2015 February California Bar Exam Forum

[redblueyellow]

If people could just stop mucking up the wills and trusts that they create, that'd be two less things I'd have to study.

SIGN AND DATE YOUR WILLS, PEOPLE.

[aretoodeetoo]

Having done the whole going two nights without sleep thing for work a couple times, I can't emphasize how bad of a move that would be for this kind of exam. No joke. I don't care how many extra supplements you're on, your brain slows down, everyone around you knows it (it is obvious when guys on your team are just "drinking lots of coffee"), and it is a death sentence when you have to do crap like those PTs.

I've already said before, maybe 1 night without sleep is okay, everybody's different and needing to sleep varies from person to person. But two nights is just stupid. At this point if you absolutely can't sleep, I am not sure I would mess around with sleeping pills because some people react funny to them. Maybe take sleeping pills every night starting tonight and see how you feel.

[redblueyellow]

Does the Dependent Relative Revocation only apply to physical act revocations or by subsequent wills as well?

[aretoodeetoo]

Those of you that are planning on staying up all day and night during the exam...you do realize that it's a 3 day exam?? It just seems like a really bad idea to not get a good nights sleep for such a huge exam like this. I personally know a few people that decided to stay up and study during the 3 days and they completely regretted it afterwards. They said they couldn't think or see straight especially during the PT sessions because it was after lunch and they had been up for hours up until that point.

If you can function and do well on this exam without sleep for 3 days, that's great but I really don't suggest it. Like we all know, the CA bar exam is a marathon. I can't imagine running a marathon with sleep deprivation. I passed this past July and there is no way on earth I could have sat for that exam with no sleep.

I wish everyone the very best of luck on this POS exam. I just highly recommend that you do try to get some good nights sleep for each of the 3 days! A good nights sleep can make such a huge difference in how well you perform on this exam.

Except I can't sleep unless you sedate me with a tranquilizer. Hence it would be more productive to actually just studied, rather than laying there staring at the ceiling for 8 hours.

can you load up on sleep? this is def not something i would recommend over actually sleeping, but sleeping like 12-14 hours a day for the next few days (if you are able to sleep at all) wouldn't be too bad of an idea. i know the feeling of not being able to fall asleep and getting more anxious because of it.

[melvinIII]

Does anyone who has the Barmax MBE app know if there's a way to review your wrong answers without seeing the right answers? I want to go back and do the questions I got wrong again, but when I go back in my history to the questions I got wrong it has the right answer highlighted in green.

I emailed them to ask them this but since it's the weekend now I'm not sure if they'll get back to me in time.

[BobbyBooBoo]

Hitting 83%-90% on all my MBE questions for Barbri's practice. Sadly, getting 50s straight across on essays. I'm doomed... God... I hate my life...

I can't stand essays. ARG, if I have to do one more practice essay I'm gonna explode.

[redblueyellow]

Hitting 83%-90% on all my MBE questions for Barbri's practice. Sadly, getting 50s straight across on essays. I'm doomed... God... I hate my life...

I can't stand essays. ARG, if I have to do one more practice essay I'm gonna explode.

Looks like your entire test hinges on those PTs. I hope you like those!

[CourtneyElizabeth]

Does the Dependent Relative Revocation only apply to physical act revocations or by subsequent wills as well?

I. Do. Not. Get. DRR. If they do a second will, but the second will isn't valid, the first one is brought back. But not if the second one is defective. I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE POINT?!!

Finished up Crim law/Crim pro (Murder and 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments) and Torts (specifically Prod Liability and defamation, since thats what tutor said to concentrate on) review today. I'm about to do some PR and Remedies. You all got to me, I'll be doing Real Prop the majority of tomorrow. Then MBEs until my eyes fall out. I have been doing SO shitty on MBEs - like 60-65% tops. Sooo I really hope the essays are ones I'm ok with…Anyone else in the same boat with the garbage MBE scores?

[BobbyBooBoo]

Does the Dependent Relative Revocation only apply to physical act revocations or by subsequent wills as well?

