2018 July California Bar Forum

[a male human]

If your friend knows for a fact (100%) that he or she will fail miserably, there's less of a point in doing a 200Q mock test.

Doing larger sets for mock purposes is for measuring your skill, not for improving it. It's like getting on the scale. If your friend already knows his or her weight (will fail miserably), what's the point of getting on the scale?

That's not to say there won't be any benefit to doing 200 questions. For one, it's a practice of endurance. And he or she could focus on reviewing those questions rather than focus on how well he or she does on the test.

Agreed that in general the practice is good, but if it turns into 6 hours of frustration it seems like the review process will be overwhelming. Doing smaller sets via self-study seems more manageable.

Also, it feels like BARBRI's approach to MBE prep is terrible.

Agree that smaller sets will be more manageable and that doing 200 Barbri Qs at once is probably going to less ineffective. It is up to you. I wanted to be fair and give the possible benefits of doing the mock exam with Barbri.

Ultimately, I'll let the current preppers weigh in on this:

[maiden42]

I need someone to tell me what to do.

Take the BarBri simulation exam and review or take 2 of the NCBE 100q tests and review.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

I need someone to tell me what to do.

Take the BarBri simulation exam and review or take 2 of the NCBE 100q tests and review.

You can do both if you have time.

[a male human]

I need someone to tell me what to do.

Take the BarBri simulation exam and review or take 2 of the NCBE 100q tests and review.

Do the latter

....Not to ruin the confidence of the answer, that's what I would do given the choice, not what you should do

I realize we all want definite answers

[Nightcrawler]

I don't remember who was interested to look at how the Productive Mindset Strategies Mega-Program looked like and, it's EXACTLY what we expected. A useless load of crap.

This is their introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... ximWVJBfZc
And another intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... CnU70_Zfg8

And these are "stories" from past test takers. They aren't really videos, it's just a little motivation speech written on a white background with a voiceover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... T0jRSaortQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... wD-MhDSWZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... fBWlhQGqjA

I won't post more because you get the idea. lol. What a waste of time.

[a male human]

Can't wait to see what kind of video of people in a bright studio with upbeat background music they're going to come up with

Literally the first video lmfao

[Nightcrawler]

Can't wait to see what kind of video of people in a bright studio with upbeat background music they're going to come up with

Literally the first video lmfao

Ahahahah exactly, I remember when I watched the video it looked so familiar lol. Well, thank you for spoiling it, now I'll never pass the bar

[Nightcrawler]

For anyone interested in body language and micro expressions, this is a must watch. The head of the CA Bar (not) wishing you the best to succeed. Lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4YDZ1YnzeM

[lawyer786]

Anybody know how accurate Dr. Saccuzzo's predictions are?

[tkt36]

I finished all lectures and made my outlines. Any advice on how to approach studying each day now? I would like to balance MBEs & Essays, but was also told i should start memorizing 10-15 rules each day now. I appreciate hearing about all methods you guys had in your last month!

I have done a mix of MBE and Essays multiple times a week while also watching the lectures so I'm mostly asking how many of each should i do a day, how many topics a day, how much time should i really dedicate to rote memorization, etc. thanks!

[justanotheruser]

I finished all lectures and made my outlines. Any advice on how to approach studying each day now? I would like to balance MBEs & Essays, but was also told i should start memorizing 10-15 rules each day now. I appreciate hearing about all methods you guys had in your last month!

I have done a mix of MBE and Essays multiple times a week while also watching the lectures so I'm mostly asking how many of each should i do a day, how many topics a day, how much time should i really dedicate to rote memorization, etc. thanks!

Passed the 2/18 bar here. Studied full-time on a 10-week study schedule. A typical day of studying for me was 30 mixed MBEs (Emanuel S&T and Adaptibar) in the morning and outlining essays (BarEssays and Mary Basick's book) for 2 subjects (usually 2-3 essays per subject) in the afternoon/evening.

As for memorization, I never did any rote memorization. Your approach may vary, but I found I retained plenty through practice + review. For MBEs, I would keep a google doc for answer explanations for questions I got wrong and marked as uncertain (whether or not I got them right). I would edit/revise as I started to retain/remember certain rules. For essays, I think I was able to memorize rule statements by sheer repetition and reviewing various answers on BarEssays. I think I memorized a few mnemonics for each subject and a general issues checklist for each subject, but I didn't really do rote memorization on its own.

Good luck!

