What do I need? Forum

[Rockwell99]

Assuming I go with one of Kaplan/Barbri, what else do I need to succeed? I hear lots of talk about supplements and flash cards.

[NoDayButToday]

I don't think there's a blanket rule on supplements anyone NEEDS. If you wanna go in depth on a subject that you're weaker on, I recommend Law in a Flash, and a lot of people go more MBE general with Critical Pass, but honestly the bar course is pretty thorough by itself. I would say hold off until you feel like you do actually need something to fill a specific gap rather than spending extra money if you might not use the materials.

[hockeyman969]

Take your time with the bar course, pay attention to their outlines, condense the hell out of them sorting the useless stuff and use those.

Better than anything else you can. Practice writing essays first open book untimed, you learn the patterns, then close books, study material and gradually time your essays.

Take MBEs every day 25-50 and drill yourself reading explanations on each and absorb it.

I've passed 2 bar exams first time, UBE and FL.

Don't overthink it, takes the tools you're given....and practice practice practice.

[pancakes3]

the emmanuel book of practice MBE questions is a must if you do barbri imo. i don't think barbri gives enough practice MBE questions, especially mixed sets.

(fwiw i front loaded MBE prep and was "done" w review by 3rd week of June in terms of lectures and outlines but was cranking out 50 practice questions a day until the week before the exam)

[SilvermanBarPrep]

Adaptibar is an excellent supplement to the bar review course. In terms of book, the Strategies and Tactics books are really great. Many of students have also said excellent things about lean sheets and a program called ZipBar.

Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)

[Tony48]

I went with Barbri. I didn't use any supplements, but I definitely made some flash cards. Just make sure that you answer as many MC questions as you can, regardless of whatever prep program you pick.

[ur_hero]

Take your time and go through MBEs THOROUGHLY, including both your bar program and Adaptibar. I would personally opt for reading answers and explanations as you go after each question, rather than going back after a while. Maybe do both, but at least make sure you do it as you go. This is because (1) you'll likely better understand why you got an answer wrong; or (2) will likely rush through or blow off reviewing answers later. Perhaps during the second half of your bar study, work in timed test-condition practice sessions to gauge your progress.

DO NOT BLOW OFF ESSAY PRACTICE. Really, you should be doing thoughtful outlining and/or full-writing of essays as soon as possible. Don't worry about timed-conditions. Just work on producing full and thorough essay outlines at the least, throwing in some full-essays as well. I think untimed is more helpful until you've done a few run-throughs of multiple essays across each subject. But perhaps an attempt at a timed-essay in test conditions will kick your ass into gear to realize you don't have this down yet and need to ACTUALLY put some thoughtful effort into it. Past exams that have sample/template responses are your best friend here (e.g., Baressays.com).

For essays, I recommend you try testing yourself on how fast you can even completely outline an answer response. It will probably take you a lot longer than you think. This needs to be second-nature and should require little thought come exam time.

Other than Adaptibar and sources for real past-essay samples responses, I don't think you need anything. Perhaps add in Critical Pass flashcards, as you can use these to help you outline essay answers and pull rule statements for specific topics - although this is nothing you can't get from either your outlines or rip off from past exams.

[L_William_W]

Assuming I go with one of Kaplan/Barbri, what else do I need to succeed? I hear lots of talk about supplements and flash cards.

Flash cards won't teach you the law. There are a plethora of sites that give you FREE outlines. Go to google and type in "bar exam doctor." Also buy some used Barbri books from Amazon and use those to make outlines.

Adaptibar is useless. It has outdated questions that are much easier than what you'll encounter on the real MBE. Instead, use these:

https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tacti ... or+the+mbe

https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tacti ... ctics+finz

https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Practice- ... +questions

If you get a question wrong, make your own flash card which includes the relevant law.

[ur_hero]

Assuming I go with one of Kaplan/Barbri, what else do I need to succeed? I hear lots of talk about supplements and flash cards.

Flash cards won't teach you the law. There are a plethora of sites that give you FREE outlines. Go to google and type in "bar exam doctor." Also buy some used Barbri books from Amazon and use those to make outlines.

Adaptibar is useless. It has outdated questions that are much easier than what you'll encounter on the real MBE. Instead, use these:

https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tacti ... or+the+mbe

https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tacti ... ctics+finz

https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Practice- ... +questions

If you get a question wrong, make your own flash card which includes the relevant law.

For what it's worth, I personally found Adaptibar to be an excellent resource and wasn't at all thrown off or troubled by any difference in the questions. The only thing I thought was particularly bad about it was the answer explanations, but most were sufficient while those concerning certain complexities or nuances were utterly useless. If you don't get the answer explanation, however, you can just consult your outline(s).

Not saying the other tools listed aren't great as well. Heard nothing but good things about those.