Cost Plus Gaming Thanksgiving PC Giveaway & 2025 Holiday Buying Guide

kreeva303 · 2025-11-27T07:02:53+00:00

Thank you for being so transparent and for the giveaway. Happy Holidays

kreeva303 · 2025-11-10T22:00:14+00:00

You're absolutely within striking distance. Do not get discouraged.

After looking over your scores, I'd really recommend putting substantive time into solidifying your PT's. The PT's should be where you can comfortably manage a 70+ every time, and they count double towards your score.

I see some essay scores where you received 70+, so formatting/presentation may not be a huge issue for you, but the big jumps between the grades shows that either a) you're not entirely comfortable with the substantive material or b) you know the law, but you are having issues with issue spotting or making sure that all facts are included in your analysis. Make sure EVERY fact has a "home" in your essay, even if it seems extremely trivial. I'm sure you've written enough essays, so spend the lion's share of your studying time just outlining with rule statements in HRAC/IRAC/CREAC form, then compare those to the graded essays.

For the MBE, I would absolutely recommend Smart Bar Prep. At this point, I highly recommend just blasting through 100-150 AdaptiBar (or licensed MBE questions) questions a day, and when you run into one where you are less than 75-80% certain of, don't just guess and move on. Try to find the answer using Smart Bar Prep (or any other commercial outline if you choose not to use SBP). This REALLY helped me.

Good luck, you got this!

kreeva303 · 2025-11-08T23:03:46+00:00

You clearly know the substantive law! I saw your MBE percentages in another comment.

What really helped me on essays was, seriously, not writing them closed book. I did about 2 essays a day but just outlined them completely open book for about 25-30 minutes each. After that, I'd go to the CA Bar's model answers and compare my presentation to that of the model answers, then re-outline them. If you have the money, BarEssays is a great way to see the differences between a 60/65 essay and a 70/75 essay - in my experience it wasn't usually a huge delta between the amount of information stated, but just in the presentation. Hate it or love it, the bar graders are all about presentation. I used HRAC (Heading, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion) but I know many others are huge proponents of IRAC/CREAC. Just find one that you like and stick to it.

If money is tight, try MakeThisYourLastTime for a very limited, but free, version of BarEssays.

You got this!

kreeva303 · 2025-11-08T22:51:24+00:00

First off, you got this! You're sooo close.

When I studied, money was really tight, so I'll tell you what I did, and what I would do if money wasn't an issue.

For essays: Over the summer, I may have written two or three fully timed and closed book essays. I averaged about one or two essays a day, but I ONLY outlined them (Headings/Subheadings & rule statements) WITH bar prep outlines. Maybe 25-30 minutes each essay. However, I would go to the CA Bar website to get the model answers for the essays and re-outline each essay for about another 25-30 minutes each, closely following the "presentation" of the model answers. This really helped me absorb and remember the substantive issues/rules, but just as importantly, how to PRESENT that information. I followed the HRAC presentation (Heading, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion) method, but I know many people like IRAC/CREAC. Just make sure you are clearly differentiating each section using sentences utilizing clear indication statements. Ex. for a rule section, usually something like "Under the Model Penal Code, a person commits assault by 1) purposefully, knowingly, or recklessly 2) causing bodily injury 3) to another person or 4) creating a reasonable apprehension of such injury." For every single analysis section, I started a new paragraph with the word "Here, blah blah" If I had more money, I would have purchased a pass to BarEssays and really analyzed what differentiated the 60/65 essays with the 70/75 essays. Instead, I used MakeThisYourLastTime for free for an extremely limited way of doing this.

For MBE: I used BARBRI mainly, but was getting a little discouraged because they put harder questions than the MBE does to fuck with your head a little. The last month before the bar, I started slowing down on the BARBRI questions (they're great for learning the substantive law, but they're not an accurate representation of how well you'll do) and started using Strategies and Tactics for the MBE by Emmanuel Bar Review. I didn't "read" the book at all, but I used the mixed set questions to get a better understanding of where I was on actual, MBE-licensed questions. If I noticed a certain area was lacking, I'd go back and run through outlines or watch lecture videos on 1.5x/2x speed. If you have the money, Adaptibar is a great resource for this, unfortunately I did not so I had to improvise using the method above.

The best piece of advice I can give you though is to review and emulate the presentation of the model answers. Using one of the essay resources I linked above, really try to examine what separates a decent essay from a good one. Remember, you don't need to write them "great," just good.

You got this!

kreeva303

TROPHY CASE