I. Do. Not. Get. DRR. If they do a second will, but the second will isn't valid, the first one is brought back. But not if the second one is defective. I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE POINT?!!

Finished up Crim law/Crim pro (Murder and 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments) and Torts (specifically Prod Liability and defamation, since thats what tutor said to concentrate on) review today. I'm about to do some PR and Remedies. You all got to me, I'll be doing Real Prop the majority of tomorrow. Then MBEs until my eyes fall out. I have been doing SO shitty on MBEs - like 60-65% tops. Sooo I really hope the essays are ones I'm ok with…Anyone else in the same boat with the garbage MBE scores?

I've probably done like 5,000+ MBE questions. I've done all the MBEs from the actual exam I can get my hands on. Did everything from Barbri, did everything from any other source I can get my hands on.

MASSIVE repetition on MBEs and you sorta pick up internal patterns in the question and some answers just instantly jump out. There are times when I only have to read the call of the question and know which is the answer.

I have no rules memorized, which is why I'm sucking so hard on the essays. Everything is based of recognition.

Edit: 60-65% I think will get you passing score on the MBEs.

[redblueyellow]

Does the Dependent Relative Revocation only apply to physical act revocations or by subsequent wills as well?

I. Do. Not. Get. DRR. If they do a second will, but the second will isn't valid, the first one is brought back. But not if the second one is defective. I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE POINT?!!

Finished up Crim law/Crim pro (Murder and 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments) and Torts (specifically Prod Liability and defamation, since thats what tutor said to concentrate on) review today. I'm about to do some PR and Remedies. You all got to me, I'll be doing Real Prop the majority of tomorrow. Then MBEs until my eyes fall out. I have been doing SO shitty on MBEs - like 60-65% tops. Sooo I really hope the essays are ones I'm ok with…Anyone else in the same boat with the garbage MBE scores?

60-65% is shitty? Dammit.

As for DRR: if they do a second will, but the second is invalid, then the first one isn't "brought back" because it never left in the first place (assuming the first will is valid). This is because you cannot revoke a valid will with a subsequent invalid will. Example I used for myself to hammer it in was that if you have a Twix in your hand, but you want a Snickers, and some kid wants to trade you a Snickers for your Twix, the swap happens at the same time and you lose the Twix but get the Snickers. But, if the kid hands you a Crunchbar then why would you hand him the Twix? You'd just give the Crunchbar back, or not take it at all.

Now let's say that the kid gives a Snickers wrapper but there's a Crunchbar in it. Well, you've accepted the Snickers and given him the Twix because that's what you wanted to do. But it turns out that there's no Snickers and you've made a terrible error in accepting the shitty Crunchbar but you can't do anything about it, so you throw the Crunchbar on the ground. But since the kid took off running with your Twix cause he's a twerp, now you have to go to the kid's mom and complain and tell her you want your Twix back. She gives you the Twix. Now you have the Twix and you can pretend nothing ever happened.

[redblueyellow]

I've probably done like 5,000+ MBE questions.

What the hell....

I'm only at 700ish. Alright, maybe around 1000 since a few were non-Kaplan questions questions.

[Elms]

I am studying with my good friend Tequila tonight

Question: I've done zero to prep for PT so far. What should I do? Read over the formats? I'm super good at time management and I practiced in another jurisdiction for nearly two years and have a fair amount of practical legal writing experience so I'm not panicked about this... But want to make sure I know what's going on...

[BobbyBooBoo]

I've probably done like 5,000+ MBE questions.

What the hell....

I'm only at 700ish. Alright, maybe around 1000 since a few were non-Kaplan questions questions.

udemy has a lot of them. That barmax app. thingy. There's 400 you can get off the site of the people who makes them. Then Barbri, and if you also buy the used test material from other sources. You can get a lot of questions.

To save time, I didn't do a lot of them. I just read it, looked at the answers, and made sure I understood it. It goes by very fast, if you just read a ton of them rather than sitting there figuring it out, but you gotta understand it.

