Pls share study schedule or routine - passers, retakers and new examinees Forum

[Nybar2015]

Please kindly share your study schedules as it would helpful to many of us. I have tried Pieper in the past but feels exhausting. I know that each one of us have a different approach but I am sure if the passers share your experience, it would be great. I heard many say that you should practice MBEs and Essays everyday until few weeks before exam. It would be great, if you can let us know your experience:
- how many hours of studying per day?
- how many essays per day?
- how many MBEs per day?

[starryski]

i could use this information too. and if you are working, or have a family i would like to know how you scheduled your time. i will be working full time and plan on taking February off.

[zot1]

This might help:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=253961

[logdog]

Passer. With a family.

I watched almost all the barbri videos and filled in the outlines along the way. I did about half of the practice mbe questions and practiced for essays by outlining about 5-10 from each topic. I did not even look at the mpt--it's a huge waste of time if you have had substantive legal writing experience.

I had a final 10 days before the bar. After the final, I kicked it into high gear. I condensed every Barbri outline by hand into about 10 pages each and then memorized those. I think this was the most helpful way for me to study. Those ten days consisted of about 15 hours of study each.

Studied after the exam each day and made up the law on one of the essays. I was pretty sure I failed, along with most of my classmates. We all passed. You probably will too.

[AReasonableMan]

Please kindly share your study schedules as it would helpful to many of us. I have tried Pieper in the past but feels exhausting. I know that each one of us have a different approach but I am sure if the passers share your experience, it would be great. I heard many say that you should practice MBEs and Essays everyday until few weeks before exam. It would be great, if you can let us know your experience:
- how many hours of studying per day?
- how many essays per day?
- how many MBEs per day?

- how many hours of studying per day? overall average of 1.5 - about 100 hours over 60 days, about 30-35 the last week.
- how many essays per day? 2 total - one MPT, one crim law so I guess about 0.03 a day (I did read 4 q's and model answers the Friday before)
- how many MBEs per day? Did a lot of these, didn't count. Probably an average of 12 a day over 60 days with one day being 200 and most being 0.

Passed first time with Barbri and Lean Sheets, really Conviser and Lean Sheets if I'm being specific.

I think most people who pass could have passed with a quarter of the effort. However, too few of them are willing to push it to the limit. In hindsight, this was the dumbest thing I've done in a long time, but I now know the full extent of lazy I can be and still not get face planted so it was a satisfying experience.

[cowgirl_bebop]

Passed in NY. 2015 grad, moved back in with my parents to study full-time.

I studied 4-7 hours per day, depending on the material and how I was feeling. I am NOT a marathon studier, so I broke it up with breaks as often as I could, even if it meant finishing up very late. Took Kaplan and watched all of the videos at normal speed and filled in the blanks along the way. I suck at pure memorization so I focused "internalizing" (whatever the hell that means) the material rather than just memorizing it. Did all of the simulated MBE days as directed, which helped a lot with time management, which is KEY. I focused most of my time on the MBE stuff because MC has always been my strong suit, and I knew I could pick up points there. I never actually wrote out a full essay, but I read and outlined a ton to make sure I could spot the issues and remember the law. Same with the MPT, although I went through far fewer. During test day I also took Kaplan's advice of shaving off a few minutes from each essay (like 5) to put a bit more time towards the MPT, since that is low-hanging fruit if you follow directions and finish. I did no studying after the 1st day of the exam and just concentrated on relaxing my mind and getting enough sleep.

I think the best advice is to keep with whatever study habits you have that have gotten you this far. You know how you learn and what types of questions you do best on, so adopt any study system to that. I dont think there is a magic number of essays or questions to do per day (sometimes I did 15, sometimes I did 150, sometimes I did none), but make sure you are doing SOMETHING everyday, and that the something you are doing is productive.

[Sam0406]

Any tips for MPT? I'm fine with the letter type MPT, but seem to be having harder time with the memo MPT. Thank you!

[r.a.t.keurig.machine]

I'm still waiting on my results (Texas) but I'm fairly confident I did well enough on the MBE, MPT, and most essays to pass. My P&E scores are bound to be weak but that's only 10%.

