We Have Arrived At The Party: Thoughts on the Multi-state bar examination.

1. Study one subject at a time. Study one subject at a time during your bar prep period. There are six multi-state bar exam subjects. Choose either: (i) the subject that the commercial bar prep course begins its studies with, or (ii) the most difficult multi-state bar subject you encountered in law school.

2. Each week or so, study another multi-state bar exam subject. Keep adding one subject on to the previous subject until you have learned all six topics.

3. Don't think about the past: Whenever you answer a multi-state question, answer that question, and move on. Do not think about the previous question, again. Ever. When you move to the next question, that is the question that receives all of your focus and attention. Do not second guess the answer in the previous question. That question is done and over with. Forever. Concentrate on the question before you.

4. I want you to be an active learner: an active learner tests herself on the material, even when she is doubtful of her abilities or when she knows she has not mastered the law. Study one subject, test on that subject, create your outline for that subject.

5. Take a day off from testing. Yes, you can and will take a day off. However, even if you "take one day off," there is still time during that day for testing. Rise at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. Test at 8:30 a.m., for three hours. You are finished at 11:30 a.m. Go have your day off. No review. No outline. Test. Three hours. Then go!

Caveat Emptor: People are not impressed that you are studying for the bar exam; they are impressed when you pass. When you go to a picnic and tell others that you are studying for the exam, they will wonder what you are doing there, at the picnic. If you go to a picnic, keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, you will have to justify why you are there, and may have to answer some legal question for which you have no legal answer. You do not need a deflated self-esteem. You came for fun. Eat the hot dogs, mingle, have fun, and be quiet (regarding the exam). Remember, it is a day off.

6. Proper Practice Prevents Poor Performance. Never stop practicing multi-state bar questions, even if you are getting a very low percentage of questions correct. You must always practice. Practice helps you to keep your rhythm and reinforces your technique. If you stop the rhythm, the ritual, and the method, you run the risk of losing your technique during the actual exam. Keep practicing.

7. Skipping questions. Never skip a question. NEVER. If you skip a question, and make the mistake of placing the answer to question number 4 in the box for question number 5, then you have blown your entire exam, and will be required to go down "Re-take Road," (TM) under a circumstance that could have been prevented. If it is a question that you decide to skip, and choose to come back to later, then shade in a circle (a), (b), (c), or (d), but circle the question number in the booklet. Do not circle the number on the answer sheet, because if you forget to come back to that question or don't have enough time to get back to the question, then the circle on the answer sheet is recorded, along with the mark you made as an answer choice. A stray mark, such as a circled number on the answer sheet, will automatically throw out that particular question.

8. Please become a five-year old. Learn how to color. If you are taking a 90 minute test (eg., 50 questions), but for whatever reason, you are unable to complete the last five questions within the time period given, shade in a circle (any circle, please). When time is up, time is up. Circle the answer. Call it a day. You can go back and read the last five questions and change those answers. Do not get into the habit of not finishing the exam, but failing to answer the remaining questions before time is called.

9. Naps: When you start the multi-state bar, question answering process, you will probably fall asleep. Why? Long questions that you are not used to seeing, reading or answering require more mind power. You will have to concentrate more, for a longer period of time. If you fumble through five or ten questions, or find yourself on the same question, reading it two or three or four times, and your head is bobbing, that means that you need a "wake-up" call. A wake-up call may mean that you should take a walk, get some air, or, the easiest remedy, a 20 minute nap. Yes. Put your head on the desk and take a nap. If you are sleepy, then sleep. Head bobbing means that you are not retaining anything. Get the nap in. Start up, again.

10. Yes, it is the answer - seriously. Do not fight the correct answer choice. Fight to listen carefully for the truth. Whatever the answer to the question, is the answer to the question. You may actually find one question out of 3,000 that is the wrong answer. May!!! Some applicants tend to spend an inordinate amount of time fighting with the answers in the back of their books. The only thing this means is that you are refusing to learn. You would rather not be wrong, instead of deciding that the answer is correct. Find a way in which to agree with the answer choice, instead of constantly going to battle with an answer. Work to find the truth in the call of the question and the answer.

Our last two posts: the performance test and the essay.

