THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019 Forum

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Neilt001

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THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:50 pm

Hi all, I know it's early but for those starting Themis now (eg full-time workers, foreign applicants etc), feel free to discuss here. I started studying this time last year for NY Feb 2018 and passed (getting admitted soon!)

Good luck and happy studying! I'm happy to answer any questions you may have...

Lawworld19

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Lawworld19 » Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:50 pm

I think this is a good group/thread to become apart of. I was a July Themis taker and actively participated in the thread. It really helped me mentally for the exam and to discuss with other bar takers. I ended up passing while working full time under very stressful conditions. Good luck to you all! If you need any advice please let me know.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by jwk87 » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:45 am

Will be sitting in February after failing in July. Will be taking a different approach for Feb. Will probably start doing light review this week due to full-time work schedule. Thankful to have access to Themis essay and MBE Bank.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by yennem » Thu Nov 01, 2018 10:01 am

When are materials sent out?

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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:50 pm

Lawworld19 wrote:I think this is a good group/thread to become apart of. I was a July Themis taker and actively participated in the thread. It really helped me mentally for the exam and to discuss with other bar takers. I ended up passing while working full time under very stressful conditions. Good luck to you all! If you need any advice please let me know.
So true! I also found the Themis Feb 18 forum very helpful. It's good to be able to vent and get support from others who've gone through it already. I was also full-time working and needed people to talk to.

Thanks for the kind offer to help too!

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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:51 pm

jwk87 wrote:Will be sitting in February after failing in July. Will be taking a different approach for Feb. Will probably start doing light review this week due to full-time work schedule. Thankful to have access to Themis essay and MBE Bank.
Good luck! Those banks are priceless. Esp the model Essay answers. Print em. Highlight em. Mark em. Study em. Memorize em. They're pure gold.

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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:53 pm

yennem wrote:When are materials sent out?
I seem to recall getting hard copy materials around a week after registering for Themis? Can anyone corroborate that?

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by inyourhonor07 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:06 pm

Hi OP. Thanks for offering to help!

1. What was your study schedule like?
2. When did you start?
3. What did you do when the holidays came up?
4. I have a 30 min. commute to and from work on the CTA every day and a 30 minute lunch. Do you think it would be better to review outlines or memorize flash cards during those times?

I'm working full-time and studying for the IL bar. I'm a first time taker and absolutely terrified.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Psmith0717 » Fri Nov 02, 2018 4:04 am

Has anyone received materials for February 2019 yet? I’m still waiting on my books to arrive...

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by inyourhonor07 » Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:37 am

Psmith0717 wrote:Has anyone received materials for February 2019 yet? I’m still waiting on my books to arrive...
I haven't received my materials yet, but I just ordered October 31st.

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Neilt001

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:11 pm

inyourhonor07 wrote:Hi OP. Thanks for offering to help!

1. What was your study schedule like?
2. When did you start?
3. What did you do when the holidays came up?
4. I have a 30 min. commute to and from work on the CTA every day and a 30 minute lunch. Do you think it would be better to review outlines or memorize flash cards during those times?

I'm working full-time and studying for the IL bar. I'm a first time taker and absolutely terrified.
Hi there!

1. So I worked full-time and had to work around that. I would say I studied 4hrs each evening,and maybe 7hrs per day on the weekends. Give or take of course. I always tried to do a little more than Themis had scheduled me for, as that allowed me to build up a nice buffer for those days where I didn't study (eg holidays) and so I had some breathing room as the exam approached. It worked really well.

2. I started studying at the beginning of Nov. They say you should do around 500-600 hrs of study so make sure you give yourself plenty of time. Again, I wanted to ensure I had breathing space and I didn't want to be rushed, so I tried to get started asap and really get into things quickly.

3. I didn't do much studying on the holidays to be honest. I think I took a week to visit family for christmas, and I don't think I did much studying. I also took a full week off in January to travel overseas. I had the best intentions of using my flash cards and watching lectures,etc. But of course I barely did anything. Again, this was fine because I usually did more studying than Themis scheduled me for. Luckily Themis will always recalibrate the schedule so it's ok to take the holidays off. At least I found it ok!

3. I think a commute is a great time to review your materials. Personally I found the flash cards pretty helpful and also they're small and convenient so they'd be great for your commute. As for your notes, I think that would be a great use of your time as well. Whatever you get the most out of. Maybe both?

Anyway this will be a great forum so make sure you ask as many questions as you want and check out what others are saying. Good luck in IL!!
Working and studying is definitely doable.

Personally, my approach was to do as many PQs as possible (I think I did around 2400) because that's the best way to learn (make sure you learn from each mistake and write down all the rules you didn't know) and also I printed off all the Themis model essay answers, highlighted em, marked em, memorized em. Get to know em really well.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by CaYLaw » Wed Nov 07, 2018 11:35 pm

Is anyone taking The NY bar exam in Feb 19?

Just started last week and it’s absolutely brutal trying to study after working 8-9 hours per day. The grind has really been trying to boost my endurance slowly but surely.

Some days after work, I just don’t have it and I feel like
I’m wasting time when I’m not absorbing the material.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by inyourhonor07 » Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:21 am

CaYLaw wrote:Is anyone taking The NY bar exam in Feb 19?

Just started last week and it’s absolutely brutal trying to study after working 8-9 hours per day. The grind has really been trying to boost my endurance slowly but surely.

Some days after work, I just don’t have it and I feel like
I’m wasting time when I’m not absorbing the material.
Are you reading the long outlines all the way through at night? I tried it with the first part of the Contracts outline and it felt like a huge waste of time, so I've been quickly reading through the long outlines during my commute to and from work and during my lunch and then I watch the lectures at night with the lecture handouts so I can get ahead.

