People who have taken the bar...Should I ditch the directed study. Forum

[Lawworld19]

And just start memorizing. I feel I am not retaining the info well enough for the MBE questions. The directed study i just am going through the motions. I feel like I need to buckle down and get a handle on this, time is ticking. Just scored very poorly on MBE practice exam, mostly because I just don;t know the law well enough.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

IMO, you shouldn't be taking practice exams right now. Rather, you should be answering real MBE questions, and reviewing each one right after answering each question. There's no use in taking full MBE practice exams right now when you aren't familiar with the nuances yet.

Once you get a feel for the MBE questions, then you can take practice exams to build your stamina over 3 hours. I would peg this time frame to be around the end of June.

[Lawworld19]

I meant the 45 question "practice exam" themis just assigned us. I am scoring on adaptibar 48-62% correct across subject.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Oh ok.

Well imho, at this point I think it's better for students to answer one question at a time, and then review their answers after each question.

Because if you do a set of 45 questions, and then review later, you risk your brain synthesizing wrong information. For example, lets say you answer question #12 incorrectly but thought to yourself you got it correct for the right reason. You won't realize the error until you've finished all 45 questions. During the time period you are answering questions #13 through #45, you run the risk of engraving into your brain the erroneous assumption that you answered #12 correctly. IMO, it would be better to instantly find out if you got a question right or wrong as well as analyze the reasoning.

[sparty99]

And just start memorizing. I feel I am not retaining the info well enough for the MBE questions. The directed study i just am going through the motions. I feel like I need to buckle down and get a handle on this, time is ticking. Just scored very poorly on MBE practice exam, mostly because I just don;t know the law well enough.

Yes. Themis moves at a very fast past. Just memorize and review the outlines for the MBE classes and do practice questions daily. I studied the outlines for two courses every day. Like Torts/Criminal on Monday then do questions. Then CivPro and Evidence. Then do more questions. By the third day you would have looked at all the outlines...

[okaygo]

I ditched my bar prep course in mid June and strictly focused on memorizing critical pass flash cards, and applying that knowledge to Adaptibar and Emmanuel’s questions. I only used my bar prep course to generally give me an outline on when I should be introducing MBE subjects, and for practice MEE/MPT. I really didn’t start trying to memorize MEE rule statement for most MEE subjects (excluding trusts, wills and secured transactions) until July.

[stephcurry30]

I echo the other people who’ve responded saying you shouldn’t start memorizing now. Trying to memorize too early on in the process can back fire on you because you’re trying to retain stuff you memorized the first week of June all the way through until the last week of July. Your time is better spent taking time out of your day to reinforce your knowledge by creating outlines or notes so that if you move on to another subject and revist this subject a week or two later, you have something to reference. This becames even more invaluable come July when you’re memorizing. Retention comes later on. Forcing it now won’t help the process imho.

[objctnyrhnr]

One thousand percent ditch the lectures

[SilvermanBarPrep]

You shouldn't feel like you can't take some control over your studying. I think it's tough for someone taking the bar exam for the first time to completely ditch the program, but once you start thinking that you are going through the motions you should be careful about allowing that to go too far, because many people go through the motions and don't pass. In other words, continue to follow the schedule set up by your bar review course, but skew from it when you have to to make sure that you are studying areas you're struggling with rather than merely studying areas you are told to study.

Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)

[sarahbeck10]

One thousand percent ditch the lectures

I agree. Spending time watching the lectures gives most examinees a false sense of feeling as if they are progressing and doing something. The lectures do work for some people, but in my opinion, it is better to let them go and do your own thing if you're finding you can't blindly explain the big topics/elements for the lectures you just finished watching. They are all long and require active listening to be beneficial. I believe your time is better served going through the outlines, actively learning by making your own outlines, and practicing and heavily reviewing the correct and incorrect answers.

[kingkonglaw]

Short answer, yes.

I really like what silverman is saying about not being afraid to take control over your bar review. It is a bit liberating using the schedule from my bar prep program to stay organized, but condensing and focusing on the topics in a more efficient manner rather than passively sitting through never ending lectures.

I was using barbri and sitting through 4 hours of lectures, being forced to listen to a video and fill in blanks in an outline. It just felt like a massive waste of time. Personally I snagged a condensed outline from studicata (https://www.studicata.com/memorize) to learn the material so i could focus more time on practicing.

It has really made me feel more in control of my bar prep schedule and not at the mercy of the stupid barbri lectures (even at 1.5x speed). To practice I am using adaptibar plus practice exams directly purchased from the NCBEX (http://store.ncbex.org/mee/).

[justanotheruser]

I finally passed the Feb '18 CA bar after 5 failures.

For me, I think everything came down to studying smarter (versus harder). Specifically 8 hours of lectures + making notes/outlines is not the same as 8 hours of actual MBE practice (+ review) and a practice essay or two (+ review).

Considering how clutch Barbri was for the MPRE, I find it surprising how I quickly I realized it wasn't for me when it came to preparing for the bar. I think it's important to get the baseline knowledge of each of the topics. But after that (which probably shouldn't take more than 1-2 weeks of lectures), I think you get more precise studying done out of doing actual practice problems + critical review.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

I finally passed the Feb '18 CA bar after 5 failures.

For me, I think everything came down to studying smarter (versus harder). Specifically 8 hours of lectures + making notes/outlines is not the same as 8 hours of actual MBE practice (+ review) and a practice essay or two (+ review).

Considering how clutch Barbri was for the MPRE, I find it surprising how I quickly I realized it wasn't for me when it came to preparing for the bar. I think it's important to get the baseline knowledge of each of the topics. But after that (which probably shouldn't take more than 1-2 weeks of lectures), I think you get more precise studying done out of doing actual practice problems + critical review.

I strongly agree with this. I had to take this test 8 times! I finally passed when I ditched Barbri and studied smarter, not harder.

[Lawworld19]

I finally passed the Feb '18 CA bar after 5 failures.

For me, I think everything came down to studying smarter (versus harder). Specifically 8 hours of lectures + making notes/outlines is not the same as 8 hours of actual MBE practice (+ review) and a practice essay or two (+ review).

Considering how clutch Barbri was for the MPRE, I find it surprising how I quickly I realized it wasn't for me when it came to preparing for the bar. I think it's important to get the baseline knowledge of each of the topics. But after that (which probably shouldn't take more than 1-2 weeks of lectures), I think you get more precise studying done out of doing actual practice problems + critical review.

So what should my daily tasks be after I get off work. Also, I am signed up for adaptibar.

[justanotheruser]

So what should my daily tasks be after I get off work. Also, I am signed up for adaptibar.

I was fortunate in that I was able to study full-time for the bar. So, I can't speak to scheduling while working at least part time. Given your time constraints, I'd lean more heavily on doing actual problems. Treat the lectures/outlines from Barbri as a baseline or jumping off point, not something you should feel compelled to memorize.

Just speaking on MBEs, I found that even though I had no idea what the hell I was doing for the first few weeks, you start learning the law and patterns of questions naturally. My daily approach was 30 MBEs first thing in the morning. After I finished, I would read the answer explanations for questions I got wrong and questions I was unsure about (or guessed). Then I would compile answer explanations on a google doc. I would then go through the google doc and either edit the rules/law in my own words or delete them when I felt I had committed them to memory. Doing this every day, I started averaging around 70% in about a month or so.

Adaptibar's answer explanations are sometimes iffy. If you haven't already, I'd consider investing in the Emanuel S&T book for MBE. Not only did S&T have great answer explanations, but it really helped me to approach the MBE from a strategic point of view. In my own studies, I went through S&T first, and then when I ran out of questions I moved onto Adaptibar.

Good luck!

[L_William_W]

I passed NY on my 3rd attempt. I didn't finish on my first attempt (February 2014) due to a medical emergency. On my second attempt (July 2014), my MBE was a pathetic 118.6. I took NJ in February 2015 (123.2, fail) and July 2015 (130.2, pass). On my 3rd NY attempt (July 2017), my MBE was a 149.3

The MBE isn't about knowing the material. It's about knowing what the question is asking for. The MBE can be gamed. Although the questions are hard, they're predictable. Strategies and Tactics Finz and Kaplan MBE are roughly the same type of questions as the actual bar.

What didn't work for me:

Barbri
Adaptibar

What worked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Con ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Tor ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Evi ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Cri ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Pro ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Con ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tacti ... op?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Practice- ... 2656022011

I'd use Barbri for the essays, but not the MBE. Avoid Adaptibar at all costs. The Emanuel books will teach you the strategies needed to tackle the MBE.

[justanotheruser]

Based on your recent post history, I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Adaptibar. For me (and many others), it was a very useful study aid.

But I think you're being disingenuous when you're telling people to avoid Adaptibar at all costs. Is it expensive? Yes. Does it have holes? Yes -- answer explanations can be weak. But in a crowded field of study materials for the MBE, it uses real questions, the interface/UI is especially helpful and convenient, and is a very convenient study aid.

That said, I would highly echo your sentiment about Emanuel S&T. Pairing S&T and then doing Adaptibar after was perfect preparation for the MBE in my experience.

I passed NY on my 3rd attempt. I didn't finish on my first attempt (February 2014) due to a medical emergency. On my second attempt (July 2014), my MBE was a pathetic 118.6. I took NJ in February 2015 (123.2, fail) and July 2015 (130.2, pass). On my 3rd NY attempt (July 2017), my MBE was a 149.3

The MBE isn't about knowing the material. It's about knowing what the question is asking for. The MBE can be gamed. Although the questions are hard, they're predictable. Strategies and Tactics Finz and Kaplan MBE are roughly the same type of questions as the actual bar.

What didn't work for me:

Barbri
Adaptibar

What worked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Con ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Tor ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Evi ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Cri ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Pro ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/MBE-Bootcamp-Con ... e+bootcamp

https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tacti ... op?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Practice- ... 2656022011

I'd use Barbri for the essays, but not the MBE. Avoid Adaptibar at all costs. The Emanuel books will teach you the strategies needed to tackle the MBE.

[studying4bar]

And just start memorizing. I feel I am not retaining the info well enough for the MBE questions. The directed study i just am going through the motions. I feel like I need to buckle down and get a handle on this, time is ticking. Just scored very poorly on MBE practice exam, mostly because I just don;t know the law well enough.

Yes. Themis moves at a very fast past. Just memorize and review the outlines for the MBE classes and do practice questions daily. I studied the outlines for two courses every day. Like Torts/Criminal on Monday then do questions. Then CivPro and Evidence. Then do more questions. By the third day you would have looked at all the outlines...

But...wait, what about the lectures/assessments/aq2s? did you just cut them out? can they be cut out without ending below 75%?