NY July 2015 Support Group Forum

[ashle484]

I also would't waste time studying/practicing for NY mc. I had never looked at an NY mc question going into the exam, and I passed. If you study NY law sufficiently, the questions are easy.

Also, similar to the sentiments expressed above, I would dedicate your time to going through as many essays as possible and at the very least issue spot. I'm next to positive doing that is why I passed in Feb, because I had barely any time to dedicate to all the NY specific law since I was working full time. I should note that I was coming off of the California bar, which helped me out with the MBE, but still essay practice was key.

Congratulations on passing 2 very difficult Bar exams!

Thanks for your input re: NY MCQ. What was your approach to the MPT?

I just ended up using the same approach I used for the CA performance exam, but it was still a little different bc for CA you get 90 minutes and its much longer. The key for both is following the directions (not the time to be creative), making your answer look like the format they ask for, and finishing. As far as my approach, I just read through the file first, and then the library, and took notes/wrote out rule statements as I went (I'm not big into outlines). But use whatever works best for you.

I think the hard thing about NY is that you have to balance your time between the essays and the MPT. I did the essays first and gave myself 45 mins I think for each, and then moved to the MPT. I think I got lucky with not practicing this timing issue because the MPT in Feb was easy and so I was able to skate by, but I would suggest practicing the three back to back to get down a rhythm.

But to me ya the key for NY in my opinion was essay and MBE practice. I got a 152 for the MBE, which isn't an amazing score, but I think it got me to a decent position point wise and gave me room with the essays, because my essays definitely were by no means perfect.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Does anyone think that you're doing it wrong if you over prepare for the bar? I'm having a hard time getting motivated given that the goal is achieved with a "D".

[HLBE689]

Does anyone have any idea of what raw score out of the 190 graded on the MBE we should be shooting for? I've seen lots a different numbers, percentages, etc. thrown around so a bit confused.

[michael2015]

I hear with a 140 you can write gobblidygook on the essays and pass.

[HLBE689]

I hear with a 140 you can write gobblidygook on the essays and pass.

Raw?

[michael2015]

ya, 140/190 raw, 71% = gobbidlyblahblah time

[Simmamania]

Hi, I live in London and my legal education is from Universities in London. I hope to pass the bar this July, but trying to get a grip on the differenceds between English law and Ny and the MBE.

[Danger Zone]

Hi, I live in London and my legal education is from Universities in London. I hope to pass the bar this July, but trying to get a grip on the differenceds between English law and Ny and the MBE.

Yeesh, good luck there

[Notmyfavbar]

In a bit if a pickle here... could use some advice. Ended up moving last week from Ohio to NJ so that was fun . Had it all planned out with as much help as possible so the most I had to do was drive 9 hrs... everything that could go wrong went wrong. Basically feel like I wasted a week that I needed to catch up anyways. I did manage to watch all the lectures as the bare minimum.

We did evidence and property last week - the week I was moving. Did Con law and started corporations this week (Barbri). At this point I still haven't finished going through my lecture notes once completely (about 15 pages left and it's hearsay). Now the MBE questions are piling up for the subjects. So now I'm stuck - do I just keep doing the MBE questions even though I haven't even touched my property lecture notes (or finishing going through my evidence lecture notes)... or do I actually go through my lecture notes first? I know you're supposed to learn from the MBE answer/explanations and I def do, but idk how much help that would be in a situation like this where i literally only watched the lecture videos... Any advice would help at this point. had a mini freak out a few days ago and really considered withdrawing from NY (i registered for NY and NJ).

[Danger Zone]

Dude I'm taking the same tests and I'm only on evidence. Take a pill, you'll be fine.

[Notmyfavbar]

Dude I'm taking the same tests and I'm only on evidence. Take a pill, you'll be fine.

THANK YOU. I needed that! the whole move threw me off like no other.

[Danger Zone]

Haha no problem dude. Go have a beer and enjoy the greatest state in the union.

[moreheesh]

Haven't really done any essays...and just started doing BarBri lectures on Property. I'm at 21% completion. Do I have to start studying overtime? (More than 8 hours a day?)

[jamesm722]

For those who know, the Pieper lectures are by the father and two sons. The father is excessive in everything he does, but obviously passionate and knowledgeable. One of the sons has been the best stress reducer in his lectures. He literally said "you need a D to pass. stop worrying." Essentially, do what your bar prep company recommends, and stick the schedule. You need 60%, you're not trying to get an A in every subject like it was finals. My favorite is when he says "theres a bunch of mnemonics, throw down a few, you don't need them all or you'll never finish the essays."

It's nice for people to put it in perspective when you're feeling stressed. Though honestly, I feel like this isn't that bad and I never took bar classes other than evidence. I just go to lecture, type my notes, read the outlines in the books, condense the outlines in the books, and then synthesize the outlines and my notes. Then an essay each day and 100 MBE.

