Bar Exam “Predictions”

Hello Everyone,

As is pretty common during this time of year, I have received many questions about bar exam predictions for the upcoming bar exam. I am pasting my reply to one of these questions below. See what I had to say to George below.

We should have more information/predictions posted by Tuesday, so please visit again. But, keep in mind that no one can predict the essay topics on the bar exam. It would be incredibly foolish to think that you could predict which subjects to study and which subjects you could skip. Yet, I have students ask me every bar round for advice about “which subjects” to study. The answer is: everything. You need to study every tested topic.

Stay tuned . . . more postings to follow in the next few days. Until then, good luck in your studies!

Sincerely,

Lisa Duncanson
Founder/Program Director
Bar None Review

Hello George,

First of all, thank you for visiting.

I am currently in the midst of grading my students’ three-day simulated bar exam. I will be returning their exams tomorrow and as a result do not have a great deal of time to respond today. However, I will post a list of possible topics that I think could be particularly likely - given their absence on past exams. Check back on Monday or Tuesday and I should have some information up then.

Until then, here are some of my thoughts: Criminal Procedure perhaps crossed with another topic (like Evidence) or simply just Criminal Procedure all by itself.

Civil Procedure is pretty high on everyone’s list of predicted topics (I would guess that most bar review companies would be predicting Civil Procedure), simply because it has not been tested in some time. Add to the fact that it has not been tested in a while and that there are a few California additions (as of July 2007) now being tested, and I think most anyone in the bar review business would predict Civil Procedure.

Corporations also has not been tested in some time and is another likely subject. However, it is really important to recognize that you need to know every subject and know it well because the California bar examiners have really designed an exam that is nearly impossible to predict. In fact, the examiners actually employ statisticians to make sure that the frequency and pattern of subjects chosen for the exam are not predictable.

Here is a warning that I give all of my students - do not think that because something was just tested on the prior exam that it will not be on the very next exam. You CAN NOT discount these topics or presume that what was on the last bar exam will not be on the next. A perfect example of this are the past two bar examinations (February 2007 and July 2007). Both of administrations tested Constitutional Law First Amendment Speech. Yet, most people presumed that since it was just tested on the February 2007 bar exam that it would not be tested again on the July 2007 bar exam. In fact, many topics have repeated three times back to back from one bar exam to the next.

If you were to review every past bar exam over the past 25 years in California you would see that nearly every bar round there is a repeat of 3 subjects from one bar exam to the next. Often these show up in the form of a cross over on the next exam where the topic repeats. For example, you might see a full blown First Amendment Speech essay (as we did on the February 2007 bar exam) and then it is followed up on the next bar exam administration as a crossover (we saw this in July 2007 where Criminal Law Murder was one call of a two call essay question and First Amendment Speech was the second call of that essay question).

I hope this helps for now. I will do my best to put up more about topics I think are likely. I would use this information as a way to include additional review on certain areas - but, NOT as a replacement for studying and reviewing all areas. I am sure that you realize this.

Thank you again for your comment. If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at pass@barnonereview.com

Please bear in mind that I will be pretty swamped for the next few days. However, we try to respond to every email as quickly as possible.

Good luck to you!

Sincerely,

Lisa Duncanson
Program Director/Founder
Bar None Review
(562) 799-5581
barnonereview.com

February 12, 2008 - A few weeks to go!

Hello Everyone,

What should you be doing in these last couple of weeks before the bar exam? Well, studying of course. But, how should you study? One of the most important things to do over the next two weeks is to keep a positive attitude while you are studying. Tell yourself before you study a topic that you will be able to remember it on exam day. It really makes a difference if you approach your studying with a positive mind set. You will remember more and remember more easily for doing so.

Having a study plan is really critical at this point. Therefore, if you do not have one put together, get to work on it now. Take the remaining days, up through the bar exam, and plot out your time and where you will focus.

You will naturally want to review and memorize every subject. However, how will you do that? Give it some thought and develop a plan for doing it. This might sound easier said than done, but you can do it. Simply divide up every day into sections, a morning section, an afternoon section and an evening section and determine what you will do during each section.

I recommend that you fill your morning and afternoon sections with the most difficult work (like doing MBEs or reviewing and memorizing the law) and reserve the evenings for more passive, less strenuous work (like studying essay exams and answers).

Whatever you decide to do, definitely develop a plan of action and stick to it. One of the biggest mistakes students make during the last couple of weeks is to simply study blindly without any particular purpose. Instead, be proactive and create a plan for yourself. Pace yourself in such a way that you move through assignments throughout the day. If you do this, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and feel more positive about taking the bar exam.

If you do not create a plan for yourself (and I mean setting out tasks to do throughout the entire day, hour by hour) you will likely feel less in control, less satisfied at the end of a study day and less confident about taking the bar exam.

So, make a plan, do it now and follow it. You will feel in control because you are taking control! And, you will increase your chances of success by taking charge of your own future and having the confidence in yourself to do so!

Good luck to you in the next few weeks and on the exam days!

Sincerely,

Lisa Duncanson
Program Director/Founder
Bar None Review
(562) 799-5581
barnonereview.com

What to do if you fail the California bar exam

If you have failed the bar exam, keep in mind that you are in good company. Also, realize that the bar exam is not an IQ test. Many very bright and hardworking examinees fail the exam. If you have failed, you will need to do the following:

1) Get past being devastated as quickly as possible - as harsh as this sounds, you really do just need to get back to work as soon as you can. Those that do, have the best chance of passing the next exam. Start by doing MBEs.

2) This is going to hurt, but - find out why you failed - this starts by getting your scores back from the bar. The bar will automatically mail score sheets to all examinees who failed the bar. This usually takes 1 - 3 days after bar results come out (so, for July 2007 examinees who fail, it could be as soon as November 17th). When you get your scores, don’t panic and don’t make assumptions about any one section. You will receive both a raw score and a scaled score. Take the time to read the materials that come with your score sheet that explain the raw and scaled scores. See also, other posts on this blog about making it to re-read and interpreting bar scores. And, if you need help interpreting your scores, you can get it free through Bar None Review barnonereview.com

3) Commit to taking and passing the next exam - in almost every case, I would recommend taking the very next bar exam. Obviously there are sometimes reasons to sit out a bar exam administration - but in most cases, the best advice is to take the very next exam. Think about it, the material seems like it has fallen out of your head right now - just think how hard it will be to put it all back together if you wait another six months - that would be a whole year since your last review - not a good plan.

4) Develop a plan of attack - Your plan might include taking another bar review course, hiring a tutor, or continuing your studies on your own. There are many courses available (assuming you already tried barbri) that cater to different needs - small classes, private tutorials. Do your research and due diligence before enrolling in a course. Ask for references, ask to see the course materials before enrolling, make sure the bar review provider is a good fit for your needs. And, don’t abandon your common sense - if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is. But, whatever you do (take a course or study on your own) make a plan - figure out how many hours you will study each day, where you will study, how long will you have to review each topic, how many essays you will write each week, how many MBEs you will do each day, how many PTs you will write - figure it out, map it out and develop a plan.

5) Work hard - no matter how hard you worked the first time, you are going to have to work just that hard again. And, if in your honest assessment of your prior bar studies you conclude that you did not work hard enough - well then you are going to have to work harder. There simply is no magic bullet.

Lisa Duncanson
Program Director/Founder
Bar None Review
barnonereview.com