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California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread Forum
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- ph14
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Looks like the deadline for laptop certification is July 25, 2014:
- charcop
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Is anyone else having a hard time with the contracts essays with Barbri? I'm doing ok with the MBE's but for these practice essays I have no idea where to even begin sometimes! Are we supposed to aim to have our essays as long as the examples? IDK how someone can write a FOUR page single spaced essay in an hour? and i'm raising only a little more than half of the issues the sample essays raise?!
I totally agree with the poster above: Barbri, it's time to make me smart!!!!!
I totally agree with the poster above: Barbri, it's time to make me smart!!!!!
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I hear you. I wrote earlier how I was also struggling with the contracts essays. I also find it hard to identify the salient issues.charcop wrote:Is anyone else having a hard time with the contracts essays with Barbri? I'm doing ok with the MBE's but for these practice essays I have no idea where to even begin sometimes! Are we supposed to aim to have our essays as long as the examples? IDK how someone can write a FOUR page single spaced essay in an hour? and i'm raising only a little more than half of the issues the sample essays raise?!
I totally agree with the poster above: Barbri, it's time to make me smart!!!!!
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
How necessary is the CMR reading if you're trying to catch up? Seems like the lectures are supposed to highlight the must knows and i could use those extra hours to double up
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I'd like to know this too. It is disturbing when the CMR is different from the lecture. Also, "reading" the California Evidence Distinctions in the CMR made me cry.jd20132013 wrote:How necessary is the CMR reading if you're trying to catch up? Seems like the lectures are supposed to highlight the must knows and i could use those extra hours to double up
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- ph14
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Lol at the bolded. I felt the same way.pkt63 wrote:I'd like to know this too. It is disturbing when the CMR is different from the lecture. Also, "reading" the California Evidence Distinctions in the CMR made me cry.jd20132013 wrote:How necessary is the CMR reading if you're trying to catch up? Seems like the lectures are supposed to highlight the must knows and i could use those extra hours to double up
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
LOL as well. That was me with the CA distinctions lecture. It's hard enough keeping the FRE details in your mind.ph14 wrote:Lol at the bolded. I felt the same way.pkt63 wrote:I'd like to know this too. It is disturbing when the CMR is different from the lecture. Also, "reading" the California Evidence Distinctions in the CMR made me cry.jd20132013 wrote:How necessary is the CMR reading if you're trying to catch up? Seems like the lectures are supposed to highlight the must knows and i could use those extra hours to double up
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I, too, found this first 2 Barbri contracts essays hard. I passed neither, though I wasn't totally out of the ballpark. I wrote about issues not in the model answer, and missed issues in the model answer. I still don't get how parol evidence isn't worth mentioning in the first essay.
On another note, while there has been a lot to memorize, I haven't felt overwhelmed. Until today. These fucking FRE/CA evidence distinctions will be the death of me. I don't even know how to go about memorizing these distinctions!
On another note, while there has been a lot to memorize, I haven't felt overwhelmed. Until today. These fucking FRE/CA evidence distinctions will be the death of me. I don't even know how to go about memorizing these distinctions!
- ph14
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Yep. Have fun keeping straight whether it is a hearsay exemption or hearsay exception, especially when CEC and FRE take a different approach.FutureInLaw wrote:I, too, found this first 2 Barbri contracts essays hard. I passed neither, though I wasn't totally out of the ballpark. I wrote about issues not in the model answer, and missed issues in the model answer. I still don't get how parol evidence isn't worth mentioning in the first essay.
On another note, while there has been a lot to memorize, I haven't felt overwhelmed. Until today. These fucking FRE/CA evidence distinctions will be the death of me. I don't even know how to go about memorizing these distinctions!
- a male human
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
For evidence, I would focus on the FRE, then remember that some have CA counterparts.
For example...
Relevance: Evidence must be relevant for it to be admissible. It is relevant if it tends to prove/disprove a material fact (In CA, the fact must be in dispute)
Excited utterances (spontaneous statement in CA): While under excitement of startling event, a statement made with no reflection that relates to (narrates, describes, or explains in CA) the event
For example...
Relevance: Evidence must be relevant for it to be admissible. It is relevant if it tends to prove/disprove a material fact (In CA, the fact must be in dispute)
Excited utterances (spontaneous statement in CA): While under excitement of startling event, a statement made with no reflection that relates to (narrates, describes, or explains in CA) the event
- charcop
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
How the hell am I supposed to learn the FRE and CEC in 3 days?! I need 3 months. I'm not in a happy place guys.
Oh, and Armadillos from Texas Play Rap, Eating Tacos.
Can't get it out of my head.
Oh, and Armadillos from Texas Play Rap, Eating Tacos.
Can't get it out of my head.
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Try Contracts Question 7 then tell me you aren't overwhelmed.FutureInLaw wrote:I, too, found this first 2 Barbri contracts essays hard. I passed neither, though I wasn't totally out of the ballpark. I wrote about issues not in the model answer, and missed issues in the model answer. I still don't get how parol evidence isn't worth mentioning in the first essay.
