indeed on the exam. My studying those issues last minute were a savior.

I started off trying to remember whole sentences verbatim from the Master Outline. Eventually, I quit doing that because I couldn't remember shit. I basically had to cram 2 months of stuff into about 5 days using a new method. It worked thanks to the info Seperac had available. But if I had known this method earlier, I would have saved myself the torture I experienced that final week. I posted info on this a week or so ago in great detail http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7#p8559877, but here's an abbreviated version of what I did:

1) I paid most attention to the Essays document and the topic sentence document for the High and Medium Priority issues.
I printed out Joe's topic sentence word document and bound it (it was 18 pages total). The topic sentence document is basically a table of contents for all the NY rules you need to know. Using the that and Joe's Essay Issues document, which is a document of all the released NY essay questions and all the above average essay answers from the last 20 years, I made acronyms and short sentences out of the phrases that were appearing the most in each of the high priority essay answers. I wrote these acronyms in the margins next to the topic sentence.

This step of reviewing the essays instead of studying his Master outline allowed me to focus on the meat of the answer. You're not going to remember his Master unless you have a photographic memory. And some of the rules in the Master are redundant and the explanations overly long and not even regularly tested based on the BOLE's released questions.

I gathered, after reviewing the actual above average answers, that the info you actually need to write on the exam is very concise and straightforward. The Master is better for a general understanding. But for memorization, stick to the rules provided in the released answers and look for commonalities. The terms common among them are the ones you should focus on memorizing to a T.

The topic sentence document with my acronyms and rephrased topic sentences was my holy grail document that I studied from most leading up to the exam.

2) Drill baby drill
Once I finished crafting this document, I drilled the acronyms and rephrased topic sentences about 6 hours/day for about 5 days. I would spend about 30-45 minutes on each page by doing a bunch of recall exercises. I spent about a minute on each rule, saying out loud what the acronym stood for or repeating the topic sentence. So if the topic was will revival, I spent a minute stating out loud the acronyms associated with will revival and saying what the acronyms mean out loud. After studying 7 rules I would take three minutes to recall all 7 rules from memory. After a couple more rounds of this, I would spend maybe 7 or 8 minutes recalling 21 rules. So it was just a constant layering of information. By having these time constraints, it forced me to think quickly in the same time limits as on the actual exam. This was remarkably effective for me. I think particularly because it was active learning. Like, I still remember some of my acronyms after all this time.

Once you've studied all 18 pages or so of this document, do it again. I could only do about two rounds studying the High Priority issues. But if I had time, I would have gone through three rounds each to study high, medium, and low priority issues. Three rounds of that would probably take 1.5-2 weeks, which is all you'd need to feel comfortable in the essay section.

Even though I only had time to drill the Medium and low priority issues once, along with two rounds of High priority issues, this was enough for me to pass because it was still fresh in my memory. I basically was able to run on autopilot and passed the exam.

[TheDogWhisperer]

how can we know this is not an ad?

[atlien]

Not sure who you're referring to, DogWhisperer, but I don't think he has any employees or budget. He works alone. Also, I think most people who advertise or are bar prep reps create accounts on TLS specifically to post ads. Check the history of when people joined and that should give you a clue. My most recent comments have been about Seperac because the Feb bar is fresh on my brain and it worked for me. But all my comments before the results came out were about other things.

[bmonroe]

I know, for a fact, I would not have passed the bar exam without Seperac. I found that a number of issues he flagged as high priority were indeed on the exam. My studying those issues last minute were a savior.

I started off trying to remember whole sentences verbatim from the Master Outline. Eventually, I quit doing that because I couldn't remember shit. I basically had to cram 2 months of stuff into about 5 days using a new method. It worked thanks to the info Seperac had available. But if I had known this method earlier, I would have saved myself the torture I experienced that final week. I posted info on this a week or so ago in great detail http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7#p8559877, but here's an abbreviated version of what I did:

1) I paid most attention to the Essays document and the topic sentence document for the High and Medium Priority issues.
I printed out Joe's topic sentence word document and bound it (it was 18 pages total). The topic sentence document is basically a table of contents for all the NY rules you need to know. Using the that and Joe's Essay Issues document, which is a document of all the released NY essay questions and all the above average essay answers from the last 20 years, I made acronyms and short sentences out of the phrases that were appearing the most in each of the high priority essay answers. I wrote these acronyms in the margins next to the topic sentence.

This step of reviewing the essays instead of studying his Master outline allowed me to focus on the meat of the answer. You're not going to remember his Master unless you have a photographic memory. And some of the rules in the Master are redundant and the explanations overly long and not even regularly tested based on the BOLE's released questions.

