Themis Bar Review Hangout - July 2016 Forum

[ChocolateTruffle]

Themis is a good program and better value than some of its competitors, but it has serious flaws. You'll discover them yourselves as you proceed with the program, but I'll try to post them here as I remember them and when I have more time.

Oh dear. That doesn't sound good. Please remember and post ASAP so we can find some remedies and not fail the bar! Please!

[soj]

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[cleanhustle]

1. essay prep is unbelievably awful. essays matter a lot in CA, but fortunately i was able to find a good book on amazon for $40ish that was just 1000x better than what themis provided. [note: by no means are supplements necessary to pass--but you might find some of them more helpful than your prep program]

Can I ask what book you used?

And what do you mean by "when you actually start studying" [in the lecture portion of your answer]... What did you do to "actually study"? Was it flashcards or just more practice/memorization? I'm considering getting Critical Pass Flashcards and definitely see what you mean about essays... Just started my first essay today and feel a little anxious.

Thanks!

[cleanhustle]

Also are people buying any supplemental materials? I planned to pickup lean sheets as I've seen raves about them, wondered if others were doing the same?

I'm considering maybe some Critical Pass flashcards... I was going to do Adaptibar but I've heard the Q's they have are identical to Themis so just choose either Themis or Adaptibar. [Obviously we're all using Themis here so I decided to skip Adaptibar. It's also expensive.]

I can tell you from my experience Themis and Adaptibar questions are not all that similar.

[cleanhustle]

Also are people buying any supplemental materials? I planned to pickup lean sheets as I've seen raves about them, wondered if others were doing the same?

I'm considering maybe some Critical Pass flashcards... I was going to do Adaptibar but I've heard the Q's they have are identical to Themis so just choose either Themis or Adaptibar. [Obviously we're all using Themis here so I decided to skip Adaptibar. It's also expensive.]

I can tell you from my experience Themis and Adaptibar questions are not all that similar.

That's helpful-- can you expand a bit more on the differences?
If Adaptibar is going to be helpful, I will purchase but it's a big investment for me.

[soj]

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[soj]

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[soj]

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[Rahviveh]

Well I already bought Adaptibar based on the great reviews I saw on this forum. Hopefully it wasn't a waste of money.

[ChocolateTruffle]

I bought the Critical Pass flashcards app.. Now I hope that wasn't a waste of money

[Rahviveh]

I bought the Critical Pass flashcards app.. Now I hope that wasn't a waste of money

I was thinking of getting the app because I don't want physical cards. The app isn't that expensive. How is it so far? I've never used flashcards in my life to study but what's another 50$

[ChocolateTruffle]

I bought the Critical Pass flashcards app.. Now I hope that wasn't a waste of money

I was thinking of getting the app because I don't want physical cards. The app isn't that expensive. How is it so far? I've never used flashcards in my life to study but what's another 50$

With tax the cards came to $64! But as someone else said, it is a lot of info on one card!


Are you guys handwriting your own condensed outlines or typing them? I am handwriting because I figured that way I would retain the information better, but it takes me a long time I type 95-100wpm, but I feel like if I type my own condensed outlines, I won't be paying much attention to what I'm typing. I don't know... What are you all doing?

[TLSModBot]

I bought the Critical Pass flashcards app.. Now I hope that wasn't a waste of money

I was thinking of getting the app because I don't want physical cards. The app isn't that expensive. How is it so far? I've never used flashcards in my life to study but what's another 50$

With tax the cards came to $64! But as someone else said, it is a lot of info on one card!


Are you guys handwriting your own condensed outlines or typing them? I am handwriting because I figured that way I would retain the information better, but it takes me a long time I type 95-100wpm, but I feel like if I type my own condensed outlines, I won't be paying much attention to what I'm typing. I don't know... What are you all doing?

I'm typing as I listen to the lectures, then cleaning it up afterwards which helps me critically think about what I wrote and condense it into something memorable

[rcharter1978]

I bought the Critical Pass flashcards app.. Now I hope that wasn't a waste of money

I was thinking of getting the app because I don't want physical cards. The app isn't that expensive. How is it so far? I've never used flashcards in my life to study but what's another 50$

With tax the cards came to $64! But as someone else said, it is a lot of info on one card!


Are you guys handwriting your own condensed outlines or typing them? I am handwriting because I figured that way I would retain the information better, but it takes me a long time I type 95-100wpm, but I feel like if I type my own condensed outlines, I won't be paying much attention to what I'm typing. I don't know... What are you all doing?

I typed, for some reason typing helps me to read through/think about what I'm typing....even if I'm just typing directly from the material....it forces me to read and process it as I'm typing....even though I type as fast as you. If I had to handwrite I would have given up on the third day....but I get nasty hand cramps.

[kiwi4president]

I heard Adaptibar is great and all, but I used Themis alone and did fine on the MBE. Themis has something like 2k questions. If you need more questions than that go ahead and do Adaptibar, but there was no way you need that many to pass.

[unidentifiable]

I heard Adaptibar is great and all, but I used Themis alone and did fine on the MBE. Themis has something like 2k questions. If you need more questions than that go ahead and do Adaptibar, but there was no way you need that many to pass.

So, they have 2000 questions. Am I supposed to do those on my own time? Or, by the end of this whole thing, will I have done them all?

I ask because I feel like I should be doing more practice questions, and I dont know if Themis will automatically schedule them in over time.

[Chardee_MacDennis]

I heard Adaptibar is great and all, but I used Themis alone and did fine on the MBE. Themis has something like 2k questions. If you need more questions than that go ahead and do Adaptibar, but there was no way you need that many to pass.

So, they have 2000 questions. Am I supposed to do those on my own time? Or, by the end of this whole thing, will I have done them all?

I ask because I feel like I should be doing more practice questions, and I dont know if Themis will automatically schedule them in over time.

It looks like they're all incorporated into the recommended study schedule, so I think the latter part of your sentence is correct.

[ultimolugar]

Also are people buying any supplemental materials? I planned to pickup lean sheets as I've seen raves about them, wondered if others were doing the same?

I'm considering maybe some Critical Pass flashcards... I was going to do Adaptibar but I've heard the Q's they have are identical to Themis so just choose either Themis or Adaptibar. [Obviously we're all using Themis here so I decided to skip Adaptibar. It's also expensive.]

I can tell you from my experience Themis and Adaptibar questions are not all that similar.

That's helpful-- can you expand a bit more on the differences?
If Adaptibar is going to be helpful, I will purchase but it's a big investment for me.

Sorry for the delay, working full-time and prepping is a time-killer. Anyway, I will use contracts as an example since it is the first time we encounter in Themis Bar Prep. The questions for Contracts in Themis tend to emphasize on the distinctions between common law and UCC a lot more than the questions utilized by Adaptibar. In my experience, the Adaptibar questions focus more on defenses to formation above anything else. There always seems to be some defense to formation or excuse that nullifies a party's obligation. I know as I write this that my explanatory is highly cursory and not very in-depth, but I don't know how else to show it shy of taking screenshots and I don't want to risk any retribution from either of them for doing that.

At the end of the time, if it is going to be financially demanding on you, I would definitely probably just use it as a backup and only if you feel uncomfortable with your progress on Themis questions once you've gone through them all.

[ultimolugar]

I heard Adaptibar is great and all, but I used Themis alone and did fine on the MBE. Themis has something like 2k questions. If you need more questions than that go ahead and do Adaptibar, but there was no way you need that many to pass.

Kiwi,

How did you review once you exhausted the questions in Themis? Did you just go over all of the answers to ensure you got them right for the right reason (for correct answers) and figured out what went wrong (for the wrong answers)?

[Fivedham]

Anyone else get totally wrecked by that first 17 question practice set of MBE Contracts & Sales questions? I got like a third of them right. Been following Themis' plan, been doing solid reviews of the outline and lecture handout every night, still felt like they weren't prepping me.

[mu13ski]

Anyone else get totally wrecked by that first 17 question practice set of MBE Contracts & Sales questions? I got like a third of them right. Been following Themis' plan, been doing solid reviews of the outline and lecture handout every night, still felt like they weren't prepping me.

Glad I'm not the only one.

[AlanShore]

Anyone else get totally wrecked by that first 17 question practice set of MBE Contracts & Sales questions? I got like a third of them right. Been following Themis' plan, been doing solid reviews of the outline and lecture handout every night, still felt like they weren't prepping me.

Glad I'm not the only one.

I didnt bomb that one but did bomb the one after kinda. I think its important to review to learn why we got the answers wrong so I'm spending a lot of time doing that. But we should keep in mind this is week 1... don't freak out. You will make huge improvements.

[kiwi4president]

I heard Adaptibar is great and all, but I used Themis alone and did fine on the MBE. Themis has something like 2k questions. If you need more questions than that go ahead and do Adaptibar, but there was no way you need that many to pass.

Kiwi,

How did you review once you exhausted the questions in Themis? Did you just go over all of the answers to ensure you got them right for the right reason (for correct answers) and figured out what went wrong (for the wrong answers)?

I never got through all of the questions so I didn't have that problem. The schedule they have you on is pretty rigorous towards the end. I'm positive most people won't finish all of the questions and that's okay.

[ultimolugar]

Anyone else get totally wrecked by that first 17 question practice set of MBE Contracts & Sales questions? I got like a third of them right. Been following Themis' plan, been doing solid reviews of the outline and lecture handout every night, still felt like they weren't prepping me.

I got 4 right, totally normal. I am now in the 5th set - scored a 76. (26 out of 34)

[AlanShore]

Anyone else get totally wrecked by that first 17 question practice set of MBE Contracts & Sales questions? I got like a third of them right. Been following Themis' plan, been doing solid reviews of the outline and lecture handout every night, still felt like they weren't prepping me.

I got 4 right, totally normal. I am now in the 5th set - scored a 76. (26 out of 34)

Are you concerned youre going to run out of mbe questions to practice on? I wanted to take more but didnt want to "use them up"