[BobbyBooBoo]

I am studying with my good friend Tequila tonight

Question: I've done zero to prep for PT so far. What should I do? Read over the formats? I'm super good at time management and I practiced in another jurisdiction for nearly two years and have a fair amount of practical legal writing experience so I'm not panicked about this... But want to make sure I know what's going on...

Go to baressays.com, look through high scoring PTs all night. Know what format is good, and what isn't.
It'd be best to work through them but since your in crunch time, I'd just read a shit load of them.

[Elms]

I am studying with my good friend Tequila tonight

Question: I've done zero to prep for PT so far. What should I do? Read over the formats? I'm super good at time management and I practiced in another jurisdiction for nearly two years and have a fair amount of practical legal writing experience so I'm not panicked about this... But want to make sure I know what's going on...

Go to baressays.com, look through high scoring PTs all night. Know what format is good, and what isn't.
It'd be best to work through them but since your in crunch time, I'd just read a shit load of them.

I don't have a bar essays account... Maybe just reading though the ones On the cal bar website? There's six years of sample answers on there, which is probably all I'm going to be able to read in the next few days anyways.

[BobbyBooBoo]

I am studying with my good friend Tequila tonight

Question: I've done zero to prep for PT so far. What should I do? Read over the formats? I'm super good at time management and I practiced in another jurisdiction for nearly two years and have a fair amount of practical legal writing experience so I'm not panicked about this... But want to make sure I know what's going on...

Go to baressays.com, look through high scoring PTs all night. Know what format is good, and what isn't.
It'd be best to work through them but since your in crunch time, I'd just read a shit load of them.

I don't have a bar essays account... Maybe just reading though the ones On the cal bar website? There's six years of sample answers on there, which is probably all I'm going to be able to read in the next few days anyways.

6 years should be plenty lol.

[aretoodeetoo]

do a PT or two in the next few days, those things are a mess. i wouldn't go into the bar without doing one.

[BobbyBooBoo]

I pray a full PR question is the opening question on day 1. That will keep my spirits high. Bring on the hard stuff at the end please.

[redblueyellow]

udemy has a lot of them. That barmax app. thingy. There's 400 you can get off the site of the people who makes them. Then Barbri, and if you also buy the used test material from other sources. You can get a lot of questions.

To save time, I didn't do a lot of them. I just read it, looked at the answers, and made sure I understood it. It goes by very fast, if you just read a ton of them rather than sitting there figuring it out, but you gotta understand it.

Never used udemy before. What do I need to search for to get these? Or are they all paid options cause that's what's popping up when I look for anything legal related to the bar.

As for Barmax, I found this on their site: 1,571 real MBE questions from previous bar exams as an app standalone for $499.

Would Adaptibar have the exact same thing since they also have the same official questions released?

[melvinIII]

I am studying with my good friend Tequila tonight

Question: I've done zero to prep for PT so far. What should I do? Read over the formats? I'm super good at time management and I practiced in another jurisdiction for nearly two years and have a fair amount of practical legal writing experience so I'm not panicked about this... But want to make sure I know what's going on...

The key to the PTs is finding the guiding rule. On nearly every PT, usually in a case or statute, but sometimes in the file, there is some list that they want you to address. They'll tell you to make an argument for X and there will be a case/statute that says to prove X, you must show A, B, C, D, E, etc. Those factors/elements will be your headings.

Also, find a way to cite every single case they give you in your answer. All the cases are given to you for a reason.

IMO, the hardest part is the time constraint. It usually takes me around an hour to read everything, they do not give you enough time to write about everything you'll want to address so it's important to prioritize early.

[BobbyBooBoo]

udemy has a lot of them. That barmax app. thingy. There's 400 you can get off the site of the people who makes them. Then Barbri, and if you also buy the used test material from other sources. You can get a lot of questions.

To save time, I didn't do a lot of them. I just read it, looked at the answers, and made sure I understood it. It goes by very fast, if you just read a ton of them rather than sitting there figuring it out, but you gotta understand it.