I gathered, after reviewing the actual above average answers, that the info you actually need to write on the exam is very concise and straightforward. The Master is better for a general understanding. But for memorization, stick to the rules provided in the released answers and look for commonalities. The terms common among them are the ones you should focus on memorizing to a T.

The topic sentence document with my acronyms and rephrased topic sentences was my holy grail document that I studied from most leading up to the exam.

2) Drill baby drill
Once I finished crafting this document, I drilled the acronyms and rephrased topic sentences about 6 hours/day for about 5 days. I would spend about 30-45 minutes on each page by doing a bunch of recall exercises. I spent about a minute on each rule, saying out loud what the acronym stood for or repeating the topic sentence. So if the topic was will revival, I spent a minute stating out loud the acronyms associated with will revival and saying what the acronyms mean out loud. After studying 7 rules I would take three minutes to recall all 7 rules from memory. After a couple more rounds of this, I would spend maybe 7 or 8 minutes recalling 21 rules. So it was just a constant layering of information. By having these time constraints, it forced me to think quickly in the same time limits as on the actual exam. This was remarkably effective for me. I think particularly because it was active learning. Like, I still remember some of my acronyms after all this time.

Once you've studied all 18 pages or so of this document, do it again. I could only do about two rounds studying the High Priority issues. But if I had time, I would have gone through three rounds each to study high, medium, and low priority issues. Three rounds of that would probably take 1.5-2 weeks, which is all you'd need to feel comfortable in the essay section.

Even though I only had time to drill the Medium and low priority issues once, along with two rounds of High priority issues, this was enough for me to pass because it was still fresh in my memory. I basically was able to run on autopilot and passed the exam.

Wow ! Sounds intense. I've printed out some examples of the "high scoring essays" and a few of the MPTs. Did you use any of his MBE outlines ?

[atlien]

Wow ! Sounds intense. I've printed out some examples of the "high scoring essays" and a few of the MPTs. Did you use any of his MBE outlines ?

Yes it was! The most intense studying of my entire life tbh. But that was the only way I could feel confident going into the exam. I was a repeater, so I did not want to take any chances. I said to myself that if I didn't pass this time I would take a looong break from the bar and pursue another career. So it was kind of all or nothing for me.

I didn't use the MBE outline really. I glanced over it, but I never really integrated it into my study since I used a ton of other materials (Mostly Themis and the Kaplan Qbank; some Emmanuel's strategies and tactics and the PMBR red book). I made my own MBE outline based on the stuff I always forgot, found tricky, or that often came up in practice qs. The MBE is so damn random sometimes, that I think doing them and getting familiar with all the different types of questions and wrong answers is the best use of time.

[atlien]

Also, while it's helpful to look at the high scoring essays BOLE released, Joe has already done this, so you don't need to waste time printing out any more. What's even more helpful is that in the MASTER outline, at the end of the discussion of any given topic, there is a hyperlinked list of all the essays that have ever appeared on that topic. Just click on the links and they'll take you to the essay question and above average answer. This is great for having some sort of order for the way you review essays.

[bmonroe]

Also, while it's helpful to look at the high scoring essays BOLE released, Joe has already done this, so you don't need to waste time printing out any more. What's even more helpful is that in the MASTER outline, at the end of the discussion of any given topic, there is a hyperlinked list of all the essays that have ever appeared on that topic. Just click on the links and they'll take you to the essay question and above average answer. This is great for having some sort of order for the way you review essays.

Perfect!!! Congrats on passing the bar and thanks for the info. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the materials on the website. I also purchased the strategies and tactics book recently. I'm taking barbri full course review and supplementing it with the kaplan quick bank questions and I also have some critical pass flash cards. That should be enough ! I'm going broke over here

[legalmoney]

First, thanks for replying!

Second, Joe hasn't released the master as of yet for upcoming July bar, but once he does, should I study the master and do practice essays ? I also printed a bunch of pass essays just to read what a "high scoring" answer looks like . Is that a good idea or a waste of time ?

Yes study the master and do practice essays. Obviously you're not going to have time to write out every single essay but you should go over every essay question for the past ten years. It's definitely not a waste of time.

[legalmoney]

From what I remember his predictions were pretty on point. I think only two issues weren't high or medium priority.

I should add I used a mixture of Kaplan and NCBE MBE questions, and the barbri outlines for the MBE portion and didn't even bother with Seperac for that part and still did well.

You have to figure out what works for you but Joe is a good guide. Just break up the subject matter, outline the essays for issue spotting practice and you'll find everything will fall into place.

I know people say this a lot but I know I would not have passed if I didn't use that outline. I was even studying during the break between essays and sure enough one of the high priority topics
was tested.

is seperac's essay prediction accurate??

How did you find out in real exam?