Thank you for your time,

Prof. Smith

Our Last Three Posts: tips for the multi-state bar examination; the essay exam, and the multi-state performance test.

Hello, everyone. I am writing to inform you that I will write three posts over the next week. Each post will provide tips you can (and, should) use when it is time to actually study for the bar examination.

If you have any questions, please try to share them with me as soon as possible. Please leave your comment. No question too big or small. And, there is always at least one answer to every question.

We will talk soon.

Thank you,

Prof. Smith

An Invitation To "The" Party - Mode of Transportation (Driving).

Hello everyone. This is the last post regarding transportation to the party; that is, the library or wherever it is that you will study for the bar exam this summer. We have already discussed walking and public transportation (bus/subway), but do I have any thoughts on driving? Yes, I do.

1. Tickets: Make certain that if you are unfortunate to get tickets that you pay them on time. You do not want to receive a boot while parked in a space that eventually will become a no parking zone because of rush hour. You do not want a boot at anytime, but rush hour means that you will be towed. That's time that you will now need to travel to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and pay all of the fines on your vehicle with cash or a major credit card. This could be troublesome. FYI: Take the tickets with you when you leave the car and place them on the desk where you keep all of your study materials. You can pay the tickets on line and the tickets will be right there, in front of your face, as a daily reminder. We won't allow our tickets to double.

2. Parking: Think about finding a parking place where the car will be hidden from the sun most of the day. Don't be compelled to look for the space closest to the library. Shade is what you want. You do not want anything to melt in your car while you are in the library and that includes you, when you leave the library for the day or a break. Yes, it's best to have the "car visor" to protect your seats when you enter the car, however, if the car is already parked in the shade that will give you a nice, familiar place to take a break inbetween study periods. If you know there will be thunderstorms, then move closer to the door of the library; otherwise shoot for shade.

3. Change For The Meter: If you have to park at the meter, don't waste time running back and forth to a change machine. If Friday, for example, is your early day out of the library (only early day a week), then that is the day that you head to the bank or a local grocer and get your week's worth of quarters. Don't spend the quarters on the snack machines! Leave them in the car, for the car. Set your phone for the time in which you need to put change in the meter and allow for 15 minutes to gather up the items that you need to take with you and the walk to the car. This is also a good time to take something to the car that you completed and to pick up something else to work on for later.

4. Some books; Not all. You will have a lot of trunk space - - maybe. I don't suggest that you carry all of your books in the trunk. You don't want to be towed, or even worse, someone to steal your car. Take what you need for that day and keep it in the car. Also, everything you put in your car, you eventually have to take out of your car at the end of the day or the next morning. The books can be heavy. Take some books, not all of them. It's like a vacation - - you know that you won't wear all of the clothing you bring with you. Think carefully, before you pack.

5. A Cooler. Keep a cooler in the trunk of the car. There is nothing like running out to the car for a cold drink during break time and a sandwich, or anything light (eg., a piece of fruit, a few crackers, popcorn, etc.). The cooler, once closed tightly, is your window to good snacking and good breaks without moving the car or driving to the nearest 7-11.

6. A little "brown" bag: Keep some type of overnight bag in the car, too. A shaving kit, an extra change of clothes, toiletries, including a toothbrush and toothpaste can come in handy, IF YOU NEED IT. Murphy's Law sends out extra recruits to accompany every law school graduate taking the bar this summer, and you want Murphy on someone else, not you. Moisturizer, vaseline, face cloth, hand sanitizer, travel sized soap, lotion, after shave, a favorite cologne, deodorant, a brush and a comb. Whatever you think you need that you can stick in a little black bag in the back of the trunk is what you want to carry with you.

7. Getting to the library: Go early or go late, and try to stay out of rush hour unless you don't mind the traffic. If you don't mind the traffic, then I don't mind the traffic. I do, however, mind your time! Make sure you know more than one route in the event that one or more streets are cut off from you. If more than your requisite number of streets are not available, and it is taking you twice as long to get to the library as usual, then TURN AROUND, and go in the opposite direction to another library, even if that library is not a law library. A public library is just as good as the law library if it means that you can get to it in 15 minutes, and will not get to the law library for another hour and 15 minutes. Don't forget to adjust accordingly. That is the most important word during the bar prep period. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust.

