How to Pass the Bar Exam the First Time You Take It
Taking the bar exam? Want to succeed? Here’s a few tips from a poor soul that had to take the bar exam in two different states…and taking these tips to heart helped her pass the first time, both times.
- Understand the distinctions in the law, and understand them well. If you don’t understand them, or you think you “sort of” do, make sure you talk to other students or appropriate person. This is especially important for multiple choice.
- SLEEP. Every night. 8 hours. Your brain needs to process and rest. It’s better to get the sleep and feel refreshed instead of cramming that last piece of information in that you won’t remember, anyway, because you’re too tired.
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Alfred E. Neuman sez: What, Me Worry About the Bar Exam?
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so you need to be able to train yourself appropriately. Your brain is like a muscle–you probably haven’t utilized it ever before like you will in the bar exam, so you need to realize that you actually have to train yourself to absorb more and more information over time.
- Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. If you ARE getting overwhelmed, stop, breathe, think of something else for a few minutes, go for a walk, work out, go to the beach for a short swim!
- Don’t underestimate the bar exam. Just as some of you have to control your tendency to freak out and find it all too much, some of you have to remember that this is big–a lot of money and a lot of wasted time if you do not take it seriously. Study every day, no matter what, for at least a few hours.
- The biggest fear, of course, is fear of failure. But quit fearing failure if it is driving you to panic (which then will drive you to fail, because you can t think). The reality is-those of us that have taken the bar know that it is incredibly difficult. I don t know a single person that was 100% confident they passed right after they took it. If you fail, we won t look down on you, we know how hard it is –and how easy it could be to slip into panic. Take a breath, know you can do it again and it will not be the end of the world, I promise.
- FOCUS. Keep your mind on the matter. Make the time you spend studying QUALITY time, as opposed to quantity. I personally would rather study in a focused manner for 2-3 hours than spend 8 hours doing it half-heartedly, wouldn’t you?
- Know, now, that your friends and family, no matter how well-intentioned, do not understand what it means to study for the bar exam.
- DO NOT sit and obsess with everyone else about the bar exam (this includes the days of the bar exam).
- DO NOT compare the amount you study to what others say they are studying. It’s irrelevant. The quality of your time and focus, and covering all the material, is what matters.
The key components to success, in a nutshell, are that you learn to focus and avoid distractions, especially those that are emotionally draining/straining.
The End of P2P Throttling: FCC Slaps Comcast
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced its orders on Comcast, a major high-speed internet provider, to halt their practice of throttling selected peer-to-peer file sharing traffic. The commission voted 3-2 on the said ruling stating that Comcast has been monitoring the contents of their customers’ internet connections and has been blocking traffic, particularly in BitTorrent peer-to-peer networks. The commission claims that such practices are invasive and have significant effects on the rights of internet users.
According to the commission, Comcast uses deep-packet inspection to monitor the contents of the customers’ internet connection, instead of the destination. “In essence, Comcast opens its customers’ mail because it wants to deliver mail not based on the address on the envelope but on the type of letter contained therein,” the commission said.
The commission also claims that the effect of Comcast’s throttling is widespread, to the point that they have managed to control the traffic of up to three-quarters of all file sharing connections in some areas.
The Comcast Violation Run-down
Comcast violates FCC policies on Net Neutrality, forbidding any kind of restrictions on the kinds of equipment, communication, and content allowed on the internet. In particular, Comcast violates the policy on the grounds of discriminating against file sharing traffic.
Comcast admits performing network management practices in allegiance with Sandvine and claims that its actions are in accordance with the law and are reasonably consistent with industry practices. It denies the FCC statement that the company is blocking any file sharing traffic whatsoever. It also asserted that the company does not have anything against peer-to-peer networks, let alone, anything specific against BitTorrent.
