Bar Exam Study Recap: What worked + What did not, part 1: Materials

     It is evening in these parts.  I feel sort of relaxed. I never really pictured the day I would get to write this particular post.  I've seen this type of post on similarly themed blogs and websites.  I think it is a good idea.  I'll try to be specific.  But remember, you have to have the testicular fortitude and common sense to find and apply what is useful for you while disregarding what won't work for you.

What worked for me?

• A quick summation:

     First, I read the Bar/bri Conviser outline one subject at a time (two on occasion if they were short enough), and I reread any particularly troublesome section.  Secondly, (and I think most importantly) i did numerous MBE questions (only about 1100 though) and essays, therafter, immediately reviewing the answers; after doing each question, I looked up the answer. If I missed the essay or multiple choice question, I wrote out the explanation (but, were I to do it over I would save time and just write out the rule). 

     Finally, I took about 3 weeks to memorize long, hard complicated, rule statements for the MBE and essays.  I was fortunate enough to recieve outlines from friends specifically structued for memorizing essay rules (but if you don't have this, read and write out the rules in the model answers and do what you must to memorize them verbatim).  Also, I found, what I assume to be the best MBE outlines I've ever read at this link.

• Materials

•      Bar/Bri MBE Outlines & Questions, State Outlines & Questions.

     As far as materials go, I used Bar/bri outlines books for State and MBE portions as well as the questions as my main substantive sources.  The main reason I used them was because I signed up for Bar/bri blindly as an incoming 1L.  Had I known what I know now, I would have bought the books and skipped the classes.  I will explain why later.

    Basically, the Bar/bri materials include 2 primer books for the MBE (which are optional); two, long detailed outlines, one for state subjects and the other for MBE subjects; a condensed outline book called, the conviser outline, for State and MBE subjects; two books with Essay questions/answers, state multiple choice questions/answers; 2 books with Multiple Choice MBE questions/answers; Finally, Bar/bri lectures usually come with a lecture packet (though not always).  Keep in mind, Bar/bri materials differ in format from state to state depending on the exam format.  Also, I didn't use all of these materials.

   Specifically, I was used the conviser outline, all of the State Essay questions and answers books, state subject multiple choice questions and answers, I used the lecture packets (specifically for State specific distinctions), as well as MBE questions and answers.  I did away with the primer books and the long outlines.  The primer books were not necessary and the long outlines are a prime example of information overload.

     However, here is the Caveat:  Bar/bri lectures, in my experience, were a fantastically inefficient use of my time; but the materials are fantastic for pointing out frequently tested State-M.B.E. distinctions.  These are super important.  If you choose to buy the outlines on the internet, see if you can purchase the lecture packets as well.  Alternatively, seek a friend who has taken the course and see if they can e-mail or share the distinctions with you. 

     In the past, I would read the materials and pay particular attention.  I focused hard and read for many hours.  DON'T DO THIS unless, you are Rain man or Kim Peek. In the case you are either one of these people or similarly situated, you should be in Vegas or Atlantic City.

     This time, I read the sections to see if I understood the gist. If I didn't, I reread sections that were difficult once more.  Immediately after, I did problems.  This was the extend of my use of the Conviser.  I would refer to it very briefly only on occasions where I read an answer explanation which did not seem clear.

    In my experience, solely reading outlines was passive learning.  PASSIVE IS A DIRTY WORD!!! It has a minimal value. I learned the rules much better by doing the problems with immediate review.  This helped me to put the rules in context.  This method of doing the problems and writing the rules was more active forcing my mind to wrestle with the rule, its applications, exceptions, nuances, etc. . .

    This was not the first time I did this many problems. I did way more the first time I took this exam.  But, I never absorbed the reasoning behind the answer.  You cannot forget something you never learned.  Although, in my previous attempt I did look at the explanations, it was all too brief.  Thus, I did not have the connaisance necessary to apply what I read.

• PMBR: Red book and Green book of MBE Questions and explanations

     I used these the same way I used the Bar/Bri questions.  In fact, since PMBR has a reputation for making better questions, I made sure to do most of the questions from there materials.  I'd say about 900-100 of my 1100 + questions came from PMBR sources.

• MBE Outlines: (Please refer to the link I pasted above)

    These outlines might just be the Bar exam student's equivalent to Manna from the Heavens.  I owe the author a drink if he ever comes to Florida.  Anyhow, I would use these outlines to review after doing questions especially where I was weak in a subject.  Also, towards the end, I used these to memrize for the MBE.  They are fairly short, clearly worded, and make for a great supplement or even an MBE foundation.  In my opinion, this guy had exactly what was necessary, discarded what was not, and tailored the outlines for MBE topics in order of importance.

• Miscellaneous

     Here is some other stuff I used though sparingly: "Black's Law dictionary"; PMBR Lectures; hand made flash cards (but the value for me in these was in writing them); and flashcardexchange.com.

     I discovered it later (way too late in fact).  But, I found pre-made state specific flashcards, MBE flashcards, Bar Exam Mnemonic flashcards; if you have an account you can save others' flashcards, you can edit flashcards, or you can make your own.  You can access these flashcards at any time if you have internet access.  I also created a Google document (on Google documents) to write my rule statements.  I waivered back and forth between it and writing pads ultimately typing when I was running out of time.

     That is it.  I'll break this up and comment about what worked and what didn't work in my next post.