Tag: @crushendo

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Advice Daily Dose Law School

Crash-Course Study Methods

I’ve realized that I loathe Barbri’s Property outline. I actually graduated from law school and yet, reading their property outline confuses the ever-loving hell out of me. The condensed version spans more than 60 freaking pages. yes, the CONDENSED version. I searched high and low for other options, including re-reading my own course notes and textbook from 1L year. That helped, but it was still too much to review. Luckily for me, a really helpful guy happened to read my blog and kindly suggested I use a new study tool.

Enter – CRUSHENDO.

I must tell you that I do not consider myself an auditory learner, at least not one that can simply listen to a lecture and nothing else. I’m a multiple-modality learner, which requires me to doodle or write along to what I’m listening. Sometimes, when the audio is too long or not engaging, I find myself drifting. So, I wasn’t too sure Crushendo would offer me anything worthwhile. But this is the freaking BAR EXAM, so there was absolutely no way I was going to avoid trying it out. Here’s my honest review, folks:

This program combines a written outline with a series of audio files. You can read the outline, which is considerably shorter than the Barbri work, and then listen to the playlist for each outline. The playlist includes audio files which are broken into digestible lengths (approximately 4 minutes each). I can listen to them while running at the gym, or while cooking; both scenarios offer me the chance to focus on moving, while also using neurons to work through concepts. Another aspect I love about the outlines are the pictures and mnemonics they incorporate. They’re pretty funny and memorable, albeit really corny or weird. But hey, they suit their purpose!

I had a chance to speak with Adam, creator of Crushendo, and he told me about the history of the company and why they started. These outlines, several times edited and improved, were what he created to get through the Bar Exam himself. He aced it on the first try and scored in the top 5% nationally. [In case you needed to know whether his study tools are useful, they are].

I’m really thankful he had the foresight to create these outlines because I’ve found them invaluable in preparing myself for the Texas Bar Exam. If you’re a law student, especially a 1L, I highly recommend you purchase these MBE, MPT, and MEE (for those states using the UBE) outlines and essay tools. This program allows you to prepare with MBE multiple choice questions, as well as MPT and essay exams (for the UBE only). They include point sheets and you can self-grade to see where you still need improvement. SO USEFUL!

This is a sample piece from Crushendo

I can’t tell you how much I wish I’d found Crushendo during my 1L year. I’m just thrilled these outlines found their way to me. If you need a crash-course for the MBE, these outlines might be just the ticket for you. If you’re barely beginning your law school career, do yourself the favor of purchasing this course content. Once purchased, you have lifetime access to the program; whenever they update with more MBE questions or essays from the NCBE, you have instant access to the content. How great is that?!

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Advice Law School

The Ugly Truth About Bar Prep

Preparing for the Bar exam is unbelievably lonely. I’m not sure what I expected this to feel like, but whatever those preconceived notions may have been were shattered after a few weeks into seriously prepping for this exam. Admittedly, I put off studying for a while. My brain just felt like it couldn’t deal after graduation.

This summer has been the most mentally fatiguing experience of my life and I’ve found myself trying to explain this emotion, or series of feelings, multiple times to many different people. So, here’s the ugly truth about bar prep – it sucks and feels like a hazing ritual. When no one in your immediate family has gone through this experience, it can feel like you’re an island and there’s not even a dinghy to help you escape. But you’ve got to get through it, and you will. Build the damn boat, friend.

The funny thing is, studying isn’t the difficult part. It’s getting myself into study mode. Every day. For hours. Several hours. Like nine hours a day and then time spent for review, and the gym (where I’ve been listening to audio outlines from Crushendo), feeding myself, and getting the dogs to the park for some play time. Aside from the gym, I tend to do a majority of these events alone. Despite what others might think, I am not lounging around at home, eating bonbons, and watching movies. I’m studying, working, working out, stress-baking, or sleeping. Glamorous, huh?

But hey, I bake cookies and send them to friends — that’s a good thing, I think.

I did make sure to maintain my weekly brunches with family because there’s no way this girl was giving up waffles and coffee on a Sunday morning. Also, I stress-bake. And frankly, I don’t give a damn if you think it sounds stupid. It’s how I cope and take needed mental breaks. Stay in your lane, peeps.

I’ve given it plenty of thought and honestly feel like I’ve put in the time this exam requires. There’s still about 100 hours of review left, which sounds ridiculous, but there’s plenty of time left to go over the law I need. Thinking about that time means more minutes alone spent working on essays, P&E practice questions, and MBE questions. It’s a lonely business, y’all. If your brain and personality don’t handle being alone well, then I strongly suggest figuring out a way to study and meet your social needs. [Everything in moderation, folks…including time with your friends and family. Little spurts seem to work best for me.]

In addition to the loneliness, studying for the Bar is also a suffocating experience. I used the Barbri program and, once I get results, I’ll be sure to let you know how things turned out. What I know right now is that I feel so overwhelmed with the breadth of law this program includes. From what I ascertained, it’s more than necessary, compared to other programs. Which is probably why I feel like I’m drowning all the time. Some of the condensed outlines are 70 pages. Let that sink in. SEVENTY. PAGES.

So now, you’re secluded. You’re losing yourself in a pile of books that basically require glue to keep your eyes open, under an amount of law you’re pretty sure there’s no way a single person can know all of, wishing for the chance to just use the degree you already earned. Not allowed.

Plus, there’s the relationships that will – without a doubt – suffer for your failure to be present in the lives of others. Oh, and if that’s not enough stress, there’s the added concern of the countless other things going on in the dark depths of your mind. Everyone has worries. You don’t want to disappoint your family, friends, or yourself. There’s so much riding on this exam and everything in your life at this very moment feels like it’s being held together by balsa wood and papier-mâché. Trust me — you are not alone in this. It may feel that way, but we’re going through it together. You can reach out and vent and talk through your concerns. Every attorney before you has been in exactly this same position.

Every lawyer I’ve spoken to about this process said a variation of the same thing – “this is the worst of it. Get yourself past this roadblock and you’ll be fine.” But no one told me how they did it. Not a single person. Because the only real answer to “how can I get through this?” is simple: everyone does it differently. And no single experience will align with another. Everyone learns differently, studies differently, and works differently. There is no formula for getting through it with flying colors. You just do what you can, give prepping everything you’ve got, and then walk into the exam days with confidence to spare.

There’s 2 weeks left until game day. Keep it up. You’ve got this. Keep going. Little by little, you’ll get yourself there. Plus, in 17 days – you can go back to reading things for fun!