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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Neilt001 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:51 pm

sproutz wrote:
dlrkgml wrote:Feeling pretty demoralized :( My MBE PQ scores don't seem to be able to escape the 55% range. I listen to the lectures, do the handouts, and use critical pass flash cards - I stopped taking my time to diligently read through the long outline because my Themis advisor told me I could do without it if I focused on the other aspects of studying.

I do fine on questions that focus on the more general ideas, but I bomb the extremely nuanced questions that have answers only in the long outlines. Any suggestions?
Obviously everyone learns differently, but what's been really working for me is writing out by hand a one sentence rule for each MBE question I miss while I am practicing. I've found that even the nit-picky small rules actually come up again and again, either as the answer to the question or with one of the incorrect answer choices.
Whenever I sit down to do a practice MBE set, I have a legal pad in front of me and either put a tick mark for the questions I get right (and quickly skim the answer explanation) or read the answer explanation thoroughly, decide where my thought process went wrong, and use the explanation to write out the rule in one sentence. Then, before I do my next set for that subject, I can quickly read over the rules that I missed last time. I've really found that once I write it out by hand, I never miss it again. (And I've been averaging like 75-80% on MBE sets by the end of each subject.)
I always recommend this. Write down all rules you didn't know (whether you got the MBE PQ wrong, or whether you were right but it was a fluke). Not only does writing the rule help reinforce it, but they're helpful for studying.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by 2015_Splitter » Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:21 pm

studying4bar wrote:
2015_Splitter wrote:
studying4bar wrote:
frqw9201 wrote:
studying4bar wrote:
frqw9201 wrote:Send a complaint about this in the message center to both customer service and study strategies. I have send them emails but they are saying there is no problem. Maybe if they get 10 complaints they will finally realize something is wrong.
I know the regional director, I think I'm going to e-mail her and see if there is anything she can do because I feel like complaints from the message center get answers by customer service people that can only relay the messages and state that they will do so, but maybe if a regional director says something or hears about it...well, there's hope
already contacted my regional director, hasn't responded yet though seeing as its the weekend
Yeah, I might try Monday or wait for them to respond to my messages because I just sent two and explained that the handout has problems and the structure just seems off and requested access to Schotts 2016 materials because I would rather run the risk of something having changed in the past 2 years than take the exam on test day with my alleged knowledge of what I should know based on this dude.
The first chapter is rough. However, it gets a lot better and starts to follow along. I tried contacting Themis to see if they could give me a lecture handout that was pre-filled, but no luck. They said they didn't have a pre-filled out lecture handout. I had to go to the outline a couple of times to find the blanks. Ide-Don's MEE workshop really helps as well. Overall, the first one is terrible, but gets significantly better.
So funny you said that, I definitely think the essay lecture helps understand evidence so that is an asset, and yeah I am still waiting on 1 response but in the first, they essentially told me they would not make past videos or lecture handouts available to me. So, I went for a ride last night and my cousin lent me his handout. To be honest, they were a little bit rude in their phrasing. I told them how I knew Schott didn't organize it that way and have poor lecture handouts and that I took evidence in law school and was a rep for another company for all 3 years which I got free access to but ended up switching because it just was not the program for me when it came time to make a final decision, so I leveraged my former position with Themis and since I technically finished my law school requirements (except 1) by december because I was trying for the pro bono scholars february exam but I digress. Anyway, I told them that I knew schott was solid and that I know this other company that I represented and my law school professor all presented evidence in a certain order that they all more or less followed.

They responded with a blunt "read the outline if you find this lecturer unhelpful," and they are "aware of the general way evidence is presented for the company I supposedly was a rep for," and will note my comments but they couldn't get me access to Schott or his handout. I'm actually looking forward to touching base with the director because these companies make a pretty penny off of us and definitely should not be rude and have to be able to come up with a better solution than telling people to read the long outline. Funny thing is, my regional director WAS my former boss at the other company in my first year, left my second, and when her non-compete was up, Themis jumped at the opportunity and grabbed her. So, since I know her personally, I am pretty confident that while she may not be able to render assistance due to perhaps a stupid policy or maybe themis and the lecturer have rights to the old lecture handout, I dont know, but she will not be happy when I forward along my screenshot of my message and the response I got.

