THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION Forum

[BlueLaw11]

To anyone else doing CA, prepare to cringe when you get to Community Property...

One lecture in and the guy has already quoted TaylorSwift, Lady Gaga, and now Beyonce. And no, none of it is landing

[ithrowds]

Is anyone actually reading the long outlines when they're assigned? They're so long, I feel like my time is better served doing MBE practice questions or something, especially given I'm going to watch the lectures later anyway.

[studying4bar]

Is anyone actually reading the long outlines when they're assigned? They're so long, I feel like my time is better served doing MBE practice questions or something, especially given I'm going to watch the lectures later anyway.

I tried at first but it just didn't seem practical to me/for me. If I don't get something in the handout and it is reflected in the assessment/PQ's I go to the long outline, otherwise I've been doing the FRO's.

[studying4bar]

I really cant believe we have 2 more months of this shit haha

Yeah, I wonder how many bar examinees ended up in a strait jacket by exam day.

[White Dwarf]

I read the outlines for subjects I either didn't take (Family Law) or where a lot of the material wasn't covered in the class I did take (Property). I didn't bother with Torts, and I probably won't with Criminal or Criminal Procedure, because I remember those topics well.

At ~19% in NY. I'm a couple days behind the original schedule, but my MBE PQ scores have been really good (70's and 80's) so I'm not worried.

[illyria]

For those of you that started on time, does your schedule give you weekends off like the official schedule says?
I started several days late, and I don't have any days off except for July 4th.

[thisiswater]

no days off except memorial day and july 4th. I'm currently only at 16% so probably 10% behind but I'm into the groove now and I'm not worried about finishing or anything. more worried about starting to really memorize the texas essay info rather than work to catch up

[CBlaw]

So how often is Themis supposed to check in with you? I still have yet to receive the first graded essay or heard anything from Themis as far as "checking in" or giving any feedback. Rocking 22.8% done as of now but feel like im starting to get sloppy and skip things/not take them as serious.

[smile0751]

So how often is Themis supposed to check in with you? I still have yet to receive the first graded essay or heard anything from Themis as far as "checking in" or giving any feedback. Rocking 22.8% done as of now but feel like im starting to get sloppy and skip things/not take them as serious.

I never got a notification that my first essay was graded, but it was. Yours might similarly be graded. Go to "Graded essays" on the left-hand menu. Click to review the essay. If it's been graded, you'll have a tab on the left hand side next to "sample essay" and "your essay" that says score and comments.

[CBlaw]

So how often is Themis supposed to check in with you? I still have yet to receive the first graded essay or heard anything from Themis as far as "checking in" or giving any feedback. Rocking 22.8% done as of now but feel like im starting to get sloppy and skip things/not take them as serious.

I never got a notification that my first essay was graded, but it was. Yours might similarly be graded. Go to "Graded essays" on the left-hand menu. Click to review the essay. If it's been graded, you'll have a tab on the left hand side next to "sample essay" and "your essay" that says score and comments.

o wow great! Thanks it was graded. Seems kinda dumb to not alert us to them being graded

[RareExports]

You should receive email notifications when you get a graded essay back. Maybe check your spam folder.

[ithrowds]

How seriously do you guys take the performance tests? I'm studying for CA, and for the first couple, I've read through the performance test materials, kind of lightly outlined, and then read the sample answers/watched videos.

[CBlaw]

You should receive email notifications when you get a graded essay back. Maybe check your spam folder.

yep it was in my spam

[Ohnt]

I read the outlines for subjects I either didn't take (Family Law) or where a lot of the material wasn't covered in the class I did take (Property). I didn't bother with Torts, and I probably won't with Criminal or Criminal Procedure, because I remember those topics well.

At ~19% in NY. I'm a couple days behind the original schedule, but my MBE PQ scores have been really good (70's and 80's) so I'm not worried.

How are you scoring so high? Omg. Please share your tricks.

[Ohnt]

I read the outlines for subjects I either didn't take (Family Law) or where a lot of the material wasn't covered in the class I did take (Property). I didn't bother with Torts, and I probably won't with Criminal or Criminal Procedure, because I remember those topics well.

At ~19% in NY. I'm a couple days behind the original schedule, but my MBE PQ scores have been really good (70's and 80's) so I'm not worried.

Also, if you don’t mind me asking how many of the mcqs have you done so far in all?

[themistakerprep]

I'm doing all the outlines and watching none of the videos.

The videos are just repeating what the outline says and are less comprehensive then them right?

