BarBri Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[musicfor18]

I had to rearrange my schedule, also was sick last week....how long should we be spending on the essays? I know it says 1.5hrs, but how much should we be spending? Thanks.

On the exam, they say to allocate 40 minutes to reach essay, so you should spend about the same on the practice runs. Then, you should compare to the model answer and learn from it, and also grade yourself according to the rubric they give you. I'd say this would probably total to about 1.5 hours.

[rinkrat19]

I had to rearrange my schedule, also was sick last week....how long should we be spending on the essays? I know it says 1.5hrs, but how much should we be spending? Thanks.

On the exam, they say to allocate 40 minutes to reach essay, so you should spend about the same on the practice runs. Then, you should compare to the model answer and learn from it, and also grade yourself according to the rubric they give you. I'd say this would probably total to about 1.5 hours.

Oregon only allows 30 minutes per essay (6 essays/3 hours), so apparently it differs by state.

[victortsoi]

Thanks alot, very helpful! My plan for tommorow is to do both torts essays and the contracts essay exercise, then watch freer before bed.

[Kage3212]

Barbri has us doing our initial essays open book. One of the lectures stated that we should do it this way in the beginning, and for that reason, more time is allocated to do the essay. Unless you have internalized and memorized all rule statements at this point, I am not sure you are expected to complete the essays under the 40 minute time constraints. Later in the program yes, but not now, at least according to one of the "expectation" barbri videos.

[rinkrat19]

Barbri has us doing our initial essays open book. One of the lectures stated that we should do it this way in the beginning, and for that reason, more time is allocated to do the essay. Unless you have internalized and memorized all rule statements at this point, I am not sure you are expected to complete the essays under the 40 minute time constraints. Later in the program yes, but not now, at least according to one of the "expectation" barbri videos.

I thought it said do ONE essay open book.

[Kage3212]

Barbri has us doing our initial essays open book. One of the lectures stated that we should do it this way in the beginning, and for that reason, more time is allocated to do the essay. Unless you have internalized and memorized all rule statements at this point, I am not sure you are expected to complete the essays under the 40 minute time constraints. Later in the program yes, but not now, at least according to one of the "expectation" barbri videos.

I thought it said do ONE essay open book.

My first Evidence essay was open book, and that is the only full essay that has been assigned thus far (others have been outline only). Later on this week we have another assigned, and the assignment states, "PAH: PA.GEP 1 (Fed Tax, Decedents Estates, Professional Responsibility) (July 2005 Exam - Question #1)-Complete as an open book exam."

So it looks like there are various open book essays to complete throughout the program. So, by following instructions on the assignment, time will vary accordingly.

[Danger Zone]

What kind of work are you guys putting in on weekends right now, besides what BarBri assigns?

Why would you need work beyond what barbri assigns? I'd be happy to just be on schedule at this point.

[victortsoi]

Wait, I didn't do the first self graded torts essay for NY, do I do that open or closed book?

[mushybrain]

What kind of work are you guys putting in on weekends right now, besides what BarBri assigns?

Why would you need work beyond what barbri assigns? I'd be happy to just be on schedule at this point.

I mean, that was my take too. I just wanted to compare notes.

[Benjamin1987]

What kind of work are you guys putting in on weekends right now, besides what BarBri assigns?

Why would you need work beyond what barbri assigns? I'd be happy to just be on schedule at this point.

I mean, that was my take too. I just wanted to compare notes.

It couldn't hurt to front load the memorization though, right? I envision it to be overwhelming to wait until July to start master the language for the essays...

[mushybrain]

Yeah, I've basically been doing that in places where it says to review lecture notes, because I don't really get anything out of passively looking through them.

[mushybrain]

Property is making me miserable. I can't believe there will be three days of this.

[rinkrat19]

Property is making me miserable. I can't believe there will be three days of this.

It was a godawful 3 days.
And resulted in me doing SO TERRIBLY on the assessment questions that the system assigned me extra work in every single subtopic except Mortgages.

I don't think my Property class even covered Leases, Mortgages, Deeds, and all that shit.

[mushybrain]

I am certain I will be in the same situation.

Mine didn't cover that stuff either. Not that it really matters because my eyes crossed out of overwhelming boredom then just as much as they do now.

[gk101]

Property is making me miserable. I can't believe there will be three days of this.

It was a godawful 3 days.
And resulted in me doing SO TERRIBLY on the assessment questions that the system assigned me extra work in every single subtopic except Mortgages.