How many hours of studying per day? 8 hours Monday-Friday, 6 hours Saturday, 4 hours Sunday for ten weeks. I had trouble sleeping towards the beginning of bar prep and frequently woke up in the middle of the night. I used that time to do Passing the Bar board game flashcards. I would NOT suggest doing this- I was beyond exhausted and had to start taking melatonin to get back to normal.

How many essays per day? I followed the Kaplan syllabus and added in a few extra essays towards the end. In total I submitted 23 essays for grading. In hindsight, I probably should have written a few more P&Es in place of essays on less tested subjects.

How many MBEs per day? Again, I followed the Kaplan syllabus and did about 33 MBE questions a day. I took three simulated MBEs and did several (maybe 5 or 6?) 100 question blocks. I maxed out on ConLaw MBE questions because it was my weakest subject by far.

I didn't work during bar prep. I used my non-study time to go to the beach, museums, movies, etc in an attempt to balance life out.

[zot1]

Any tips for MPT? I'm fine with the letter type MPT, but seem to be having harder time with the memo MPT. Thank you!

Could you be more specific?

For MPTs, I usually write the type of assignment and tone needed for it. Then I go through the cases and write the relevant law down. Then I go back to the file and use what I wrote accordingly.

[Sam0406]

Any tips for MPT? I'm fine with the letter type MPT, but seem to be having harder time with the memo MPT. Thank you!

Could you be more specific?

For MPTs, I usually write the type of assignment and tone needed for it. Then I go through the cases and write the relevant law down. Then I go back to the file and use what I wrote accordingly.

I failed, really close though. I don't know if it's same for every state, but my state gives 1 memo MPT and 1 letter MPT. I am fine getting a good score when it comes to MPT where I have to write a letter to someone, I don't know why but it's hard to get a good score consistently on PT that asks you to write a memo with headings, relevant statutes etc. - hope this makes more sense?

[AReasonableMan]

Any tips for MPT? I'm fine with the letter type MPT, but seem to be having harder time with the memo MPT. Thank you!

Just write it like a memo.

[ash0117]

Passed in FL with Barbri. FL doesn't isn't an UBE state and doesn't have an MPT.

For the first month or so, I went at studying like 8-10 hours a day. Towards the middle and end it waned to about 6 hours a day. The last week was 10-12 hours a day. I watched all the Barbri lectures (at 1.5x speed) and filled out the outlines. I also did ALL of the MBE questions assigned and several other practice questions that I found (I don't know how many questions it was, but it was a lot). I only wrote out the three assigned essays. For others, I outlined (mostly open book, up until the last week) - I didn't focus on essays at all until July (I wanted to learn the basics of the law first). Four days before the test, I read through every single essay that I hadn't already reviewed, to at least familiarize myself with them. I also did Critical Pass flashcards, and added relevant FL distinctions in the note portion of them. I studied them at night before bed, at doctors appts, everywhere, really. They were supremely helpful.

Overall, I passed with a decent margin but I felt terrible on test day.

[spacecaps]

Passed in PA and I'm admittedly lazy as fuck. I only watched Barbri lectures on 2x speed and filled in the outlines until July, and I never touched a practice essay.

When I started getting serious (about three weeks before the exam) I would read the CMR outline for a specific subject and then do MPQ Sets 1-4 for that subject the same night (72 questions). They key for me was reading the answer explanations thoroughly and understanding why certain answers were incorrect so I didn't make the same mistake later. If I was still unsure about something, I'd go back to the CMR. I also went through Critical Pass flashcards once or twice and added state distinctions. I read through the Key Issues Tested in the Barbri essay book to double check that I knew the most important rules, and I looked at a few model essay answers (but didn't do any practice essays). When I was pretty sure that I had a good grasp on the subject, I'd complete MPQ Sets 5-6. Then I'd move onto the next MBE subject and repeat the process. I think I only completed like 600 MBE practice questions total, and I studied 8-10 hours a day towards the end.

This was a rather stressful schedule because I'm such a procrastinator/crammer, but it seemed to work for me. 5/10 possibly recommend?

