Thread: at home study materials for NC bar - advice?

I just moved here from Ohio, where I took and passed the bar exam in 2002. I have to take the bar here now, and I'm scheduled to do so in July. I'm wondering what the commonly used at-home study courses are here. I've looked into The Study Group, but that's about it. I've also heard of Micromash, and I do intend to take a 3-day PMBR course right before the exam in addition to any other home study materials I use, because that course was the only reason I actually passed the Ohio bar (no thanks to the now-defunct "Rossen" bar review).

Any advice would be really helpful!

Gail

Category: NC - North Carolina Bar Exam

Sad to tell you geclaw, the most common review course NC students use is still Barbri (Micromash is still owned by Barbri)

If you have already passed the Ohio one, tho, most likely you know what's going on and may be able to pass simply by focusing on the MBE portion (like you already are) and get used Barbri materials/outlines and practice the essay portion on your own.

Barbri is not bad for home study, but it is quite expensive and may be unnecessary for someone who has already passed one bar like you:)

Thank you for the advice. I'll think about going the used materials route, but I've been through a lot this past year by leaving my job in Ohio and moving to NC, and I've spent a ton of money just for the privilege of sitting for the bar exam here ($1300!!). I feel like I need a little hand-holding & coaching, and it looks like Study Group offers quite a lot of that, even though it's pricey. I'd hate to shoot myself in the foot at this point to save a few hundred dollars. I'm also not sure, in light of the lawsuits from last year, that the PMBR course offered now is going to be like the one I took 5 years ago. I may go with Adaptibar or something like that to supplement whatever home study course I take (the MBE is a huge weakness for me).

Thanks again!

geclaw, how did it go?

Did TheStudyGroup work out for you? Any suggestions for others considering home study?

Well, I passed!

I found The Study Group materials to be excellent. As a matter of fact, with the exception of a few hornbooks on property (future interests - still a mystery to me) and a few Sparkcharts for the MBE topics, I used The Study Group almost exclusively. I had some moments of panic where I almost purchased the entire set of "Bar in a Flash" flashcards by Emanuel, which would have set me back lots of $$$. But I decided that I'd make my own flashcards, and that was really the best decision I could have made. You probably learn more in the process of making the flashcards than you do actually studying them.

Also, the Study Group attorney gave me some great advice. She said to use the notes I made listening to the lectures - to literally print them out, and cut/paste them onto flashcards. I did something like that. I bought 3x5 index card holders, and made a template in MS Word for 3x5 cards (3 per page). I made topical flashcards from my notes, copied/pasted them onto my template, then printed them out. While I took practice MBE questions, if I came across a question I got wrong, I made a new flashcard for that topic (even if it duplicated another card - if for no other reason than to commit the issue/rule to memory).

Btw, I also bought a book called "Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays" by Gallagher, which was a waste of money. I don't recommend it for NC bar exam takers, and here's why: the NC essays are WAY easier than the ones in the book. You'll make yourself utterly insane with her various "strategies" when it's not really necessary. I remember at one point being frustrated with The Study Group's simplistic answers to the essays, until I took the exam. Then I realized, the answers were simple one or two issue answers that took maybe a paragraph or two to answer... because that's exactly what the real exam is like. In light of that, I'm glad I didn't opt for the extra "Essay Trainer" that the Study Group offers. It's way expensive. Of course, if legal writing is not your forte, you might opt for it. The essay portion of the exam is 60% of your total grade after all.

So, here's my advice, if you opt for The Study Group:
1) start early - there's a lot of material to go through
2) do EVERY SINGLE practice MBE exam, and EVERY SINGLE practice essay!
3) do what they tell you, when they tell you (ie: follow the syllabus).

Anyway, those are my impressions. Let me know if you want some feedback on what it's like to take the exam at the NC fairgrounds, and on a laptop. It's a real treat. ;-)

Good luck!
-g

geclaw-I am taking the NC bar in Feb and was wondering if you could tell me what the exam is like for NC. Like you I have already taken and passed another state's bar, but with the price of this bar being so expensive I would rather not risk failing this bar!! Any advice you can give me on the essays would be greatly appreciated--i.e. are they more fact specific or theory based? Were there any topics that were tested more frequently than others? Any topics not covered at all? Thanks for your help and happy new year!

I am taking the NC Bar in February 09. I have visited a couple law school libraries (closest one is 3 hours away) to copy additional NC bar essay questions than are available from the NC Law Examiners' website. However, because I wasn't a student at the schools, could not find any way to copy the questions except by using a very expensive page by page method using copying machines at the libraries. Because of the spacing and binding materials, it took forever just to copy a few pages of questions. The exam questions were on separate pieces of paper; sometimes there were answers that didn't match the questions that were ahead of them and I couldn't locate the questions they were answering.
Has anyone who is not currently a law student in NC faced this problem? If so, how did you solve it? Many thanks!

My 2 cents:

I took the WA State bar this past Feb. (results not in yet). I, too, did the self-study plan to save $$ and because I feel BarBri and other prep classes are way overpriced. However, in retrospect, I think practice tests and formal feedback, grading, etc. is invaluable.

I was very comfortable pacing myself in reviewing lectures ("borrowed" from others), outlines, black letter law, and memorizing main issues, etc. but without formal practice tests, feedback, etc. I felt at a disadvantage. I purchased old tests (WA is an all essay exam) and model answers and used them to help ID the kinds of subjects and format expected, but I could not accurately assess my progress without formal mock tests and feedback some review classes provide. I really can't say I felt super-confident on test day. I hope--and pray--I passed because, frankly, I can't afford to blow more $$ on more test fees, hotels, and airfare, esp. in this crappy economy.

So, if you can possibly afford it, bite the bullet, enroll in a formal prep class and do as many practice exams as possible. Best of luck to you!!