Bar Advice from July 06'er (Bar Exam Tips #3)

I found this post on Biting Tongue - a barblog of a July 06 Cal. Bar taker. I think it's helpful for getting my mind back into thinking about the Bar. For convenience sake, I've posted the entire thing here.

Bar: Advice & Recap

Be Honest With Yourself

I'm fairly certain that I would have failed the test had I not been extremely honest with myself back in July. My assigned essays weren't looking very much like the BarBri sample answers. My graded essays were coming back marked FAIL. Although I didn't know much about how I was doing, the little bit of feedback I was getting said I was going to fail unless I learned to make my essays look more like what they were expecting. I have always been the one who arrives at conclusions via a different path. This is often rewarded in life. But the bar exam grader who has 2 minutes to read my essay was not going to reward my unique thought processes. If I didn't do something differently, I was fairly certain I was going to fail. Unfortunately, BarBri does not offer any strategy on how to construct an answer that looks like everyone else's. They teach the same material, then give the same model essays as feedback, and a majority of their students fall into line. If that is you, great. Keep on the path. But, that may not be you. In fact, if you have a tendency toward intellectual curiosity, you may be in serious trouble with the bar. Intellectualy curiosity can lead you to discuss side issues that may demonstrate knowledge of the law, but not the knowledge the grader is looking for. BarBri will claim that people fail because they don't use the facts. Some people may do that. But people like me, we would fail because we use the facts too much.

Seek Other Resources

One of the main reasons, if not the number one reason this test is difficult is because of the mental warfare and mystery the CA bar and BarBri create and propogate. For example, no passing scores and tests are released. It would be very helpful for second time takers to be able to compare their failing essays against passing essays. It would be extremely helpful for those studying to compare failing essays against passing essays. But, no. It's a *mystery.* So accept that aspect of the stupid exam and recognize that you are going to have to do some work in a void, which will be very frustrating. If you, like me, even begin to suspect that barbri is not giving you enough feedback in the void, then my suggestion to you is to seek out other feedback in order to feel comfortable.Similarly, if your MBE scores aren't where you'd like them to be, seek out help and feedback.

Your mileage may vary, but I highly recommend the additional resources that I used to prepare for the essay portion of the bar exam:
Bar Breaker Volume 1 and 2: The last 2 weeks before the bar exam, I read the intro to each subject and outlined or wrote sample answers to every question in this book. I entertained his approach and adopted some of his methods. I found them very helpful. I completely bailed on the last half of the BarBri assigned essays. I found that many of them were assigned in these books, so overall, I probably did the majority of the BarBri assigned essays. In particular, I found these answers so ridiculously simplistic that I couldn't believe they would be passing answers. But, the sense of relief I felt after reading each question during the bar exam and knowing that I could write an answer that looked something like the ones I'd reviewed in these books was huge. I think that if you know you can write a simple answer that covers the basic law for every possible exam topic you will have the confidence and time to fill in the random other side issues that will get you extra points.
Bar Exam Survival Kit. I think if I had to prepare for the bar exam again and I was only allowed one resource, this would be the one I would choose. The last two weeks before the bar, I read and re-read the 6-8 page summaries for each topic and made certain that nothing they mentioned was missing from my issue outline/checklists. I made certain that I could recite the rules for each major area. I memorized stupid mnemonics to ensure that I could name every major sub-area for any topic. As a final step, I condensed all of my outlines into a 5 page 2-inch by 3-inch flip book of my mnemonics. This is all I used to study while at the bar exam. Every night, I'd review the mnemonics and comfort myself with the fact that I could recite every power held by every branch. I could sing a song of every single Tort and all of their elements. I could name all the constitutional limitations on powers. When I read that the call of one of the questions was the 1st Amendment, I typed the headings from my mnemonic before I read the fact pattern: state action, and then all of the various tests. I was appalled to read the question and find that they presented the issues to be addressed in the exact order of my mnemonic, which was straight from Jeff Adachi's Bar Exam Survival Kit. That question drove home the point to me. The California Bar exam is NOT a test of legal knowledge and skill. It's a test of keeping your cool, and learning enough law plus tactics to demonstrate that you can be just like everyone else who has figured out the game.

I also did every free seminar offered by Scott Pearce. I think if I had failed the bar exam, I'd hire Scott Pearce as my tutor for the second go-round. Often, while doing his seminars this summer I toyed with the idea of having him grade one of my essays for more feedback. I learned the trick of reading the call of the question and doing the big picture outline of the answer before reading the question from him. This proved to be a life-saver in helping me avoid legal side-tracking.