[myrtlewinston]

For those who know, the Pieper lectures are by the father and two sons. The father is excessive in everything he does, but obviously passionate and knowledgeable. One of the sons has been the best stress reducer in his lectures. He literally said "you need a D to pass. stop worrying." Essentially, do what your bar prep company recommends, and stick the schedule. You need 60%, you're not trying to get an A in every subject like it was finals. My favorite is when he says "theres a bunch of mnemonics, throw down a few, you don't need them all or you'll never finish the essays."

It's nice for people to put it in perspective when you're feeling stressed. Though honestly, I feel like this isn't that bad and I never took bar classes other than evidence. I just go to lecture, type my notes, read the outlines in the books, condense the outlines in the books, and then synthesize the outlines and my notes. Then an essay each day and 100 MBE.

Yes, just PASS.

How long did you spend on practice essays and MBE questions?

[LawGuy321]

In a bit if a pickle here... could use some advice. Ended up moving last week from Ohio to NJ so that was fun . Had it all planned out with as much help as possible so the most I had to do was drive 9 hrs... everything that could go wrong went wrong. Basically feel like I wasted a week that I needed to catch up anyways. I did manage to watch all the lectures as the bare minimum.

We did evidence and property last week - the week I was moving. Did Con law and started corporations this week (Barbri). At this point I still haven't finished going through my lecture notes once completely (about 15 pages left and it's hearsay). Now the MBE questions are piling up for the subjects. So now I'm stuck - do I just keep doing the MBE questions even though I haven't even touched my property lecture notes (or finishing going through my evidence lecture notes)... or do I actually go through my lecture notes first? I know you're supposed to learn from the MBE answer/explanations and I def do, but idk how much help that would be in a situation like this where i literally only watched the lecture videos... Any advice would help at this point. had a mini freak out a few days ago and really considered withdrawing from NY (i registered for NY and NJ).

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much. You're ahead of me...I'm finishing up ConLaw now, but haven't touched state specific stuff yet, and I've just been "Reviewing Notes" by going through the workshops and adding in what I don't know. We got 30 days left... any checkmarks you haven't done 2 weeks from now you can squeeze in...and if you need to review property notes because you're sucking on the MPQs, do it. If you're doing well on property, take notes on what you're missing.

[Notmyfavbar]

In a bit if a pickle here... could use some advice. Ended up moving last week from Ohio to NJ so that was fun . Had it all planned out with as much help as possible so the most I had to do was drive 9 hrs... everything that could go wrong went wrong. Basically feel like I wasted a week that I needed to catch up anyways. I did manage to watch all the lectures as the bare minimum.

We did evidence and property last week - the week I was moving. Did Con law and started corporations this week (Barbri). At this point I still haven't finished going through my lecture notes once completely (about 15 pages left and it's hearsay). Now the MBE questions are piling up for the subjects. So now I'm stuck - do I just keep doing the MBE questions even though I haven't even touched my property lecture notes (or finishing going through my evidence lecture notes)... or do I actually go through my lecture notes first? I know you're supposed to learn from the MBE answer/explanations and I def do, but idk how much help that would be in a situation like this where i literally only watched the lecture videos... Any advice would help at this point. had a mini freak out a few days ago and really considered withdrawing from NY (i registered for NY and NJ).

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much. You're ahead of me...I'm finishing up ConLaw now, but haven't touched state specific stuff yet, and I've just been "Reviewing Notes" by going through the workshops and adding in what I don't know. We got 30 days left... any checkmarks you haven't done 2 weeks from now you can squeeze in...and if you need to review property notes because you're sucking on the MPQs, do it. If you're doing well on property, take notes on what you're missing.

im still on property I've been making notecards for everything so that def takes a lot fucking longer. makes me so angry but hopefully it's worth it in the end. I feel like the smartest I will ever be is right before the exam haha.

I haven't really touched on any state specific stuff either except NY practice... and I haven't looked at it since we had the lecture so I can't really say that I know it. I feel like the state specific stuff is going to be strictly memorization the two weeks before. But like you said, we still have 30 days. even though that doesn't feel like enough time.

[jamesm722]

For those who know, the Pieper lectures are by the father and two sons. The father is excessive in everything he does, but obviously passionate and knowledgeable. One of the sons has been the best stress reducer in his lectures. He literally said "you need a D to pass. stop worrying." Essentially, do what your bar prep company recommends, and stick the schedule. You need 60%, you're not trying to get an A in every subject like it was finals. My favorite is when he says "theres a bunch of mnemonics, throw down a few, you don't need them all or you'll never finish the essays."