Also are there any shorter outlines than the long outlines?

[Lawworld19]

I think they assign lectures because the different mediums of ingesting the information should help make it stick long term.

And yea, white dwarf, those score are dope

[Lawworld19]

Anyone here taking Ohio? What states are you all taking?

Taking Florida.

23.3% complete. Getting beyond slaughtered by property questions (the Themis state director mentioned it in their check-in with me).

What is getting beyond slaughtered to you? haha

[White Dwarf]

I read the outlines for subjects I either didn't take (Family Law) or where a lot of the material wasn't covered in the class I did take (Property). I didn't bother with Torts, and I probably won't with Criminal or Criminal Procedure, because I remember those topics well.

At ~19% in NY. I'm a couple days behind the original schedule, but my MBE PQ scores have been really good (70's and 80's) so I'm not worried.

How are you scoring so high? Omg. Please share your tricks.

No tricks, really. As others have posted, I just write down rules and rationales on questions I miss or guess on, then review those before each question set.

I think another key is just sticking to what you know. A lot of questions will throw red herring answer choices at you trying to make you second-guess the basics. In property, you see this a lot on mortgage questions where three of the answers are some elaborate "Not enforceable because even though x came before y, z reverses this because g." where the right answer is simply "Enforceable because it was recorded." Don't overthink. Keep in mind that a lot of questions involve the examiners trying to hide the ball on simple concepts.

In case my post was misleading: I started out in the 50's on the 1st contracts set, and the 40's on 1st property set, but got up to the 70's by the 3rd PQ sets, and seen steady improvements with each set. I've gotten through the 5th sets on property (up to 79%), and contracts (up to 85%). Again, I think the key is realizing that there are only a finite set of issues that the examiners will throw at you. Once you've seen them a couple times --provided you are really taking the time to write out why you didn't understand the questions-- it's just a matter of having confidence in what you know and avoiding the tricks.

[Lawworld19]

Above post is very well stated. Thanks for the advice.

[Peanut60]

I'm doing all the outlines and watching none of the videos.

The videos are just repeating what the outline says and are less comprehensive then them right?

Also are there any shorter outlines than the long outlines?

There are the short outlines at the end of the book that say final review outlines (if that is what you mean). I think they call them FRO's on the Themis website. Also, is anyone just sticking to what Themis says to do and not doing anything outside of Themis? I find I don't have that much time / energy by the time I finish everything Themis assigns (I do read the outlines and watch the videos).

[Lawworld19]

i just stick to the schedule then do adaptibar in the am before work

[Ohnt]

I read the outlines for subjects I either didn't take (Family Law) or where a lot of the material wasn't covered in the class I did take (Property). I didn't bother with Torts, and I probably won't with Criminal or Criminal Procedure, because I remember those topics well.

At ~19% in NY. I'm a couple days behind the original schedule, but my MBE PQ scores have been really good (70's and 80's) so I'm not worried.

How are you scoring so high? Omg. Please share your tricks.

No tricks, really. As others have posted, I just write down rules and rationales on questions I miss or guess on, then review those before each question set.

I think another key is just sticking to what you know. A lot of questions will throw red herring answer choices at you trying to make you second-guess the basics. In property, you see this a lot on mortgage questions where three of the answers are some elaborate "Not enforceable because even though x came before y, z reverses this because g." where the right answer is simply "Enforceable because it was recorded." Don't overthink. Keep in mind that a lot of questions involve the examiners trying to hide the ball on simple concepts.

In case my post was misleading: I started out in the 50's on the 1st contracts set, and the 40's on 1st property set, but got up to the 70's by the 3rd PQ sets, and seen steady improvements with each set. I've gotten through the 5th sets on property (up to 79%), and contracts (up to 85%). Again, I think the key is realizing that there are only a finite set of issues that the examiners will throw at you. Once you've seen them a couple times --provided you are really taking the time to write out why you didn't understand the questions-- it's just a matter of having confidence in what you know and avoiding the tricks.

Ok,thanks!

[abogado2018]

Hope this isn't obvious, but are these Themis MBE PQs actual, licensed MBE questions? Or are they Themis-generated, or is it a mix of both?

I have read so many comments on past threads by passers who say something like "I was freaking out because I couldn't break above 60's on Themis PQs but ended up in the 80th percentile on the actual MBE, so don't worry!" What's the deal behind the big difference between performance on Themis PQs and the actual thing? Just a Themis scare tactic?

[Ohnt]

Has anyone started the mixed mbe pqs yet?