Know how you are going to take the test before you take it

Towards the end (last 5 days before the bar or so), I'd do 50 PMBR questions a day and outline any essay I could get my hands on to ensure that my approaches/mnemonics were available in my head and to make sure I wasn't missing any major issues. I outlined almost all of the past exams on the California Bar Website and the majority of the BarBri essays I'd put off by doing BarBreaker. This meant I'd seen and outlined many of the past questions twice before going into the exam. Turns out, the Bar repeats many of the topics it presents, so familiarity with the outline form for past exams was extremely helpful. On several questions during the exam, I read the call, wrote the basic outline as typed headings, read the facts and filled in my sub-outline with sub-headings and rules all with a sense of deja-vu because I'd done the exact same outline, headings, and sub-headings just a few days earlier.

Don't forget to do something to stay sane

Work out. Cook/Eat. Visualize getting passing results. Visualize the act of taking the entire test. Hang out with non-law friends. Whatever it is that you need to do to get those stress hormone levels to lower. Do it regularly throughout the entire process. I found that much like visualizing a sports performance, the few minutes each week (and every morning during the last two weeks) I spent visualizing taking the test and getting passing results gave me a sense of calm during the actual test itself.

First Peek at the Performance Test

I checked out the July 2006 Performance Test last night. California is one of a handful of states that includes “Performance Tests” as part of the Bar. (I think this is also why California is three days of testing instead of two.) In the PT, you are asked to write some sort of a legal document using a packet of materials they give you (your “library”). You might be asked to write a memo of points & authorities, a client letter, an objective memo, etc.

PT’s from past years are posted on the CA Bar website. So, I thought maybe I would print out the July ‘06 one and read through it, just to get an idea of what the PT’s were like. **98 PAGES** I knew that they provided you with a “packet” of material, but for some reason, my brain didn’t translate that into 98 PAGES. I feel like there has to be some sort of strategy to this. I’ve heard that the PT can be the easiest part of the Bar because everything you need to know is provided there in the packet. BUT - I’ve also heard that it can be difficult for people to finish on time (you get 3hrs). So, it could be a really great way to bump up your exam score, or you could get screwed. Once I saw the PT was 98 pages, I just skimmed through the instructions to see what the assignment was, and closed it out.

I know that once I actually start studying for the Bar, my mental state will *hopefully* progress to where looking at 98 pages doesn’t overwhelm me so much. I’ve heard that the MBE, too, is basically a 100 page book - 2 questions per page. Again, a little overwhelming to think about. When the PT opened in Adobe, my brain shriveled up and said “NO, I’m NOT reading that or thinking about it!” My brain actually shuddered. I’m hoping that this summer, it will reach out to the law with open arms… Embracing theories of liability and elements of crimes and all those property rules I can never remember. Maybe I can even convince it to have a sexy little summer fling with Chemerinsky (or at least his con law supplement). After all, law is HOT. Stimulating. VIRILE. Passionate. I am lusting for legal knowledge… Tonight, I just wish it came packaged in something other than a casebook.

#1 Reason Why I Love MicroMash

Since I’ve decided not to take Barbri, I’ve been looking into other bar review courses. It is so hard to judge them based on their websites, where they all sound wonderfully the same… and since Barbri has monopolized the market so much, it’s very difficult to find people with fairly normal situations (compared to someone who, say, is taking the bar for a 5th time and trying to study in Antarctica) who have taken a course other than Barbri. BUT - So far, I think MicroMash sounds ok. Some of their reps came to school today to give an informational pep talk about their product. A few tidbits I picked up about their online software and overall bar review method:
- There are approximately 2400 MBE questions offered; to go through all of them at least once takes an estimated 150hrs (read - 3.5hrs/day for 40days. Yes, this is going to be my life in two months.)
- MM provides a full-week study guide that starts on June 1
- You can download a free 50-question demo off their website
- If you complete a set of requirements, they will guarantee you a passing score OR you get all your $$ back or they keep upgrading your software/materials until you pass (but.. how difficult are the reqs??)
- Their software keeps track of the subjects you’re the weakest/strongest in and presents you with more/less questions in those areas
- The software has a timer that monitors how long it takes you to do each question, and how long it takes you to do a certain set of questions overall
- Answers/Explanations in the software are keyed to page#’s in the written materials for easy reference

BUT - the #1 Reason why I’m excited about MicroMash…………
I WON A FREE MBE REVIEW COURSE WORTH $895!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!