[santoki]

A man owned Blackacre in fee simple. By his will, he devised as follows: "Blackacre to such of my grandchildren who shall reach the age of 21; and by this provision I intend to include all grandchildren whenever born." At the time of his death, the man had 3 children and 2 grandchildren.

Why does this violate RAP if it were an inter vivos conveyance but not violate RAP if it were in the grantor's will? (As Emanuel's suggests)

Even if it were in the grantor's will, one of his 3 children could have another grandchild after the grantor's death which would then be > 21 years. What am I missing here?

[Nightcrawler]

Anybody know how accurate Dr. Saccuzzo's predictions are?

Pretty inaccurate. Last time he got something like 2 right predicting like 8-9 subjects. And one was PR.

[MBernard]

Anybody know how accurate Dr. Saccuzzo's predictions are?

Pretty inaccurate. Last time he got something like 2 right predicting like 8-9 subjects. And one was PR.

Wow. I really don’t understand why there is so much hype around the guy. Seems like he’s brought up an awful lot. I hate the prediction game in general, it just seems like it gives people false hope whereas the time would be better spent addressing their weak subjects and doing self assessment.

[a male human]

Anybody know how accurate Dr. Saccuzzo's predictions are?

Pretty inaccurate. Last time he got something like 2 right predicting like 8-9 subjects. And one was PR.

Wow. I really don’t understand why there is so much hype around the guy. Seems like he’s brought up an awful lot. I hate the prediction game in general, it just seems like it gives people false hope whereas the time would be better spent addressing their weak subjects and doing self assessment.

Yeah, I would proceed with caution from predictions by anyone. Predictions can be valuable if you can use them to keep focused or arrange the subjects in the final weeks or place your bets by prioritizing some in the limited time you have (or to give yourself some--any--sense of certainty in this ordeal).

I agree that if I were retaking, I'd focus more on weak subjects rather than likely subjects. I've been burned by predictions once (although I ended up passing that time anyway).

[AspiringAspirant]

A man owned Blackacre in fee simple. By his will, he devised as follows: "Blackacre to such of my grandchildren who shall reach the age of 21; and by this provision I intend to include all grandchildren whenever born." At the time of his death, the man had 3 children and 2 grandchildren.

Why does this violate RAP if it were an inter vivos conveyance but not violate RAP if it were in the grantor's will? (As Emanuel's suggests)

Even if it were in the grantor's will, one of his 3 children could have another grandchild after the grantor's death which would then be > 21 years. What am I missing here?

Is it because the grantor is not a life in being if the transfer in his will?

[a male human]

AspiringAspirant, just wanted to say -- love the name

[tkt36]

I finished all lectures and made my outlines. Any advice on how to approach studying each day now? I would like to balance MBEs & Essays, but was also told i should start memorizing 10-15 rules each day now. I appreciate hearing about all methods you guys had in your last month!

I have done a mix of MBE and Essays multiple times a week while also watching the lectures so I'm mostly asking how many of each should i do a day, how many topics a day, how much time should i really dedicate to rote memorization, etc. thanks!

Passed the 2/18 bar here. Studied full-time on a 10-week study schedule. A typical day of studying for me was 30 mixed MBEs (Emanuel S&T and Adaptibar) in the morning and outlining essays (BarEssays and Mary Basick's book) for 2 subjects (usually 2-3 essays per subject) in the afternoon/evening.

As for memorization, I never did any rote memorization. Your approach may vary, but I found I retained plenty through practice + review. For MBEs, I would keep a google doc for answer explanations for questions I got wrong and marked as uncertain (whether or not I got them right). I would edit/revise as I started to retain/remember certain rules. For essays, I think I was able to memorize rule statements by sheer repetition and reviewing various answers on BarEssays. I think I memorized a few mnemonics for each subject and a general issues checklist for each subject, but I didn't really do rote memorization on its own.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your advice! I also seem to learn better through repetition, so I will implement memorization if I feel a rule isn't sticking. So far I have been writing down the rules that I got wrong (from MBEs) into a notebook and I read over them before I do another set. I have the Emanuel S&T but have not yet done any questions in there so maybe I should do less of my program's multiple choice to focus more on Emanuel from now on. Also, congrats on passing the February Bar!!!

[Nightcrawler]

Anybody know how accurate Dr. Saccuzzo's predictions are?

Pretty inaccurate. Last time he got something like 2 right predicting like 8-9 subjects. And one was PR.

Wow. I really don’t understand why there is so much hype around the guy. Seems like he’s brought up an awful lot. I hate the prediction game in general, it just seems like it gives people false hope whereas the time would be better spent addressing their weak subjects and doing self assessment.