Oh, man - that's crazy they were so rude. They were mostly just unhelpful to me. It kind of sucks because I never took evidence in law school, and I'm learning all this for the first time. Hopefully, I've been creating flash cards out of the long outlines - so hopefully that's good enough for the Bar.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by studying4bar » Mon Jun 11, 2018 2:05 pm

2015_Splitter wrote:
studying4bar wrote:
2015_Splitter wrote:
studying4bar wrote:
frqw9201 wrote:
studying4bar wrote:
frqw9201 wrote:Send a complaint about this in the message center to both customer service and study strategies. I have send them emails but they are saying there is no problem. Maybe if they get 10 complaints they will finally realize something is wrong.
I know the regional director, I think I'm going to e-mail her and see if there is anything she can do because I feel like complaints from the message center get answers by customer service people that can only relay the messages and state that they will do so, but maybe if a regional director says something or hears about it...well, there's hope
already contacted my regional director, hasn't responded yet though seeing as its the weekend
Yeah, I might try Monday or wait for them to respond to my messages because I just sent two and explained that the handout has problems and the structure just seems off and requested access to Schotts 2016 materials because I would rather run the risk of something having changed in the past 2 years than take the exam on test day with my alleged knowledge of what I should know based on this dude.
The first chapter is rough. However, it gets a lot better and starts to follow along. I tried contacting Themis to see if they could give me a lecture handout that was pre-filled, but no luck. They said they didn't have a pre-filled out lecture handout. I had to go to the outline a couple of times to find the blanks. Ide-Don's MEE workshop really helps as well. Overall, the first one is terrible, but gets significantly better.
So funny you said that, I definitely think the essay lecture helps understand evidence so that is an asset, and yeah I am still waiting on 1 response but in the first, they essentially told me they would not make past videos or lecture handouts available to me. So, I went for a ride last night and my cousin lent me his handout. To be honest, they were a little bit rude in their phrasing. I told them how I knew Schott didn't organize it that way and have poor lecture handouts and that I took evidence in law school and was a rep for another company for all 3 years which I got free access to but ended up switching because it just was not the program for me when it came time to make a final decision, so I leveraged my former position with Themis and since I technically finished my law school requirements (except 1) by december because I was trying for the pro bono scholars february exam but I digress. Anyway, I told them that I knew schott was solid and that I know this other company that I represented and my law school professor all presented evidence in a certain order that they all more or less followed.

They responded with a blunt "read the outline if you find this lecturer unhelpful," and they are "aware of the general way evidence is presented for the company I supposedly was a rep for," and will note my comments but they couldn't get me access to Schott or his handout. I'm actually looking forward to touching base with the director because these companies make a pretty penny off of us and definitely should not be rude and have to be able to come up with a better solution than telling people to read the long outline. Funny thing is, my regional director WAS my former boss at the other company in my first year, left my second, and when her non-compete was up, Themis jumped at the opportunity and grabbed her. So, since I know her personally, I am pretty confident that while she may not be able to render assistance due to perhaps a stupid policy or maybe themis and the lecturer have rights to the old lecture handout, I dont know, but she will not be happy when I forward along my screenshot of my message and the response I got.

Oh, man - that's crazy they were so rude. They were mostly just unhelpful to me. It kind of sucks because I never took evidence in law school, and I'm learning all this for the first time. Hopefully, I've been creating flash cards out of the long outlines - so hopefully that's good enough for the Bar.
Interesting update: I just got my second response via the message center and was sent the completed and allegedly appropriately phrased/worded pdf so I guess I do not need to e-mail the director because now I have two handouts - one from my cousin and one from Themis with this new lecturer.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by 2015_Splitter » Mon Jun 11, 2018 2:45 pm

Interesting update: I just got my second response via the message center and was sent the completed and allegedly appropriately phrased/worded pdf so I guess I do not need to e-mail the director because now I have two handouts - one from my cousin and one from Themis with this new lecturer.

