BarBri Bar Review Hangout - February 2016 Exam Forum

[rcharter1978]

If you're just starting and this is your first time taking it I've been told thats pretty normal for Barbri. The mission is to make you feel like an idiot so you'll be motivated to try harder

it's working....

I know, I think they mean well, and I get it. But I think it can also backfire and just make people want to hide in bed all day because they think its all so insurmountable. I know I felt that way a few times....Just keep at it!

[rcharter1978]

Finally starting to get Con Law lol

Did you skip ahead? My Con Law lecture is scheduled for January 22nd.

Really?? I did not skip ahead. Con Law was my first subject.
Edit: And yeah Chemirensky all the way!

He wasn't a very captivating lecturer, but how can you not have him for the Con Law lecture....its m'fing Chemerinsky (even if I can't spell his name!)

[BVest]

Maybe it's different based on state or something.

It is. And sometimes different within a state.

Also the instructors can vary from state to state. I don't recall who we had, but I'm 99.9% sure we did not have Chemerinsky in Tx.

[rcharter1978]

Maybe it's different based on state or something.

It is. And sometimes different within a state.

Also the instructors can vary from state to state. I don't recall who we had, but I'm 99.9% sure we did not have Chemerinsky in Tx.

Thats interesting, I thought that since Con Law was a subject that was the same across the board they would use the Chemerinsky lecture for the entire nation. Kinda seems like a waste of money to do it any other way. Oh well, Barbri is making money hand over fist, I shouldn't second guess their business model.

[Carly12]

How many hours are you guys studying at the moment? I am having trouble finding a schedule. Do you simply do follow step by step Barbri's assignments?

[MrMustache]

How many hours are you guys studying at the moment? I am having trouble finding a schedule. Do you simply do follow step by step Barbri's assignments?

At a minimum, I try to compete what's assigned for the day. If I still have some energy left, I start the assignments for the next day.

[crumpetsandtea]

Hey everyone! Took CA in July 2015 and passed. Now I'm taking IL in Feb 2016. I'm working full time now so I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooo not excited to start studying on top of working 40 hours a week

[gtg]

How many hours are you guys studying at the moment? I am having trouble finding a schedule. Do you simply do follow step by step Barbri's assignments?

At a minimum, I try to compete what's assigned for the day. If I still have some energy left, I start the assignments for the next day.

I do exactly the same thing. Or read the outline when I have time and don't feel like doing the next day's assignment.

[BVest]

If you do all or almost all of the day's assignment, you'll be in good shape. Personally I typically did between 3/4 and all of the day's assignment early on (always did the lecture; sometimes skipped an essay or two). Basically I took it easy early on in anticipation of 9-11 hour days toward the end. As my Past Due assignment list grew, I used it as an a la carte menu of to-do items.

I also focused more on MBE to start and save some of the essay subjects (especially the ones I didn't take in LS) until closer to the exam since I felt my retention would be better for courses I'd already taken and not as good for those I had not taken.

[Carly12]

This is what I am doing too, thanks for sharing your schedule guys - for now it works but as you said I will adapt it as the exam approaches.

[rahrah4lif]

Does anyone know how to actually access EssayArchitect? I could only find one assignment (for Real Property) that uses it. That can't be the only subject for which I have access to it, right??

[Chueyx1289]

I just did the Partnership questions and I feel like the lectures did not prepare me at all for the questions. Anyone else feel that way?

Yea. The lecturer for partnership did not prepare for the questions. I had to go through the conviser and supplement based on the explanations from the questions.

[Chueyx1289]

I'm taking NY and I just got off finals a week ago. Been struggling doing a consistent 8 hour day. Anyone else having this problem and am i in deep shit. I've pretty got Con Law down based on the lectures and did decent on the assessments.

[Carly12]

I just did the Partnership questions and I feel like the lectures did not prepare me at all for the questions. Anyone else feel that way?

Yea. The lecturer for partnership did not prepare for the questions. I had to go through the conviser and supplement based on the explanations from the questions.

Ditto!

[gtg]

I'm taking NY and I just got off finals a week ago. Been struggling doing a consistent 8 hour day. Anyone else having this problem and am i in deep shit. I've pretty got Con Law down based on the lectures and did decent on the assessments.

Exactly the same. But my plan was to "start slowly" and pick up after January 1st.

[EaglesNation215]

Anyone sitting for the Pennsylvania/New Jersey or New York/New Jersey bar exams?

