godiva

Thank you in advance for all your input--this is a great site! I only wish it existed before my law school days. My Q is as above. So, I know I've been out of the law and study rhythm (I was working in entertainment--just now getting back into law) for a while. The thing is, those Barbri lectures take up lots of time. Should I sit through them again or should I just get the materials and start studying at home? I'm working full-time this time around and I'm concerned that attending classes will waste lots of study time...then again, I'm worried that I may not study the correct things by myself at home. I'm prob going to sign up for Essay Advantage and Advanced Performance Seminars for in-depth help w/ essay and pt, respectively. Help! Thanks!

theory5

Home Study can be Effective

Hi!
First ...I have no idea about the California bar. However, I can give a bit of feedback on the bar study course I used. I took a home study course (Celebration) and it had a personal study guide that told me what to study every single day. Every day there was a 3-hour assignment (like hear a lecture on i-pod, read section of study book, or answer questions and essays). I found this course very helpful as I love to study independently.

I took the Florida bar this past July and was able to pass on my first try. So I guess I would recommend the course. In the end...I just think studying a lot is what matters most. Anyway Celebration does offer a California study course (I don't know how that one is...but I'm guessing it's the same) and if you'd like to check them out they have a website (just google Celebration bar review course and it should pop up).

I wish you the best of luck! Trust me...I can understand your frustration. And in the end...I really think the bar exam does NOT at all test the skills of a good attorney. So don't let this little thing make you feel badly!!!

-L.C.

samata

I would take a full Bar Review Course

If I were you, I would still take the bar review course for essay (like what you are doing) and just practice MBE on my own. The reason is that nothing major changed in MBE, but new CA law is now being tested in Evidence, Civ Pro and Business Association. In addition, I may hire a tutor to grade my essay and PT and give me personal feed back.

I will also buy a set of commercial bar outlines to refresh my memory (mini conviser from barbri is just not mini enough) I am talking about those bar-oulintes that are 10-20 pages long max. you can find them in ebay or in google

finally, I will practice MBE ... a lot , and review the questions I have missed even more

I wanted to add that I would not take PMBR again becuase it just helps you practice. If you think you can practice on your own, then you should just do it on your own because you have been out of it for so long. May I ask what kind of entertainment work do you do? so interesting!

Good Luck~

tast604

Whatever you do, do not just re-attend Barbri

If it didn't work for you the first time, it won't the second time unless something major has changed!! Like were you super sick? Were you working like a dog? If nothing like that is changing in your life, then study on your own! find your strength and weakness by practicing more questions, then get a tutor to help you with the subjects you just can't get. A tutor is like less than a $100 an hour, if you use them right, it will be cheaper than barbri.. oh wait, actually how much is it to re-attend barbri? If barbri is completely free, then re-attend, but don't just reattend, still hire a tutor to go over your practices like once a week or something.

good luck to you.

steffcox

If I were you with that much of a hiatus, I would look into Emerson, Writing Edge or LECC which offer either online courses with essay feedback or tapes you can review at home. But if you need that interaction, go to the courses live. Also Fleming's I heard is good too. Depends on where you as to what is available.

godiva

Thanx so much all for chiming in...your answers gave me some guidance. I think what I'm going to do is take BarBri's Essay Advantage course since I'm familiar w/ the BarBri books and I think I'll get some kind of discount. I've heard it's quite good, w/ or w/o Tina Post. I'm also taking Holtz's PT Seminar, so that should help as well. As far as the MBE's, I don't think I need any help other than lots and lots of practice. I have PMBR Q's and BarBri MBE Q's so I'm in good shape there. I also have outlines from past bar passers so I'm covered there too. I'm feeling pretty good about it...and even tho- I'll be working full time (last time I was not working) I am quite optimistic that I will pass!

To Samata: I worked in television development. It was interesting to be in the H-wood scene for a while, but ultimately, I found it lacking.

cabartutor

Especially considering you have already taken BarBri, I would not reccommend sitting in lectures all over again. Were your essays the reason you didn't pass? If your MBE was high, then it is likely that you know the substantive law, you just don't know how to approach and attack the essays. Can you pin-point your areas of weakness in terms of subjects? Did you do poorly on all the essays or just certain subject areas?

You may want to consider re-vamping your study plan. Did you complete many MBE's in your past prep. experience?

If your weakness is essays-- use BarBreakers, if your weakness is MBE's take PMBR or at least get the Red PMBR book (you can usually find used ones, get a "CLEAN" copy!) and work it like no other!

If you are still feeling like you haven't found what will work, you may want to consider a tutor to review your study plan and help you parse out why you didn't pass, so you can take a new approach and be prepared and confident come February.

p.s. don't take the CA bar in Ontario-- there is a train nearby that no one tells you about and it is disruptive!

__________________
CABarTutor
~recent grad ('06), admittee MA/CA, and Tutor in the Los Angeles area.

cglaw

I agree with this. Even though it’s been 5 years, only some things have changed. I would look into some private tutoring and get someone to review your essays and give you strategy tips for MBE. Also go to the National Conference of Bar Examiners website to the following links.

A lot of people don’t realize this, but there are specific areas within each subject of law you should spend the bulk of your time on for each subject (i.e. 60% of Torts MBE questions will be negligence based questions, so spending most of your time practicing negligence questions is truly the key)!

http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-test...bjects/conlaw/

http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-test...cts/contracts/

http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-test...jects/crimlaw/

http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-test...ects/evidence/

http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-test...real-property/

http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-test...ubjects/torts/

mgill

I agree with CaBarTutor, especially the part about getting an individual tutor. They can work with you to set up a schedule, and keep you on track, while not taking as much time as BarBri would. In addition, they can advise as to new topics/laws that CA may be testing.

What CaBarTutor didn't tell you is that she's an excellent tutor!