National Jurist - February 2008 - (Page 34) noons, Limberis would issue-spot in four to five prior state essays, and write one or two of them fully. Meyers spent about two to three hours per night studying after work, and he also took four weeks off completely. He made thousands of flash cards and carried them with him everywhere, using every morsel of time to review. Meyers also printed out all New York State essay questions for the past 10 years. He wrote out his essays, then made flash cards comparing them with the model answers. Adopting a more organized mode of studying helped Laakkonen become less overwhelmed: he developed short (one to two-page) outlines for each subject tested on the California bar. “They give you way too much material, and it’s your job to streamline it,” Laakkonen said, adding he never opened some of the more detailed books. Laakkonen was happy with BarBri’s prep course, and said he felt his instructors were not only knowledgeable but also reassuring and genuinely concerned that students pass. Given the chance, Laakkonen said he would spend more time writing essays under timed conditions. “It’s a misconception that you have to memorize every rule in every subject,” he said. “That’s unrealistic.” Rather than just memorization, Laakkonen recommends students focus on skill development as well. But there’s no better way to prepare for the bar exam than to go straight to the sources who write it. For the MBE, that would be the NCBE. For essay and performance exams, it’s your state bar examiners. Susan Case, director of testing at the National Conference of Bar Examiners, said the NCBE gets many calls from exam takers who complain that the real bar questions look nothing like some of the sample questions they encountered in commercial bar review courses. Still, she said few students take advantage of some of the materials the NCBE offers. “My best advice to them is that they actually purchase the MBE Annotated Preview,” she said, which is a 100-question online practice exam with commentary that’s written by the same folks who write the real deal. “It’s very odd that for whatever reason, students aren’t using it.” Case also recommends that students review the MBE’s detailed outline (which NCBEX provides for free on its website) to become familiar with the exam’s makeup and the weight of different topics and subtopics in each test. Limberis took PMBR’s three-day program, which he said helped greatly with multiple choice preparation. Yuliya Ivanov chose PMBR’s six-day program for MBE help. For essay preparation, the 2007 Thomas Jefferson grad picked her school’s Bar Secrets course, a full-day program offered after graduation where she practiced writing, performance exams, and even simulated MBE’s. Ivanov studied every day for about two months, on average from 9 AM until 8-9 PM. Balancing bar prep with caring for her five year-old son, Ivanov only took time off to celebrate her son’s birthday and attend his dance rehearsal. Ivanov studied with a friend, which proved helpful by bouncing ideas off of each other. “Don’t overestimate yourself, and don’t underestimate the bar exam,” Meyers advised. “You need to prepare as if you’re going to fail.” 34 THE NATIONAL JURIST February 2008 http://www.nesl.edu/summer/
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