[ghandidr]

Passed the NY bar. First time taker.
went to a lower tiered law school in Cali and did not graduate top of my class.
Moved out to NY to study for the bar and that cut out half the distractions of friends wanting to hang out. Then I posted on Facebook that I'd be staying away from social media and that people should not contact me unless I contacted them first( in a nice way). It was basically me, my books, and my daily run.
I woke up at 6 or 6.30 so I could be done studying by 5pm. That way I could relax in the evenings. Was told to treat it like a job, and get into a routine.

Towards the final three weeks, maybe an overkill, but I must've listened/outlined the past 8-10 years of bar exam essays(NY releases the best answers).that was how I studied in law school so I just followed it. I felt confident that even if I didn't know something, I could come up with a well reasoned argument. I also did the memorization the last week and a half. That was perhaps the most intense and stressful period. I did about 2000 MBE questions. I followed Themis's schedule and got through about 90% of the course. Wrote out about 4 MPTs.
The judge im clerking for now told me to work harder than I ever have and I will succeed.

Stay motivated, take care of your health and emotions, and be confident.

Good luck to all of you!

[newjersey]

passed NY bar on first try, below 50% at tier 1 in New York. did 74% of themis + entire Kaplan MBE book. Like poster above I would start at 730 end by 50, strictly following the Themis schedule, for a while. Then i started to read smart bar prep book, lean sheets, and just as many mbe questions as I could get my hands on.

[Cscottrun]

2015 grad. Just passed the NY bar, first try. Took Pieper, which is a NY/NJ only prep class, but I think my schedule would work for any prep course/state. This might be a little long, but I think its worth the read if you are trying to figure out a schedule, especially for NY takers.

I was able to attend either a live session in NYC, watch the recorded version on my own, or attend a class (which I think was offered at most NY law schools), where the recording is shown. I opted for the latter most of the time, but sometimes went to the live class, as I prefer to have to be somewhere. If I do things on my own, without structure, I tend to get lazy. I think most of the courses give all 3 of the above options, unless its a course offered purely online.

Most videos were about 4 or 4.5 hours, but there were some upwards of 6 hours, and I believe even a few that were full days. Class was usually 5 days a week, but sometimes 6, and even on a few occasions 7. My class started at 9 and I think the video ended around 1:30 on most days. At 1:30 I would take a half hour lunch. I would then review my notes from that days lecture. This usually took about 3-4 hours (Pieper gives a ridiculous amount of notes). By the time I was done reviewing that day's notes, it was usually about 6pm. I would then do practice MBE questions on that topic, and I'd also throw in some questions from previous topics. I'd also try and review at least a little bit of the older topics we had already gone over. I was home and done studying anywhere between 8:30 and 10:00pm most days. Friday was an exception, I usually shut down shop at about 5. I will note that once I started prep, I did not take a single day off (but everyone has there lazy days here and there where you do less than usual). I'll also add that I still went out on the weekends with my friends, albeit I tried to avoid hangovers and staying out ridiculously late.

Most weeks we were off (at least video/lecture wise) on Sundays. I'd really take advantage of this and spent a ton of time going over previous notes, and doing MBE questions on older topics. Let me be clear here, I completely abandoned Pieper's schedule. It was literally impossible to follow without studying from 6am-2am everyday.

My first recommendation would be to buy Kaplan's MBE question books. They had by FAR the best questions and best explanations of any of the books I used (Pieper, Kaplan, Barbri). I also really liked Kaplan's outline books, but I think I'd give the hat tip to Barbri there, but only by a little bit. Before prep started I put aside extra money (loans) for extra prep material. I figured I would purchase anything I felt necessary without hesitation. I was not doing this again. With that said, I ended up purchasing, as I mentioned above, Kaplan's set of Feb 2015 books for a really good price (a couple of hundred), and Barbri's master outline book. They ALL came in handy. Pieper's notes were dominant and with the outlines from Kaplan and Barbri to supplement if I didn't understand something, I was golden there.

I also was fortunate enough to have a friend who let me watch and use their Barbri Con Law notes. Chemerisnky is the Con law master, so I figured why even go in any other direction. Plus, Barbri gave a lot less notes than Pieper did for Con, so it free'd up some extra time for other topics.

