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tl;dr - I did bad on a practice mid-term in Civ Pro and am looking for the best method to understand the subject better / write better analysis.

So we recently got back all our grades for practice midterms in preparation for real mid terms that are coming up soon.
My civ pro exam was right on the median. Yes, my very first exam I got median pwned on. However, just as a reference, I did exceptional with my other three grades (top 10% and two top scores) so this is only an issue I have with civ pro itself.

I am seriously so lost in civ pro and I don't even know how I can understand it better. The prof likes to ask abstract questions about the frcp/usc and doesn't always allude to what he is looking for exactly when we discuss certain topics. I haven't had a chance to meet with him to discuss the exam, but he did post an outline of what he was looking for so that pretty much answered any questions anyways. I don't want to go to his office and just flat out say I'm lost since that's useless as well.

I've briefly looked at some of the supplements such as Emmanuels crunchtime, E&E by Glannon, acing civ pro, freer's intro to civ pro, but none of them really clicked with me. I didn't get a chance to read too in-depth, but I might have to do that. What other supplements are useful that maybe aren't as well known ?

I'm not looking for case briefs or things to understand the cases better. I need a supplement that shows a full analysis of the rules and compares them to exam hypo fact patterns. The E&E is useful for practice questions but it is just the flat out answer and doesn't show the reasoning exactly so I can understand what I'm writing about. I'm not a gunner and don't really have a study group, but I did great without them in other classes so I don't think that's the answer for civ pro.

Any help is extremely appreciated

I thought the Glannon Guide was pretty damn good. You can probably get a sample of it [and other civ pro supps] on Kindle/Kindle App

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gaud wrote:I thought the Glannon Guide was pretty damn good. You can probably get a sample of it [and other civ pro supps] on Kindle/Kindle App

Glannon has another book besides the E&E? or are you referring to the E&E?

chill wrote:The Freer Barbri lectures. I watched the lecture series probably 2-3 times while cooking dinner/cleaning. Watch the first hour, see if it clicks with you.

I listened to the Barbri lecture for torts and it was great. I haven't had a chance to listen to the civ pro one yet but I'll do that this weekend.
Thanks for reminding me about that actually

Dogg wrote:

gaud wrote:I thought the Glannon Guide was pretty damn good. You can probably get a sample of it [and other civ pro supps] on Kindle/Kindle App

Glannon has another book besides the E&E? or are you referring to the E&E?

Not the E&E.

http://www.amazon.com/Glannon-Guide-Civ ... 0735579547

If you got 3As (what I imagine top 10% is) and a B+ at a normal school on your finals that would translate to a 3.75 GPA and like top 5-10% ranking in the class.

It sounds like you have a great foundation and should tone down the neurosis. You don't need a holy grail supplement for civ pro, you need more time with the material and to focus on what will make a good exam response. All the info you need is in your casebook and classnotes from lecture - sometimes a little supplementing can just help you REALIZE where in that casebook/classnotes to look.

But please don't draw the lesson from this that you need "the holy grail of civ pro" to get your performance up. Exam performance is incredibly erratic, and you should be encouraged by your success but not draw such specific conclusions from your overall performance.

Yo, TSL, I'm really happy you're giving advice to these 1Ls, and I'mma let you finish, but Freer's Civ Pro lecture is the best Civ Pro supp of all time.

BEST. CIV PRO SUPP. OF ALL TIME.

I also liked the Freer supplement

Glannon didn't do much for me for CivPro...

Which casebook are you using?

thesealocust wrote:I also liked the Freer supplement

Glannon didn't do much for me for CivPro...

Like you mentioned in another thread, it really depends on the professor's teaching style.

gaud wrote:

thesealocust wrote:I also liked the Freer supplement

Glannon didn't do much for me for CivPro...

Like you mentioned in another thread, it really depends on the professor's teaching style.

For sure. Glannon was helpful for our class because our prof was obsessed with gaps in the rules, and the Glannon Multiple Choice guide has several questions showcasing them. It's dependent on what casebook and how your prof teaches it.

Acing civ pro 3d ed.

Second the freer lectures, and E&E. A checklist is good for this class.

