Just finished simulating a con law essay... I did one of the ones Sakai put in the in-class workshop but didn't get to. He also didn't include an answer, which I only realized after completing the simulation. So I went to look at the sample answers on the bar website. This was the second question on last summer's exam.
Let me preface this by saying- I don't do all that well on Con Law essays. I don't totally understand how to organize the individual rights very well. That said, the first sample answer was good and gave me a good idea on how I should organize. The second answer... well, it was almost as crappy as mine. And this was one of the best in California?
7.03.2007
Give me a gold star!
I just spent my lunch "break" creating insane progress charts to track how many essays, performance tests, and mbes I've done and will do before 7/24. I hung them on the dining room wall in view of where I study. All I need now are some gold stars and my kindergarten teacher.
Paranoia, Paranoia, the bar exam is coming to get me...
I couldn't sleep last night. I tossed and turned a lot. Bad dreams when I did sleep. Nothing I want to talk about though- then they might come true. So instead of continuing to toss and turn, I got up at regular time, even though there is no lecture today. Studying seems to be the only thing that calms me these days. Went to the fridge to get breakfast and those words on my calendar were laughing at me! "BAR EXAM" ha ha ha ha ha ha. Am I going crazy or are your calendars taunting you too?
7.02.2007
Operation Paced Program Plus Deployed
That's right folks. The Paced Program just isn't cutting it this week, so based on my self-diagnosis, I'm adding to it. I feel surprisingly less stressed, having done more today.
I spent about an hour and a half reviewing community property and finishing my flaschards since this was entirely new subject to me. (Thank goodness I remember my parents' divorce or else it would all be completely foreign!) Then I spent an hour or so memorizing the flaschards I had made. Then I outlined the first two Community Property essays. I think I'm going to like the CP essays- very straightforward as long as you know the rules. This completed the Paced Program for today.
So here's my plus program:
I spent about an hour and a half reviewing community property and finishing my flaschards since this was entirely new subject to me. (Thank goodness I remember my parents' divorce or else it would all be completely foreign!) Then I spent an hour or so memorizing the flaschards I had made. Then I outlined the first two Community Property essays. I think I'm going to like the CP essays- very straightforward as long as you know the rules. This completed the Paced Program for today.
So here's my plus program:
- Essays: Per Sakai's instructions and my own assessment of weak essays, I am writing out one additional essay each day. I started today with Torts. Why? Because that was the first subject we covered so let's start at the very beginning... a very good place to start... Anyways, I did the one from the graded assignments workbook because the feedback is a lot better on these. Tell me again why they include an essay in this book from every subject if they have no intention on having us turn them in? I was surprised at how much I remembered. That's a good sign. Let's hope it's true of the other subjects.
- Evidence: I did a set of 17 evidence MBEs from the PMBR book. I got 65% right, but always at least had it narrowed down to 2. I just have to figure out how to pick the right one of those two...
So far, so good. Now, I just have to keep up this pace for three more weeks. Three weeks from TOMORROW to be exact!!!
7.01.2007
Evidence may not be so evil after all..
Maybe I'm not as ignorant of evidence law as I thought... despite my poor showing on the Barbri simulated MBE (barely over 50%), I just got 82% right on the 56 questions in Emanuel's 'Strategies and Tactics' book. Even better, the intro to that book says these are released questions. Hmmm.... is Barbri just tricking us into thinking we're going to fail?
Cue motivational soundtrack
In the 30 minutes since my last post, I have been wandering around my apartment muttering... "three weeks.. holy shit.. there are only three weeks left." Then I cracked the books, and started learning evidence (until I decided to write this post). But you know what would really help? A motivational soundtrack. Because isn't this the part of the movie where some inspirational fast-paced song plays, there is no dialog, and we just see the main character working towards their goal.... Where's my music?!?!?
Treatment Plan
I have hit the wall again. I thought I got over it last week. I was super productive Friday, super-duper productive yesterday, and even as I sit here today at 6:12p.m. I am finished with the Paced Program assignments. But I can't help but feel guilty that I'm watching tv instead of studying. So, as reccomended by Sakai, I am posting my self-analysis at this stage in the game as well as a treatment plan. Any and all suggestions are welcome.