Yeah, I would proceed with caution from predictions by anyone. Predictions can be valuable if you can use them to keep focused or arrange the subjects in the final weeks or place your bets by prioritizing some in the limited time you have (or to give yourself some--any--sense of certainty in this ordeal).

I agree that if I were retaking, I'd focus more on weak subjects rather than likely subjects. I've been burned by predictions once (although I ended up passing that time anyway).

Agree with a male human. Focusing on weak subjects instead of "likely" subjects (even if there is no such a thing). Maybe in the past he guessed some predictions, that's why he is popular. Either he got lucky in the past, or the state bar found out about the prediction game and started to play around it.

I feel like when the bar chooses the topics they do a combination of subjects they want to test (not necessarily "due subjects") and also a slice of those subjects is totally random, so they take out any possible predictable discretion.

[justanotheruser]

Thank you so much for your advice! I also seem to learn better through repetition, so I will implement memorization if I feel a rule isn't sticking. So far I have been writing down the rules that I got wrong (from MBEs) into a notebook and I read over them before I do another set. I have the Emanuel S&T but have not yet done any questions in there so maybe I should do less of my program's multiple choice to focus more on Emanuel from now on. Also, congrats on passing the February Bar!!!

Yup. That's exactly what I did for MBEs -- review the rules document before each MBE practice.

Also, it helps doing Emanuel S&T problems first because it teaches you a lot of fundamentals/strategies. So getting that down first before moving onto MBEs on Adaptibar or your program makes more sense, I think.

[chicoalto0649]

Thank you so much for your advice! I also seem to learn better through repetition, so I will implement memorization if I feel a rule isn't sticking. So far I have been writing down the rules that I got wrong (from MBEs) into a notebook and I read over them before I do another set. I have the Emanuel S&T but have not yet done any questions in there so maybe I should do less of my program's multiple choice to focus more on Emanuel from now on. Also, congrats on passing the February Bar!!!

Yup. That's exactly what I did for MBEs -- review the rules document before each MBE practice.

Also, it helps doing Emanuel S&T problems first because it teaches you a lot of fundamentals/strategies. So getting that down first before moving onto MBEs on Adaptibar or your program makes more sense, I think.

S&T was excellent. Also, don't underestimate how much of a beast that book is. If you intend to complete it, start now. I finished it front to cover along with adaptibar (there could be some overlap but that's fine), but I needed a good two months. About a week before the exam I redid every civ pro question and I think that helped alot. It's the most learnable subject in my opinion.

[santoki]

Thank you so much for your advice! I also seem to learn better through repetition, so I will implement memorization if I feel a rule isn't sticking. So far I have been writing down the rules that I got wrong (from MBEs) into a notebook and I read over them before I do another set. I have the Emanuel S&T but have not yet done any questions in there so maybe I should do less of my program's multiple choice to focus more on Emanuel from now on. Also, congrats on passing the February Bar!!!

Yup. That's exactly what I did for MBEs -- review the rules document before each MBE practice.

Also, it helps doing Emanuel S&T problems first because it teaches you a lot of fundamentals/strategies. So getting that down first before moving onto MBEs on Adaptibar or your program makes more sense, I think.

S&T was excellent. Also, don't underestimate how much of a beast that book is. If you intend to complete it, start now. I finished it front to cover along with adaptibar (there could be some overlap but that's fine), but I needed a good two months. About a week before the exam I redid every civ pro question and I think that helped alot. It's the most learnable subject in my opinion.

i am starting late with S&T and will be using it for the 3-4 subjects that i struggle with most because like you said--the book is a beast.

[lawyer786]

Does anybody know if the Barbri simulated exam is a waste of time or not? Would my time be better spent doing 200 questions from Adaptibar instead?

[Nightcrawler]

Does anybody know if the Barbri simulated exam is a waste of time or not? Would my time be better spent doing 200 questions from Adaptibar instead?

Doing that many questions at a time is useful to know where you are at and increase your endurance. In my opinion, it's better to do questions one by one and read the explanation right away if your main goal is improve your MBE score. It just depends how you want to allocate 6 hours of your day.

[cadreamer]

I found this calculator that suggests you can pass with a raw MBE score of 138 and an average written score of 55. this doesn't seem right to me. Is a raw score of 138 auto-pass territory for cali now since the MBE is now equally weighted to the written part?

https://one-timers.com/one-timers-bar-exam-calculator/