Complete Course Description
Emerson’s Bar Review course includes 84 hours of video lectures, 42 graded homework and practice exams, 5 graded performance tests, a 3-day graded and simulated California Bar exam, unlimited private tutoring (within reason), full text answers to more than 200 past California Bar Exam questions, a video-lecture analysis of 45 past California Bar Exam questions at about 30 minutes each.
Head Start Course vs. Regular Course
Students who take the HEAD START COURSE continue FREE in the immediately following REGULAR COURSE. You are automatically enrolled.
The Regular Course
The Regular Course for the February Bar Exam is 8 weeks duration, plus two additional weeks; one for final testing, and one free week. The Regular Course for the July Exam is 6 weeks duration, plus one week for final testing. There is no free week. The July preparation time is shorter because the results from the February exam are announced in late May, leaving limited time to prepare for the next exam.
During the Regular Course we cover all the bar topics. You are expected to watch 3 lectures per week, submit the homework essay assigned following each lecture, and to take and submit the weekly half-day practice exam.
The weekly half-day practice exams consist of 3 essays on subjects we have covered, or one Performance Test.
At the end of the Regular Course, for both the February and July Bar Exams, we administer a final 3-day simulated bar exam. We designate the 6 essay questions and the 2 PT’s which are used on Tuesday and Thursday of final exam week. You should choose 200 MBE questions for Wednesday's MBE practice.
The Head Start Course
The Head Start Course is always 8 weeks duration, always begins in March or September, and always has a free week (no classes or homework). It is always followed by the Regular Course within a week or so. It is FREE to the Head Start students.
The homework and weekend practice exams are identical in the Head Start and the Regular Course. Head Start students use the Regular Course to catch up on what they did not get done in the Head Start Course. If you have already written the assigned essay, you may write additional unassigned essays. We will grade them and provide feedback as usual.
The Head Start Course extends the time and opportunity to utilize the tutors and other resources of Emerson’s Bar Review.
The Lectures
There are two 3-hour lectures on each major bar subject. There are additional lectures on subtopics. Students can watch and re-watch the lectures.
A typical lecture is a mixture of about 50 % substantive law and 50 % application of the law to past California Bar Exam questions. There is a homework assignment following each 3-hour lecture that is always answering a past bar question. The assigned question has been selected to test the sub-topic of the lecture just watched, and the homework is due at the end of the week.
Homework
The daily schedule shows the order in which we would like for students to watch the video lectures. The order is important because of the due dates of the homework assignments that follow each lecture. Since the homework is due on Saturday, our end of week, it is paramount that students watch the assigned lectures for the week so that they are able to turn in the assignment. The graded homework will be given a number grade, contain significant remarks and feedback, and will be returned promptly.
As an example, the daily schedule shows that during the first week of classes, students watch lectures on several subjects: Contracts, Torts, etc. A past California Bar Exam question will be assigned as homework following each of these lectures. This means that by midnight on Saturday of that week, essay answers are due. They are written open book and without a time limit (until later in the course).
Homework and practice exams are submitted to us and returned to students using the google docs system, which we will explain to you.
Practice Exams
A 3-hour practice exam is given each week on Saturday, and there is a 3-day simulated California Bar Exam given two weeks before the actual California Bar Exam.
Weekly Practice Exams
About half of the weekly practice exams are written essays on subjects we have covered in the previous week’s lectures. The exams are open book with more time allotted than required for actual exam. They are open book because we know that having to look up a rule and use it in the practice exam will result in better remembering for the actual exam.
The extra time also alows students to develop the habit of getting a clear understanding of the problem before beginning to write.
Three-Day Simulated California Bar Exam
Beginning 14 days before the actual California Bar Exam, there will be a 3-day simulated Bar Exam.
The schedule of the exam (Intensive testing week) is as follows:
Tuesday Morning- Write three previous Bar Exam essays
Tuesday Afternoon- Write one Performance Test
Wednesday- Take a 200 question MBE test, using your own source of MBE questions.
Thursday Morning- Write three past Bar Exam essays
Thursday Afternoon- Write one Performance Test
Private Tutoring
When the homework or practice exams are returned to students they will contain the name and telephone number of the grader. Students may telephone or email that grader, or any grader, about any bar matter. The graders are paid by the paper when grading and by the hour when tutoring by telephone, so they are more than happy to talk with students all night long if they wish!
Typically, about half of our graders are former California Bar Exam graders, and the others are chosen because they are experienced and skilled at grading the essays.
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