ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM Forum

[LMMadison]

Naturally, I'm having a heart attack that something out of the ordinary happened...

Hah -- yeah, as was I. You're all good -- just give them a call. The Clerk was helpful and responsive by email -- though did give me a little attitude when stressing the fact they were "RE-sending" the letter. Whatever.

[lawst_]

Just talked to someone in the Clerk's office. I got the "well did you give us the right email? Did you check your spam folder? You SHOULD HAVE received it." treatment. I emphasized that I had checked my spam folders, my email was up to date, and that I just need the letter for my records.

They told me to email someone my information and they'd send it back out. So now I'm refreshing my email over and over until I get it. Sigh. C'mon Illinois. I'd been through enough with this exam.

[CordeliasFool]

Hey IL bar repeaters -- does anyone have experience switching from Themis to Barbri? I'm thinking about switching programs because this is my third time taking the bar exam (while working). Any thoughts?

[lawst_]

Hey IL bar repeaters -- does anyone have experience switching from Themis to Barbri? I'm thinking about switching programs because this is my third time taking the bar exam (while working). Any thoughts?

Hi. I took IL 3 times before I passed. Honestly, I do not recommend purchasing Barbri and I think you will find a lot of people who agree on here. The program is the most expensive out of the major bar prep companies, but you really aren't getting much for your money.

I wouldn't waste your time with the lectures. This was a huuuuuuge mistake I made the first and second time I took the bar. The lectures are long, boring, and there's no way you're retaining that much info. Your time is better off doing hardcore studying of the outline books.

So, imo, buy the Barbri books from someone or online (ebay, amazon?) and use those rather than paying for a full Barbri course.

Also, Barbri's MBE prep is absolutely awful. It doesn't use real bar questions as many of the other companies do. I used Ameribar, Adaptibar, and Emmanuel's for MBE prep and I improved significantly.

Let me know if you need anymore advice. I hate to bash Barbri just because it didn't work for me, but in trying to be as objective as possible, their MBE prep was worthless and the lectures are not helpful. I do, however, like their Conviser Mini Review and the essay prep.

[HiOCEAN]

Hey IL bar repeaters -- does anyone have experience switching from Themis to Barbri? I'm thinking about switching programs because this is my third time taking the bar exam (while working). Any thoughts?

Hi. I took IL 3 times before I passed. Honestly, I do not recommend purchasing Barbri and I think you will find a lot of people who agree on here. The program is the most expensive out of the major bar prep companies, but you really aren't getting much for your money.

I wouldn't waste your time with the lectures. This was a huuuuuuge mistake I made the first and second time I took the bar. The lectures are long, boring, and there's no way you're retaining that much info. Your time is better off doing hardcore studying of the outline books.

So, imo, buy the Barbri books from someone or online (ebay, amazon?) and use those rather than paying for a full Barbri course.

Also, Barbri's MBE prep is absolutely awful. It doesn't use real bar questions as many of the other companies do. I used Ameribar, Adaptibar, and Emmanuel's for MBE prep and I improved significantly.

Let me know if you need anymore advice. I hate to bash Barbri just because it didn't work for me, but in trying to be as objective as possible, their MBE prep was worthless and the lectures are not helpful. I do, however, like their Conviser Mini Review and the essay prep.

I agree with this totally. I used barbri the first time and thought the lectures were a waste and you don't retain that much info. I used Ameribar and passed. Still have all the books if anyone wants. I also found that it is possible to get through the entire Ameribar outline book, compared to the Barbri outlines. Ameribar also has real MBE questions. If anyone is interested I am trying to get rid of the books

[HiOCEAN]

Hey guys, how long after paying for your license did you get your letter regarding the ceremony?

I paid for my license ~2 weeks ago but still haven't received the letter. I can't attend the ceremony because I'll be traveling, but I'd still like to have it. Plus I'm hoping it has a little more information for swearing in if you can't attend the ceremony.

I had an issue with this.

Apparently, once you pass, the Board sends a certification that you passed (i) the IL exam and (ii) IL C&F to the Clerks office. Upon receipt of the certification, the Clerks office sends out letters with ceremony information. The letter arrives as a PDF email attachments. It's tailored to you (giving you your assigned ceremony time, if you're in Chicago), but the letter doesn't address you by name personally.

I never received the email, so had to call the Clerk's office and have them re-send the email. Paid the day after results were released (a Sat), initial emails went out the next Wed (which I didn't receive), followed up Friday, they re-sent me a copy by email the following Tuesday.

If you're in a similar position, I wouldn't hesitate to call/email the Clerk's office to clear this up. Worth the 15 minutes for peace of mind alone.

Now that the ceremony is a few days away, do we just show up to the place? Sounds too easy ... Do we need to bring any documents? And what are people wearing?

