BarBri Bar Review Hangout - July 2015 Exam Forum

[BVest]

Well, at least I'm consistent. Still plugging along at Property 76% right, Torts 33% right. But hey, at least my overdue assignments fit on a single page again.

[dwyf]

Did anyone find this essay architect thing to be valuable? I'm finding it to be an awful time suck.

I quit after the fill in the blank section told me I had the wrong answer for not pluralizing 'courts.'

Should I push through? Or focus elsewhere. Also note - I'm reasonably far behind after needing to take a fair amount of time off for weddings and other obligations, so I need to be a bit efficient.

Thanks,

[dwyf]

Sorry - one more question while I'm here.

Can I not submit essays for grading after their 'due date' with barbri? Just now realized I totally blew past the first graded essay. Was going to settle into the second tonight

[charlesxavier]

Did anyone find this essay architect thing to be valuable? I'm finding it to be an awful time suck.

I quit after the fill in the blank section told me I had the wrong answer for not pluralizing 'courts.'

Should I push through? Or focus elsewhere. Also note - I'm reasonably far behind after needing to take a fair amount of time off for weddings and other obligations, so I need to be a bit efficient.

Thanks,

I didn't find it very useful. The essays I've seen aren't really tricky. It seems like reading comprehension and strict application of CRAC is what you need.

[dwyf]

For the graded essays - do you actually have the answers (both written out and the grading?) - they're just offering to give you personalized feedback?

[stronitsing]

For the graded essays - do you actually have the answers (both written out and the grading?) - they're just offering to give you personalized feedback?

yep this is correct

[rinkrat19]

Can I not submit essays for grading after their 'due date' with barbri? Just now realized I totally blew past the first graded essay. Was going to settle into the second tonight

Was also wondering this. I still have a Submit button; does that mean I can still get an essay graded?

[Danger Zone]

Did anyone find this essay architect thing to be valuable? I'm finding it to be an awful time suck.

I quit after the fill in the blank section told me I had the wrong answer for not pluralizing 'courts.'

Should I push through? Or focus elsewhere. Also note - I'm reasonably far behind after needing to take a fair amount of time off for weddings and other obligations, so I need to be a bit efficient.

Thanks,

It's totally useless. I got the exact same thing wrong and never looked back.

[victortsoi]

i was hospitalized for a minor procedure and havent done the second essay, emailed the director and he said its no problem, the due date is just a suggestion really. someone will grade it for you later if you cant make it.

[BVest]

Sorry - one more question while I'm here.

Can I not submit essays for grading after their 'due date' with barbri? Just now realized I totally blew past the first graded essay. Was going to settle into the second tonight

I submitted the first essay well after its due date (like a week or so). Got graded version back the next day. (It weren't pretty though).

[myrtlewinston]

I'm not submitting any essays until I've reviewed NY Practice. The last one gave me a headache and I still don't know what "gross negligence" is.

[castlekm1]

Can I not submit essays for grading after their 'due date' with barbri? Just now realized I totally blew past the first graded essay. Was going to settle into the second tonight

Was also wondering this. I still have a Submit button; does that mean I can still get an essay graded?

Definitely just learned of it too, when was the first graded essay? I only know of the contracts/sales one due today. i know there have been self-graded ones but i have never seen one that was graded until today's assignments.

[Learned Throw Hands]

Does anyone understand Secured Transactions? I feel like I'll never be able to write an essay on this material so maybe I should just move on and focus my efforts on the MBE.

Basically, what are your thoughts on how to allot our time when we really suck at certain subjects.

[dwyf]

Does anyone understand Secured Transactions? I feel like I'll never be able to write an essay on this material so maybe I should just move on and focus my efforts on the MBE.

Basically, what are your thoughts on how to allot our time when we really suck at certain subjects.

I have no basis for this, but I'm roughly shooting to have 70-80% of the content for subjects I should/can know, and 50% for the garbage that makes no sense to me. I'm not comfortable totally skipping anything because I think it would just create so much anxiety for August-October if you literally know zero for a particular essay.

This is at least where I am in June. Not sure what the split will be in July.

[michael2015]

Michael Kaufman's voice is UNBEARABLE.

I want to rip my ears off.

Holy shit, did no one at Barbri listen to him before they recorded this?

[Killingly]

Is there any recommended time that we should be completing our personal homework assignments by? Or just ASAP?

I'm scoring around 50% on the MBE for Ks and Con Law. I feel extremely retarded.

[History_Buff]

Is there any recommended time that we should be completing our personal homework assignments by? Or just ASAP?

I'm scoring around 50% on the MBE for Ks and Con Law. I feel extremely retarded.

Don't feel bad. K's is a notoriously difficult subject and that means you're probably doing well enough to pass with 50%. Con law is a little worse, but you should still be able to fix that up just fine. I'm only 64th percentile on Con law myself which is roughly 63% correct. It shouldn't be too hard to bring yours up a little bit. Remember, you don't need to ace the MBE to pass. You just need to do well enough that if you're weaker on essay writing it can cover up for some deficiencies there.

