July 2015 California Bar Exam Forum

[Worker and Parasite]

holy balls that was pricey

[florentine]

Assigned Test Centers are now up on the status page.

[SiRR]

Yup, just got my site email.

[magr33n]

Just received my test site confirmation and the email from Themis saying their study portal is online.

[underthirty]

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[spek]

You do have to pay for the Moral Character application. The total is $1429. Bar association registration - $113, bar exam reg + laptop fee - $791, moral determination - $525.

[hobojarpen]

Looks like I'll be taking my exam in Pasadena. Any tips on hotels, etc., in that area?

[harveydent]

@hobojarpen we stayed at the Westin in Pasadena. 3 days came out to $626.13 which after talking to some other test takers that was "reasonable."

Some knocks about that hotel: walls are pretty thin, there is no breakfast provided, wi-fi costs $12 per 24hrs, and the parking has no in and out privileges and costs $13 per night for hotel guests.

I saw that the Sheraton is literally next door to the convention center so thats an option thats closer. The Westin is within walking distance, probably 6-7 minutes away.

There's a Starbucks nearby the testing center which is where we got breakfast. Other people said they just had the hotel provide room service in their room for when they went back to the room during the lunch breaks.

Hope this helps.

[Ubermaus]

I'll be at the Century Plaza. Have I made a huge mistake? (Interpret that however you want: shouldn't have gone to law school? terrible user name? socks don't match?)

Dunno if people have seen this, but here are the "special" rates for hotels near the testing locations: http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Portals ... List_R.pdf

The listed price for Century Plaza is half what I was seeing on Hyatt's website, so there may be some deals there.

[underthirty]

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[a male human]

Have I made a huge mistake? (Interpret that however you want: shouldn't have gone to law school? terrible user name? socks don't match?)

The username's not bad, but the decision to go to law school is almost always a questionable one.

It's like I double down on increasingly worse life decisions, and going to law school didn't end that streak, let me tell you.

[zot1]

Checking even though I'm not done with finals haha!

Themis. Got the box a while back, but haven't opened it. Probably should.

Let's do this!

#Oneanddone

[FearnLoathing]

With the CA Bar Exam being three months away, I thought I would reach out and see if anyone near San Mateo would be interested in forming a study group? Are there any other Fleming's Bar Review students in the area?

Thanks!

[underthirty]

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[a male human]

I've been assigned the San Diego Convention Center (first choice!) and will be using my laptop (Flying Spaghetti Monster willing). This is my second exam (passed the first, but that was a different state), and the CBX seems tougher than the other one (especially since my strength (the MBE) is only worth 35%).

I'm using Kaplan because I had it before and liked it. I have Strategies and Tactics for the MBE, AMH's Approsheets, and will likely subscribe to baressays.

Anything I should know about testing in the San Diego Convention Center, or are there any other CBX prep resources I should consider?

Damn, I'm glad people found those things useful.

I'm working on improved versions right now—which should now be more legible, more comprehensive, and with flowcharts (because several people mentioned it when I forced them to tell me what else they wanted to see). Check it out:
https://[link redacted]/QED1Ks
https://[link redacted]/rD7SDb
https://[link redacted]/PBILNw
(subject to further edits until and beyond official debut)

BTW if you want a $20 discount off BarEssays.com, I'll hook you up with a code.

Speaking of other prep resources, has anyone found BarIssues.com useful? I have personally not used them for my own studying, but I did investigate it a bit. Looks useful for honing on (i) particular issues you suck at and (ii) focusing on practicing frequently tested issues. Would like to hear thoughts from anyone who has actually used it. If anyone's interested in trying it, a sub is expensive at $99, but I have a $20-off for this one as well.

Additionally, I found Law in a Flash cards helpful for areas I wanted particular help in, like Civil Procedure and Evidence.

[underthirty]

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[a male human]

Thanks! I'm not a fan of flashcards either (and will generally avoid them), so I totally understand. I just went all out trying different things for my second attempt.