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gaud wrote:

Dogg wrote:

gaud wrote:I thought the Glannon Guide was pretty damn good. You can probably get a sample of it [and other civ pro supps] on Kindle/Kindle App

Glannon has another book besides the E&E? or are you referring to the E&E?

Not the E&E.
http://www.amazon.com/Glannon-Guide-Civ ... 0735579547

I've never even seen this before but I just checked and my library has it so I'll check it out
Thank you!

thesealocust wrote:If you got 3As (what I imagine top 10% is) and a B+ at a normal school on your finals that would translate to a 3.75 GPA and like top 5-10% ranking in the class.

It sounds like you have a great foundation and should tone down the neurosis. You don't need a holy grail supplement for civ pro, you need more time with the material and to focus on what will make a good exam response. All the info you need is in your casebook and classnotes from lecture - sometimes a little supplementing can just help you REALIZE where in that casebook/classnotes to look.

But please don't draw the lesson from this that you need "the holy grail of civ pro" to get your performance up. Exam performance is incredibly erratic, and you should be encouraged by your success but not draw such specific conclusions from your overall performance.

Median isn't B+ though
I fear that civ pro will wreck my other grades if I don't improve quickly. It was just a shock how bad I did in civ pro because I didn't know the material as compared to the rest of my classes. Going into the test I thought I would do decent (at least a B+), but it was the first one out of all my classes so maybe it could have been a fluke. I just don't want to get smug with my other grades and let civ pro go to the wayside if I'm doing worse than half the class.
I know that no holy grail exists, but it's hard to find the right supplement so I figured I'd come try to find one that might really boost my understanding. Yeah it's erratic but a bad grade = bad student

ImNoScar wrote:Which casebook are you using?

Our prof uses the Yeazell casebook

brotherdarkness wrote:I found this class particularly well-suited for flow charts. I also recommend the E&E and, of course, a credited outline (preferably from someone who had your professor).

Our TA had an outline with flowcharts but that isn't something I'm used to as far as studying. Maybe I'll have to look into those but I could see it helping for certain rules. I know the barbri outline didn't have flowcharts so I'll have to check out some others. Thanks for the tip

Freer's supplement, not audio lecture, is the holy grail of CivPro. It is the alpha and omega.

stillwater wrote:Freer's supplement, not audio lecture, is the holy grail of CivPro. It is the alpha and omega.

Freer commanded that the 1Ls shall learneth and, ye, on the seventh day there was valid service.

Am I the only one who thinks Freer sounds kind of like Glenn Beck?

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) wrote:Am I the only one who thinks Freer sounds kind of like Glenn Beck?

outed as someone who listens to glenn beck.

stillwater wrote:

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) wrote:Am I the only one who thinks Freer sounds kind of like Glenn Beck?

outed as someone who listens to glenn beck.

lol yeah, like they never played any of his cooky stuff on The Daily Show, the Colbert Report, or Rachel Maddow.

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) wrote:

stillwater wrote:

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) wrote:Am I the only one who thinks Freer sounds kind of like Glenn Beck?

outed as someone who listens to glenn beck.

lol yeah, like they never played any of his cooky stuff on The Daily Show, the Colbert Report, or Rachel Maddow.

I think he's just the classic self loathing nerdy New Yorker. His personality is entertaining enough to keep you going, but it's not an act so you're never trying to figure him out. Our professor was great but put on a persona, which made it harder to pay attention for some reason.

Walden and DaimlerChrysler, this term. Both argued by Tommy Goldstein's firm. That's the ticket.

The next chapter in your CivPro casebook on personal jurisdiction.

I know you said you've glanced over Acing Civ Pro, but I really recommend going over that. Their checklist at the end of each chapter has been super helpful to me so far in practice exams/midterm. The actual chapter reading wasn't necessarily the most helpful, but the checklist is really worth looking at in terms of how to structure an essay question.

IMO, Freer Lectures, Freer Supplement, E&E, in that order.

KD35 wrote:I know you said you've glanced over Acing Civ Pro, but I really recommend going over that. Their checklist at the end of each chapter has been super helpful to me so far in practice exams/midterm. The actual chapter reading wasn't necessarily the most helpful, but the checklist is really worth looking at in terms of how to structure an essay question.

I used it for my essay questions on the civpro midterm. Extremely helpful. Didn't know where to start, but the checklist makes it really easy.