4 weeks out, I started waking up at 5:45 am, driving to the library/school (where I would watch the lecture later in the day), and started studying old topics and doing MBE questions. It helped a lot as I was finally reviewing and practicing questions with a fresh head. I'd then head to class at 9 for the video and continued my regular schedule which I mentioned above.

By about 2 weeks out from the bar, the lectures were done. It was 5:45 am wake up. I'd review an entire topic, and then hundreds of MBE questions on that topic. I'd study but not usually later than 11pm-ish. Everyone gets to the point where they can no longer retain anything. Don't even try and force it, it won't work.

I was one of the few people (I might be the only person) who studied the day before the bar. Real studying, a solid 6 hours. What I did, and I think it worked for the most part, was leave the topics that I was told not to worry about (i.e., the ones that most people assumed weren't going to show up on the test) for the last day. I had obviously put some time into them previously, but not to the extent I had put into the major topics. I read them over one last time. No need to go crazy and memorize them. Odds are if they show up, it will be in a small dose, and one of the major aspects of it. For example, I think there was only one corporation question on the entire exam. I will admit, I completely disregarded Admin law, and it of course showed up in full essay form. Would have been less worried about passing if I had reviewed it on the last day.

I also want to mention the essays. If you bothered reading this ridiculously long post, you'd see that I never spoke about writing essays. That's because I really didn't. I believed (and I still do, more than ever), that it is more important to memorize and understand the topics, than to write them down. I was 100% confident in my essay writing ability. I had written plenty in law school. If you graduated, you already know how to write a bar essay (and its more short answer than essay anyway). If I could go back, I'd maybe have read some fact patterns to issue spot, but to me, the bar essays were just another law school exam, actually maybe even easier.

Its a passable exam. I don't really think which prep class you choose matters that much. Its the work you put in. Don't be the guy who stumbles into the library at 11 am and leaves at 3. Unless you're a genius, its not going to work for this exam. Memorize as much as you can for the essays. Half of it is luck. Will the shit you know come up or not...

TL;DR

1) I took Pieper. I studied everyday, never took a day off.
2) Went to class to watch the videos. Never did it on my own. I like structure and having to be somewhere, otherwise I get lazy.
3) Most days consisted of the lecture from 9-1:30, a review of the notes from the lecture from 2-6ish. Then some practice MBE questions and review of older notes until about 9pm.
4) As the bar got closer I started waking up at 5:45 and studying from 7-9, then going to class, then doing MBE and review of old notes until about 9pm.
5) 2 weeks from the exam, the lectures stopped. I basically studied from 7am-11pm everyday. Spent the majority of my time memorizing and understanding as much as I could. Then I'd do a shit load of MBE. Always read the explanations, even if you get the answer right.
6) I did one fully timed practice MBE, thats it, and I did it towards the very end. I would recommend doing one more, earlier on to see where your weak spots are. 120 raw. Ended up with a 148 on the MBE. The scale is real and helpful.
7) Find one person who is reliable and who can push you. I studied with a few friends who all put in the kind of time I did, and we tried to all push each other. If someone left early, they'd usually feel guilty for doing so, and they'd put in extra time the next day.
8. Essays are on you. If you feel like you know How to Write a Law School Essay, and you know how to issue spot, than just focus on memorizing as much as you can. If you are worried about actually writing/formatting the essay, spend more time on the essays. As I mentioned above, I only did one or two practice essays.
9) Lastly, if you can afford it, buy supplements or books from other bar companies. IMO Kaplan was the best for practice MBE and explanations. Barbri has good shell outlines, etc...

[Yeshia90]

Passed NY on the first try. 2015 grad.