8. Getting Home From the Library: If you are too tired to drive, then don't. If you are too tired to drive, then don't. If you are too tired to drive, then don't. There. I thought I would say it several times just to make sure that you are not too tired to read. You know yourself very well and can gauge how tired you are and whether you need sleep. Everyone can't just decide to go to a hotel and get some rest if she is too sleepy to drive home. There are other options. Stay with friends. Take a nap in a car in a place where there are a lot of people and traffic coming in and out of a store (even 20 minutes in a police parking lot is better than just sitting somewhere without human traffic). Do not put yourself in a position that we are now studying you (criminal law - manslaughter) on the bar this summer. Also, look at this word - man ---> slaughter. When you really break it down, it is not a pretty term. For you, for me, for anyone.

9. A Car Is A Home? My car was my home during the bar review period. It was a mess, but it was my mess and I did not explain my mess to anyone. I believe that I get to do what I want to do for the things I pay for, without anyone's help. So, it's my car to trash. The only thing is that you start to feel a little trashy when the car is a little trashy. Keep some plastic bags in the car and once a week throw stuff away. I don't say that you have to do it everyday because I know people that will spend 90 minutes cleaning out the car before heading into the library (anything to prevent the long walk to the library's front door). At night, no one is throwing away anything; we are sprinting to the car. Once a week, perhaps Saturday morning, take the bag out of the car and stuff it in the trashcan. Try to take out foodstuff right after you've eaten it.

10. Maintenance. We covered this in an earlier post, but now I'm speaking of cleaning the car. Go through a brushless car wash unless you want to spend some comfort time cleaning the outside of the car. Then, of course, you will feel guilty for taking all of the time to clean a car when you know you should be in the libary. Car wash. Please.

11. Tires. I have mentioned tires before, but just look at your car when you leave the library every evening. Look at it for anything out of the ordinary. Underinflated tires do not wear well. A quick look - - two minutes may help you prevent your home from being sidelined on the highway.

12. Embarrassed? Do not be embarassed that you do everything from sleep, eat, talk on the phone, or memorize an outline in your car. The car is the home away from home. It is just a small place for you to relax outside of the library during breaks when you need it. You don't owe anyone a reason, and you do not have to provide anyone with an excuse about your automobile.

I want you to get in touch with your bar exam. Don't worry about anything or anyone else.

Prof. Smith

Next Stop: The multi-state bar examination (multiple choice).

An Invitation To The Exam: How Will We Travel To the Party (Public Transportation; Anyone)?

Hello, all. Let's talk today about traveling to and from "the party" using public transportation. Public transportation includes bus or metropolitan subway system, or any other form of citywide transportation.

1. Get a Bus Schedule. Please. Do not wait to make a call on your cellphone to learn what time the bus arrives in the morning, or that evening. You don't want to be late to the bar prep course that is already in session, while you wrestle with your books, computer and other items, before you quickly squeeze into a seat, while learning is in session.

2. Be Ahead of The Bus. Even with a schedule, arrive to the bus stop five to ten minutes earlier than its posted arrival time. Some bus drivers are early; others are late. We want to be at the bus stop if the driver is early.

3. Metro Cards. Ask someone in your family to "fill you up," financially, with tokens or whatever type of pass that is used on the bus or railway system. Take whatever it is that they offer you and be happy.

4. Studying On The Bus. It is not a good idea to try to study on the bus. Too many distractions, even if you have earplugs that reach from one ear to the other. You are trying to juggle all of the items that you brought to the library on one leg, balance the multiple choice questions on the other leg, plug up your ears so that you can concentrate on one question during a 30 minute ride, and you just so happened to have sat next to "perspiration man." Something (or, someone) is going to give. Soon. Use the ride on the bus to send the 1,000 text messages a day you normally write each day, to telephone someone who is not studying for the July bar exam, or to return calls to your priority list folk (the people that take front and center in your life). Or, just grab a window seat and stare out into space for the entire bus ride (especially if you are heading home). Nothing says peace and quiet like a noisy city bus at 10:00 p.m., after a good long day of testing and preparing outlines.

