Studying for NY bar?

June 5, 2008 6:51 PM

Anyone taken BarBri to prepare for the New York Bar exam? How much preparation per day do you recommend after class? Is it really bad to be behind on the homework for class, how important is it to be completely caught up? Thank you so much!!
posted by tessalations999 to education (5 comments total)

I have never taken barbri for the New York bar, but I have taken barbri for the Massachusetts bar and, several years later, the Florida bar. I studied all the time- at least 5 hours beyond class. I cannot say that I was completely prepared for each class, but it's not worth the anxiety of knowing that you are not following the barbri formula: review the subject to prepare for the laser-guide presentation of the subject. Study with everything you have. You don't want to take the same state bar twice. I didn't have to, and I can thank barbri and studying my ass off for that. Good luck!
posted by Jezebella at 7:26 PM on June 5

No, but I know someone who has. I'll see if I can get him to come give you an answer. :)
posted by Meep! Eek! at 7:35 PM on June 5

I took BarBri in Nevada. I probably studied 3 hours a day outside class. I did not do everything on the homework sheet, but I did a good portion of it. Don't freak out if you miss a practice essay or two. But do try to keep up and read the outlines for the material that will be covered the next day.

Slow and steady wins the race.
posted by falconred at 8:41 PM on June 5

I'm a Bar/Bri New York graduate. Despite the company's monopolistic tendencies, to the degree that one needs a bar prep course to pass the bar exam, I think they did well by me. Everything depends on the kind of learner you are. You might wish to look at how you crammed for law school exams for a sense of this. I can only tell you what I did and didn't do.

What I did:

1) Without fail, I attended every single LIVE course -- I did not opt for the video courses, but hauled ass to Town Hall every miserable day of the summer so I could be there for a live presenter. I'm horrible with video classes, and I knew this about myself, so I made it a point to attend a live lecture. I also know that I'm likely to skip video presentations because I don't like them.

2) I paid attention during class, took notes, and didn't spend the time socializing, sleeping, or otherwise goofing off. I made notes of the areas the instructors suggested were likely to appear on my year's exam and made sure I understood what those areas were.

3) I reviewed my notes after each class, and devoted approximately three to four hours a day to prep.

4) I learned to write essays the way Bar/Bri told us the NYSBE wanted us to. This was the most important thing I did.

5) I did take their advice about not studying the night before the bar, and instead socialized and had a light dinner

What I didn't do:

1) I never got through all the work assigned to us.

2) I never studied as long as they suggested that we should.

I don't know if this answers your question. Again, I emphasize that this course and preparing for the exam is very much about how you learn. Regardless of how you learn, though, you should attend all your classes and pay attention during them. You should review your notes each day, and you should take advantage of the two mock bar exams they provide for you. Most of all, learn how to write an essay -- it's different than what you learned in law school. I wish you the very best.
posted by lassie at 10:02 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]

I took NY BarBri last summer (and passed the bar, yay!)

I don't know anyone who did all the BarBri recommended assignments, number of hours of studying, etc. I do agree with lassie above that by this point you should know what kind of student you are and work towards your strengths.

I didn't do the assigned pre-reading for the first day (or the homework the first day - whatever the first assignment was, I didn't do it). And I was a bit nervous about that. But it was fine. I tried to make most of the classes - I did the video session at NYU so if I didn't make the morning session (which I was signed up for) I could make the afternoon. I missed a total of just 3 or 4 of the sessions during the summer. I tried to pay attention in class so I didn't bring my laptop most days and I had varying degrees of success with that.

I'd try to review a few times a week and I did at least two of the practice BarBri graded essays. I didn't bother caring about the MPT or the NY Multiple Choice questions and I'd say that neither should you or anyone else. The MPT is crazy easy - to the point that everyone I talked to walked out of that afternoon thinking they must've missed the trick because it was too easy. But they didn't, it was just really straightforward. The NY Multiple Choice is a joke because some of the answers you'll know from studying for the NY Essays but the rest seem to be the tiniest points of NY law that you can't anticipate unless you memorize the entire NY CPLR (don't try this!)

I studied until the Friday before the bar, then I went to a friend's wedding that night and had a fantastic weekend (and read the 7th Harry Potter book, that came out the Saturday before the bar). I relaxed at the end because I felt fairly well prepared (though no one feels totally prepared).

Also, if you don't have a set of already completed fill-ins, just in case you miss class, MeFiMail me. I have a typed up set a friend gave from two years ago but pretty much all BarBri changes each year is the names in the hypotheticals..
posted by Caz721 at 6:26 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]