Took Kaplan. Went to class about four or five times but far more often watched the videos every day in my apartment on 1.5 speed, filled out the outlines as I went. For the first week or so I kept up with the assignments, but I let that lapse until the 4th of July weekend. (Before then, I'd basically wake up around 11, watch the videos in the background while goofing around, and not really do much other work.) After July 4th weekend, I really kicked it into gear, did a good 6 or so hours a day; wrote multiple essays, did about 100 MCQs. The last week I treated it like law school finals. 10 hours a day of practice questions and outlining. Nothing terribly grueling, and if I hadn't slacked off so much the first month I probably could've cruised to the exam. Also, definitely should've read the books, because those turned out to be super helpful, especially w/r/t distinctions. Kaplan had us do a full MBE before starting, at the midway point, and towards the end. There was a full two-day mock exam, which definitely helped built stamina. But I also left each portion of the exam early, and I've always been a good test taker so, YMMV.

[kykiske]

Before I describe my study routine, I'd like to take a moment to share a quote that has always resonated with me:

"Remember that failure is an event, not a person."

That quote may have special significance with retakers, but is also highly relevant to anxious new examinees. At the end of the day, the Bar Exam is a test. It is not a proxy for your worth as a human being.

I passed the Bar Exam on my first try, but I too understand the frustration, embarrassment, and utter disappointment in failure. I have failed over and over again in my young life so far. So if a failure like me can pass the Bar Exam, so can all of you.

As for my study schedule, I stuck with a fairly strict schedule:

Monday-Friday, Weeks 1-4

9 AM to Noon
Load up the Barbri video for the day.
Watch the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed.
Fill in the blanks.

Noon
Lunch break.

1:30 PM-3:30 PM
Do 35 MBE practice questions.
Review the answers: why did I get answers wrong; why did I get them wrong?
Write out 2 essay questions.

Saturday, Weeks 1-5

9 AM to Noon
Do 35 MBE practice questions. Read and review.
Write out 2 essay questions. (I'll detail my strategy below).

Monday-Friday, Weeks 5-9

9AM to Noon
Do 50 MBE practice questions. Read and review.
Write out 5 essay questions.

Noon
Lunch break.

1:30PM to 3:30 PM
Do 50 MBE practice questions. Read and review.

Saturday, Weeks 5-9

9AM to Noon
Do 50 MBE practice questions. Read and review.

I strictly followed this strategy. I did not study at all on Sundays, which were my "rest and recharge days."

I made a promise to myself: I would stop studying two days before the exam. And I kept it. Two days before the exam, I did not touch an MBE practice question, essay, or anything else bar-related.

Following this strategy, I ended up completing over 2,000 MBE questions and writing out 50+ essay questions. As you can see, I did not make any outlines for any subject. I only listened to the videos and filled out the blanks. Where I did most, if not all, of my learning was in the practice questions. In doing so, I did not "learn" the law, in the strictest terms. I more so learned how to answer as many MBE and essay questions correctly as possible. Even on exam day, I couldn't really explain to you why I thought the answer was "A" over "C." But, apparently, my strategy proved successful, because I ended up passing the Bar Exam in my state by a fairly big margin.

MBE Specific Tips

The best way to improve your MBE score is to do as many MBE questions as possible. There's no easy way around it. The more practice questions you do, the better you'll get. And just as important, be sure to understand why you got certain questions correct and others wrong. Reviewing your answers is as important as doing them.

Essay Specific Tips

1) Open a Word document.
2) Open to the practice essay question. Read the question twice.
3) Open your bar prep's book with the corresponding model answer. Read the answer twice.
4) Close the model answer and re-write the model answer in the Word document. While re-writing it, do not refer to the model answer. Try to replicate the structure and substance of the model answer in your answer.
5) Compare and contrast your answer to the model answer.

As a final note, I cannot give general statistics, because I have no idea what they are. But, I would strongly caution against simply reading and creating outlines for each subject at the expense of practice time. The more actual practice time you have under your belt, the better off you'll be. Passing the Bar is not some divine task. It's a skill. And like any skill, you have to practice at it--pound your craft again and again and again.

[NY_Sea]

I'm retaking in Feb, but still at my job full time. Re-enrolled in BARBRI and for the first week or so will probably exclusively do AMPs during the week and then reading outlines/MBE Qs on the weekend.