[NonTradHealthLaw]

The letter states that business attire is required and that we must arrive 30 minutes prior to the ceremony to sign the oath. My guess is that a government-issued ID and appropriate dress is all they really care about.

[LMMadison]

The letter states that business attire is required and that we must arrive 30 minutes prior to the ceremony to sign the oath. My guess is that a government-issued ID and appropriate dress is all they really care about.

Yup, I wasn't planning on doing anything beyond that (arrive 30 minutes early, wear a suit/comparable attire, bring a license to prove identify). Apparently we have to sign something as well, so will bring a pen (though they'll likely be provided).

[LMMadison]

So, imo, buy the Barbri books from someone or online (ebay, amazon?) and use those rather than paying for a full Barbri course.

I second this -- if this is your second+ attempt. If you're repeating, you already have your notes/outlines -- you just need to practice/review a bunch. The value of the Barbri lectures is that the completed lecture handouts become your outline to study (an abbreviated version of the Barbri CMR). This is helpful if you haven't taken the subject in school before -- or it's more efficient for you than studying the longer Barbri print outlines. However, if you've already sat for the exam, you likely already have the black letter law in some personalized format (assuming you still have your outlines/note/flash cards from Round 1) -- so there's little value imo in the Barbri lectures for Round 2 (if, for example, you used Themis or whatever for Round 1).

There's mixed views on Barbri MBE prep, but I found the Barbri answer explanations in their printed material really thorough and helpful across the board -- for the MBE and particularly for the essays and MPT. I spent more time with the explanations than the questions themselves. For example, with essays, would write out my response in 30 minutes timed, but then would take like 60/90 minutes reviewing the answer -- deep read, wrote out black letter law from the answer into a running, aggregated word document I kept, and then added anything new/clarifying or notes to myself to my outline. Not saying you need to study this way, but found the depth/nuance of the Barbri answers (for nearly all essays and most MBEs/MPTs) generally helpful for this study approach.

And you should be able to buy the MBE, Essay and MPT books used online for like ~$400 total -- sure beats the $4,000 or whatever for the entire course.

[Steve2207]

Can anyone tell me for sure whether the passing score has been raised for the next exam? I cannot find any information on what the passing score is on the IBAB website, or the breakdown of each sections score value.

I have heard rumors that it is going to be 268, and the MPT will be weighted higher, can anyone confirm?

ETA: For anyone that may share this concern, I was able to confirm that the score WILL remain at 266 this July.

[pdwannabe]

any idea how long we can expect the admission ceremony to be?

[HiOCEAN]

any idea how long we can expect the admission ceremony to be?

Probably half hour? Not sure. We do have to arrive half hour earlier than the schedule time so keep that in mind.

[Steve2207]

Hey IL bar repeaters -- does anyone have experience switching from Themis to Barbri? I'm thinking about switching programs because this is my third time taking the bar exam (while working). Any thoughts?

Hi. I took IL 3 times before I passed. Honestly, I do not recommend purchasing Barbri and I think you will find a lot of people who agree on here. The program is the most expensive out of the major bar prep companies, but you really aren't getting much for your money.

I wouldn't waste your time with the lectures. This was a huuuuuuge mistake I made the first and second time I took the bar. The lectures are long, boring, and there's no way you're retaining that much info. Your time is better off doing hardcore studying of the outline books.

So, imo, buy the Barbri books from someone or online (ebay, amazon?) and use those rather than paying for a full Barbri course.

Also, Barbri's MBE prep is absolutely awful. It doesn't use real bar questions as many of the other companies do. I used Ameribar, Adaptibar, and Emmanuel's for MBE prep and I improved significantly.

Let me know if you need anymore advice. I hate to bash Barbri just because it didn't work for me, but in trying to be as objective as possible, their MBE prep was worthless and the lectures are not helpful. I do, however, like their Conviser Mini Review and the essay prep.

I agree with this totally. I used barbri the first time and thought the lectures were a waste and you don't retain that much info. I used Ameribar and passed. Still have all the books if anyone wants. I also found that it is possible to get through the entire Ameribar outline book, compared to the Barbri outlines. Ameribar also has real MBE questions. If anyone is interested I am trying to get rid of the books

This has me nervous, I already purchased Barbri after falling short with Themis. Any advice on what to use for MBE prep in my position?

[santa_mcgee]

Hey IL bar repeaters -- does anyone have experience switching from Themis to Barbri? I'm thinking about switching programs because this is my third time taking the bar exam (while working). Any thoughts?

Hi. I took IL 3 times before I passed. Honestly, I do not recommend purchasing Barbri and I think you will find a lot of people who agree on here. The program is the most expensive out of the major bar prep companies, but you really aren't getting much for your money.