It's nice for people to put it in perspective when you're feeling stressed. Though honestly, I feel like this isn't that bad and I never took bar classes other than evidence. I just go to lecture, type my notes, read the outlines in the books, condense the outlines in the books, and then synthesize the outlines and my notes. Then an essay each day and 100 MBE.

Yes, just PASS.

How long did you spend on practice essays and MBE questions?

I'm still studying, I didn't take it yet (sorry if there was confusions). But I do 100 MBE in batches for time (3 hours) and do the essays in 40 minutes. If I know the subject well I'll just outline the CRIAC form with 1-5-5-1 bullets. It depends on how I am that day. The remaining 3-4 hours are just review my notes or cut them down into manageable amounts. Because Pieper doesn't provide any outlines to fill in like Kaplan or Barbri, all notes are typed each day, and it results in like 50-70 pages per subject. It's really excessive and I think it is overwhelming to some people in the lecture with me.

If all else fails, realize that theres a lot of dumb people that pass the bar exam. Just do what your respective bar program recommends, identify your weaknesses and work a little extra on them. These companies are in business because they help people pass, if they didn't work then they wouldn't have customers.

Honestly, just take it day by day. I was in the military before law school and the way I got through my weeks in field training was to focus on the task at hand that day. Don't fret over how many days are left, or what you have to do the next day. Focus on that day's work and restart each day with that mentality. It may sound lame but, it really does help (especially after 15 days without a shower in the same single uniform in July, haha)

[myrtlewinston]

I'm still studying, I didn't take it yet (sorry if there was confusions). But I do 100 MBE in batches for time (3 hours) and do the essays in 40 minutes. If I know the subject well I'll just outline the CRIAC form with 1-5-5-1 bullets. It depends on how I am that day. The remaining 3-4 hours are just review my notes or cut them down into manageable amounts. Because Pieper doesn't provide any outlines to fill in like Kaplan or Barbri, all notes are typed each day, and it results in like 50-70 pages per subject. It's really excessive and I think it is overwhelming to some people in the lecture with me.

If all else fails, realize that theres a lot of dumb people that pass the bar exam. Just do what your respective bar program recommends, identify your weaknesses and work a little extra on them. These companies are in business because they help people pass, if they didn't work then they wouldn't have customers.

Honestly, just take it day by day. I was in the military before law school and the way I got through my weeks in field training was to focus on the task at hand that day. Don't fret over how many days are left, or what you have to do the next day. Focus on that day's work and restart each day with that mentality. It may sound lame but, it really does help (especially after 15 days without a shower in the same single uniform in July, haha)

I do try to focus solely on the task(s) for the day. Otherwise, I'd flip out.

I've had the same thought about many lawyers I've met in NY.

[adevine39]

I'm still studying, I didn't take it yet (sorry if there was confusions). But I do 100 MBE in batches for time (3 hours) and do the essays in 40 minutes. If I know the subject well I'll just outline the CRIAC form with 1-5-5-1 bullets. It depends on how I am that day. The remaining 3-4 hours are just review my notes or cut them down into manageable amounts. Because Pieper doesn't provide any outlines to fill in like Kaplan or Barbri, all notes are typed each day, and it results in like 50-70 pages per subject. It's really excessive and I think it is overwhelming to some people in the lecture with me.

If all else fails, realize that theres a lot of dumb people that pass the bar exam. Just do what your respective bar program recommends, identify your weaknesses and work a little extra on them. These companies are in business because they help people pass, if they didn't work then they wouldn't have customers.

Honestly, just take it day by day. I was in the military before law school and the way I got through my weeks in field training was to focus on the task at hand that day. Don't fret over how many days are left, or what you have to do the next day. Focus on that day's work and restart each day with that mentality. It may sound lame but, it really does help (especially after 15 days without a shower in the same single uniform in July, haha)

I do try to focus solely on the task(s) for the day. Otherwise, I'd flip out.

This is by far the best advice I have found so far. One of the things I really like about having a study program (in my case Themis) is that I have a list of things to do just for today. I focus on knocking those out. If I didn't have something to break it down for me I might go nuts.

Instead I can work on checking off the next assignment, and when I am done I can hit the sack and worry about the rest of the material later. We shall see if it actually gets me to a passing score.

[victortsoi]

ugh, im looking at the frequency chart floating around the internet, saying that admin was added this february, so we really have no idea how important it is compared to the "big four" dr, corps, trusts, wills. ugh.....

[myrtlewinston]

It didn't show up on the Feb bar. Apparently, they take it easy when introducing a new subject. As for the big 4, trusts is not one. It's NY Practice.

[victortsoi]

It didn't show up on the Feb bar. Apparently, they take it easy when introducing a new subject. As for the big 4, trusts is not one. It's NY Practice.

right, thanks! :0

[jamesm722]

Big four? I'm assuming its referring to the NY Bar most common topics?

[myrtlewinston]

Yup!