Comcast spokesperson Sena Fitzmaurice said that the company was “gratified that the commission did not find any conduct by Comcast that justified a fine,” still claiming that the company never did meant to throttle internet traffic. Comcast was not asked any monetary sanction but was ordered to completely halt its monitoring practices. The commission gave the company 30 days to fully disclose its throttling methods.
The FCC believes that Comcast’s motive in halting BitTorrent network traffic was profit-oriented. It has to be considered that BitTorrent provides high-quality video downloads accessible to all internet users. Such wide scale video distribution provides a tough competition to Comcast’s own video-on-demand services.
Public Knowledge, a nonprofit digital rights group brought the said complaint to the FCC months before the ruling was announced. Gigi Sohn, president, said that “Comcast’s throttling of legal internet traffic had nothing to do with network management as the company claims.” The group shares the speculation of FCC that the practice was clearly profit-oriented stating that what Comcast did has “everything to do with a big company trying to exert its power over a captive internet market.”
Net Neutrality is a policy adopted by FCC as a result of a hearing done back in 2005. The rules have a mandate to ensure that the internet is “accessible to all consumers.”
The ruling against Comcast was proposed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican and was voted on by Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, both are Democrats. Republican commissioners Robert McDowell and Deborah Taylor voted against the said ruling.
McDowell believes that the decision has the potential to politicize the internet. “It will be interesting to see how the FCC will handle its newly created power because, as an institution, we are incapable of deciding any issue in the nanoseconds of internet time. Furthermore, asking our government to make these decisions will mean that every two to four years the ground rules could change depending on election results,” he said.
The NYU Law School Cash for Class Scandal
Nowadays at NYU Law School, the right amount of cash can buy you any class.
Students studying at the top-tier New York University law school are wheeling and dealing for the opportunity to gain a seat in the most popular of classes.
Offers for the seats that range from cash, baking, gift certificates, and even inappropriate favours have flooded the forum for the school last week as desperate students advertise their level of commitment to gaining a seat before the September 3rd cutoff.
One July 21 e-mail pleads, "WANT: Entertainment Law, Will Pay Cash."
Another person posts, "Seriously. Let’s talk bribes."
A third person says, "I really want this class. I don’t have any classes to trade, so I’ll rely on the old capitalist standby, cash."
Turning Law School Classes into Cash
It’s an education in real life about the art of negotiating and getting the best deal for students who pay around $40,000 per year in tuition at Greenwich Village institution which has been ranked No. 4 in the nation for law schools by US News & World Report.
"People have been buying and selling classes ever since I started," said Colin George, who graduated in May. "There are always jokes about exchanging sexual favors, but I’ve never heard of its actually happening."
But last week, Vice Dean Liam Murphy attempted to put a stop to the whole operation as he sent off a letter to the 1,400 students that study at the school claiming the practice to be “deplorable”, and threatened punishment.
"I write to remind you that trading class spots for money or goods, or offering to do so, is a violation of law school rules," wrote Mr. Murphy.
"It’s inappropriate to allocate seating in classes with real money. We endeavor to set up a system that distributes classes in a fair way," The Post was told by Murphy, also stating that he doesn’t believe that actual transactions have taken place yet.
The NYU Class Registration Lottery System
Registration for classes works as a lottery, and after the courses are distributed to the students they can either choose to drop or add others. Because there are no waiting lists at the school students make swap arrangements for one student to drop a class just before another shows up to add it.
"We believe in the free market, and we think that we should be able buy things that are valuable to us," George said. "Our job is to find our way around rules."
Vice Dean Murphy hopes that the act of cash-for-classes will end after the current year, as a system with a waiting list is being instituted for the 2009-2010 school year.
Many of the students will be glad to see the current market place of cash-for-classes go by the wayside, as they believe the system currently favours the rich, giving an unfair advantage.
"I’m amazed how many people want a class war for class registration," said recent grad Terry McMahon. "Law school is really expensive, and those whose parents can cover it shouldn’t be able to buy better classes than everyone else."
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