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Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 4:03 pm
by jnwa
I applied for and received a scholarship from a firm to attend one of the Barbri Law Preview seminars for free. Will probably be doing on of the sessions in NYC. Wondering what people's experiences have been with it. If it provides a marginal benefit, id think its worth it. TIA

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:25 pm
by DownUnder
jnwa wrote:I applied for and received a scholarship from a firm to attend one of the Barbri Law Preview seminars for free. Will probably be doing on of the sessions in NYC. Wondering what people's experiences have been with it. If it provides a marginal benefit, id think its worth it. TIA
I was wondering about the same thing as well.

Do you know if the scholarship covers for the airfare and accommodation or just the course fee itself?

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:27 pm
by mornincounselor
Tagged.

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:41 pm
by cookiejar1
I did this. For free I think it's worth it. It didn't teach me any magic tricks wrt to taking a final but I do think it helped put me in the right mindset (try/work hard + good grades just demonstrate that you know how to play the law school game better than your peers).

The firm that sponsored my Law Preview invited us back for a meet and great at the beginning of my second semester 1L year which was sweet too.

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:43 pm
by cookiejar1
If I recall correctly the scholarship only covered the cost of the program.

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 6:35 pm
by jnwa
cookiejar1 wrote:I did this. For free I think it's worth it. It didn't teach me any magic tricks wrt to taking a final but I do think it helped put me in the right mindset (try/work hard + good grades just demonstrate that you know how to play the law school game better than your peers).

The firm that sponsored my Law Preview invited us back for a meet and great at the beginning of my second semester 1L year which was sweet too.
Thats great. Did you feel like it was a leg up as far as applying to that firm for 1L jobs, or irrelevant.

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:52 pm
by Glasseyes
yeah, I did the same thing 2 years back. Opinions vary based on who you talk to, but I found it worthwhile. Just getting your head around the basics of what you're going to be doing—how to read and brief cases, how professors use the Socratic method—in a setting that matters even less than real law school was helpful for hitting the ground running. Will you remember anything substantive? Doubtful. But they do a good job of warming you up for the real game.

Fwiw, I did not get a screener from the firm that picked me, but they have a hard 3.8 cutoff at my school anyway.

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 8:42 am
by cookiejar1
jnwa wrote:
cookiejar1 wrote:I did this. For free I think it's worth it. It didn't teach me any magic tricks wrt to taking a final but I do think it helped put me in the right mindset (try/work hard + good grades just demonstrate that you know how to play the law school game better than your peers).

The firm that sponsored my Law Preview invited us back for a meet and great at the beginning of my second semester 1L year which was sweet too.
Thats great. Did you feel like it was a leg up as far as applying to that firm for 1L jobs, or irrelevant.
Only indirectly. I learned a lot about the firm through the reception and ended up interviewing with a partner that I had already met during the reception at a call back (probably pure coincidence).

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 10:14 am
by 180kickflip
Did you guys get any sort of confirmation email to verify that your application for this was accepted? I think I applied, but I'm not sure, and I can't seem to find any receipt of application or way to check status online =/

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 2:03 am
by Loney M. Setnick
180kickflip wrote:Did you guys get any sort of confirmation email to verify that your application for this was accepted? I think I applied, but I'm not sure, and I can't seem to find any receipt of application or way to check status online =/
I got a confirmation e-mail after I submitted my app and was told I would be notified of their decision on or before June 1.

Re: Barbri Law Preview..Worth it for free?

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:43 am
by sollos
180kickflip wrote:Did you guys get any sort of confirmation email to verify that your application for this was accepted? I think I applied, but I'm not sure, and I can't seem to find any receipt of application or way to check status online =/
I didn't receive any confirmation email about them receiving my application (I applied to two different scholarships) but I ended up receiving an acceptance email the other day.

It's a mildly moot point for me. I'll already have moved into the area by the time the program starts, so I plan on attending. The hours look pretty rough. It's like 7:30 - 5:00, for five days a week. But I'd just otherwise stay at home and play video games all day so whatever, this is probably healthier for me anyways.

I should add too, there's more to the program than just the lectures, not to say that these additional things make it worth it. There's often times a reception with the firm that's providing the scholarship, there's a lot of free books you're given, and there's some sort of job portal we get access to although who know's if it's worth anything.