Hello everyone, please help!!

I graduated from law school in 2007 and signed up for Barbri but due to a family matter I could not prepare and had not taken the bar. I kept all my books and outlines that friends gave me. Now, when I had things clear up and was ready to restart my life in 2008, Barbri talked me into doing the review course again so despite that I had my materials from 2007 I signed up for their general course again in 2008. I was ready to take on the bar but had to yet again defer the date. Now I basicly have 2007 and 2008 Barbri material as well as 2007 PMBR material. I have read through some outlines but not all. I talked to people at PMBR because I noticed that there was a discussion on this board that the MBE format has dramatically changed. They suggested that I would need new material if I were to successfully pass the Feb bar. What do you all think? If so are there any other companies that you would recommend I look into for I cheaper option?

I am also debating on my study plan. I have the Barbri Plan on hand now. However looking through it I am afraid it seems as though there are not that many practice questions assigned. Should I devise my own plan or follow theirs? If I make my own plan what are your suggestions? Should I hit the practice questions from day 1 and study from the answers? Should I summarize the notes as recommended in the Barbri plan or read and repeat as many times as possible? Should I do multiple subjects in a day or just one at a time and finish one subject before moving on to another? Any other suggestions will be appreciated deeply! Thank you for your time.

Your books should be fine. Use BarBri Conviser outlines for MBE, as well as state portion of the exam. Use PMBR questions for MBE Practice. If you are taking New York, or any state which posts model answers, review as many as possible to understand the way that the graders want to see the answers written, as well as to see which issues are most often tested.

--Sean
www.mbetutorial.blogspot.com

If you can knock out the old style PMBR questions, you'll do great with the new format. It's just less complicated with none of those choices being "I and III, but not II and IV" type questions, or questions where one scenario has multiple questions assigned to it.

I initially took PMBR in July'08 and have done well on the MBE twice and passed in July'09. My scaled scores were 147 and 156, mostly to the credit of PMBR for HOW to think and choose between the various choices.

Most complain that PMBR was too frustrating and overly complicated. But I say it's better to be able to face the complicated questions and be pleasantly surprised on exam day than the other way around!

I've also done MicroMash and Adaptibar. Don't even bother taking MM's writing portion, but their computerized MBE stuff was good. It comes free with BarBri or Barpassers since all three are owned by West. I was a student campus rep for Barpassers so I know that program the best.

Adaptibar was WAY TOO EASY, but you might pass on the hopes that the bar exam will be as easy in February as it was this last July. The MBE's were far easier for me this time than the prior two times.

My MBE technique was to create a BLL rule of law for every scenario that I didn't already know cold. If I guessed at the answer, even correctly, or got the answer wrong during my practice questions, I logged my own BLL rule creation in the relevant subject matter log.

That gave me about 15 pages of rule statements that I then studied the last few days before the exam and even over lunch hour on exam day. It got me the result I wanted... passing the CA bar exam!

Good luck to you. Don't be afraid of PMBR's questions and books, if you're serious about passing and are willing to work hard, even harder than you might need to, in order to pass. However, get your hands on that video from the 3 day course! It's invaluable advice on how to choose one type of answer over another (law over facts, etc.)

Jeff

Get the Adachi books - they're really good. I used them to take and pass the July CBX, and they helped me in a way that BarBri didn't. It'll help you organize your practice exams.

Go on eBay, Craigslist, etc. Maybe someone on this site is also selling the books on the Buy-Sell section.

Good luck, dude!

I am using older materials myself (Bar Bri 2007) and have been reassured by several friends who passed with older materials that it should be fine. Of course you have to do some homework to see what may have changed, particularly for the NY subjects. NY Professional Responsibility was reformed in April 2009 for instance. If you come across other changes, please feel free to share here. I also have a set of 2009 NY outlines, but if you compare them to 2005 outlines, Seperac for instance, not that much has changed, and I find his are better laid out anyways so I find myself returning to those.

Posted By Vienna on 22 Nov 2009 07:13 AM
I am using older materials myself (Bar Bri 2007) and have been reassured by several friends who passed with older materials that it should be fine. Of course you have to do some homework to see what may have changed, particularly for the NY subjects. NY Professional Responsibility was reformed in April 2009 for instance. If you come across other changes, please feel free to share here. I also have a set of 2009 NY outlines, but if you compare them to 2005 outlines, Seperac for instance, not that much has changed, and I find his are better laid out anyways so I find myself returning to those.

I heard that NY crim pro has changed from 08's materials.

but i'm not sure just was told that by a book seller.

Hello

Thank you for the info!
Would you be able to confirm on that?

Don't worry about whether you have 'the perfect study plan' or not- repetition and putting in the time is what matters, what exactly you're doing during that time is of secondary importance. Basically you have to first learn the material, and second, see it in examples, and finally, work on writing style by writing it out yourself and comparing with the model answer.

I doubt anyone here would refute this.

Posted By yespass on 22 Nov 2009 09:33 AM
Hello

Thank you for the info!
Would you be able to confirm on that?

I did not buy the books from the seller b/c he was selling a whole set which I did not need but when I asked him if he knew of any changes he said that he only knows of that in NY crim pro.

I have not yet and will not start studying until after 12/25. but I just wanted to pass to you what I had heard.

IF you know of any other changes please post it here! thanks

The MicroMash materials are not the same as BarBri.  They are maintained and edited by different editorial staffs.  In fact, I spoke with a former student of ours last week who commented on the numerous differences she perceived between the two. 

The interface can be perceived as quite similar, though again not the same between MicroMash and BarBri, as the MicroMash software adapts to your learning strengths and weaknesses, feeding you more questions where you need to the most assistance.

Sorry for jumping in, but I wanted to ensure the facts in this thread pertaining to MicroMash are fully accurate.

Regards,

Sean McGinnis
Managing Director
MicroMash Bar Review