I don't even need to look at it, and I can almost guarantee it's the same handout that was available to through the link next to the video lectures. If I'm wrong though and you have a better outline, please share the love.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Auxilio » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:12 pm

Question for you all, how long do you take per MBE PQ? It gives like 1:18 I think but I'm usually finished well under half the time (obviously in a test case that would go up since I don't get a pause everytime I submit an answer but still). Also if I was doing it for hours straight I would slow down a bit.

Is that unusual or do most people feel pretty good about the time limit (if not the subject matter yet).

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Ohnt » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:28 pm

abogado2018 wrote:37% here. I started a few days early in the official schedule. I'm really confused about what the "suggested pace" means and how closely we should be sticking to it. Yesterday my suggested pace was +1.4%, today it jumped up to +1.8%, and tomorrow is 1%. I don't get it.

Been wondering too!

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by longwait » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:45 pm

Ohnt wrote:
abogado2018 wrote:37% here. I started a few days early in the official schedule. I'm really confused about what the "suggested pace" means and how closely we should be sticking to it. Yesterday my suggested pace was +1.4%, today it jumped up to +1.8%, and tomorrow is 1%. I don't get it.

Been wondering too!
Happened to me too.
I think the suggested pace tries to balance how much you need to do per day with the stuff that they suggest needs to done on the same day or done before moving on--for example a practice exam and the review video.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Findedeux » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:35 pm

lawbug123 wrote:Yeah, the percentage seems so arbitrary. Started studying in mid-May (though not consistently) and the exam is in July! :| But I'm taking the Illinois Bar - so its not as hard as the NY and CA bar folks.
Well NY is UBE and I believe (you would know better) its passing score is the same as Illinois (266).

I don't know about CA.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Findedeux » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:39 pm

Auxilio wrote:Question for you all, how long do you take per MBE PQ? It gives like 1:18 I think but I'm usually finished well under half the time (obviously in a test case that would go up since I don't get a pause everytime I submit an answer but still). Also if I was doing it for hours straight I would slow down a bit.

Is that unusual or do most people feel pretty good about the time limit (if not the subject matter yet).
I think you mean 1:48 not 1:18.

I am much faster on some subjects (like criminal law and procedure, constitutional law) than others (property, contracts).

I finished with about 10 minutes to spare with the practice exam.

Overall, though, I need most of the time they give me and I definitely go over on property.

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dabigchina

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by dabigchina » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:41 pm

Auxilio wrote:Question for you all, how long do you take per MBE PQ? It gives like 1:18 I think but I'm usually finished well under half the time (obviously in a test case that would go up since I don't get a pause everytime I submit an answer but still). Also if I was doing it for hours straight I would slow down a bit.

Is that unusual or do most people feel pretty good about the time limit (if not the subject matter yet).
Same here. The only problems I have with time are on really complicated property questions with a bunch of conveyances.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Transfer2016 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:49 pm

Findedeux wrote:
lawbug123 wrote:Yeah, the percentage seems so arbitrary. Started studying in mid-May (though not consistently) and the exam is in July! :| But I'm taking the Illinois Bar - so its not as hard as the NY and CA bar folks.
Well NY is UBE and I believe (you would know better) its passing score is the same as Illinois (266).

I don't know about CA.

I think they raised the IL passing score to 268 for July 2018.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by l18 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 6:43 pm

studying4bar wrote:
l18 wrote:So I am about 50 tasks behind from their PDF schedule (last task today is to read the remedies outline). Is it possible to catch up by the end of the month if I kill myself studying?

