Category: Bar Exam

79 days till the bar – 4 of 6 subjects preliminarily done

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date December 7, 2008
2 Comments on 79 days till the bar – 4 of 6 subjects preliminarily done

Finished Real Property/Future Interests yesterday and started Evidence… I spent a long time on Property, as there is a lot there… I spent a good amount of time in the long outline books as well reading about mortgages and Future Interests, and the RAP. So, I probably spent more time than I needed to, but I feel like I have a good grasp of Property now, so I think it was time well spent. Moving onto evidence, I will probably spend a decent amount of time on this subject as well because it’s so rule-based and I think if one can just brute force memorize as much of the FRE as possible, success on the MBE should follow… My goal is still to finish this initial effort of all 6 subjects by this Friday… I’m traveling on business 3 days this week, but I’ll be studying on the plane, etc…

I’ve been making about 50 flashcards per subject so far… A good start… Once I finish this preliminary effort I think I’ll do the PMBR red book questions, setting a minimum of 50 per day, max of 100 per day. Probably do that for a few weeks, then in early January take a simulated MBE (probably the barbri one), and go back to PMBR red book questions for another few weeks, and repeat…

I really wish there was a source of sample questions out there that was newer and more reflective of the new styl e of MBE questions… The PMBR and BarBri questions do not appear to have been changed AT ALL in the past 5 years :-\

Bar Exam

85 days till the bar – 50% done with preliminary studying

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date November 30, 2008
No Comments on 85 days till the bar – 50% done with preliminary studying

OK, so I did not hit my goal of finishing the 300 PMBR earlybird questions in all 6 MBE subjects and all 32 PMBR CDs of the 6 MBE subjects. I’ve done Con Law, Crim Law/Crim Pro, and Torts. So, 1/2 the lectures and 1/2 the questions. The reason it has taken me a bit longer, is I’ve been making notecards for almost every PMBR earlybird question. Also, I am reading the Strategies and Tactics book section every day for the subject I am working on that day. My new goal is to have the next 3 subjects done by December 15th. Full-time work and travel also interferes with my study time, as do holidays such as Thanksgiving :)

Bar Exam MBE

100 days till the bar

So with 100 days until the bar exam I think this is a good time to kick into effect my study plan… I am going to start with a sit down and outline of all 32 PMBR audio lecture CDs. These CDs cover all 6 MBE subjects. I am going to do them in alphabetical order, so:

Constitutional Law
Contracts
Criminal Law/Pro
Evidence
Property
Torts

After this, I’m going to hammer through all of the PMBR Earlybird questions (~50 questions per subject, so ~300 questions total). I think this should be sufficient to get my legal juices flowing, so to speak… I also plan to listen to the PMBR lectures randomly in my car anytime I am in my car (8-10 hours a week), and also anytime I am at the gym (4-5 hours a week)…

I’ll report back when I’ve finished listening to all the CDs and gotten all the earlybird questions done and reviewed… I hope to have this done by the end of the month, so that will be about 3 months until the bar exam, which is when I hope to have my study schedule 100% finalized.

Bar Exam MPRE

Thoughts on the November 2008 MPRE and recent changes

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date November 11, 2008
2 Comments on Thoughts on the November 2008 MPRE and recent changes

I realized there were some distinct changes to the MPRE from all of the sample tests I did… I did some digging around and found this document on the NCBE website:

Click to access 770308_donahue.pdf

Apparently, the test writers over at the NCBE are trying to make multiple choices more straightforward and have eliminated “none of the above” or “all of the above” choices! Further, they have eliminated the “K-type” format (using Roman numerals in complex options—e.g., I is true, but II and III are not true). NONE of these are on the MPRE anymore…

For more details, read the article in the URL I posted above and keep that in mind when doing practice questions as you no longer need to learn strategies for K-type questions and so forth…

Personally, I liked the new format and thought it was very straightforward, this might explain why I finished it faster than any of the practice exams.

Finally, keep in mind these changes appear to apply to the MBE, so the Feb 2009 MBE should be along the same lines…

Bar Exam Study Materials

Washington DC February 2009 Bar Exam – 100% Self Study – Welcome Post

Post author By Dwight Zenzano
Post date October 1, 2008
15 Comments on Washington DC February 2009 Bar Exam – 10015 Self Study – Welcome Post

Welcome… The purpose of this blog is to share tips, strategies, tactics, and information about the upcoming Washington D.C. February 2009 bar exam. Anyone who has taken, or is planning to take the DC bar exam will hopefully find contribute in the comments and find value in this blog.

Quick background on myself, I graduated law school about 8 years ago, and am taking the bar exam simply to be bar certified. I embarked on a different career during my last year of law school and have not looked back, so I am not planning to switch careers now (I currently work in negotiations, not in a legal capacity) but want to take the DC Bar exam now while my workload is not too heavy. I work full-time and will not be taking any time off to study. Only 2-days to actually take the exam.

Now, on to the materials I will be using. Most of these I purchased used locally… I am going to use only self-study means, so no in-class lectures. I have purchased the following materials: