Bar Prep Debate

There always seems to be the big debate about who has he best Bar Prep Program.  Barbri is usually the King of Bar Prep Programs, I mean that is what they built their company around so it makes sense that they have a great success rate and are heavily promoted at law schools.  Kaplan is making huge strides and catching up to law school students who wish to have a Bar Prep program but don't want to spend as much as the Barbri program.
I have used both I can tell you a few differences.
Kaplan offers unlimited (meaning limited only to the prompts they have) graded essays.  If you feel essay writing is your weakness this might be a good option.
Kaplan's multiples are harder, and more closely aligned to the MBE difficulty level.  Barbri didn't throw you softballs all the time, but they had a decent mix of easy to hard, Kaplan basically just had the hard one.  The Kaplan logic was that if you only work on the hard ones you will do better on the easy ones.
Barbri claims that 100% of the people that complete at least 75% of the Bar Prep Program pass the bar.
Barbri has AMP for the areas that you are not doing so great in, meaning extra work on Blackline law and multiples on just the blackline reading/work.

After doing both programs and listing to my friends who used AmeriBar or other programs here is what I think the biggest take away is.
YOU MUST DO A BAR PREP PROGRAM - and I don't mean pay for it and then do the minimum work, you have to actively study and be engaged when doing bar prep.  The reason bar prep programs work is that you are following a plan to cover all the key areas, learn local distinctions, and are practicing essays and multiple choice questions.

I was told that if you do 2,000 multiple choice questions and read why answers are correct your chances of passing increase by 20%.  This indicates that if you do the three products below you increase your chance of passing by 20%.
   

So what is the bottom line for the Great Bar Prep Debate - find a program that works to how you learn and commit to doing the entire program and try and hit 2000 multiple choice questions.  That is the only way you will pass, by studying and doing the work to learn what you need for the Bar Exam, because sadly law school does not teach you every single thing you need for the bar exam, and even if it did you would have to memorize if for 3 years.  It is easier to review and learn new material - so make sure you study.

Spring Semesters

As classmates return to class I want to point out that law school spring semester has a few differences than the fall semester (this is especially important for 1Ls)

1. You may be in a second part of a class (Torts, Civ Pro, Property, Contracts, Constitutional Law, etc.).  This means that you will continue to learn about the same topic, BUT will not review all that was learned in the fall semester..
     -DO NOT waste time on exams reciting details form concepts you learned and covered in the fall.     -DO mention concepts on the exam, but don't go into details
     -DO remember concepts, just because Torts 1 is don't forget it
    -DO keep those notes handy, but you don't need to review them for exams.
2. I suggest that you get two binders (about 1 1/2" wide) one for each semester
     -Put material from Property 1 in the first binder and then keep it out on a bookshelf in the Spring
     -Put material from Property 2 in second binder and keep that with you for studying
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3. Flashcards from Civ. Pro. 1 can be stored, but keep them handy in case you need to review a concept.
    -Flashcards should also be stored and saved so that you can use them for review at Bar time
     -Consider premade flashcards that you can add notes to (great to add state specific items

***Something link Critical Pass Flahscards can help with both classes and MBE bar prep***
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4. At some point during the semester, you will realize the weather is nice and you want to study outside or read outside.  DO IT!  Don't confine yourself to only studying inside, unless you are allergic to the outdoors, being outside is important.  You get Vitamin D from the sun, and more importantly it helps you relax and destress.  Research has show that blood pressure can drop just from being outside and looking at nature.
5. If it is your first semester, have an idea of what your GPA is and then figure out what the absolute worst you can do on all your exams is without dropping to a 2.0 or lower.  It sounds counter-intuitive, but knowing how bad you can perform and stay in law school actually helps.  I realized that I could get an F on one exam, and other than the headache of trying to retake the class I would still be able to stay in law school, and more realistically that I could get a D in Torts (my hardest class) and still be fine if I got a B in Legal Writing and Research (which was my strongest).
6. If it is your last semester, realize that you can't fail a class that is required to graduate or that you need the credits to reach your minimum required credits to graduate.  HOWEVER, you don't need to knock it out of the park either.  You need to pass your classes to graduate, but they will not drop you out of law school if you somehow end up getting a D in every single one of your classes your last semester.  Please try and pass, but realize it doesn't have to be a wow knock it out of the park grade.

Consider getting Amazing Prime for Students, because you can get supplies (like index cards or flashcards above) and prep material with free 2 day shopping.  Also, you will benefit from the video and music access during bar prep time.

Passing the Bar Exam

I have just gotten the letter that confirms that I have passed the bar exam.  I was asked by a friend who has yet to take it for some advice.
Here is what I immediately thought of:
1. Do at least 1 essay a day AND at least 10-20 multiple practice questions a day.
2. Read the answers to the multiples, both the right answer and why other choices were wrong.
3. Use a review program, and pay attention to their tips/tricks to memorize information and state specific rules.
4. As you get closer (like 3 weeks) do at least 2 essays a day AND 40 multiple choice questions a day. You are building stamina.
5. If you have the chance to do mock exams - do them and follow the time constraints your state will use.
6. It is true that you should do every essay and multiple you can get your hands on, it is practice and reading the answers will help you.
7. Pace yourself, it is a marathon not a sprint.  Figure out what you need to do and how much time you need to do it.  Then spread it out so you get everything in a week to two weeks before the exam and spend that extra time on what you feel weakest in.
8. The day before the exam only do multiple choice and no more than 50 practice questions.
9. DO your best on the exam, you learned it in law school or during the review, you just need to remember it.

Best $200 to spend in law school

Law School is expensive, there is no way around it.

However, I would like to give this piece of advice to all incoming law school students:
Spend the $100 to lock in the Barbri price and the other $100 to lock in or get the Kaplan 1st year lectures and questions.  And do this in your first semester of law school
You should do this for a few reasons
1. you lock in prices (they only go up, so locking in the price your sooner is better).
2. you get access to lectures and questions to help you study for your 1L classes
3. after you get access to both for the 1L classes you can better figure out which lectures are better suited to your learning style and which question bank helps you more.
****side note you can get the Kaplan question bank for the bar exam for several hundred dollars if you go with Barbi, and the more practice questions the better you will be for the bar****
4. the outlines each company has helps you figure out how to do outlines for your first year courses
5. They offer free MPRE courses so it gives you more notice on which one would be better to help you study
6. you need to hear the information repeatedly and these lectures are on-demand.

My advice, spend the $200, and get access to both to lock in prices and help you figure out how you want to spend your bar prep class money.

Why do they wait to tell you this?

Filling out the application to take the bar, usually you don't hear about it until your last year in law school.  However, being an evening student with a full-time job this advice would have been nice to know.  Thankfully, I had classmates that were a class ahead of me and gave me some of this advice.  I read this article in Student Lawyer, and thought it was funny that this advice is given so rarely.
http://www.americanbar.org/publications/student_lawyer/2014-15/december/ready_set_go.html
If you are in law school, or if you are considering going to law school save this article and look at it now, and again after you complete your first year of law school.

Key take aways:
-make a list of every place you have ever lived
-make a list of every job you have ever had
-look at the application often so you know what you will have to answer
-submit it sooner rather than later, once you are within the allowable window