I know it matters what I actually learn but the last couple of weeks some things have come up and I am finally in a good position to study. I know I've messed up so far but really hoping I don't have to postpone the exam. Taking the CA bar.
I know Cali is a different ballgame in a lot of senses, but I would not grow too concerned and you needn't kill yourself over studying. I would just set a goal for yourself of a certain % per day or draw up a schedule where you add one or two additional tasks in a day. I also concur with the cutting out the long outlines statement, look over the FRO's and if there is something that doesn't make sense after your lecture then go to the big outline.
Thanks, appreciate the advice!

Have to say, this is definitely an up and down game for me. One day I am like I can do this! Next day total opposite. Have to find a middle ground haha

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by sproutz » Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:04 pm

lawbug123 wrote:What percentage is everyone at now? I finally made it to 15%. lol
I'm at 33.2%. Still a few days behind the Themis schedule. Does anyone else find it really annoying that Themis still puts graded essays, etc. on your schedule, without adjusting to make sure you've finished the work you need to do first before taking them? In order to submit all of the graded essays and take the practice exam on time, I've been skipping around a little bit on my own.
Now, since I'm almost caught up, I can't decide whether I should just do the assignments for the day on the master schedule to keep pace, and add on one or two skipped assignments to catch up, or just keep going with what Themis assigns for the day and basically never fully catch up to the schedule...

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by BasilHallward » Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:18 pm

sproutz wrote:
lawbug123 wrote:What percentage is everyone at now? I finally made it to 15%. lol
I'm at 33.2%. Still a few days behind the Themis schedule. Does anyone else find it really annoying that Themis still puts graded essays, etc. on your schedule, without adjusting to make sure you've finished the work you need to do first before taking them? In order to submit all of the graded essays and take the practice exam on time, I've been skipping around a little bit on my own.
Now, since I'm almost caught up, I can't decide whether I should just do the assignments for the day on the master schedule to keep pace, and add on one or two skipped assignments to catch up, or just keep going with what Themis assigns for the day and basically never fully catch up to the schedule...
^^^^^ This. It's super annoying. I just stick to the Master Schedule and monitor how far behind I am from there. I'm at 28%, so about 6 days behind.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Ohnt » Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:31 pm

Neilt001 wrote:
sproutz wrote:
dlrkgml wrote:Feeling pretty demoralized :( My MBE PQ scores don't seem to be able to escape the 55% range. I listen to the lectures, do the handouts, and use critical pass flash cards - I stopped taking my time to diligently read through the long outline because my Themis advisor told me I could do without it if I focused on the other aspects of studying.

I do fine on questions that focus on the more general ideas, but I bomb the extremely nuanced questions that have answers only in the long outlines. Any suggestions?
Obviously everyone learns differently, but what's been really working for me is writing out by hand a one sentence rule for each MBE question I miss while I am practicing. I've found that even the nit-picky small rules actually come up again and again, either as the answer to the question or with one of the incorrect answer choices.
Whenever I sit down to do a practice MBE set, I have a legal pad in front of me and either put a tick mark for the questions I get right (and quickly skim the answer explanation) or read the answer explanation thoroughly, decide where my thought process went wrong, and use the explanation to write out the rule in one sentence. Then, before I do my next set for that subject, I can quickly read over the rules that I missed last time. I've really found that once I write it out by hand, I never miss it again. (And I've been averaging like 75-80% on MBE sets by the end of each subject.)
I always recommend this. Write down all rules you didn't know (whether you got the MBE PQ wrong, or whether you were right but it was a fluke). Not only does writing the rule help reinforce it, but they're helpful for studying.
Tried his and it takes sooo much time. Is nt equally helpful to print out the review and then highlight the rules?

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Ohnt » Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:32 pm

lawbug123 wrote:What percentage is everyone at now? I finally made it to 15%. lol

0% progress today. Was reviewing areas I didn’t understand.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Auxilio » Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:14 pm

I've been procrastinating it, but finally did the California Torts graded essay (the crazy one with aliens). I did absolutely horrible on it, spent ages talking about negligence, didn't talk about insanity (cause it never came up earlier that I've noticed with torts) etc.