5. Napping on the Bus. If you decide to nap on the bus, set the timer on your cell so that it goes off five minutes before you arrive at your destination. I have, unfortunately, been caught on the last line of the subway system at 3:45 a.m. Yes, I have had to walk two or three miles, on a few occasions, when I've fallen asleep on the local subway train. It can be an long walk, but an even longer one when you have 15+ pounds of books on your back.

6. Passengers: we are all concerned about our safety, so be cordial, but careful. If someone has had too much to drink, be careful how you interact with this person. You don't want someone to become attached and try to follow you home. Yes, it happens. It also happens to those of use who have mental maladies, too. I am no doctor, but a person with schizophrenia who is not taking medications consistently, may show some erratic behavior. None of us are featured physicians on Diagnosis.MD, but we are all caretakers of our own lives. Correct? Keep your eyes open and ears alert. Try to stand with a group of people while traveling and waiting for a bus (if you don't want to stand out.

7. Did Not Take the Bus Today (Waiting for A Scheduled Pick-Up)? Stay in touch with the person who is supposed to pick you up, by telephone. Let the person know (before you leave the library's study corner) where you will be and how long you will be. And, be there. Make a decision that you will wait a little longer or leave after a certain time period, if the ride has not arrived within a reasonable time period.

There is nothing that frustrates a non-car owner more than a person who says he or she will offer a ride home, but the person does not show. You will be angry, frustrated, mad, etc. You have to release (or, let go) of the anger, as soon as possible. This is the only way that you can take back your night. It's important to know that person is safe, but your sanity is important, as well. Don't spend your very important two hours in the evening arguing with someone about where you were and where that person should have been. Spend that time rejuvenating yourself for the next day. When you do have time to reflect on the "driver," ask yourself is this person consistently adding to my bar exam experience or taking away from it. If the answer is the latter of the two, then you know what you must do. That person will have to be given another title, at least right now, until your bar exam experience is complete.

Always weigh your options; lean toward efficiency.

Thank you,

Prof. Smith

The Invitation To The Party - What Are Our Means of Transportation - "Shall We Walk?"

Hello CLEO Family. I want to discuss transportation to and from the party. You have to get to the party. You are either going to walk, drive, take public transportation (bus or rail), ask someone to drop you off and pick you up, or jump in a taxicab. A few of us will not have to take any transportation at all because we will entertain ourselves by studying at home and will not need "a ride" to the party.

Let's talk about staying home, first, instead of heading out to the library or a classroom in a school, or a favorite quiet place to study. Home is where the heart is, but it is also full of distractions, but it is not the wrong place to study, if it is your place of choice. Those who choose to study at home must be aware that a good amount of discipline is involved to keep you on track. The "home alone" person must still get in ten or more hours of studying and do so while sitting near the radio, the Ipod, the television, the cell phone, the e-mail system, Facebook, and Twitter.

If you choose to make home your study castle, then I'm all for it. However, if you start to fall off the horse (eg., you take too many breaks, you take calls that you do not have time to entertain, you take one too many naps, or, you are in the kitchen to eat or drink more than you should), then it is time for you to get off the horse, and get on to the library. No one will be at your home to monitor you. You may dislike the library, but the library may just be a necessary evil.

Walking: the plusses! Walking ensures that you get Vitamin D everyday and that you get in much needed exercise to and from the library. Some of us may choose to take public transportation part of the way and then walk the rest of the way, even if it is only ten blocks or so. Get your exercise in the best way you can. Walking also clears the mind. If you have a nice sturdy backpack (and a good back), you can plan your day while you walk, munch on cereal and have a drink as breakfast, or do absolutely nothing but concentrate on the walk.

You will probably establish a specific route and run into several people consistently over the ten week period. Don't forget to greet people you meet on your way to and from the library. You have no idea when you may need their help, or vice versa. Do not be mean to others just because you have to study for the bar and the people smiling, sitting on the porch, or watering their grass, are not heading to the library for the next ten weeks.

The minuses! If you walk to the library every day you have to carry books. The books you receive from the commercial bar prep course can be quite heavy. Take only what you plan to study, and not a lot of excess materials (if you are walking). Otherwise, too many books may be a drag (literally and physically). Please note that you can break up your commercial books so that you only need to carry the subjects you will study that day. Yes, you are destroying a book, but it is your book to tear in half, if you choose to do so.

