The MBE fries my brain

Now that I am working on MBE subjects, time is getting more crunched. The regular study plan is to do your subject essays for that day and then do 50 MBE questions per day, or something like that. But I felt like it was useless and depressing to go over MBE questions that I hadn't covered yet in lectures, so I am doing big blocks of MBE questions out of the PMBR book once I go through the lecture and essays. For example, today I did 175 Crim Law MBE questions. I am also checking my answers after each quesion, so this took about 8-9 hours (I had a minor kitchen accident during this since I forgot that vinegar + baking soda = volcano. Another example of my brain being fried). I do think this method helps me learn the material better. This means that going through MBE subjects takes about an extra day or so than Maryland-only subjects.

I thought that I don't get stressed about exams, but I have noticed that I am crankier and forgetful lately. Of course, these are classic symptoms of bar studying that I was sure I would avoid, but I also thought I knew contracts, so really, what do I know?

Rock climbing, my favorite activity, tends to make my brain feel a lot better and I am able to think more clearly after I've been climbing for about an hour or so. Probably because it is nonverbal. What I need to work on is being a nice person if I go directly from studying to socializing. I think it's the talking- my verbal capacity is so strained that I am unable to express myself and get frustrated. So new rule: have to go work out between studying and social events, or I won't have anymore social events to go to.

Lecture- based studying

I've started doing MBE subjects, for which I have audio PMBR lectures, and I have to say that this goes much easier than trying to read through the outlines or read the BarBri lectures. Even though its the same content, it's harder for the mind to wander when there is a man in my computer telling me about how Miss Cleo was his former secretary (yes, this actually happened towards the end of the PMBR crim law lecture). If I had to do it again (which better not actually happen), I would get some sort of audio lecture program, like Ameribar, for Maryland. My friend who is doing Ameribar says that the Ameribar lectures are very dry, but even an outline read to me is better than me trying to read it myself, and then thinking about my next grocery shopping trip instead. Because really, everything else on the planet is more interesting than studying for the bar exam.

Note on Ameribar: apparently in the essay books they do not include the statutory extracts that are provided to you on the exam. BarBri materials do. These extracts are very nice in helping to answer questions in sales, secured transactions, commercial paper, and civ pro without having to remember stuff. Ameribar gives you citations to the Maryland code, but BarBri and the actual exams give you the extracts themselves. I guess if you do Ameribar you will be pleasantly surprised when there are statutory extracts on your exam, but you will have wasted precious brainpower trying to remember how many days you have to file a motion to revise a verdict, when the examiners give you stuff like that.

Maryland is better than Virginia

In the DC metro area, people have a lot of options for bar exams. Something that has come up at parties two weeks in a row (law school parties, of course) is whether to take Maryland or Virginia (nobody seems to ever take DC. Why not, if you can waive in?) So here are some reasons why MD is better:

1. No CLE
2. You do not have to drive to Roanoke to take the bar exam
3. You do not have to dress up to take the bar exam
4. Voluntary bar association
5. Less intensive background check
6. No MPRE 
7. You can be admitted by motion into VA after 5 years of practice. You always have to take an attorney's exam in Maryland. So why not start with Maryland to begin with?

If you have more, let me know. Or if you would like to defend the silly driving to Roanoke thing and wearing a suit, by all means go ahead.

Conviser Mini-Review Outlines are so Much Better

For Agency and Partnership I had used BarBri's detailed Maryland outline, which is not only so large it barely fits on my desk next to my computer, but also includes extraneous information. At the beginning of my PR outline I switched to using the Conviser mini-review outline as the basis, and it seems more efficient.

After the long outline went into free speech problems that can arise under an integrated bar association (after pointing out that MD has a voluntary bar association), I started to think that this was silly. After looking through the blogosphere I found http://dcbarexam.blogspot.com/2009/03/final-thoughts-on-self-study-materials.html, who pointed out that the long outlines were not really necessary unless you wanted to brag about your high score (and in Maryland they just tell you whether you pass, so there's no point in that). It still took me about 6 hours to go through the Conviser outline and make my own outline for PR and do flashcards, but it is clear that BarBri expects you to use the Conviser outlines. That's where all their exam tips and summaries and convenient charts are.

I didn't do super great on the PR essays, but everything I missed was in the mini outline or the lecture, so it doesn't seem like I missed out by not going over the long outline. I just really need to learn the material better.

It was also more efficient to go through the outline before going through the lecture, because when I go through the lecture I can just add to what I already have in my notes/flashcards and have a better sense for overall structure.