Here's my study schedule (started on Tuesday)
Mon/Fri:
2 hours a night after work

Sat/Sun:
5-6 hours a day starting around 9 or 10 (Probably bumped up to 8 the last month or so before the exam)

Figure 20 hours a week(x)19 weeks= 380 hours... I think that's more than enough. Especially if they're legitimate studying time (no frequent YouTube breaks like in the summer).

[udonisandtrinity]

I'm retaking in Feb, but still at my job full time. Re-enrolled in BARBRI and for the first week or so will probably exclusively do AMPs during the week and then reading outlines/MBE Qs on the weekend.

Here's my study schedule (started on Tuesday)
Mon/Fri:
2 hours a night after work

Sat/Sun:
5-6 hours a day starting around 9 or 10 (Probably bumped up to 8 the last month or so before the exam)

Figure 20 hours a week(x)19 weeks= 380 hours... I think that's more than enough. Especially if they're legitimate studying time (no frequent YouTube breaks like in the summer).

I actually submitted my two weeks notice today. Once Mid-November hits, I'm studying full-time to maximize my chances. I'm not the smartest person, so I need to take time off. Besides, I tried studying while working full-time and I failed miserably.

[LSATclincher]

I can only speak from the perspective of having taken BarBri. I attribute my passing to reading/analyzing BarBri's KIT (key issues tested) for the essays. I know many people who never even read the KIT. Certain states like to test certain topics. Also, my state seemed to have a pattern of testing the same issues every 4-5 yrs.

I analyzed the KIT to determine what issues I thought were going to be on the exam. Then I wrote small outlines for each essay topic(s). I really focused on reading/memorizing the outlines on the final week before test day. On test day, I knew every issue that appeared (except for one because barbri taught the topic too late in the course for me to spend much time on). All of my analysis and guesswork was correct because of the KIT.

As for the MBE's, there is not much advice to give besides to do as many practice questions as possible and to read the answer explanations. In the final 2 weeks before the test, I did 50 questions per day. I did them in one session. The MBE test is an endurance test, so you need to practice sitting for long periods of time doing questions. I like doing 50 question sets, and that is how I did it on test day. In the AM, I did 50 and took a bathroom break, came back and did the next 50. I did that same routine for the PM session.

BarBri usually only has you doing 18 or 25 MBE questions at a time. This is ok in the beginning, but for someone (like me) who wasn't very good at the MBE portion, you really need to be practicing in longer sessions to build endurance and concentration.

I followed the BarBri plan exactly, as they stated before the course started. But after a low mid-term MBE score (15% percentile), I started to adjust my studying to focus more on the MBE topics. Once July hit, I spent a period of about 2 weeks studying 14hrs a day.

Overall, I'd definitely say BarBri was more helpful for the essays more so than the MBE. I don't know if other courses are different.

As for a schedule, I didn't take a day off in 2 months of studying. I know some classmates who sparingly spent their weekend time going out. As it turns out, some of them failed. I think 8-10hrs a day for 2 months (as Barbri stated) is sufficient. Towards the end, I spent more time per day only because my MBE mid-term score was so low. I felt I needed to put in the extra work. I think it paid off.

[NY_Sea]

I'm retaking in Feb, but still at my job full time. Re-enrolled in BARBRI and for the first week or so will probably exclusively do AMPs during the week and then reading outlines/MBE Qs on the weekend.

Here's my study schedule (started on Tuesday)
Mon/Fri:
2 hours a night after work

Sat/Sun:
5-6 hours a day starting around 9 or 10 (Probably bumped up to 8 the last month or so before the exam)

Figure 20 hours a week(x)19 weeks= 380 hours... I think that's more than enough. Especially if they're legitimate studying time (no frequent YouTube breaks like in the summer).

I actually submitted my two weeks notice today. Once Mid-November hits, I'm studying full-time to maximize my chances. I'm not the smartest person, so I need to take time off. Besides, I tried studying while working full-time and I failed miserably.

If you felt you needed to do that, then by all means... I wouldn't call yourself not smart. You got to the point where you were even eligible to sit... Give yourself some credit for getting there and taking it!

[abergavenny]

I got a lot of information from TLS for the past few years. I hope this will also help someone like me.