I don't think my Property class even covered Leases, Mortgages, Deeds, and all that shit.

For some reason, the 2012 MBE was filled with questions on these topics and I had no idea what the fuck any of it meant. I really hate Property

[charlesxavier]

What kind of work are you guys putting in on weekends right now, besides what BarBri assigns?

Why would you need work beyond what barbri assigns? I'd be happy to just be on schedule at this point.

I mean, that was my take too. I just wanted to compare notes.

It couldn't hurt to front load the memorization though, right? I envision it to be overwhelming to wait until July to start master the language for the essays...

That's is what I'm doing. I've been watching the lectures at 1.5-1.75 speed and handling the daily workload relatively well. However, I feel like the essay/study smart practice would be a lot more effective if I had some law memorized. Sure, missing a question and reviewing can help me learn but I feel like it's a waste when I miss a relatively easy question because I couldn't remember a law. I've been working through the Critical Pass flash cards. It's tedious but I'm trying to not get too overwhelmed later in the game.

[old_soul]

Feeling down and a little wiped out. I just did two sets of the Con Law qs on Study Smart. I scored 8/18 on both sets. 45% Face palm. I know that I should've gotten at the very least 2-3 more correct on both because they were silly errors.

[Lacepiece23]

Feeling down and a little wiped out. I just did two sets of the Con Law qs on Study Smart. I scored 8/18 on both sets. 45% Face palm. I know that I should've gotten at the very least 2-3 more correct on both because they were silly errors.

Don't feel bad man. Got destroyed on evidence the other day. I think its going to happen in different subjects for different people. Even if you were good at a particular subject in law school.

[waxecstatic]

Could someone please tell me what to do about the unabridged outlines for the MBE subjects. On the one hand they give examples to demonstrate certain concepts but on the other hand they are so dense with information they sort of confuse and overwhelm me. The CMR is good but it simply states rules and doesn't always mention some exception or give any example to demonstrate how something works. The only discrepancy is the unabridged goes into greater detail on the different ways rules work but I feel if I only go by the CMR I am missing out.

[Kage3212]

Are people still "preparing" for class at this point by reading CMR prior to? I am attempting to read the CMR prior to property which starts tomorrow and it might as well be a foreign language. I know this was a topic of conversation (maybe in some other thread) but interested to see if bypassing some of the CMR prepare readings is credited.

[rinkrat19]

Could someone please tell me what to do about the unabridged outlines for the MBE subjects. On the one hand they give examples to demonstrate certain concepts but on the other hand they are so dense with information they sort of confuse and overwhelm me. The CMR is good but it simply states rules and doesn't always mention some exception or give any example to demonstrate how something works. The only discrepancy is the unabridged goes into greater detail on the different ways rules work but I feel if I only go by the CMR I am missing out.

Barbri says to use the big outlines to look up subjects you don't understand from the CMR, and subtopics you don't do well on in the questions. At no point have I heard them say read the big outlines straight through.

[waxecstatic]

Could someone please tell me what to do about the unabridged outlines for the MBE subjects. On the one hand they give examples to demonstrate certain concepts but on the other hand they are so dense with information they sort of confuse and overwhelm me. The CMR is good but it simply states rules and doesn't always mention some exception or give any example to demonstrate how something works. The only discrepancy is the unabridged goes into greater detail on the different ways rules work but I feel if I only go by the CMR I am missing out.

Barbri says to use the big outlines to look up subjects you don't understand from the CMR, and subtopics you don't do well on in the questions. At no point have I heard them say read the big outlines straight through.

Thanks for that insight...duly noted.

[myrtlewinston]

Are people still "preparing" for class at this point by reading CMR prior to? I am attempting to read the CMR prior to property which starts tomorrow and it might as well be a foreign language. I know this was a topic of conversation (maybe in some other thread) but interested to see if bypassing some of the CMR prepare readings is credited.

I've given up. I watch the lectures and integrate my notes with the CriticalPass summaries. It's still a lot of work!

[Danger Zone]

Are people still "preparing" for class at this point by reading CMR prior to? I am attempting to read the CMR prior to property which starts tomorrow and it might as well be a foreign language. I know this was a topic of conversation (maybe in some other thread) but interested to see if bypassing some of the CMR prepare readings is credited.

I've given up. I watch the lectures and integrate my notes with the CriticalPass summaries. It's still a lot of work!

Same

[mushybrain]

I don't do the prep stuff either. I don't absorb anything so it seems like a waste of time.