Stopped Studying Forum

lawstoodent · Post by **lawstoodent** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:09 am

And I can't compel myself to start again. Stopped yesterday after had a complete meltdown going through Barbri's half-day torture device. I feel like I can't pass, I can't learn any more information and I'm just tired of trying to force myself to learn more.

Need some motivation to get started again. Failure no longer scares me it feels inevitable.

L_William_W · Post by **L_William_W** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:15 am

Fuck Barbri. Their materials are good, but their actual course is shit.

IMO (I can't be held responsible if this doesn't work), you should simply spend the rest of the time outlining essays, memorizing rules, and doing a few MBE's (using the Kaplan red book). If you outline essays then you'll eventually discover a pattern in the correct answers. It's too late to learn new material, but the war isn't over. You can still win.

ellewoods123 · Post by **ellewoods123** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:16 am

don't if you feel overwhelmed. had a similar meltdown going through barbri essay book. no way in hell i will write an essay like that. period.

i went to the beach yesterday and it was the best decision i could have made. why? because in my opinion (you may disagree) the next 4 days are not, at this point, determining whether i pass or fail. you either know enough by now or you dont (and, you do.) this test is just as much a test to measure your ability to stay calm and control yourself mentally/emotionally as it is your ability to regurgitate information. there are things i do not know, and things that i will 100% not learn by tuesday. i am ok with that. some people may disagree. i am not one of them

i've studied 10 hours a day every single day since may. if thats not enough to pass this test, then so be it. i'm focusing on remaining calm these next few days, reviewing the information i've learned, and thats it.
d.o.n.e.

lawstoodent · Post by **lawstoodent** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:47 am

Thanks for the advice/support guys.

I think I'm going to stop doing work everyday by 5pm. I'll do the Barbri multiple choice questions today, do one last set tomorrow ope-3 and then just focus on essays, mpts and memorizing mbe rules til the exam. That way I can keep my sanity.

SFSpartan · Post by **SFSpartan** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:54 am

Not sure if you have flashcards (Critical Pass or otherwise), but one thing that's been helping me keep my sanity is walking around my neighborhood with flashcards and reciting them out loud. It gets me outside and moving, which is good for me mentally, and I've found that I retain the material a lot better when I say it out loud. The downside is that I look like an insane person, but I've come to terms with that.

To each his own, and you do you, obviously, but thought I would chime in with something that's been working for me.

whitecollar23 · Post by **whitecollar23** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 12:16 pm

I'm starting to get the feeling that it's impossible to feel fully prepared for a closed-book exam on this much material. It's like a Catch-22. You get fully confident in one area, but then you need to go get confident in another, and while doing that, you lose some confidence in another subject. And the cycle continues.

I'm personally going to focus on MEE topics that are the most likely to be tested (Corporations, Trusts, and Family Law), and review the rest just to refresh in case. Still doing some MBE questions to stay sharp, but in the end, after all this studying, we should be able to apply that knowledge to something we don't necessarily recognize based on the knowledge we have from all this studying.

Also, an exercise I've been trying and have noticed it helps with stress:
If you won the lottery today and realized you didn't have to pass the exam, would you feel less stressed and more confident about passing? Probably. It's the stress about passing that hurts the confidence, not the lack of knowledge.

Just my 18 cents.

rcharter1978 · Post by **rcharter1978** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 12:21 pm

lawstoodent wrote:And I can't compel myself to start again. Stopped yesterday after had a complete meltdown going through Barbri's half-day torture device. I feel like I can't pass, I can't learn any more information and I'm just tired of trying to force myself to learn more.

Need some motivation to get started again. Failure no longer scares me it feels inevitable.

Your body is trying to tell you to take a break. Not a stress sleep session, but a real break. Go outside. Have lunch with a friend, take a drive somewhere pretty. Get out of your house. Find some roses to smell.

You can pass -- and you likely know 95% of what you can know at this point so take a break.

If you take a break and feel like doing some light studying again, do it.

When I took the exam, they always said to visualize success.....what do you do when you pass, what are you looking forward to. For me, it was having a party (which I still have to plan) but whenever I thought about what it would be like to pass the bar exam, I always thought about that party. What would it look like? Who would I invite? What music would I play (for some reason, its going to be a lot of Bobby Brown), what food would I want, what would I wear. The more I visualized it, the more I looked forward to passing.

But seriously, get out of your house, get out of the library. Even if you take a few hours, do it. Today, you'll feel much better for it.

rcharter1978 · Post by **rcharter1978** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 12:27 pm

ellewoods123 wrote:don't if you feel overwhelmed. had a similar meltdown going through barbri essay book. no way in hell i will write an essay like that. period.

i went to the beach yesterday and it was the best decision i could have made. why? because in my opinion (you may disagree) the next 4 days are not, at this point, determining whether i pass or fail. you either know enough by now or you dont (and, you do.) this test is just as much a test to measure your ability to stay calm and control yourself mentally/emotionally as it is your ability to regurgitate information. there are things i do not know, and things that i will 100% not learn by tuesday. i am ok with that. some people may disagree. i am not one of them

i've studied 10 hours a day every single day since may. if thats not enough to pass this test, then so be it. i'm focusing on remaining calm these next few days, reviewing the information i've learned, and thats it.
d.o.n.e.

