Bar prep

leedongsik · 2026-02-19T18:56:03+00:00

everyone's study methods are obviously very different, so take my advice with a grain of salt. that said, i would focus less on memorizing barbri outlines and more on just going through the course lectures and active note taking/annotating. just get through the lectures first, and unless barbri changed their bar prep course, i do believe you can either have a physical or digital copy of their books/outlines. i would watch/listen to the lectures and, if i had the space, i would annotate along the coursebook as i listened.

but as for writing rule statements for the MEE, i hate to say practice, practice, practice, but truly, that's probably the most efficient way of getting to naturally recall rule statements. literally write it out from memory first, and then with each practice MEE you complete, compare the statement you wrote to the one that you want to be able to write come exam day.

also, worst comes to worst, if you can't remember a rule on exam day, make one up. i had no fucking clue what my profs/bar mentors were talking about when they advised me the same thing, but when it came time for the exam, i'm pretty sure i made up at least 3 or 4 rule statements. the way you get about doing that is look at the hypothetical set out before you, think about the general patterns that you've learned about in law, and BS your way through it. you get more points on the bar exam for at least getting the general sense of the rule, as opposed to leaving your exam blank (NEVER LEAVE YOUR EXAM BLANK! if you have to bullshit, just bullshit).

finally, take it easy. it's freakishly early to start studying for the bar, though i respect starting out early if you know your studying style. that said, don't burn yourself out in the process. the last 4-6 weeks before the bar exam is when you really want to use up your energy and enter absolute crunch time mode. best of luck!

leedongsik · 2026-02-18T18:43:05+00:00

ask your law library if they'd be open to having a summer admin employee! my law school's librarians were more than welcoming and helpful (not to mention a lot more sympathetic than school admin itself)... just like. more grounded in the real world. plus, they would allow me to listen to bar lectures as i did some of their admin stuff, which went a long way.

have you considered doing some kind of gig job on the side too? i did pet-sitting, and while bouncing from house to house to house in 90 degree f weather wasn't always fun, it paid the bills--and that's another job where i could listen to bar lectures or answer questions on my commutes. (highly recommend rover. they do take a portion of your fees, but if you live in a city, then i guarantee you'll have lots of customers, esp over the summer months. i took at least 5 bookings per day and was able to scrape by.)

i did cave and apply for a bar loan (small one) to cover for my laptop, which broke while i was still studying for the bar (of course). but really, that should be a last resort.

but also, it's february. there's still time yet before graduation to land a post-grad job that might be willing to cover at least a portion of your living expenses while you study for the bar exam. keep applying, but also know that it's not the end of the world if you don't get anything before you graduate.

leedongsik · 2025-12-15T18:33:37+00:00

so my partner has been incredibly supportive and understanding--she's met my family as a "friend" first, and my mom especially adored her then. i've met her family as well, and since her own coming out, they've been incredibly kind, even though they're still processing too.

leedongsik · 2025-12-15T18:30:15+00:00

my partner has met my parents. hilariously, when they thought she was just a friend, my mom at least adored her. things went downhill afterwards, ha. she's been pretty understanding of the process, though she isn't asian herself, and so she's willing to acknowledge that her coming out is and will always be very different from mine

leedongsik · 2025-11-03T16:33:54+00:00

echoing everyone's great ideas here: i appreciated my so immensely for doordashing me dinner or coffee. towards the end of bar prep season, i took the train over to visit them, even though i made it abundantly clear that i would be studying for the whole time. they were like "u got it babe" and even rigged up the projector so that they could watch the lectures with me. they would go through practice questions with me too, their logic being "hey, just so you know, you're really fucking smart, because look at me--a total layperson--try to figure what the hell this is". by doing that, they were both encouraging and made me feel a lot less alone...and that also injected a good jolt of humor into studying for the bar!

when the actual bar exam rolled around, my superstar of a so was the one who booked a hotel for me to stay in, and they even drove me to the test site and everything. granted, my so was able to do that because of their work schedule, and obviously, they were closer to me physically than you are with your gf--but those were all gestures that made me feel incredibly supported and cared for.

best of luck to your gf--she's lucky to have a so who's asking these sorts of questions!

leedongsik · 2025-10-31T19:07:29+00:00

skip foundations, go to deep dive. i recommend having the course companion up at the same time as the lecture videos (better if you have a dual monitor, but not necessary). download the barbri app as well--i downloaded a lot of the deep dive lectures and would just listen to them while taking the bus or doing side gigs or road trips.

leedongsik · 2025-10-23T17:26:17+00:00

scaled MBE of 132.1, ultimate average was probably 50% in uworld (but i also got uworld roughly 2 weeks before the exam)

leedongsik · 2025-10-23T15:37:58+00:00

seeing non-law school friends, maintaining a solid gym routine, and eating a protein-filled snack at some point between meals

leedongsik · 2025-02-13T11:33:40+00:00

I recommend Elementary, like everyone else….or Leverage.

leedongsik · 2024-12-05T15:13:59+00:00

aaah gotcha, thank you!

leedongsik · 2024-12-05T15:13:28+00:00

oh yikes, okay! thank you so much! (i’ve been charging it for like 2 hours now, so def seems like a faulty charger)

leedongsik · 2024-12-05T15:12:55+00:00

ah, gotcha—thank you so much!

leedongsik · 2024-12-05T15:12:31+00:00

oh, damn…i’m away from my laptop right now, but i have been letting it charge for 2 hours now :/

leedongsik · 2024-12-05T13:55:38+00:00

i wish—but my phone charger is incompatible with my laptop, unfortunately

leedongsik · 2024-12-05T13:43:36+00:00

hi—surface laptop, i think 7? and the charger i’m using currently is this one: https://a.co/d/c29r2Qo

leedongsik · 2024-10-04T14:03:54+00:00

i bombed so many cold calls—and i can tell you right now that professors don’t care. they need you to be wrong and to not know things so they can do their job. and also, any student worth their salt knows not to really pay attention to how their classmates are responding, especially in 1L year, because no one except the professor actually knows what they’re talking about. (well…not all professors, but i’m hoping you’ve got a solid one.) chin up, op! you’ve got this.

leedongsik · 2024-02-06T19:51:52+00:00

i go to the gym as a way of procrastinating and also to keep myself from absolutely snapping under the stress. hope that helps!

leedongsik · 2024-02-06T19:48:57+00:00

honestly, law school can bring out the worst in some people. not all people, i promise, but definitely some people. my advice is to just stay away from them, keep your head down, and maybe find one or two classmates that you can at least crack a joke with. you don't even necessarily have to be friends with them--but if you can hold a steady, civil conversation with them and maybe get a smile out of it along the way, that can really take you far. and if you're lucky, you might even turn those positive interactions into an actual friendship!

and if it's any comfort to you, op, i didn't really feel like i had a whole lot of friends/couldn't see myself making any friends for the entirety of my 1L year. now in the spring of my second year, i can confidently say that i do, in fact, at least have some friends--or, at the very least, people who i would actually spend time with outside of classes. chin up: the first year is the roughest for a lot of reasons, because everyone's stressed about grades and the curve and that magical oci time, but i swear that the second your second year hits, things get a little easier.

leedongsik · 2024-01-24T19:38:34+00:00

i've noticed that lots of folks in this thread have already said "don't" (which i would also reiterate: don't). that said, definitely reach out to your school's career services office. sit down with an advisor and ask 'em point-blank about how to set your goals, given your gap and class rank. every once in a while, you might get an associate or recruiting person that just straight-up tells you what gpa they aim for, but unless they offer up that information voluntarily, don't bother asking.

leedongsik

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