Seperac is a great program and I believe it's the reason why I passed the bar. I found it was easier to study the rules using these outlines opposed to other courses because of the way everything is organized.

If you have the high priority topics down cold, and a general understanding of the medium priority topics the essays, and to a lesser extent the NYMC portions will be a breeze. I say this because NY repeats multiple issues every year, and by memorizing Seperac's content you're going to be able to regurgitate parts of essays without second thought. These outlines show you how to craft an issue statement, rule, analysis, and conclusion in the exact manner the BOLE is looking for. If you think about it, the information comes from the top essays for the particular rule. You can't lose.

I used Kaplan's redbook and Seperac exclusively, and when I left the exam I knew I passed.

[legalmoney]

That was basically my bar prep. Word to the wise don't waste your time with Barbri's MBE questions. Kaplan was far and away the closest to the real thing you'll see besides the NCBE released questions.

Also, while it's helpful to look at the high scoring essays BOLE released, Joe has already done this, so you don't need to waste time printing out any more. What's even more helpful is that in the MASTER outline, at the end of the discussion of any given topic, there is a hyperlinked list of all the essays that have ever appeared on that topic. Just click on the links and they'll take you to the essay question and above average answer. This is great for having some sort of order for the way you review essays.

Perfect!!! Congrats on passing the bar and thanks for the info. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the materials on the website. I also purchased the strategies and tactics book recently. I'm taking barbri full course review and supplementing it with the kaplan quick bank questions and I also have some critical pass flash cards. That should be enough ! I'm going broke over here

[atlien]

Also, while it's helpful to look at the high scoring essays BOLE released, Joe has already done this, so you don't need to waste time printing out any more. What's even more helpful is that in the MASTER outline, at the end of the discussion of any given topic, there is a hyperlinked list of all the essays that have ever appeared on that topic. Just click on the links and they'll take you to the essay question and above average answer. This is great for having some sort of order for the way you review essays.

Perfect!!! Congrats on passing the bar and thanks for the info. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the materials on the website. I also purchased the strategies and tactics book recently. I'm taking barbri full course review and supplementing it with the kaplan quick bank questions and I also have some critical pass flash cards. That should be enough ! I'm going broke over here

Thanks. I think Emmanuel's S&T is fantastic. I didn't start using it until late my studying, but the strategies it presents before each MBE subject really helped put some things in perspective and the explanations were the best of any MBE tool I'd used.

I perhaps went a bit overboard with all my extra material, but it sounds like you're doing just enough.Good luck to you! If you need any more help navigating the Seperac stuff, which I agree is overwhelming at first, feel free to PM me!

[bmonroe]

Thanks everyone!!! I will definitely go back over this thread and write down the tips.

[bmonroe]

Also, while it's helpful to look at the high scoring essays BOLE released, Joe has already done this, so you don't need to waste time printing out any more. What's even more helpful is that in the MASTER outline, at the end of the discussion of any given topic, there is a hyperlinked list of all the essays that have ever appeared on that topic. Just click on the links and they'll take you to the essay question and above average answer. This is great for having some sort of order for the way you review essays.

Perfect!!! Congrats on passing the bar and thanks for the info. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the materials on the website. I also purchased the strategies and tactics book recently. I'm taking barbri full course review and supplementing it with the kaplan quick bank questions and I also have some critical pass flash cards. That should be enough ! I'm going broke over here

Thanks. I think Emmanuel's S&T is fantastic. I didn't start using it until late my studying, but the strategies it presents before each MBE subject really helped put some things in perspective and the explanations were the best of any MBE tool I'd used.

I perhaps went a bit overboard with all my extra material, but it sounds like you're doing just enough.Good luck to you! If you need any more help navigating the Seperac stuff, which I agree is overwhelming at first, feel free to PM me!

Thank you ! I will be sure to take you up on that offer if needed

[JulyNYbar]

I subscribed to Seperac for the Feb. 2015 NY Bar Exam, and the materials were extremely helpful. Since I bought one subscription, I have decided to sell only one set of Seperac materials (from Feb. 2015).

I will sell the complete set of Seperac notes for $90 (or the best offer received), via paypal.
Email me if you are interested: JulyNYbar@gmail.com

Good luck to all those preparing and studying.

[victortsoi]

looked at the site, seems insane that he asks for our bole number. seems shady...

[bmonroe]

I subscribed to Seperac for the Feb. 2015 NY Bar Exam, and the materials were extremely helpful. Since I bought one subscription, I have decided to sell only one set of Seperac materials (from Feb. 2015).

I will sell the complete set of Seperac notes for $90 (or the best offer received), via paypal.
Email me if you are interested: JulyNYbar@gmail.com

Good luck to all those preparing and studying.

How did you incorporate the materials ?