California Bar Exam (July 2013) thread Forum

[a male human]

[snip]

Whoa. Seems like Emanuel's MBE book is endorsed by a lot of people. I'll check it out.

I ordered book 1 last night.

[dunkin]

[snip]

Whoa. Seems like Emanuel's MBE book is endorsed by a lot of people. I'll check it out.

Yup. I officially credit it with my bar passage now. The past few months, all I thought about was how certain I failed, as I felt awful about the PTs and essays. I got a 112 on the Barbri midterm and just found out I scored high enough to transfer into MN (145 scaled). That is shocking to me, because I'm usually so shitty on MC exams. Let's just say LSAT was not my strong suit, and I had to retake the MPRE.

[uwb09]

Just an FYI, called the bar admissions office and they said they have a ton of packets pre-printed on stock at the SF office. So will just swing by there later this week when I get back to town.

[abcdee]

I'm just curious to see where I stand with my scores. I got a 595 on the written portion and 100 on the mbe's. I failed by about 60 points. Am I really far away from passing or do I have a real chance of passing the next time?

I felt I did great on the essays but my scores indicate otherwise. I'm probably going to have to tweak my answers for next time. I'm also considering taking a PT seminar even though I got 2 60's. Is this wise to dish out $400?

For the mbe's I have lots of materials to improve. Should I do barbri's mbe's? I followed barbri to the T last time but obviously didn't pass. My plan is to do solely mbe's for the next month. Please provide feedback/guidance.

[abcdee]

^^^^^^Bump ^^^^^^

Anyone out there than can answer my question???????

[a male human]

I did worse than you and still feel like I have a fighting chance for Feb. From my research, it seems to be equally, if not more about, how you take the test than what you know. It could be that I'm in denial and on track for another nail in my coffin but whatever helps me sleep at night... ignoring the bar dreams I have nonetheless.

There seem to be plenty of resources, e.g.,
friends who passed (just a casual mention that I had to study instead of joining them to play got me offers to help),
friends who did not pass,
commercial aids that go for less than $35 and often less than $15 used,
your old notes (tweaked for this time around),
posts if you dig around here (Check back a few pages for wisdom already dished out!),
used books from other companies (Kaplan PMBR is known for MBE).

You have lots of MBE "materials to improve"--do you mean you have to improve a lot, or you have a lot of materials with which to improve? Either way, you should use whatever you have to prepare for next time. Doing solely MBEs for the next month sound like a good plan. Maybe alternate weeks of MBE and essays thereafter. That's my plan anyway. If Barbri didn't work, check out other resources (see above for an illustrative list of resources).

I wouldn't pay $400 for a PT seminar or any seminar. Feb's PTs are likely to be easier. Practice more if you're not comfortable with PTs and vice versa. I was confident about my PTs (based on Kaplan's feedback) but ended up with 55s. Clearly I should have done more than 3 PTs for practice. I will be practicing more PTs this time around. If I learned anything, it's that companies charging a premium do so because they know their fear mongering works. I feel that ultimately it's the right type of effort put in that will determine the outcome. You don't need to spend 100s-1000s of $$$. There are people who don't pass no matter which prep company you look at or what class rank you look at. I trusted the "system," but it turns out everyone learns differently and not according to one of a few methods. I would attribute more credibility to those who passed in July and those who passed their second time.

There is a topic for February peeps; you should come join us. Contribute some posts there rather than lurking/leeching. It could generate discussion that could benefit everyone, including you.

[abcdee]

A Male Human. Could you guide me to this thread so I could contribute as well as ask questions. By the way how many times have you taken the bar? You seem very wise from your experiences taking the bar.

[a male human]

Feb topic: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=220409

Took the Bar once. Hoping to make this time the last.

Haha, not sure about being wise but am trying to make beneficial decisions this time around!

[softey]

Perhaps cost is a concern (and I'm not trying to be a dick) but there is a pretty established (and idiot-proof) way to pass the CA bar: (1) enroll in barbri; (2) do the barbri course as instructed. Requires very little creativity or customization. Just go through the motions. I hope this helps.

[Bikeflip]

Perhaps cost is a concern (and I'm not trying to be a dick) but there is a pretty established (and idiot-proof) way to pass the CA bar: (1) enroll in barbri; (2) do the barbri course as instructed. Requires very little creativity or customization. Just go through the motions. I hope this helps.

Too late.

[Hoyalawya]

Has anyone received their bar number yet? If so, when did you mail the registration card?

[2807]

Has anyone received their bar number yet? If so, when did you mail the registration card?

Yes. Look yourself up on CA Bar. Card mailed 12/3.
Had Bar# on website a few days ago.
Very Cool

[masterbrowski]

Has anyone received their bar number yet? If so, when did you mail the registration card?

Yes. Look yourself up on CA Bar. Card mailed 12/3.
Had Bar# on website a few days ago.
Very Cool

Not working for me or anyone's name I know. I think this is all dependent on when you got sworn in.

[2807]

Has anyone received their bar number yet? If so, when did you mail the registration card?

Yes. Look yourself up on CA Bar. Card mailed 12/3.
Had Bar# on website a few days ago.
Very Cool

Not working for me or anyone's name I know. I think this is all dependent on when you got sworn in.