Myself: Graduated in 2011 (Michigan); husband with weak heart & parents in law who are old and need some care a few times a week; no kid.
6 month plan (worked full time except the last four weeks). Just passed NY with 141.4 MBE scaled. Waiting on NJ result.

For the first try of NY bar, I took BARBRI but it did not work for me. I went to NYU law school in the morning, off to library, and then came back home exhausted. The entire setting was too stressful to me. Failed by 3 points short. (662 total; 137 MBE scaled) When I finally pulled myself together to retake, my husband had heart issue. Went back and forth from work, icu(hospital), and home. More time passed and I sort of gave up on NY license and began to work in a non-legal field. When everything became quite back to normal this year, my husband suggested that I should try one last time.

Because I did not read or do anything legal for the past few years and I knew I studied better with less stressful setting, I made a 6 month plan. Here was my schedule from Feb to July in 2015.

Hours: I stuck to this schedule. Almost no deviation from it for 6 months.
- Weekdays: Worked until 1700; 1900 - 2100 at Panera bread. (sometimes until 10 p.m. if I had energy to study little longer). Spent 15-20 minutes to update my old outlines at home.
- Weekends:
- 0600: Get up and ready.
- 0700 - 1130: Eat breakfast and study at home (most watch videos)
- 1400 - 1900: Panera bread for lunch and study. Sometimes longer.

I took Themis NY-NJ. Because I had 2012 BARBRI set, I used them before Themis programme began.
February: Thoroughly read BARBRI conviser book (only MBE subjects except civil pro) with outlines. Revised my own outlines accordingly (usually about 20-30 minutes) I think I did PRE MBE book on weekends this month.

March: Completed MPQ drill & 2 sets of each subject from BARBRI MPQ1. Read the outlines that I revised in February. Until this time, I did only MBE subjects except civil pro.

April: Completed the free online course for civil pro at home (Themis offered free civil pro course when enrolled early). Read Crim law/Crim pro/Evidence every Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays (my weak points). Completed set 3, 4, and 5 of BARBRI MPQ1 and mixed MBE Qs. Made flashcards for wrong answers. Carried the cards to work and casually flipped them through whenever I had time.

May and June: Dumped old BARBRI books and followed Themis schedule as much as I could. Worked on all - MBE, NY distinctions, and NJ essays.

I studied with my best concentration during the hours I mentioned above. At home, while my husband was playing video games and watching movies, I did several MBE questions and quiz available on Themis website in a more relaxing environment. I found the interactive mode for MBE was very helpful to me. I could find out the answer and why I was correct or wrong right after I chose one. I don't know how many MBE questions I did but certainly did not do all question sets that were offered by Themis. As to the NY and NJ essays, I did not write full essays except 6 graded ones. As to MPT, I wrote one full MPT for Themis grading and outlined three past MPT questions total.

July Panicked. (or exhausted...) I quit the job I had for 2.5 years but I did not do much during the day. I went to gym around either 6 am or 8 am and did pretty much nothing but watching youtube videos, reading poems and the bible, and cooking until like 4-5 p.m. I went to Panera at night and worked really hard with guilty feelings. On weekends, I worked hard same as before.

In July, I spent more time visualizing my outlines than following Themis. For essays, I stopped outlining but just skimmed through questions and its suggested answers.

I believe what saved me from failing again was the fixed schedule and Themis online system. Even in July when I was panicked and burnt out, I concentrated and studied hard during the fixed hours I mentioned above. It was more likely that my brain seemed scheduled to study at night on weekdays and full day on weekends. Themis was helpful especially in July when I felt burnt out. Sitting on a comfy sofa with a laptop and casually doing Themis online questions was not hard working. Raising the % of completion was like playing a game to me at some point in time. I completed about 75% of Themis programme. For essay assignments except seven graded ones, all I did was issue spotting and reading suggested answers.

I hope this will help someone make his or her own study plan.

[starryski]

what Kaplan book is best for MBE practice. Im looking on Ebay and don't know what to go with.

[NY_Sea]

what Kaplan book is best for MBE practice. Im looking on Ebay and don't know what to go with.

I've heard the Emanuel book is THE go-to for the MBE... I'm looking on Amazon for it right now.