On another note, while there has been a lot to memorize, I haven't felt overwhelmed. Until today. These fucking FRE/CA evidence distinctions will be the death of me. I don't even know how to go about memorizing these distinctions!
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I should probably know the answer to this question, but on the actual bar exam day 1, if we get essay questions say on Contracts, Wills and Con Law, is it a given that those topics will not appear on the essays on day 3?
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I've been wondering the exact same thing. My feeling is no based off of looking at the issue list on past exams. Going off your question, I also wonder whether they do crossovers with the same topics.pkt63 wrote:I should probably know the answer to this question, but on the actual bar exam day 1, if we get essay questions say on Contracts, Wills and Con Law, is it a given that those topics will not appear on the essays on day 3?
- a male human
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Crossovers are possible, and the same subject appearing twice is possible. See July 2013 day 3, where Q4 was contracts + remedies, and Q6 was torts + remedies (same day!).
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
The book "The Bar Code" is pretty awesome for CA essays.
http://www.thebarcode.net/publications.aspx
http://www.thebarcode.net/publications.aspx
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Don't get discouraged by looking at the barbri model answers. They are not at all representative of the average essay that scored 65 or 70. They are written by an employee of barbri who had an unlimited time and was not under testing conditions. I have found it much more helpful to look at real passing essays such as the ones on BarEssays.com than the models.charcop wrote:Is anyone else having a hard time with the contracts essays with Barbri? I'm doing ok with the MBE's but for these practice essays I have no idea where to even begin sometimes! Are we supposed to aim to have our essays as long as the examples? IDK how someone can write a FOUR page single spaced essay in an hour? and i'm raising only a little more than half of the issues the sample essays raise?!
I totally agree with the poster above: Barbri, it's time to make me smart!!!!!
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Is there a good resource listing all the past CA bar exams and what topics were tested in the essays? It would be great to get a sense how many times Evidence (FRE) has been tested compared to Evidence (CEC or both).
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I saw a July 2014 California Bar Exam prediction video on youtube. One of the predicted essays was evidence, and it showed a testing history in recent years. I was surprised to see that FRE and CA were tested equally (CA one year, FRE another year, etc.). I don't exactly remember but I don't remember one being more prevalent than the other in regards to testing frequency. So yeah, unfortunately we'll have to know both. Anything can happen, there's not one topic we can't afford to not know.FF55 wrote:Is there a good resource listing all the past CA bar exams and what topics were tested in the essays? It would be great to get a sense how many times Evidence (FRE) has been tested compared to Evidence (CEC or both).
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Who did the video? Link? What else was predicted?adonai wrote:I saw a July 2014 California Bar Exam prediction video on youtube. One of the predicted essays was evidence, and it showed a testing history in recent years. I was surprised to see that FRE and CA were tested equally (CA one year, FRE another year, etc.). I don't exactly remember but I don't remember one being more prevalent than the other in regards to testing frequency. So yeah, unfortunately we'll have to know both. Anything can happen, there's not one topic we can't afford to not know.FF55 wrote:Is there a good resource listing all the past CA bar exams and what topics were tested in the essays? It would be great to get a sense how many times Evidence (FRE) has been tested compared to Evidence (CEC or both).
- a male human
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
If it's barsecrets, I would be wary. I almost got killed because I prioritized my study based on his predictions...twice. Half the predicted subjects were wrong, and he's blaming it on the increasing unpredictability of the test.
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Any tips for covering all the issues in an evidence essay? They weren't kidding when they said it was a race horse. I did okay on Question 5, but Question 1 was brutal if you allocated yourself an hour.
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
LSATNightmares wrote:Any tips for covering all the issues in an evidence essay? They weren't kidding when they said it was a race horse. I did okay on Question 5, but Question 1 was brutal if you allocated yourself an hour.
Just make sure your structure is good and go for it. Also, make sure you only explain the rules 1 time.
If it comes up on the bar exam it is going to be a shit show. Doing relevance 1 million times.
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
I'm also curious how much time to spend preparing to write an answer. They said in the initial video to spend 20 minutes planning, but if you do that, it's impossible to write and cover everything in the remaining 40 minutes.jarofsoup wrote:LSATNightmares wrote:Any tips for covering all the issues in an evidence essay? They weren't kidding when they said it was a race horse. I did okay on Question 5, but Question 1 was brutal if you allocated yourself an hour.
Just make sure your structure is good and go for it. Also, make sure you only explain the rules 1 time.
If it comes up on the bar exam it is going to be a shit show. Doing relevance 1 million times.
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Re: California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread
Professional responsibility (which is on the exam every year), Crimes, contracts, wills/trusts or business associations, that's all I remember off the top of my head. Just type in california bar exam july 2014 predictions in youtube. I definitely wouldn't take it as gospel, though.LSATNightmares wrote: Who did the video? Link? What else was predicted?
And yeah, the video was made by bar secrets. Seemed iffy considering they give alternatives (e.g. "one of the essays will be wills/trusts or business associations") and then when one of them is right they go see we got it right. They also made excuses for getting predictions wrong by pointing to the fact that the originally predicted subject matter was the basis of the PT, which doesn't even require knowledge of the law.
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