Exactly. Its so easy to get focused and let the studying drive you nuts, but taking a day off for the beach was likely the best thing you could do for yourself. My mother dragged me to lunch in the final week of studying and I didn't realize how much I needed that.

grixxlybear99 · Post by **grixxlybear99** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 12:56 pm

I feel an LBJ quote is appropriate during trying times. Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to lose.

Visualize success and execute!

L_William_W · Post by **L_William_W** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:22 pm

I don't believe in days off. Instead of enjoying yourself, you'll worry about the exam. Instead, give yourself an incentive. You'll go through 2-3 days of hell but after the last day, go to a bar or strip club. It's the same as a football player. They bust their asses working out and they get the shit knocked out of them during games. But once they win the Super Bowl, they realize that the pain was worth it.

LurkerTurnedMember · Post by **LurkerTurnedMember** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:58 pm

lawstoodent wrote:And I can't compel myself to start again. Stopped yesterday after had a complete meltdown going through Barbri's half-day torture device. I feel like I can't pass, I can't learn any more information and I'm just tired of trying to force myself to learn more.

Need some motivation to get started again. Failure no longer scares me it feels inevitable.

Relax. You'll be ok, and here's why.

(1) Presumably you've studied hard for about two months (and that's why you're so tired, had a meltdown, and are about to give up). This has a huge implication here. First, all that studying had to have been helpful, and you did learn a lot, but you're just focusing on the stuff that you haven't mastered yet. And, second, if you spent all that time studying and you're still feeling underprepared, then everyone is most likely at the same place or around the same place as you are right now. It's not like they had more time to study, and it's not like they somehow studied harder than you did.

(2) Don't just focus on Barbri's model answers. Barbri model answers are written by subject experts (what I was told by one of the Barbri people who answers substantive questions students send in). This means those people focused specifically on that subject (and no other), and have been answering bar essays nonstop for who knows how long. Their focus and experience puts almost any bar applicant to shame in that subject, so their model answers tend to be something very few students can replicate on exam day. So don't just focus on the Barbri model answers.

(3) Barbri isn't always right. Sometimes you'll read their model answer or explanation on an MBE question and it'll actually be wrong. For one evidence essay, the call of the question asked to apply my state's law and they did for everything except one issue. For that issue, they applied the FRE. I went and looked up my state's evidence code for that issue and, indeed, the test was much different from the FRE. So they ended up applying the wrong law and failed to mention the right one altogether for that issue. I've noticed this in other essays, too. This means despite being well versed in that particular subject and having a good amount of experience answering bar question, they still get it wrong. So it's more than expected that you won't get everything right, or sometimes even close to 100%.

(4) Focus on the model answers your state bar picked out, if any. You'll see how far they are below Barbri's model answers and yet they're still one of the best ones in your state. Some of them don't even state the rule properly or clearly, and often times, depending on your state, the model answers picked reach different results. They don't even get to all the issues, and their organization could definitely be better. Trust me, after seeing a few of those, you'll know you can pull of a pass on exam day.

(5) Remember your diversification at this point. You've studied a ton of subjects. So you didn't do well on an essay in one or two subjects. The chances are that the bar exam won't test you on all your worst subjects. There will be an essay that you won't know much about and you'll have to wing it. This is true for everyone (because we're not machines and can't memorize everything). But there will also be essay that are right in your sweet spot.

(6) Final stretch approach: Focus on learning the law through memorization coupled by quick application. Get "Lean Sheets" outlines, which I got and tend to be pretty spot on with the law (they're small attack outlines for all the subjects, about 50 pages covering every subject on your bar). Sit down and slowly read through the Barbri handout or Lean Sheets or the Conviser for the subject in which you're not confident (Conviser as last resort b/c it's the longest). Try to memorize the big ticket rules (focusing more on the rules you don't already know). I'm talking about repeating it 10 times+ in a row to yourself and outlining it on a board if you have to (not just skim or read through it and move on thinking your brain is gonna download it like it's a computer). Then, go to the Barbri essay book. DON'T WRITE OUT OR EVEN TYPE OUT AN OUTLINE ON COMPUTER FOR THEM AT THIS POINT (it's a waste of time now). Just go to the subject area you just went over, read an essay, do a quick sketch of an online in pen in the essay book in the margin and visualize your answer. Understand why you'd write it like that even though you're not writing it (this should take about 10 to 15 minutes). What's the question asking? What are the issues and sub issues? How would you organize the issues and answers? And can you say the rule to yourself for the issues you spotted) Then immediately flip over and read the model answer, see what you got right, what you missed, and how Barbri wrote out the answer. Then move on to the next essay. You should be able to finish the 8 or so essays (which is the amount Barbri has per subject) like this in a matter of 3 to 4 hours. Then move on to the next subject you're not comfortable with.

