Wha-huh?

Third-years are asked The Question approximately every thirty seconds, especially now when we're in spring semester. Getting down to the wire.

"So, which bar review did you sign up for?"

"Barbri," many will answer. Or, "Barbri and PMBR." Or "Shemer" (a popular all-in-one course run by one of the adjunct professors here at Baltimore). But me, I reply, "I decided not to sign up for a bar review."

They have a tendency to look at you as if you just admitted to fellating a sheep. Sometimes they do a comical, cartoon-esque double-take. And whether they tell you it's probably possible or fight to convince you that you should seek psychiatric help, you can tell from their faces that they're not entirely comfortable with this idea.

It's hard to decide whether to do bar review, because frankly very little data is available. Naturally all the bar review companies think you should do it, they're paid to think that. And so many students take bar review that it's hard to honestly evaluate how much it actually helps. Plus, there's the fact that everyone learns differently and everyone tests differently...a bar review that helps one person might be a waste of time for someone else.

In the end, I decided that I wasn't about to take out another loan just to fall asleep in some company's lectures. I test well, I learn best from reading and self-study (as opposed to lecture), and something in me deeply rebels at falling prey to these scam artists just because I'm scared it might make the difference between passing and failing. Because I don't believe that...that's just the fear talking.

This blog is here because one, I thought it would help me blow off steam, especially as we get closer to exam time, and two, there doesn't seem to be much out there about people who choose not to take bar review. Perhaps my experiences can serve as a signpost for others who want to strike out alone. Or perhaps they will serve as a tragic cautionary tale. Either way, you win!