California Bar exam nostalgia

Write, I tell myself. Write something. Write anything. No one reads this blog anyhow.

     The California Bar ended today. It's been two years since I took the bar, and I'm starting to feel nostalgic? My friend's boyfriend is taking it this year, so it seems more real to me than it did last year. Last year was too soon for me to feel any nostalgia about the bar. It was just this terrible thing that happened to me once. The memories have dulled, and now it doesn't seem that bad? (I am seriously questioning my own memories. Did I imagine how terrible it was?)

      By far the worst part about the bar was the possibility of failing. During bar prep classes, urban legends began to surface. Everyone knows someone who went to Harvard/Yale/Stanford who failed. The word failed is delivered in the most ominous way possible by the storyteller while the rapt listener chugged some more Red Bull, grabbed a highlighter, and furiously attacked the Conviser guide. What about that guy who suffered a minor concussion and still passed? The legends span both sides of the extremes.

     What made studying so difficult was the fact that no one knew how much was enough. You're never done studying. It's impossible to master all 16 or so topics, so you try to learn maybe 70% of each topic, or maybe master 11 and hope that the 5 that you don't know don't come up. I think I tried to master all the topics in three months. That was prob not the best strategy for my health, but it made me feel better going into the exam.

     I miss the comraderie of having a ton of friends going through the same hell. I miss making up stupid acronyms and teaching them to each other. I miss spending way too much time in coffee shops, not really getting much work done, then coming home and actually doing work. That summer just flew by, just like this one. The end of summer always feels a little sad to me, because it seems like we steamroll right into the new year, and all these changes start to unfurl.

    I guess all this nostalgia isn't really for the bar exam itself, but for that part of my life that ended with the bar exam.  

California Bar Exam

Some of my FB friends have disappeared; many have posted in much greater frequency. (I was the latter type when I studied for the bar.)

I am a California Bar Exam survivor, and these are my words of advice.

MBE
I found the BarBri MBE questions "harder" than the actual MBEs. I put harder in quotes, because the BarBri questions didn't do a very good job of mimicking answer choices you would find on the MBE. When I did BarBri MBE "difficult" level questions, there was always a deceptively true answer and the correct answer would be worded in the most convoluted way possible, making you wonder how that was even an answer choice. The bar questions had actual distinctions between the answers, so if you know the law, you don't have to take the extra step of deciphering the test drafter's wording before getting to the right answer.

Take the BarBri MBE with a grain of salt. I would suggest doing the online version in review mode, or whichever mode that allows you to see the answer right away. Learn the rules that way.

Essays
Do them. Do them all if you can. At the very least, read them and read the correct answer. One of the essays on the July 2011 exam mimicked almost exactly one of the previous essays, so I didn't even have to issue spot. I just spat out all the issues, their rules and the application and finished the essay 30 minutes early.

On the actual exam, issue spot on the exam booklet and write your essay outline in the exam software. It saves a little bit of time. This is an old habit from law school. Always write an outline first so you don't miss any issues.

Performance Exams
These are tedious, but should be done. I did two full ones and outlined others. It's a good idea to get BarBri feedback on these. I spent a lot of time memorizing and not a lot of time working on these, but they are a huge part of the bar exam.

The BarBri Schedule
Not necessary to keep up with the whole thing. I don't think I know a single person who did all 100% of it. I also don't know anyone who read all of the big outline. The Convisor outline is all you'll need. Also, when an "easy" topic for you comes up, just spend that time on a topic you don't know as well. There's no need to study exactly the topic they tell you to study. It's a good way to make sure you give all topics equal time, but I think it's prob a good idea to do a little swap when you need more work in a certain topic. I think I ended up doing most of Con Law (because I was weak in that) and maybe 50% of Evidence (one of my stronger topics). There's room for customization!

Do I need to take all the bar classes?

If it's not a requirement for your school, bar classes are not necessary in order to pass the CA Bar. Your test prep company will cover all the basics.

I didn't take community property or First Amendment. My friend didn't take crim pro. We both passed on the first try. 

The only bar class we all agree that you should take is evidence. The rules are complicated, and you have to learn the California distinctions on top of the FRE. I saved a lot of time studying, because I knew most of the evidence rules prior to starting test prep.