It is hard on the body to walk home in the evening, especially if it is at night. It is also dark. Regardless of gender, you need to be careful if you walk home in the evening. We all know the standard warnings; just keep in mind that you are extra tired because you are carrying a load of books, and your mind has been on the law all day. You may not be as alert as you would normally. Maybe walk to the library in the day, and take another form of transportation in the evening, as you head home. This is just something for you to think about. Your feet will become worn (quickly). An extra pair of athletic socks will go a long way. Take it from someone who knows.

A Cash Money Caveat. If you decide to walk to and from the library everyday or even every other day, never forget to keep a $20 bill somewhere on your person when the physically tired you says, "take a cab, home, please." Swollen, cracked feet, and a swollen, cracked mind, sometimes, wants someone to act as a chauffeur from time to time, even if it is a paid chauffeur. Keep a taxi $20 bill on call, all the time.

Next: Public Transportation - How to Work Our Way Through The System.

Prof. Smith

An Invitation to the Bar Exam – July 2011. What to Bring To the Party. Part I – The Workout; Part II – Transportation.

The last post was all about exercise and that you have to include it in your bar prep regimen and get it done. Before I leave the exercise world and move on to transportation, there are two questions that I want to address with you regarding when, where, and how you exercise.

Question 1. Should you ever make an attempt to exercise during the middle of the day? The answer to this question depends on who you are as an applicant?

Consider the following questions. Are you a slow learner? Do you have a slow learning curve? A slow learning curve doesn’t mean that you are not smart, or that you are not intelligent enough to pass the bar exam. A person with a longer learning curve may need additional time to pick up more difficult concepts. Will it take you twice, or three times as long to learn commercial paper (what is a holder in due course, how do real and personal defenses affect the holder, and whether those defenses are imputed to another under the shelter rule)? How long will it take you to learn how to calculate damages in contract law? Do you know the difference between a profit and a license? Also, what subjects do you have to learn for the bar that you did not enroll in while in law school? How much time will you have to dedicate to these subjects?

These are some of the questions that you should ask yourself before going to the library, and deciding, during the middle of the day, that you will split up the day, to exercise. If it is going to take you some time to get “X study” done, then you don’t need to get up during the middle of the day to take a break for exercise. You don’t have that kind of time to spare. Vigorous exercise will give you pep, but you have to travel to the place where you will conduct the exercise, change clothing, shower, then change back into street clothes. Then you run the risk of taking a long nap when you return from the mid-day exercise.

Efficiency is your middle name, and keep that in mind at all times during this bar study period. Time is very important to you. Now, can you take a break & take a solid 30 minute stroll between studying. Absolutely! But you don’t want to tire. Do you understand? That’s the key. Get the stroll in; move the body, but do not drain the mind. That is what you need. Pace yourself. Whatever you tell other people, make sure that you always tell yourself the truth.

Question 2. Must you go to the gym in order to get your exercise? That depends. I do not think that going to the gym is overrated, but it does take up a slice of your time. Walking, parking, waiting for machines, shower, changing, etc., eats up a lot of time. That does not mean that you cannot ever go to the gym, but do you want/have to go to the gym for your exercise, every day? Think about the time factor and the number of people you may have encounter (which depends on the time of day you hit the gym), then make a decision. Also, consider the thoughts posed from the first question.

Some of you are thinking, is she crazy? Does she think we can plan all of our exercise, and grocery runs, etc., in the morning? Do we have to plan all of our errands and bar prep work down to the minute and do it all of the time for eight (8) to ten (10) weeks?

Listen to me. Do what you have to do when you have to do it. You don't have to do anything that I suggest. I am just the messenger. You decide what you want to implement. I just do not want you to act surprised when the summer hits; I want you to have options. However, If you don’t hear me now, just listen to this:

July 2011, now; or February 2012, later.

It’s all up to you!

Prof. Smith

Next: Part II: How Will We Travel To The Party?

The July 2011 Bar Exam - Your Invite To The Party. Part I - The Daily Workout ; Part II - Transportation To and From The Event.