I wouldn't waste your time with the lectures. This was a huuuuuuge mistake I made the first and second time I took the bar. The lectures are long, boring, and there's no way you're retaining that much info. Your time is better off doing hardcore studying of the outline books.

So, imo, buy the Barbri books from someone or online (ebay, amazon?) and use those rather than paying for a full Barbri course.

Also, Barbri's MBE prep is absolutely awful. It doesn't use real bar questions as many of the other companies do. I used Ameribar, Adaptibar, and Emmanuel's for MBE prep and I improved significantly.

Let me know if you need anymore advice. I hate to bash Barbri just because it didn't work for me, but in trying to be as objective as possible, their MBE prep was worthless and the lectures are not helpful. I do, however, like their Conviser Mini Review and the essay prep.

I agree with this totally. I used barbri the first time and thought the lectures were a waste and you don't retain that much info. I used Ameribar and passed. Still have all the books if anyone wants. I also found that it is possible to get through the entire Ameribar outline book, compared to the Barbri outlines. Ameribar also has real MBE questions. If anyone is interested I am trying to get rid of the books

This has me nervous, I already purchased Barbri after falling short with Themis. Any advice on what to use for MBE prep in my position?

Just my two cents here but I passed IL on the second try and I used Barbri both times. Mainly because of the free price for retakers but also because I was afraid that starting with a new program might hurt me more than help.

Anyways, I didn't think the lectures were a waste of time. I was only working part-time though and not at all during the month of the exam so I had more time. If you're working full-time, then yeah, you could skip them but for me, it was helpful to hear the professors talk about the subjects (even if this was the second time) instead of just reading by myself. I also felt like I understood what they were saying more.

I agree that the MBE questions don't look like the real ones. I think the Barbri questions are still helpful but you should definitely go through real questions too. I used free retired questions from the NCBE site and I also bought a 50 question set from them. Retired but you still get a good sense of what the real questions look like. I think these helped me a lot. The Critical Pass flashcards are great too for remembering rules.

My only real problems with Barbri were that they are too damn expensive and their MBE questions are not realistic enough.

[umichman]

any idea how long we can expect the admission ceremony to be?

Probably half hour? Not sure. We do have to arrive half hour earlier than the schedule time so keep that in mind.

What do I do if im going to miss the ceremony. THey keep telling me to wait until after teh ceremonyl Does anybody know what the alternative is?

[HiOCEAN]

I think you swear in with a judge later. Yup, they don't tell you of the exact procedure until AFTER the ceremony.

[LMMadison]

Anyone know when/how we receive our Bar Number?

[mjr0773]

Anyone know when/how we receive our Bar Number?

You will receive a letter in the mail from the ARDC in the next week or so per the ARDC website

[HiOCEAN]

How did Thursday's bar ceremony go for everyone? Mine was at the James R. Thompson center in downtown Chicago. You just show up and give your name, and they tell you to sign the oath. No ID necessary. Ceremony started 15 minutes after the scheduled time. Right after the oath, we were dismissed. All in all a nice, short experience. Thoughts?

[lawst_]

Hey all, congrats to everyone who attended the ceremony on Thursday.

I wasn't able to attend, and I know they send next steps sometime after the ceremony. Can anyone confirm whether they send this info via mail or email? Also, if anyone else who didn't attend could post in here once they receive instructions for having the oath administered, I'd appreciate it. I've had issues with getting emails from the Clerk of the Court (never got my letter regarding the ceremony, had to call and ask for it, and then they made me feel like I was the idiot for never receiving it...)

[al_decisis731]

Considering we are about a month away from D-day, thought I'd revive this thread for the Illinois takers.

[ndbigdave]

Considering we are about a month away from D-day, thought I'd revive this thread for the Illinois takers.

Naturally, I could be wrong, but I anticipate emails going out on the 28th of September.

I think the February results caught me off guard if I remember correctly, they came a few days after my guess.

The good news is that the end is near one way or another and you all will have results - then wait until November to be sworn in.

[jcwest]

This wait time is awful.

[ndbigdave]

This wait time is awful.

It is brutal, but if it makes you feel any better, other jurisdictions, specifically Michigan will take a solid month or longer than Illinois will take.

Michigan's whole system sucks. You get NO ALERT, results are just posted to the State Board of Law Examiners website as a glorified Excel spreadsheet, you must remember your seat number otherwise wait another few days for hard-copy results to appear in your mail. Illinois averages a solid month (or more) earlier results and you find out immediately via an email sent directly to you.

That all being said, Illinois does not supply your score if you pass and Michigan does, on that point Michigan wins.

[al_decisis731]

This wait time is awful.

I honestly thought working would distract me. It does not. At least there is some solace in that we are all a nervous wreck.