Reddit mentions of Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam (Bar Review)

First off, if you have the resources/time, try taking the bar next July instead of Feb. You'll thank yourself for having more time to spread out and study. I didn't do that (I took all 3 of my exams back-to-back-to-back), but had I failed a third time--which was possible--I would have moved back to my parent's place and taken the test a 4th time in July instead of Feb.


I started studying a week after my results both times. I got a local CA bar exam tutor the 2nd and 3rd time (fuck barbri) that assigned us essays that we later discussed together in small groups. Each day was about 10-15 hours of studying, which consisted of doing and reviewing about 3-4 essays that were assigned by my tutor and 50 MBE's. But make no mistake, I took at least a day off a week. Otherwise, I would have gone insane.


As far as essays go, barbri's aren't that bad, but, at least for CA, they're WAY too in-depth given the time constraints. I used this book for the CA bar exam essays: https://www.amazon.com/Essay-Exam-Writing-California-Bar/dp/073550993X If you can find a NY one similar to the one I linked, then you're golden.

As far as MBE's go, again, get a hold of the Kaplan/PMBR ones, and do these Civ Pro ones from Emanuel: https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tactics-MBE-Emanuel-Review/dp/1454873124/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_1/164-3132343-7414359?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3YN7A1AYTGD6BXWMQA79

Finally, I'd review the black letter stuff--which, frankly, is the entire bar exam, as it's almost impossible to grade policy answers--while practicing/reviewing. You also memorize better by practicing. I'd dedicate barely any separate time solely to black letter stuff.

Again, YOU CAN FUCKING DO THIS

A few of my friends told me this was the best book for essays (in CA).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/073550993X/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Essay Exam Writing for the CA Bar Exam

I passed the CA bar awhile ago but ended up writing this mini guide up for friends who took the bar after me who, like myself, were frustrated with the commercial bar prep courses. I ended up studying supplements (while using Kaplan only for its MBE question bank) almost exclusively on my own schedule (and passed - with a lot less stress than a lot of my peers who struggled to complete the commercial bar prep schedule). My friends found this really helpful so I thought I'd share it with you:


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Reviewing the Black Letter Law
I highly recommend lean sheets because they were compact and great for reviewing rule elements.
They also had room in the margins for me to add any other notes I wanted to make.
http://www.leansheets.com/california-bar-exam-outlines-leansheets-com/


I suggest printing the entire pdf in color - double sided - 8.5 x 11 paper
http://documents.staples.com/ASP1/
Binding/Booklet 1
Paper/8.5x11 28lb Premium White / Standard / Standard Print (Precut Size) / Color / Duplex ($23)
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Multiple Choice:
Many people say that kicking ass on the MBE section is essential because it's the one section that is truly in your control to differentiate your score. The essay and performance test grading can be arbitrary - most people will get an average of 60 something on everything if they apply the correct IRAC method to the essays. But a lot of people mess up MBEs, and there's no excuse for that because one can definitely improve this with practice.

1. Critical Pass: http://criticalpass.refr.cc/DHGJQMN (my referral link but you don't have to use it 📷. This was Great to review in the evening when I was too tired to do practice questions. They already added flash cards for the civ pro mbe questions. I was stupidly impressed with how these cards actually covered so much of the questions on actual exam. Definitely essential in my opinion
   
   
   
2. Strategies & Tactics for the MBE, Sixth Edition (Emanuel Bar Review)
   https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Tactics-MBE-Emanuel-Review/dp/1454873124/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
   
   
   I used this book mostly for the general MBE test-taking tips and the tips were so on-point. Because I was using Kaplan and it already had a huge question bank - I practiced with those questions.
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   Essays:
   
   
   Formatting is KEY. Do NOT write big long paragraphs. I underlined, made sure to write a lot of mini-paragraphs (5-6 sentences max), then move on.
   
   
   During the exam, make sure you use every single fact in the fact pattern. Use a highlighter and highlight each fact or mark each fact after you incorporate it in some way into your essay.
   
   
   Don't worry if the question asks you something pretty obscure or you just blank on something. Just put down something reasonable and move on. Use every fact (there are almost never any red herrings - I never saw any).
   
   
   Using the call of the question--- IRAC. But the IRAC's should be really short and concise - (1 sentence for the issue; 1-2 rule statements, 5-6 for application, 1 sentence for conclusion).
   
   
   I didn't have a memorization plan for rule statements, but made sure to know certain rules very well: Community Property opener, Contract (applicable law, offer, acceptance, etc), Evidence (definition of legal and logical relevance, hearsay exceptions), elements of negligence claim for Torts, etc. You'll find good rule statements in the following book:
   
   
   Essay Exam Writing for the CA Bar Exam: http://www.amazon.com/Essay-Exam-Writing-California-Bar/dp/073550993X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/176-3124324-1877215
   
   
   I didn't actually practice writing a lot of actual essays. I read this book in its entirely and thought it was amazing. The only essay book you need in my opinion. I found the checklists a little hard to memorize, so I just focused on the approach this book outline for every subject. (And memorizing the rules used in the sample essays).
   
   
   And what I did is, after reading the tips, I practiced writing essays for the practice essays at the end of each chapter - read the sample essay + looked at the issue chart + rewrote it again.
   
   
   I liked this book the best because the sample essays weren't ridiculously long like kaplan and barbri. This book emphasizes what HAS to be in your essay responses, and leaves out the extraneous stuff that will hardly get you any points on the exam itself.
   
   
   My essays were much shorter on the actual exam than in any barbri or kaplan sample essay - and I think it was sufficient.
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   Performance Tests
   http://ipassedmybarexam.com/2011/02/13/the-bar-exam-performance-tests-are-easy/
   
   
   Honestly - that write-up sums up all the tips you need to do well on the performance test. Really thorough and really hits the nail on the head.
   
   
   To be honest, I practiced maybe 2 performance tests in total. The only things I think you need to do is read through all the tips above, and then print out and read all the sample performance test answers for the past 3 years from the CA bar site: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Examinations/California-Bar-Examination/Past-Exams
   
   
   Getting a feel for the memo structure that the bar examiners wanted was the most helpful thing.
   
   
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   Rule Statements
   I did not use this site when I studied for the bar, but someone posted this in another thread and it looks pretty good if you're looking for black letter law outlines and rule statements: By the way, I was briefly looking at this thread for the July 2018 Bar exam and someone posted this link as a good place to get solid rule statements for some of the major subjects:
   
   
   https://law.stanford.edu/office-of-student-affairs/bar-exam-information
   
   
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   Best of luck!!!

Start by getting this book. Best $50 you'll ever spend. In fact, I abandoned my Themis essay materials and used it almost exclusively the final 3-4 weeks of studying.