Really anxiously awaiting to see if I'll still get "60/100"

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by frqw9201 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:28 pm

anyone know how to get the Final Review outlines off my list of tasks, can I mark them as complete if its not the first thing on the list?

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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Neilt001 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:32 am

Ohnt wrote:
Neilt001 wrote:
sproutz wrote:
dlrkgml wrote:Feeling pretty demoralized :( My MBE PQ scores don't seem to be able to escape the 55% range. I listen to the lectures, do the handouts, and use critical pass flash cards - I stopped taking my time to diligently read through the long outline because my Themis advisor told me I could do without it if I focused on the other aspects of studying.

I do fine on questions that focus on the more general ideas, but I bomb the extremely nuanced questions that have answers only in the long outlines. Any suggestions?
Obviously everyone learns differently, but what's been really working for me is writing out by hand a one sentence rule for each MBE question I miss while I am practicing. I've found that even the nit-picky small rules actually come up again and again, either as the answer to the question or with one of the incorrect answer choices.
Whenever I sit down to do a practice MBE set, I have a legal pad in front of me and either put a tick mark for the questions I get right (and quickly skim the answer explanation) or read the answer explanation thoroughly, decide where my thought process went wrong, and use the explanation to write out the rule in one sentence. Then, before I do my next set for that subject, I can quickly read over the rules that I missed last time. I've really found that once I write it out by hand, I never miss it again. (And I've been averaging like 75-80% on MBE sets by the end of each subject.)
I always recommend this. Write down all rules you didn't know (whether you got the MBE PQ wrong, or whether you were right but it was a fluke). Not only does writing the rule help reinforce it, but they're helpful for studying.
Tried his and it takes sooo much time. Is nt equally helpful to print out the review and then highlight the rules?
I think locating the rules in the outlines and printing each time would take longer than writing down? (And I mean just write a succinct statement of the rule, nothing too long). It didn't take me long, and the act of writing itself helps with memorization. It also allowed me to then go through and read all the rules I previously struggled with, to really reinforce them, rather than just going over the outline which, let's face it, will be completely highlighted by the end of the study haha.

But your method is fine too I reckon. As long as you have a system of ensuring you don't make the same mistake twice, and learn from your mistakes, you're good.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by studying4bar » Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:39 am

2015_Splitter wrote:
Interesting update: I just got my second response via the message center and was sent the completed and allegedly appropriately phrased/worded pdf so I guess I do not need to e-mail the director because now I have two handouts - one from my cousin and one from Themis with this new lecturer.

I don't even need to look at it, and I can almost guarantee it's the same handout that was available to through the link next to the video lectures. If I'm wrong though and you have a better outline, please share the love.
Hmm. The handout next to the lecture that was updated/the handout in the handout library have blanks in them, for me. I am saying that they sent me a pdf with the correct phrasing/blanks filled in. Is that available to you already? It hasn't shown up for me.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by juliejul » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:10 pm

I haven't read the whole thread, but I just wanted to pop in with my own Themis experience/pep talk.

I used Themis to study for the Feb '18 UBE. I graduated law school in 2010 and passed the CA bar after taking Barbri, but I felt like I was pretty much starting from scratch this time due to the time that had passed since law school and my last exam. Debated using a bar prep program vs. studying myself, but ended up getting the public interest discount with Themis (I'm clerking) so I gave it a shot.

I started early, around Thanksgiving, because I was working full-time (9-5 with no evenings/weekends luckily) and have a toddler at home. I took the Friday and Monday before the exam off work (and stopped studying around noon on Monday, got a massage, and had a nice meal), but that was it. I could have taken more unpaid time, but I figured if I wasn't prepared a week before the exam, that extra week of studying probably wouldn't help me.

In the beginning I just did as much as I could when I could, then starting around January my schedule was: study during lunch at work (~1 hour), study from ~7:30-10:30pm-ish, then study on the weekends from about 6am-midday, so I could have the rest of the afternoon for family time. I definitely took some days off studying, and studied for less time on some days, but overall I was pretty disciplined. I'm not going to lie, it sucked and I was super worn down toward the end. I realized how spoiled I was studying the first time, when I got to study full-time with no major family distractions, with a study stipend from my firm.

I basically made up my own schedule rather than following the suggested Themis schedule - I found that it was more effective for me to watch lectures/outline on the weekends, and do practice questions during the week. I was able to complete most of the program (I think I ended up over 85% but I don't actually remember) - with the caveat that I didn't actually read ANY of the long outlines because I have a hard time retaining information that way (I just checked them off to get my % completion up). At a certain point I also stopped filling in the lecture handouts, and instead typed up my own outlines as I was watching the lectures to help retain the information. Toward the end of my study time, I reviewed my outlines and condensed them into very short summaries of information I was having a hard time retaining. For the most part I didn't write out many full essays, just outlined them. I did quite a few practice MPT's, because I figured this was an area I could score some easy points on if I was well-prepared. I didn't use any other bar prep materials because I just didn't have the time.

I didn't do terribly well on the graded practice essays, and my MBE practice sets were typically in the 60-65% range.

I ended up with a 323 on the UBE (160.6 MBE). I've always done really well on standardized tests (sorry to be that obnoxious person) but I was honestly pretty surprised how high I scored, given that I didn't feel overly prepared.

So - long story short - I didn't study full time, and still managed to over-study. I felt like Themis prepared me really well in the relatively limited time I had to study. If you're not scoring very well on the practices, it's really not the end of the world, just keep chugging along and don't panic.

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by abogado2018 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:43 pm

juliejul wrote:I haven't read the whole thread, but I just wanted to pop in with my own Themis experience/pep talk.

I used Themis to study for the Feb '18 UBE. I graduated law school in 2010 and passed the CA bar after taking Barbri, but I felt like I was pretty much starting from scratch this time due to the time that had passed since law school and my last exam. Debated using a bar prep program vs. studying myself, but ended up getting the public interest discount with Themis (I'm clerking) so I gave it a shot.

I started early, around Thanksgiving, because I was working full-time (9-5 with no evenings/weekends luckily) and have a toddler at home. I took the Friday and Monday before the exam off work (and stopped studying around noon on Monday, got a massage, and had a nice meal), but that was it. I could have taken more unpaid time, but I figured if I wasn't prepared a week before the exam, that extra week of studying probably wouldn't help me.

In the beginning I just did as much as I could when I could, then starting around January my schedule was: study during lunch at work (~1 hour), study from ~7:30-10:30pm-ish, then study on the weekends from about 6am-midday, so I could have the rest of the afternoon for family time. I definitely took some days off studying, and studied for less time on some days, but overall I was pretty disciplined. I'm not going to lie, it sucked and I was super worn down toward the end. I realized how spoiled I was studying the first time, when I got to study full-time with no major family distractions, with a study stipend from my firm.

I basically made up my own schedule rather than following the suggested Themis schedule - I found that it was more effective for me to watch lectures/outline on the weekends, and do practice questions during the week. I was able to complete most of the program (I think I ended up over 85% but I don't actually remember) - with the caveat that I didn't actually read ANY of the long outlines because I have a hard time retaining information that way (I just checked them off to get my % completion up). At a certain point I also stopped filling in the lecture handouts, and instead typed up my own outlines as I was watching the lectures to help retain the information. Toward the end of my study time, I reviewed my outlines and condensed them into very short summaries of information I was having a hard time retaining. For the most part I didn't write out many full essays, just outlined them. I did quite a few practice MPT's, because I figured this was an area I could score some easy points on if I was well-prepared. I didn't use any other bar prep materials because I just didn't have the time.