Never used udemy before. What do I need to search for to get these? Or are they all paid options cause that's what's popping up when I look for anything legal related to the bar.

As for Barmax, I found this on their site: 1,571 real MBE questions from previous bar exams as an app standalone for $499.

Would Adaptibar have the exact same thing since they also have the same official questions released?

Probably not worth it to purchase any of them at this point. I'm not sure about adaptibar and what that is. I'd buy the 400 questions released from the actual bar examiner site, if you don't have those questions though.

[underthirty]

.

[melvinIII]

udemy has a lot of them. That barmax app. thingy. There's 400 you can get off the site of the people who makes them. Then Barbri, and if you also buy the used test material from other sources. You can get a lot of questions.

To save time, I didn't do a lot of them. I just read it, looked at the answers, and made sure I understood it. It goes by very fast, if you just read a ton of them rather than sitting there figuring it out, but you gotta understand it.

Never used udemy before. What do I need to search for to get these? Or are they all paid options cause that's what's popping up when I look for anything legal related to the bar.

As for Barmax, I found this on their site: 1,571 real MBE questions from previous bar exams as an app standalone for $499.

Would Adaptibar have the exact same thing since they also have the same official questions released?

The $500 price is for their full MBE review course. I bought the MBE question only app a few months ago with the 1,500 questions and it was $150. Since it's so close to test time it may be cheaper now.

If you're going to buy the NCBE OPEs you should buy the Barmax MBE-only app instead. NCBE charges $50 for each OPE, while the Barmax MBE-only app has all four of the OPEs, plus 1,100 more questions, for less than the price that the NCBE charges for the four OPEs.

[CourtneyElizabeth]

udemy has a lot of them. That barmax app. thingy. There's 400 you can get off the site of the people who makes them. Then Barbri, and if you also buy the used test material from other sources. You can get a lot of questions.

To save time, I didn't do a lot of them. I just read it, looked at the answers, and made sure I understood it. It goes by very fast, if you just read a ton of them rather than sitting there figuring it out, but you gotta understand it.

Never used udemy before. What do I need to search for to get these? Or are they all paid options cause that's what's popping up when I look for anything legal related to the bar.

As for Barmax, I found this on their site: 1,571 real MBE questions from previous bar exams as an app standalone for $499.

Would Adaptibar have the exact same thing since they also have the same official questions released?

The $500 price is for their full MBE review course. I bought the MBE question only app a few months ago with the 1,500 questions and it was $150. Since it's so close to test time it may be cheaper now.

If you're going to buy the NCBE OPEs you should buy the Barmax MBE-only app instead. NCBE charges $50 for each OPE, while the Barmax MBE-only app has all four of the OPEs, plus 1,100 more questions, for less than the price that the NCBE charges for the four OPEs.

I have a Kaplan book from last year and a Barbri book from 2009. Neither of which have Civ Pro questions. COOOOL.

[redblueyellow]

The $500 price is for their full MBE review course. I bought the MBE question only app a few months ago with the 1,500 questions and it was $150. Since it's so close to test time it may be cheaper now.

If you're going to buy the NCBE OPEs you should buy the Barmax MBE-only app instead. NCBE charges $50 for each OPE, while the Barmax MBE-only app has all four of the OPEs, plus 1,100 more questions, for less than the price that the NCBE charges for the four OPEs.

As for Barmax, I found this on their site: 1,571 real MBE questions from previous bar exams as an app standalone for $499.

BarMax has 1500+ old real MBE questions for $149. The MBE course (with lectures and outlines and the questions) is $499.

Ah, I missed the $149 thing. Adaptibar says they 1730 questions (1530 licensed + 200 civ pro simulated ones), NCBE 1-4 (included). $395, though (but it seems to be a full course type deal).

BarMax seems like the better value if just want the questions and have an iOS device, though!

EDIT: What's the difference between the NCBE sample questions and questions from previous bar exams?