You still have 5 days. This is enough to learn at least 2 subjects (the big issues at least) from scratch this way, or 3+ if you've already reviewed them and you're just going back for more.

You got this. Most of the struggle with the bar exam is psychological. The bar is not set as high as you think. Trust me. I've seen a good number of motions and pleadings submitted to a court and if the bar is as high as I originally thought, 85% of those lawyers wouldn't be lawyers.

squiggle · Post by **squiggle** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:59 pm

L_William_W wrote:I don't believe in days off. Instead of enjoying yourself, you'll worry about the exam. Instead, give yourself an incentive. You'll go through 2-3 days of hell but after the last day, go to a bar or strip club. It's the same as a football player. They bust their asses working out and they get the shit knocked out of them during games. But once they win the Super Bowl, they realize that the pain was worth it.

I disagree. If you're so stressed that you're not able to absorb information, then take some time off. You'll come back more relax and ready to learn.

Also, ever heard of a taper? Athletes do it all the time. Don't bust your ass to the end if it means that you're too burned out to perform well on game day(s).

ellewoods123 · Post by **ellewoods123** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:25 pm

squiggle wrote:
L_William_W wrote:I don't believe in days off. Instead of enjoying yourself, you'll worry about the exam. Instead, give yourself an incentive. You'll go through 2-3 days of hell but after the last day, go to a bar or strip club. It's the same as a football player. They bust their asses working out and they get the shit knocked out of them during games. But once they win the Super Bowl, they realize that the pain was worth it.
I disagree. If you're so stressed that you're not able to absorb information, then take some time off. You'll come back more relax and ready to learn.

Also, ever heard of a taper? Athletes do it all the time. Don't bust your ass to the end if it means that you're too burned out to perform well on game day(s).

This.

whitecollar23 · Post by **whitecollar23** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:00 pm

Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.

squiggle · Post by **squiggle** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:14 pm

whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.

Why don't you ask this question in a thread that's addressing your state's exam (or UBE if that's what you're taking)? This thread is about burnout and losing motivation to study.

LionelHutzJD · Post by **LionelHutzJD** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:19 pm

whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.

The partnership outline for Barbri is literally 5 pages. It is incredibly easy material.

whitecollar23 · Post by **whitecollar23** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:22 pm

LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.
The partnership outline for Barbri is literally 5 pages. It is incredibly easy material.

That's what I figure, which is why I don't think it's worth using any brainpower on.

LionelHutzJD · Post by **LionelHutzJD** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:22 pm

whitecollar23 wrote:
LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.
The partnership outline for Barbri is literally 5 pages. It is incredibly easy material.
That's what I figure, which is why I don't think it's worth using any brainpower on.

So don't. Why are you asking us then????

whitecollar23 · Post by **whitecollar23** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:24 pm

Thoughts on taking a half-day off to recharge over the weekend?

Had scored 78% on Kaplan's final MBE, but over the past week have been hovering around 73% on practice MBE questions. They have seemed overall more difficult (especially based on percentages of students getting them right), but I have gotten some easy ones wrong, too. =/

whitecollar23 · Post by **whitecollar23** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:24 pm

LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:
LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.
The partnership outline for Barbri is literally 5 pages. It is incredibly easy material.
That's what I figure, which is why I don't think it's worth using any brainpower on.
So don't. Why are you asking us then????

For another's opinion. Duh.

LionelHutzJD · Post by **LionelHutzJD** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:28 pm

whitecollar23 wrote:
LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:
LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.
The partnership outline for Barbri is literally 5 pages. It is incredibly easy material.
That's what I figure, which is why I don't think it's worth using any brainpower on.
So don't. Why are you asking us then????
For another's opinion. Duh.

You do this every other day. You ask for opinions from people than you act as if those opinions are worthless to you. Please just go away.

whitecollar23 · Post by **whitecollar23** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:33 pm

LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:
LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:
LionelHutzJD wrote:
whitecollar23 wrote:Would I be crazy to not study Partnership? Learned it during the general bar prep and did an essay on it on a practice exam, but it just seems like it's almost definitely not going to be on our Bar.
The partnership outline for Barbri is literally 5 pages. It is incredibly easy material.
That's what I figure, which is why I don't think it's worth using any brainpower on.
So don't. Why are you asking us then????
For another's opinion. Duh.
You do this every other day. You ask for opinions from people than you act as if those opinions are worthless to you. Please just go away.

I literally agreed with you, and you're complaining? Wow. Take a chill pill, buddy.

0lol · Post by **0lol** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:35 pm

tensions getting a little high the bar so close

we are all in this together homies

mvp99 · Post by **mvp99** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:09 pm

I don't know why but I'm not studying more than use to this past couple of weeks

learntolift · Post by **learntolift** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:38 pm

You all reviewing the CMR or lecture outlines?

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