I didn't do terribly well on the graded practice essays, and my MBE practice sets were typically in the 60-65% range.

I ended up with a 323 on the UBE (160.6 MBE). I've always done really well on standardized tests (sorry to be that obnoxious person) but I was honestly pretty surprised how high I scored, given that I didn't feel overly prepared.

So - long story short - I didn't study full time, and still managed to over-study. I felt like Themis prepared me really well in the relatively limited time I had to study. If you're not scoring very well on the practices, it's really not the end of the world, just keep chugging along and don't panic.
Thanks for your two cents here. I've been hearing a lot of Themis (and even Barbri) takers who struggle to crack the low 60's range in the practice MBE questions and then go on to exceed their expectations on the actual MBE. I'm wondering why that is. Did you get a sense of whether the Themis practice MBE questions are just harder than the real thing? It's drilled into our head that we need (for CA) to be hitting ~67% to be on track to pass, but I just don't see that happening any time soon, if at all.

juliejul

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by juliejul » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:30 pm

I personally thought the practice questions were much harder than the actual MBE - to the extent that on MBE day I was a little unsettled by how easy I thought it was. I figured I must be missing something. I think my scaled score means I actually got about 75%+ of the real MBE questions correct (someone correct me if I'm wrong), and I NEVER EVER scored that high on my practice sets.

When I took the CA bar in 2010, I thought the MBE was HARD and left feeling horrible about it. I took barbri that time, but also didn't do hardly any practice questions (I was young and stupid) so that may have been more my fault than barbri. CA doesn't give you your score if you pass, so I have no idea how I actually did on the MBE that time.

LawIsLyfe33

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by LawIsLyfe33 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:32 pm

juliejul wrote:I personally thought the practice questions were much harder than the actual MBE - to the extent that on MBE day I was a little unsettled by how easy I thought it was. I figured I must be missing something. I think my scaled score means I actually got about 75%+ of the real MBE questions correct (someone correct me if I'm wrong), and I NEVER EVER scored that high on my practice sets.

When I took the CA bar in 2010, I thought the MBE was HARD and left feeling horrible about it. I took barbri that time, but also didn't do hardly any practice questions (I was young and stupid) so that may have been more my fault than barbri. CA doesn't give you your score if you pass, so I have no idea how I actually did on the MBE that time.
Thanks for your telling your experience! I'd love to hear from more people on how they thought the Themis MBE questions compared to the actual questions on test day. And if you remember what you were averaging in Themis on MBE questions and what score you got on the actual exam.

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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION

Post by Neilt001 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:46 pm

LawIsLyfe33 wrote:
juliejul wrote:I personally thought the practice questions were much harder than the actual MBE - to the extent that on MBE day I was a little unsettled by how easy I thought it was. I figured I must be missing something. I think my scaled score means I actually got about 75%+ of the real MBE questions correct (someone correct me if I'm wrong), and I NEVER EVER scored that high on my practice sets.

When I took the CA bar in 2010, I thought the MBE was HARD and left feeling horrible about it. I took barbri that time, but also didn't do hardly any practice questions (I was young and stupid) so that may have been more my fault than barbri. CA doesn't give you your score if you pass, so I have no idea how I actually did on the MBE that time.
Thanks for your telling your experience! I'd love to hear from more people on how they thought the Themis MBE questions compared to the actual questions on test day. And if you remember what you were averaging in Themis on MBE questions and what score you got on the actual exam.
Personally I couldn't tell a difference between the Themis and test day questions. In fact, I purchased an NCBE PQ bundle at one point and realized a bunch of the questions I had already done on Themis. So themis actually uses some NCBE questions and also invents its own.

I was averaging about 65-68% during my Themis study and couldn't really get any higher than that. Ended up with a 75% MBE on test day (equivalent to the 85th percentile for MBE) so I think Themis should prepare you well.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


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