I’m studying for the Texas bar using Barbri. I am from a good school in the state (T50) and performed well there, but I am terrified that I am going to fail the bar. Any tips, tricks, advice on how you made it through? Is Barbri enough?

I used Adaptibar and Critical Pass to supplement my Barbri prep, but I think it might have been a little too much in the long run.

Stick with Barbri and you should be good to go, and do as many practice questions and essays as possible. Make sure to focus on anything you get incorrect and let the data guide your studying.

If you are weak in Con law, spend extra time there.
Review the material you are testing well with to keep it fresh, but specifically focus on your problem areas. It is easy to panic and just keep regurgitating the material, but application is everything here.

Also, get as much rest as you can in the coming weeks, and make sure you are eating well. Take care of yourself. I think a lot of people go wrong when they study all night leading up to the test and burn out beforehand.

Positive self-talk goes a long way. Make a daily and weekly plan leading up to the test with Barbri and stick to it. At the end of the day, this is just a test, and you’ve passed a ton of them to get to this point. Study as hard as you can, and know that this too shall pass. Hang in there. You’ve got this. 👍

I followed Barbri exactly. In the final weeks, I elected to focus my final review on shoring up my strengths and punting on the few topics I was consistently inconsistent at (con law for me). You’ll do fine, but you won’t feel like it. That’s natural. Stick with it. Good luck!!

I sat for the bar in NY last year ( passed with flying colors-not a brag, just for context). I also took Barbri. My best piece of advice is to make sure you allocate sufficient time to focus on
areas where you feel less confident. For me, that was also con law. Do not feel obligated to check off all of the daily tasks. Going through the assignments without retaining information is a waste of time. Try to spend 2 hours a day on the MEE portion, addressing different subjects so you feel confident to bs about anything lest your mind fail you. The rest of the day you really need to focus on multiple choice. Also, take at least two MPTs under time constraints. Take as many time controlled MBE type exams as you can. The multiple choice section is really hard and can determine whether or not you pass. That for me was the most challenging part of the exam. The week or two leading up to the bar I spent making flash cards with examples and just reiterating the black letter law. It’s tough, but you’ve got this!

Join Barbri Memes for Freer-loving Teens group on FB...it's a font of commiseration and camraderie. Make sure you are _memorizing_ and absorbing material for reals, not just checking boxes. You need to internalize it.

The best advice I ever received about the Texas bar was that they expect you to have knowledge of the law that is “a mile wide and an inch deep”

I finished all of Barbri & did most of the emanuels MBE strategies & tactics book. I also used SketchyLaw for memorizing various rules. I HIGHLY recommend looking into SketchyLaw if you struggle with memorizing the nuance in constitutional tests or Crim doctrines. I left the exam convinced that I failed - I passed by A LOT. Honestly, my biggest recommendation is to take breaks while studying. Take 30-90 minutes a day (at least) to relax. Video chat a friend, watch a couple episodes of a show, take a bath, etc. I worked myself harder than I needed to and, in retrospect, it made things worse not better. Good luck - you’ve got this!

Barbri is enough. I was in your exact position in Texas and did all the Barbri lessons plus outlined answers to ALL the published essays for Texas. Passed with flying colors. Keep reminding yourself that you're smarter and better prepared than at least 10% of the other test takers. Someone will totally blow off studying, someone will have a laptop malfunction, and boom - you passed. 😃

In all seriousness, just do the prep, take care if yourself, and try not to stress too much. It's hard, but you are doing all the right things. You got this!

ADAPTIBAR

Add strategies and tactics to your prep towards the end. Soooo helpful

Barbri was great. I pulled a lot of 9-9 days with doing the daily barbri lessons and followed it up with MBEs from outside sources (usually an extra 20-50 questions a night). I also focused on handwriting my outlines which helped solidify it to memory.

Barbri is definitely enough, if you put the time in.

You will do fine. Don’t psych yourself out, and spend a little time learning how they score the test, which will help your strategy on test day.

Barbri is enough. I completed about 70% of the Barbri course while many people I know completed 50-60% and passed. I overpassed by a lot. I strongly recommend speeding up the videos to 1.5x or even faster. I went to a T50 as well, middling performance there.

Trust the process! I remember many times when I worried barbri wasn’t going to be enough. I added in adaptibar and I actually would listen to the adaptibar videos while working out/cooking/driving..... hearing the subject matter from multiple people/perspectives helped in my opinion. You’ll do great! Good luck

Barbi was a lifesaver. (1) My advice is to take their advice. Focus on what they say is most likely to show up. (2) Study progressively smaller. I started with the videos and read the outlines. Then I restudied just the handouts. The last week, I made a cheat sheet of tests and things I wanted to memorize/ most likely to show up and focused only on that. That way you have a working knowledge of everything and specific knowledge of things most likely to show up. (3) While studying, I realized that sometimes the answers to the essays are in the fact pattern. Try and think about why this fact was mentioned and why it might be important.

I took the passage rate under consideration while studying. If 50% of the people pass the Texas bar exam, then get your MBE practice scores to the 50th percentile, and then focus on the essays.

Strategize. Strategize. Strategize. You cannot know everything. Figure out how what topics and subtopics are most likely to show up. And study those topics. You have to whittle down your study materials or you will drown.

I went to an out of state T25 school and I was in the bottom half of my class. In the Barbri practice MBE test, I was ranking in the 50th percentile. I took the NC bar exam and passed the first try. I think you’ll be fine. Best of luck!

Barbri is sufficient but make sure to supplement your barbrie studies if possible. I would recommend obtaining an additional mbe book and set a goal number for how many you want to go through prior to the exam. But make sure you treat your studies as a full time job 8–6 at the very least. And lastly, relax and take comfort in the fact that everyone is the same position you are during your studies. You got this!

Thank you!!

I did Kaplan and my progress meter never went past 27% of assignments complete and it yielded a UBE score good enough for every UBE state. I think 12 hour prep days are insane and most of the tasks they assign are not helpful. I listened to the lectures at 2x speed and wrote my own shorthand outline of every area of law as I went. Then, alternate between memorizing the outline (75 pages max) and practice questions. If you are a decent writer don’t bother with many practice essays. I put in 5 hour a day, 4-5 days/wk for the 8 weeks and full marks achieved. The test itself is not very hard, the stakes just make it terrifying. You got this.

Passed my first state on first try in July 2019 and second state in Feb. of 2020.

Follow your plan exactly. plus Critical Pass flashcards. Put in AT LEAST 5 hours every day, or 8/day with reduced time on weekends.

Doubt is normal. Look at your school's passage rate and your rank. Trust that if you put in the work, you will do fine.

Easier said than done. I know few who were positive they passed. It's a giant mindf*ck for everyone.

Barbri is rarely ever enough. It is Barbie after all.