Doin the Mash, the MicroMash...in my Pj's

To add to my list of things I like/dislike about MicroMash, I have mixed emotions about the hard-copy study guides they present. Well, mostly the main volume since I haven’t looked too much at their condensed outlines version yet. The main volume relating to the MBE subjects is not done like the PMBR outlines - the material is offered in paragraph form. In some ways this is very helpful. It gets me thinking about the rules in paragraph form and sort of puts everything together for you. The downside is that there are some things that I would prefer to see in a more traditional outline form, like the types of contracts that fall within the statute of frauds. Instead of just listing them out either in paragraph or bullet form, the book slightly indents each type of contract, then has sub-paragraphs under that main one, etc. So, you can’t just glance at it and see a list ready-made, you have to flip through 5 pages to get it all figured out. Maybe they address this better in the condensed info version, but I’ll have to check.

What I’m noticing about some of these MBE q’s is that you really have to try to get into the author’s brain - Did author X really think that 7yr old Boy had the requisite intent to commit assault/battery against the umpire when Boy’s dad yelled “Kill the Ump” after a bad call, and Boy swung the bat at ump? The author is sure he did, although I wondered… And sometimes the fact patterns are just so jacked up you don’t know what answer is right, and then the explanations tell you that “A was obvious” because it’s common sense that blah blah blah blah blah. I’m thinking, wait! I’m being tested on the law, not what’s ‘common sense’!!!! It just really seems like alot of the questions are subjective, which is why you can’t ever get too hung up on the facts and it becomes more a game of eliminating the wrong answers. Half the time I mentally answer the question in my head, repeating the applicable rule, and that rule is not even one of the choices given.

I’ve spent the last two days studying contracts and was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t totally bomb the MBE’s I did. 32/51 isn’t bad for someone who originally got a C in her first-year contracts class. (**My favorite quote from an interview: “So, an A in torts, huh? But not so great in contracts I see…. Well, dammit - obviously you were born to be a litigator!”)
Tonight I’ll finish reading the contracts outline and write-up a practice essay, then on to Con Law tomorrow.

I must reiterate how GLAD I am that I listened to my gut and didn’t do Bar/Bri. It’s so nice to have such flexibility in my day and to not have to get out of my PJ’s if I don’t want to. I also love that I don’t DREAD getting up to go study (at least not yet - on day 3 of my f/t studying!) All of the people I know who are taking Bar/Bri really seem to dread going to the lectures, and are fairly miserable while they’re there. I still have to read the same outlines and review the same information, but I can do it from the comfort of my home and not sit and listen to the book being read to me. I don’t think that everyone else is foolish for jumping on-board the Bar/Bri train - we all have to do what works best for us - but i’m really really really glad that, so far, this is working for me! Another benefit is that I’m not around people who are stressing out about the test or how much their MBE scores are improving, etc. Even talking to my roommate the other day made my stomach queasy as she was lamenting how she was going to have to memorize the 26 subjects PA tests on their essay portion. For a brief moment, I thought - “Wow. I’m going to have to completely avoid every single one of my law school friends because I can’t handle these conversations!!” it’s still a thought, but I hope that we’ll all be able to agree to discuss something other than our Bar studies, even if it’s only the on-going saga of Britney Spears or the latest sale at Macy’s.