[jackbauer10]

I'm taking NY and I just got off finals a week ago. Been struggling doing a consistent 8 hour day. Anyone else having this problem and am i in deep shit. I've pretty got Con Law down based on the lectures and did decent on the assessments.

Exactly the same. But my plan was to "start slowly" and pick up after January 1st.

+1. Also, I'm finding the BarBri Amp questions to be really useful. So far I've only been assigned two of the sets. Are more of these going to be added to my assignments or should I plan on working them in on my own? It's hard to tell what's going to be assigned and what isn't.
Edit: I'm sitting for CA

[jamescastle]

Had that BARBRI Starting Point video on in the background and heard that weird "75% --> 100% pass" claim.

I did 75% of the work for July and failed.

Ungh. So frustrating.

[Anonymous10018]

I'm taking the NY Bar exam. Doing ConLaw right now and I'm falling asleep during the readings and even the MPQs not to mention my scores are disappointingly low! I also, don't find the Essay Architect feature to be very helpful, but I just used it today so...

Any advice on how to better prepare?? Anyone else thinking about doing real MBE Q's from another program or book?

[Anonymous10018]

Passed July 2015 Bar using BarBri and just wanted to throw this out there:



I used this book to supplement my prep and found it to be EXTREMELY HELPFUL: http://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tactic ... 1454809922

I did not supplement my prep in any other way.

Also, and take my word for this, there will be times when you curse BarBri and feel as if you aren't learning anything. But you likely are learning more than you know. And you'll be fine.

best of luck

Super helpful!! Thank you!

[gtg]

I'm taking the NY Bar exam. Doing ConLaw right now and I'm falling asleep during the readings and even the MPQs not to mention my scores are disappointingly low! I also, don't find the Essay Architect feature to be very helpful, but I just used it today so...

Any advice on how to better prepare?? Anyone else thinking about doing real MBE Q's from another program or book?

I was feeling exactly the same way during Con Law. Now got to Torts and feel much better. I think you have to push through it, specially since it's just the beginning. I just keep reading the CMR when I have extra time.

[MrMustache]

Had that BARBRI Starting Point video on in the background and heard that weird "75% --> 100% pass" claim.

I did 75% of the work for July and failed.

Ungh. So frustrating.

I think they disclaimed that by adding "in select schools."

How close were you to passing though, if you don't mind me asking?

[MrMustache]

The diagnostic questions feel endless! It's like every time I submit a set of questions and think that I'm done, they pull me back in for more, and then some.

[jamescastle]

Had that BARBRI Starting Point video on in the background and heard that weird "75% --> 100% pass" claim.

I did 75% of the work for July and failed.

Ungh. So frustrating.

I think they disclaimed that by adding "in select schools."

How close were you to passing though, if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah it is in select schools (I think they phrased it as "a very large number of schools" or something). My school was in the graphic in the video so I guess it won't be next time. :-/

26 points. I was below average on the MBE.
That's also with a 0 percentile on the MPT which I didn't understand. Texas at least does an informal review process where you submit questions to them and so I submitted and asked about that. Haven't heard back yet though.

[lawst_]

Took Themis and failed. Decided to shell out for BarBri for February because all of my friends who took BarBri passed.

Will supplement BarBri lectures with MBE questions from Themis (my free retake), and BarEssays subscription.

Finished BarBri's Dec. 26th stuff today and already feel like I understand property better than I ever did with Themis. Definitely looking forward to other subjects.


Those of you who are retaking BarBri, where did you fall short on the July bar? And what do you plan to do differently this time around?

I am retaking BarBri and I can tell you that I wasted too much time on those lectures! I used to attend the physical classes and stopped doing that midway but continued to watch them online. I was worried I would miss something important if I didn't watch them but I can honestly say they added NO value. This time, I will focus on practice questions and substantive review. I will basically be using barbri for practice qs but that's about it.

100% agree with this. Took Barbri, failed. Definitely fell short on MBE, actually did worse on MBE than I did on practice tests. I've heard from many people that Barbri's MBE questions aren't much like the real MBE questions and I would agree with that.

Also I spent WAY too much time on the lectures. They're unnecessarily long, even if you speed them up. I felt like I HAD to watch the lectures, so there'd be times where I'd waste 3+ hours getting through one, only to feel like I learned absolutely nothing at the end and that I had just mindlessly filled in blanks.