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CaYLaw

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by CaYLaw » Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:00 pm

inyourhonor07 wrote:
CaYLaw wrote:Is anyone taking The NY bar exam in Feb 19?

Just started last week and it’s absolutely brutal trying to study after working 8-9 hours per day. The grind has really been trying to boost my endurance slowly but surely.

Some days after work, I just don’t have it and I feel like
I’m wasting time when I’m not absorbing the material.
Are you reading the long outlines all the way through at night? I tried it with the first part of the Contracts outline and it felt like a huge waste of time, so I've been quickly reading through the long outlines during my commute to and from work and during my lunch and then I watch the lectures at night with the lecture handouts so I can get ahead.
I tried to read them along with doing critical pass flashcards to nail down the rules. After switching it up, doing MBE questions on weeknights seems to work better, even if it is 10, 20 or more questions where I am able to review all my answers too.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Psmith0717 » Fri Nov 09, 2018 3:07 am

I’m studying for feb 19- NC. I read the long outlines in the morning and do the lectures at night after work. I tried to read at night and it just doesn’t work, I’m too tired from work. I get up 2 hours before work to read. Use the weekend to catch up.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:37 am

Hey guys, personally I didn't crack open the long outlines at all, not even once. I found most of the stuff was in the lectures (from which I took notes by hand). I just couldn't bring myself to read those huge slabs of text after a long day at work. I just don't' absorb stuff in that way and get bored.

All my learning occurred through MBE PQs, over and over again.

As to the fatigue/feeling drained/unmotivated/feeling like you're not progressing, welcome to the next 4 months of your life! The good news is that's normal. You'll have good days and bad days. Even in the days leading up to the bar exam I had some really dismal test scores and felt like I was getting dumber by the day. It's really miserable, but it's the bar exam after all!!

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by tinabelcher » Sun Nov 11, 2018 7:32 pm

Is anyone creating an outline at this point? I don't learn from watching lectures/reviewing a long outline. I have started synthesizing the lecture notes along with the MBE outline and IL distinctions. It seems like a lot in addition to the Themis coursework. Any thoughts?

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Psmith0717 » Sun Nov 11, 2018 8:11 pm

I’ve started to make flash cards ( I learn better that way). I’m only making flash cards for the missed MBE questions and terms that aren’t sticking right away though. It’s a lot of work but I’m the same, I dont learn well by reading long outlines.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by inyourhonor07 » Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:52 pm

I don't learn from outlining either. Aside from doing what Themis has assigned, I've been writing out the questions I've missed and the ones I've guessed right but wasn't sure. Then I just keep drilling those rules in my head. I go through Critical Pass cards on the app during my commute to and from work.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Beatthebar89 » Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:40 pm

Themis 2019 living in southern California. Wanted to see if anyone wanted to form a group and meet up and go through lectures and take MBE practice tests? I believe it is more productive talking things out and seeing different thought processes so we can determine our weak points and improve. Let me know if you guys are interested.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Neilt001 » Sat Nov 17, 2018 5:45 pm

I made my own outline which used lots of highlighting, bubbles, boxes, arrows, numbered lists, etc. I don't learn from other people's outlines very well, esp if they're slabs of text. I prefer my own notes which work the way my brain works, and which uses lots of visuals. I agree that Themis doesn't really make it easy to make your own notes, and that it's basically an extra step, but if that's the way you work best, then I highly recommend doing it. As I said earlier, I didn't crack open the themis course outlines even once. I just watched the lectures and made my own notes from the lectures (and using the lecture handouts as a guide).

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Tapps8 » Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:05 pm

Hello all. Over the summer, I stalked the July Themis forums quite a bit but never posted on the forum. On Friday, I found out I failed the California Bar Exam and was devastated. I went to an ABA school and have a firm job. Congratulating all of my peers who passed, and being the only one not to was rough. In addition, although my firm is gracious enough to give me a second chance, and told me I wasn't being fired the night of the results, a second failure will cost me my job. Combine that with the 22% pass rate for ABA repeaters (July 18), and the pressure is on.

Over the summer, I ended up doing about 78% of the Themis course. I feel like I got bogged down in the lectures, and only started real MBE and essay practice 3 weeks before the exam. At this point (without seeing my score card from the bar) I think my major issue was that I did not do enough MBE practice. If you are new to Themis, and this is your first time, I would encourage you to aim for 100% of the course. I wish I had.

At this point, I will likely take 6 or 8 weeks off work in January and February to study full time. In addition, between now and then, I will try to hammer out a solid review of each subject so that I can dive straight into problems and essays.

I think these forums are really helpful and I am happy to chat with anyone about the upcoming test. Looking forward to future success!

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by inyourhonor07 » Mon Nov 19, 2018 5:48 pm

How are you guys doing on your subject MBE PQ's?

I knew contracts would be my hardest subject (my worst grade 1L), but I can't seem to get above a 60%. Anyone else not scoring well on Contracts?

I'm starting Real Property MBE PQ's this week.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by anon sequitur » Tue Nov 20, 2018 11:35 am

Just my two cents as a former Themis user who passed and am now re-taking for a different state: I did so much better after I dropped Themis's study plan and just started doing MBE and essay practice. I found that the lectures and outlines were just too much information to digest until after I had done a couple hundred MBE q's and some practice essays so I could kind of understand what I knew and didn't know, and what areas I needed to focus on. Honestly, I think a lot of my first several weeks of full-time study were essentially wasted on lectures and outline review. All that info didn't mean much to me until I started getting MBE questions wrong and knew where the gaps in my knowledge were.

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Re: THEMIS DISCUSSION - FEBRUARY 2019

Post by Psmith0717 » Wed Nov 21, 2018 4:08 pm

I’m scoring around 60% on contacts as well. Not my best subject. I’m starting property this week so hopefully those scores are better.

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