WEAKNESSES
1. Evidence- I still don't know a damn thing about evidence. But I think I have a new plan. A commenter has reccomended Emmanuel's MBE book a few times, which I of course bought long ago before I realized I would only have time to read Barbri materials. So I have brought out that book and opened it to the section on Evidence. It appears to have a nice little synopsis of strategies and tactics (hence the title of the book) followed by practice questions with answers and explanations. It is my goal to work through this tonight. Then, for the rest of the week, I will attack at least 17 evidence PMBR questions per day (17 because that makes for a nice even 1/2 hour). By the end of the week, I should be an MBE evidence pro. Then and only then will I attempt to sort through the California distinctions and learn how to craft a remotely decent essay answer. Because I think that's where I got really messed up- trying to learning French and Spanish at the same time.
2. Performance Test- I just hate this thing. I took the full three hours today for the Seaquest problem in the in-class workbook. I forced myself to spend 85 minutes reading, outlining and planning, even though I naturally don't need that much time. I forced myself to take a 10 minute break and then spent my remaining 85 minutes writing. And really really forced myself to write the whole time, spending time at the end to go back and put in more facts. Then I turned to the answers... it appears I did ok on the headings, and mediocre on the facts and analysis. But I'm still really discouraged. Does this portion of the exam just seem crazy and annoyingly unpredictable to anyone else? So my treatment plan here is to read through the information Honisberg has given us in the CA Peformance exam book as well as look at the in-class handout again. But can anyone reccomend a better method to this madness?
3. Essays- I write too much irrelevant shit and don't put in enough facts about what actually is relevant. Suggestions?
STRENGTHS
1. MBEs (other than Evidence and a few other rough patches) are looking good. So far, we've done the released questions for contracts, con law, and torts and I've scored 80% on each of them.
2. Memorization- my flashcard method is working well, although I need to come up with some sort of a rotation system to make sure that I'm going through each subject regularly enough not to forget stuff.
3. Stress level- I don't feel as stressed as I thought I would be on July 1st. But should this actually be a weakness? Am I not stressed enough?
Ok, Sakai- are you happy? I have analyzed myself. My husband gets home from a weekend out of town in a couple of hours, so I should probably knock through the evidence stuff while I still can. This week promises to be rough, despite the light schedule- community property, wills, and trusts- none of which I ever took in law school. Yippee. But I am taking 4th of July off to go and spend it with my family- after all, good sheep do what the Paced Program says to do.
WEAKNESSES
1. Evidence- I still don't know a damn thing about evidence. But I think I have a new plan. A commenter has reccomended Emmanuel's MBE book a few times, which I of course bought long ago before I realized I would only have time to read Barbri materials. So I have brought out that book and opened it to the section on Evidence. It appears to have a nice little synopsis of strategies and tactics (hence the title of the book) followed by practice questions with answers and explanations. It is my goal to work through this tonight. Then, for the rest of the week, I will attack at least 17 evidence PMBR questions per day (17 because that makes for a nice even 1/2 hour). By the end of the week, I should be an MBE evidence pro. Then and only then will I attempt to sort through the California distinctions and learn how to craft a remotely decent essay answer. Because I think that's where I got really messed up- trying to learning French and Spanish at the same time.
2. Performance Test- I just hate this thing. I took the full three hours today for the Seaquest problem in the in-class workbook. I forced myself to spend 85 minutes reading, outlining and planning, even though I naturally don't need that much time. I forced myself to take a 10 minute break and then spent my remaining 85 minutes writing. And really really forced myself to write the whole time, spending time at the end to go back and put in more facts. Then I turned to the answers... it appears I did ok on the headings, and mediocre on the facts and analysis. But I'm still really discouraged. Does this portion of the exam just seem crazy and annoyingly unpredictable to anyone else? So my treatment plan here is to read through the information Honisberg has given us in the CA Peformance exam book as well as look at the in-class handout again. But can anyone reccomend a better method to this madness?
3. Essays- I write too much irrelevant shit and don't put in enough facts about what actually is relevant. Suggestions?
STRENGTHS
1. MBEs (other than Evidence and a few other rough patches) are looking good. So far, we've done the released questions for contracts, con law, and torts and I've scored 80% on each of them.
2. Memorization- my flashcard method is working well, although I need to come up with some sort of a rotation system to make sure that I'm going through each subject regularly enough not to forget stuff.
3. Stress level- I don't feel as stressed as I thought I would be on July 1st. But should this actually be a weakness? Am I not stressed enough?
Ok, Sakai- are you happy? I have analyzed myself. My husband gets home from a weekend out of town in a couple of hours, so I should probably knock through the evidence stuff while I still can. This week promises to be rough, despite the light schedule- community property, wills, and trusts- none of which I ever took in law school. Yippee. But I am taking 4th of July off to go and spend it with my family- after all, good sheep do what the Paced Program says to do.
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