Is BARBRI enough to pass the bar? Forum

[desperate4lawschool]

I'm worried that studying BARBRI won't be enough to pass the bar. With the MPRE, I did the free BARBRI lecture/worksheet prior to study and felt I wouldn't have passed if that was the only thing I had done. I am wondering if anyone can comment on whether or not s/he did more than do the BARBRI lectures, did you re-read your old notes, your old textbook, hornbooks? Or was BARBRI sufficient by itself?

[Jordan77]

Yes. Just do the lectures, and practice MBEs and essays that BARBRI provides. No reason to consult old notes. If you are really having a hard time grasping something, maybe use a hornbook... but that should be unnecessary.

Remember, you are not trying to "ace" the exam like in law school, just pass it. Hammer home the elements and familiarize yourself with the test structure.

[NotMyRealName09]

BarBri alone is more than enough.

I think what you aren't realizing is that, although it sounds counter intuitive, the bar exam is more about the big picture than the minutia. You don't need to touch an old text book or review your notes, BarBri will tell you everything you need to know. It's not about knowing everything - its about knowing as much as you need to to pass the bar.

Don't stress, keep it simple, follow the program, and you'll do fine. Also, BarBri will give you a MASSIVE outline book - you don't have to read it at all, and certain lecturers will say as much. It's a crutch so they can say they gave you everything, but all you need is the Convisor mini-outline, the class lecture note/outlines, and do all the multiple choice practice problems. I didn't do one practice essay - but I am a pretty good test taker by nature, so do what you think you need to do.

EDITED TO ADD: Oh, and also, you don't have to go to class, ever, as all lectures are now also online. And, if you're feeling sassy, and you think the pace of the lectures is slow (remember, BarBri teaches to the absolute dumbest student), there is a key command to make the videos run 33% faster - that pace worked great for me, frankly kept me more engaged because the regular lecture was slow, thus boring, and the BEST part is it only takes 2 hours to finish a 3 hour lecture - more time for practice.

SIMPLIFY, DON'T COMPLICATE. You'll do fine.

[morris248]

In a lot of states the essay questions repeat or either they are based on actual cases from that state. Usually someone has complied a list of old essay questions/model answers or they may even be available online. It pays to review the past tests. You don't need to go over your old notes. I agree that BarBri is enough but you can avoid the cost by finding someone from the class ahead of you and buy their materials and do the studying on your own.

[Georgiana]

EDITED TO ADD: Oh, and also, you don't have to go to class, ever, as all lectures are now also online. And, if you're feeling sassy, and you think the pace of the lectures is slow (remember, BarBri teaches to the absolute dumbest student), there is a key command to make the videos run 33% faster - that pace worked great for me, frankly kept me more engaged because the regular lecture was slow, thus boring, and the BEST part is it only takes 2 hours to finish a 3 hour lecture - more time for practice.

Sadly barbri got wise to this and changed the viewing program whatnot... we still found a workaround but it involved questionable actions.

Barbri is MORE than enough to get you through the bar exam, and 99% of people won't finish everything Barbri tells you to do.

[CanadianWolf]

Yes.

[I.P. Daly]

Several of my friends that did BarBri also strongly recommended the Kaplan supplemental MBE program.

[Ignatius J. Reilly]

Yes, definitely. Just follow their program and you should do all right.

[alisonmonahan]

Tons of people take BARBRI and still fail the bar, so the answer is "not necessarily." For one thing, it depends on the pass rate in your state. But, more critically, BARBRI tends to lull people into a false sense of security, because you're spending a lot of time on it. The key is to really engage with the material (so you have to make sure you're doing a bunch of MBE questions, and really paying attention to what you're getting wrong, etc.) and not just listen to the lectures and think you're done studying for the day.

Bottom line, the material they give you is way more than enough to pass, but you have to actually process it and be able to use it.

[Jhuen_the_bird]

Yes, absolutely. In fact, Barbri is set up to be MORE than enough (i.e. more than you should reasonably be able to do - they even TELL you that). They say that if you are doing about 75% of what they assign, you're doing enough. Towards the end, you figure out your weak spots and focus on those anyway. The only people I know who failed the bar KNEW that they hadn't studied enough. But I also know folks who felt they didn't study enough (b/c of having life altering events, like having a baby) and still passed.

Why did you study so much for the MPRE? I went to the barbri Saturday morning lecture hungover, reviewed the outline I filled out for that a couple times, and took 1 1/2 practice exams (b/c it was so boring). I passed. You don't have to do very well at all on that test to meet the requirement for your given state.

[random5483]

Barbri and self study is enough for most people. If you are not confident or are at a higher risk of failing the bar (school with bad bar passage rates or poor law school grades), you might want to do something more. Only you know yourself well enough to make the choice.

[huckabees]

What about CA bar in particular? Thinking of doing online course only, and wondering how hard I need to study (i.e., should I be studying as much as I did in law school during those two months, or is it more relaxed?) Passage rates seem ridiculously low.

[Mick Haller]

What about CA bar in particular? Thinking of doing online course only, and wondering how hard I need to study (i.e., should I be studying as much as I did in law school during those two months, or is it more relaxed?) Passage rates seem ridiculously low.

I studied 8-10 hours per day for approx 10 weeks. I probably should have taken a few more days off. But you should not be relaxed, I'd say its something like studying for law school final exams, only for 8 weeks straight rather than 3 weeks.