Sworn on 12/2. Card mailed following day.
Saw result on CA BAR on 12/9 (first time I checked, may have been there even sooner?)

There ya go...

[Hoyalawya]

Sworn and mailed 12/5. Out of state. Still nothing.

[Hoyalawya]

For the people who failed, a couple thoughts:

- Don't underestimate the value of video lecture with fill-in-the-blank. It's huge. The value is not in studying from it, but in the mental process of hearing, understanding, and writing.

- I have now used both BarBri (FL) and most recently Kaplan (for this bar). Far and away, BarBri is better than Kaplan. Having said that, I passed with both on the first try. But I felt more comfort after using the BarBri materials. Also, the MBE practice questions feel much more authentic (and more may actually be authentic) with BarBri than with Kaplan, which is obviously attempting to simulate the feel of MBE questions without paying the licensing fees to actually get and republish them.

[a male human]

For the people who failed, a couple thoughts:

- Don't underestimate the value of video lecture with fill-in-the-blank. It's huge. The value is not in studying from it, but in the mental process of hearing, understanding, and writing.

- I have now used both BarBri (FL) and most recently Kaplan (for this bar). Far and away, BarBri is better than Kaplan. Having said that, I passed with both on the first try. But I felt more comfort after using the BarBri materials. Also, the MBE practice questions feel much more authentic (and more may actually be authentic) with BarBri than with Kaplan, which is obviously attempting to simulate the feel of MBE questions without paying the licensing fees to actually get and republish them.

It might be Kaplan's lecturers, but some of them are so so dry and boring I couldn't take it. I wasn't planning on doing most of the lectures this time around but will try to focus on lectures for select subjects.

[zeth006]

For the people who failed, a couple thoughts:

- Don't underestimate the value of video lecture with fill-in-the-blank. It's huge. The value is not in studying from it, but in the mental process of hearing, understanding, and writing.

- I have now used both BarBri (FL) and most recently Kaplan (for this bar). Far and away, BarBri is better than Kaplan. Having said that, I passed with both on the first try. But I felt more comfort after using the BarBri materials. Also, the MBE practice questions feel much more authentic (and more may actually be authentic) with BarBri than with Kaplan, which is obviously attempting to simulate the feel of MBE questions without paying the licensing fees to actually get and republish them.

It might be Kaplan's lecturers, but some of them are so so dry and boring I couldn't take it. I wasn't planning on doing most of the lectures this time around but will try to focus on lectures for select subjects.

Might not be a bad idea to revisit the tough ones.

[km23]

Sworn in on Dec 3. Name is on attorney search. However, I haven't received anything in the mail.

[jarofsoup]

I have CA bar question for those who have taken it. I plan on working in DC. I live here right now and will be hunting for jobs here. But, I grew up in CA and may return there someday.

You do not have to take the DC bar to practice in DC. You just have to take a bar from some state. I am thinking about taking the NY bar over the CA. Partially b/c the pass rate is much higher(for my school above 95%) and if I do get a job offer I do not want it to be contigent on passing the CA bar.(I may have something that can turn into a fulltime position if I do not mess it up). Additionally, I cannot justify taking the MD or VA bar b/c neither state has anything that resembles much of a legal market.

Any one got any advice? Is my fear of the CA bar justified?

[chass]

You're from CA and you might return so might as well take CA bar.

[softey]

I have CA bar question for those who have taken it. I plan on working in DC. I live here right now and will be hunting for jobs here. But, I grew up in CA and may return there someday.

You do not have to take the DC bar to practice in DC. You just have to take a bar from some state. I am thinking about taking the NY bar over the CA. Partially b/c the pass rate is much higher(for my school above 95%) and if I do get a job offer I do not want it to be contigent on passing the CA bar.(I may have something that can turn into a fulltime position if I do not mess it up). Additionally, I cannot justify taking the MD or VA bar b/c neither state has anything that resembles much of a legal market.

Any one got any advice? Is my fear of the CA bar justified?

All my friends working in DC took MD bar. It's not hard. If you plan on working in DC, it's a good bar to take.

[worldtraveler]

I have CA bar question for those who have taken it. I plan on working in DC. I live here right now and will be hunting for jobs here. But, I grew up in CA and may return there someday.

You do not have to take the DC bar to practice in DC. You just have to take a bar from some state. I am thinking about taking the NY bar over the CA. Partially b/c the pass rate is much higher(for my school above 95%) and if I do get a job offer I do not want it to be contigent on passing the CA bar.(I may have something that can turn into a fulltime position if I do not mess it up). Additionally, I cannot justify taking the MD or VA bar b/c neither state has anything that resembles much of a legal market.

Any one got any advice? Is my fear of the CA bar justified?

I work in DC but took the CA bar. Really regretting that decision right now. Just take MD.

[cadestevenson]

A 595 raw written was enough to pass the attorneys' exam. I'm not even sure I did that well. Chemerinsky probably couldn't score a 700 written, on his best day. But, he can perform way better on the MBE.

I think many would agree when I say that 100 on the MBE is a shockingly low score, raw or scaled. I don't think the MBE is a very hard test. It really isn't brain surgery. With my lazy study habits in law school, I scored way more than 100 on my very first practice test, in May.

[zeth006]

Anyone here planning on picking up vol. 2 of Emanuel's Strategies & Tactics for the MBE?