[mtyler19]

I don't understand wills at all, the lecturer and his handout were awful. Trying to do the graded essay now and even open book have no idea what I'm doing. Is anyone else in TX having problems with it? Any suggestions? Reading through the big reference book and CMR and still just not getting it.

[kmp127]

I don't understand wills at all, the lecturer and his handout were awful. Trying to do the graded essay now and even open book have no idea what I'm doing. Is anyone else in TX having problems with it? Any suggestions? Reading through the big reference book and CMR and still just not getting it.

OMG I felt the SAME WAY!!! I cannot believe how awful those lecture handouts were --- no rules anywhere! Just a bunch of hypos mostly for exceptions to the exceptions -- when the basic rule is nowhere to be found (who takes under Intestacy Succession?? Beats me!!!) I'm bitter, can you tell? I was so frustrated doing that essay.

Do you have a game plan on learning Wills? I just want a breakdown of the basic rules and definitions....

[Kage3212]

I don't understand wills at all, the lecturer and his handout were awful. Trying to do the graded essay now and even open book have no idea what I'm doing. Is anyone else in TX having problems with it? Any suggestions? Reading through the big reference book and CMR and still just not getting it.

OMG I felt the SAME WAY!!! I cannot believe how awful those lecture handouts were --- no rules anywhere! Just a bunch of hypos mostly for exceptions to the exceptions -- when the basic rule is nowhere to be found (who takes under Intestacy Succession?? Beats me!!!) I'm bitter, can you tell? I was so frustrated doing that essay.

Do you have a game plan on learning Wills? I just want a breakdown of the basic rules and definitions....

Tip may be to read the previous essays in your state on that subject area. From the model answers, pull out all the rule statements for the most commonly tested issues. Memorize these statements by typing them out and reading them. Rinse and repeat for all state topics. This is what I plan on doing. It would be nice if they had block paragraphs for how you should begin addressing each issue.

[rickgrimes69]

Anybody else getting extremely frustrated at the MPQs? It seems like more often than not I'll know the law and what they're trying to ask, but I get the question wrong because of some arbitrary determination I couldn't possibly have predicted. Half the time I don't feel like they're testing me on the law so much as whether I can read the question writer's mind. When I get questions wrong, I don't find myself saying "oh, that makes sense, good to know for next time." It's usually more along the lines of "what the fuck, that's fucking bullshit."

[myrtlewinston]

Anybody else getting extremely frustrated at the MPQs? It seems like more often than not I'll know the law and what they're trying to ask, but I get the question wrong because of some arbitrary determination I couldn't possibly have predicted. Half the time I don't feel like they're testing me on the law so much as whether I can read the question writer's mind. When I get questions wrong, I don't find myself saying "oh, that makes sense, good to know for next time." It's usually more along the lines of "what the fuck, that's fucking bullshit."

I feel the same way too. That's why I'm watching the lectures first. I think a better understanding of the different subjects will help, at least for the essays.

[myrtlewinston]

I don't understand wills at all, the lecturer and his handout were awful. Trying to do the graded essay now and even open book have no idea what I'm doing. Is anyone else in TX having problems with it? Any suggestions? Reading through the big reference book and CMR and still just not getting it.

OMG I felt the SAME WAY!!! I cannot believe how awful those lecture handouts were --- no rules anywhere! Just a bunch of hypos mostly for exceptions to the exceptions -- when the basic rule is nowhere to be found (who takes under Intestacy Succession?? Beats me!!!) I'm bitter, can you tell? I was so frustrated doing that essay.

Do you have a game plan on learning Wills? I just want a breakdown of the basic rules and definitions....

Did you have Beyer? I thought Wills and Trusts were disasters, and I took them in school too!

[kmp127]

I don't understand wills at all, the lecturer and his handout were awful. Trying to do the graded essay now and even open book have no idea what I'm doing. Is anyone else in TX having problems with it? Any suggestions? Reading through the big reference book and CMR and still just not getting it.

OMG I felt the SAME WAY!!! I cannot believe how awful those lecture handouts were --- no rules anywhere! Just a bunch of hypos mostly for exceptions to the exceptions -- when the basic rule is nowhere to be found (who takes under Intestacy Succession?? Beats me!!!) I'm bitter, can you tell? I was so frustrated doing that essay.

Do you have a game plan on learning Wills? I just want a breakdown of the basic rules and definitions....

Did you have Beyer? I thought Wills and Trusts were disasters, and I took them in school too!

No it was Johanson and he was all over the place

[Outis Onoma]

Was really worried for crim law and crim pro when the 50 year old prof started talking in Dr. Evil and Austin Powers voices. Crushed the MBE problems despite not knowing any answers.