[flowerying]

I'm selling the fourth edition of The Bar Code Cheat Sheets on eBay. I found it to be VERY helpful! I relied on it heavily to pass my February 2014 bar exam, and highly recommend anyone looking to pass the bar exam to buy it! Even if you have a bar prep/tutor, it's still very useful! It's in an almost new condition, with very few marks. I'm selling it at half the original price. Here's a link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Bar-Code-Ch ... 19ffb1cc13

[nerdalicious05]

you guys heard of "sketchylaw"? buddy suggested i take a look at sketchylaw.com.

they have a signup right now, 25% off if you sign up on their site before June 1st. it's a bar supplement, actually looks pretty damn cool. anyone used it? just saw a couple of their youtube videos. holler.

[underthirty]

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[nerdalicious05]

no i just don't post but just wanted to check. didn't see that on the site. but thanks for the accusation that was fun.

[cndounda1985]

With the CA Bar Exam being three months away, I thought I would reach out and see if anyone near San Mateo would be interested in forming a study group? Are there any other Fleming's Bar Review students in the area?

Thanks!

Hi,
I took the Feb 2015 exam and found out I failed. I live in Hayward but work in Redwood City. I would be interested in the study group.

[calkel]

I haven't posted in this forum since applying for law school but after failing the bar for the third time I need to do something different. I took barbri the first time but stopped following the schedule halfway through because I felt like I wasn't retaining any BLL. The second and third times were self-study out of those books. I was in the 1290s the first time and 1350s the second time. I came out of the second feeling like I passed but I passed the MBE by one point and almost all my essays were 55s (60s on one essay and one PT). The third time was mixed for me. I felt good about the morning MBE, property essay and PT-B, but everything else was questionable.

I'm looking into bar review courses this time. I'm leaning towards Barmax CA full course with unlimited essay grading. I've heard good things about their MBE review but is anyone familiar with their approach to essays? I was planning to supplement with Baressays.com anyways but the unlimited grading option with Barmax sounds appealing. They'll only grade 2 PTs with the unlimited option (I'm thinking of writing 26 PTs) but I could probably churn out 78 1-hour essays in the next 2 months. Does this sound like a good plan?

[a male human]

I haven't posted in this forum since applying for law school but after failing the bar for the third time I need to do something different. I took barbri the first time but stopped following the schedule halfway through because I felt like I wasn't retaining any BLL. The second and third times were self-study out of those books. I was in the 1290s the first time and 1350s the second time. I came out of the second feeling like I passed but I passed the MBE by one point and almost all my essays were 55s (60s on one essay and one PT). The third time was mixed for me. I felt good about the morning MBE, property essay and PT-B, but everything else was questionable.

I'm looking into bar review courses this time. I'm leaning towards Barmax CA full course with unlimited essay grading. I've heard good things about their MBE review but is anyone familiar with their approach to essays? I was planning to supplement with Baressays.com anyways but the unlimited grading option with Barmax sounds appealing. They'll only grade 2 PTs with the unlimited option (I'm thinking of writing 26 PTs) but I could probably churn out 78 1-hour essays in the next 2 months. Does this sound like a good plan?

It's good that you are improving with each attempt. I was around the mid-1300s myself (with 65 being the highest essay score) before passing the next time.

I never took BarMax, so I can't say much about them. I know a classmate who used it for her second (and first?) try and passed for what that's worth.

Having your writing critiqued (by yourself or someone else) is important, though, so it's good that you're getting a BarEssays sub. You can compare your writing to below-65 and above-65 answers to see how similar they look. PM me for a $20-off code if you want one.

If I were studying again, I would avoid doing 78 1-hour essays as you plan to do. It is a waste of time and energy to write out everything. Two caveats:
- If you are struggling with timing and application of rules, do start out with full essays (and taper it off to at most 25% of essays being outline of issues and rules)
- You should still have written full essays for each subject, as each subject has its own way of approaching an essay

I wrote about this topic last year here if you're interested in further elaboration. There are several first and second timers who used this almost-obvious method to gain direction and confidence in their study--and passed!

Good luck!

[SpAcEmAn SpLiFF]

Just failed Feb 2015 and gonna be going for my first retake in July. I'm pretty devastated right now, but I plan on skimming my outline in the coming week and going full-on after Memorial Day's over. I'll be retaking Barbri since it'll be free. Is anyone doing Barbri right now? How far along is the schedule?

I'm planning to skip past all the lecture videos and just go straight to the handouts and my outline for the BLL. Then I'm gonna go hardcore on practice questions, which I did virtually none of during prep for Feb 2015 (I work full-time). Ugh kill me.