Hello, everyone. All of you that are tuning into this site know that we are trying to attend a party sometime in November. For some of us, the party will be in October. Regardless of the month, everyone in the CLEO family is trying to get the right ticket for entry into the party. That is what we are seeking to achieve. The winning ticket.

Well, I know you want to look your best as you prepare for the party. The "big dance," is not until October or November; right now, you are preparing for that dance. We all know that in order to look our best, that it is important to start on that task now, and not wait until six months later to get ourselves together. Right!

So, we must keep moving and studying throughout our actual bar exam study period.

Part I.

1. Exercise: You must move during the bar exam study period, even if you have never moved before. I don't care if you walk, run, Wii, do the Insanity Workout, Lift Weights, Yoga, play basketball, football, baseball, or soccer. Just get your body active. I don't have any preferences for any particular workout regimen, as long as you move. When we are under stress (informal definition - doing something in our lives that we do not normally do and doing that thing for an extended period of time), we tend to do certain things in order to cope with the stress.

Some of us drink a little more than we should. Some of us socialize more often. Others sleep more than the requisite period of time. Yet, many of us eat to comfort ourselves during a stressful time period. And, that additional food adds up to our inability to sustain our normal weight. Eight to ten weeks later, we can find ourselves at 10 plus pounds heavier than we were when we began a particular ordeal.

No, you can't stop eating. You have to nourish the body in order to use the mind as the sponge required to soak up mountains of knowledge provided for in the commercial bar prep courses. Starving yourselves means starving your mind. I know women go on diets all of the time. You can not prepare for the party without adequate sustenance. Men, who have also been known to diet from time to time, do not seem to try dieting during the exam. Known to eat mothers' out of house and home during any season, the male applicant for the bar does not seem to be concerned about dieting, which is why he needs to exercise as much as possible.

Is time in your way? I mean, you don't think you will have time to exercise? I understand your concern. Why? Well, if I told the truth, I would say that I did not exercise during my bar prep period. I was a good friend of Popeye's chicken & biscuits. I paid for it, too. Thirty pounds gained, and since I had never been overweight before, it was difficult for me to get it off, afterward. The sole reason for my lack of exercise during this time was that I was too scared to do anything except study, smoke cigarettes, and eat Popeye's. And that is all I did for the entire bar prep period. Today, I would be a walking time bomb. Oh, by the way, I don't smoke any longer (more than a decade). I have not been inside of Popeye's in at least three years (a biscuit still has a hold on me). And my treadmill, which is to my left, gets consistent use.

If you want a surefire way to get in the exercise, get it done as the first thing in the morning. Now, the requirement to exercise first thing in the morning, will conflict with my premise that you should test early, and often do it first thing in the morning. You have a choice of doing one at a time on the same day, or just alternating days. That means that three days one week you will exercise, and four days one week, you will test first thing in the morning; or, four days a week, test first, and three days a week exercise first. Or, five (5) to six (6) days a week, test first, then exercise, or exercise first, then test. Pick your poison, but pick something.

If you don't have an exercise, but you want something cheap, then get up first thing in the morning and walk. You can walk with or without coffee, or bagel or sandwich. I am not trying to act as the spokesperson for Jenny Craig, but you must get going. Get a sandwich, coffee, your pet, whatever, and hustle right out the front door. I want the movement more than I want you to consider how your hair looks, who is going to see you, that you did not wash your face, or brush you teeth, as those things do not matter a 10th as much as your ability to get up, walk strongly for 30 minutes and return home. I would like 40 minutes, but some of us will complain that they just started walking (never mind that they have been walking of their lives).

If you don't want to walk, please buy a jump rope. Jump ten minutes in the morning, and increase your time by ten minutes until you can jump 30 minutes (total). I don't need non-stop. I just want to see your time increase, a little at a time. I don't care how you skip rope, fast or slow, what I care about is that you get it done. Other men or women will try to impress you with their boxer like jump rope skills. Hit 'em with your rope (just joking). Don't worry about the other person; this task is on you. If you need a more challenging session, many ropes come with weighted handles; this will give your upper body a tremendous workout. FYI - you will not jump rope at 11:30 p.m., at night, after a day of studying. It's not going to happen.

Next post - a final thought on exercise, and Part II - Transportation To The Party.

Prof. Smith