Overall, my conclusion was that I wished I'd done Rigos. I think you can pass with either course. But the Rigos method seemed less stress inducing. I heard from both Barbri and Rigos studets who noticed the difference. Plus, Rigos sent encouraging, pump-em-up type messages in the day before the bar and held a party afterward. Not that you should base your decision on the availability of alcohol afterward, but it seems emblematic of the attitude.
- Both courses consist generally of listening to lectures, outlining and taking practice exams.
- Lectures are by SU or UW professors, by local specialists or (for Barbri) a couple of people who go around the country giving specialized lectures. Hard to guess which course had better lecturers -- they both seemed to have some great ones (Rigos has Donaldson, Barbri has Calandrillo) and some not-so-great ones.
- Rigos focuses a lot on outlining. Students are recommended to spend about five hours a day outlining, and three hours taking practice exams.
- Rigos is heavy on mnemonic devices. Barbri has few mnemonics other than the ones you've heard already (OCEAN, etc).
- Barbri focuses more on taking practice exams. Barbri recommends two hours a day outlining, and then practice exams until you collapse from exhaustion. (It's only been a few days since the bar and I've already forgotten the daily study schedule, how awesome is that?)
- Rigos had 26 graded essays, Barbri had 21. Barbri's feedback was handwritten, Rigos came through email. Lots of good feedback either way.
- Both programs have practice questions that are actual bar questions released by the bar association in past years, and include a sample passing answer, also released by the bar. Barbri also includes a "model answer" for the first 4-6 essay questions of each type. Rigos does not. The model answers are a mixed blessing. They include almost every point you could think of to address in the question. This is good if you want to learn to be thorough, and we all want to pass, so we all want to be thorough, right? However, it also can be discouraging if you didn't get all the points, or drive you absolutely nuts if you're trying to drive yourself to learn everything. As an example, I took a practice question on a subject I'd studied pretty thoroughly, and compared my answer to the model answer, and felt like a complete failure because I'd missed half the points. Then I compared my answer to the sample passing answer and felt like a law savant.
- Both curricula have you turn in sample essays periodically to be graded. The schedules are different, but I couldn't say which is better.
- With either program, the real key is figuring out how you memorize the best. (Not learn. Memorize.) That might be flashcards, speaking aloud, repeated test-taking, rote repetition... you pretty much have to figure that out on your own.
What else, y'all?
8 comments:
Disclaimer: Bar prep is a scam and a scandal. Don't make me count the ways. It's also hard to genuinely compare because hopefully you only have to do it once...o.k. maybe more... (o.k., Rigos lets you take the course again for free if you don't pass (but you won't get your materials deposit back, hmm.) I don't know how BarBri or Tesdahl handle that.)
One bit of hearsay I can offer comparing BarBri to Rigos is what I overheard during a break in the exam last week. This person had failed after using BarBri, and seemed really relieved to have chosen to prepare with Rigos for the 2nd time. In his words Rigos had "Oh..a whole different approach!"
Rigos is a local State company, and that was a point for me because I like to support local and smaller businesses. Also, since they're based in Washington, it seems like they would have a better handle on Washington Law. One point of the Bar is to make sure you can make that distinction.
Yes, Rigos is heavy on acronym-type memory, which is great; but I wasn't thrilled with the ones they crafted/chose. If I had all the time in the world I would go back and change a lot of them. Hence, I didn't use them much, but I know some folks did.
Jim Rigos himself, as well as the graders do make a point of encouraging/motivating, and they have mentors and a hornbook library (if one would possibly have time!). All that's nice, but I can't help being cynical and thinking any company would want you to pass so that it can improve it's own pass rate percentages....Blah! :-P
The Rigos folks (Jim himself, Carolyn the administrator, all the graders)were genuinely eager for every single student to pass, and made themselves available for one-on-one tutoring. Every class started with the teacher giving his or her email and phone number. I liked that.
I agree with Christal that the acronyms were pretty bad. I just made my own and stuck with them. Once you make your own outlines you never look at their outlines again, anyway. Just find something that resonates for you. For example, their acronym for the requirements of a valid will was "TIMAS." Huh? I used "Sit, Ma." As in "Sit, Ma-- we're going to make you a valid will." Same letters. Other times I made a better acronym by picking a different word (a 'C' for Condition Precedent, rather than an 'F' for Failure of a Condiditon Precedent. That sort of thing.)
Lisa is right-- it's all about memorizing. I feel like I was able to memorize all the info Rigos presented. I just hope it was enough...
Last thing (if anyone is still reading this): start prep early. Way before finals, if you can. Knock out some of the big outlines. Take a week off from Bar prep to study for your finals, but when you start back in, you'll have a jump on the material. The biggest difference I saw between BarBri & RIGOS was that BB let their students start later, which lead to insanity.
Maybe I'll be sitting for the Bar again with my 2L PALs, and you can all tell me to stick my advice in my rump.
Speaking of rumps, apparently you can request to bring in a pillow if you do so by some advance deadline. I REALLY wish I'd gotten in on that. For my back, more than my butt. You'll be used to sitting for 10 hours a day studying (um, 12? More?) by the time of the Bar, but you'll be used to doing so in your own chair at home.
I'm SUCH a mom. I'm worried about your bum bums.
Your pal,
Laura
Ditto to Laura. Either one will work, but you will need to study a lot!! Don't slack in the beginning because you can't make up for it. Make a hotel reservation early -- like February. Also, check out non-bar discount hotels -- there are some good ones nearby, I recommend one with internet included, a fridge/microwave and walking distance. For 1Ls, if you are not sure which class, Rigos lets you lock in for FREE with no commitment -- so you might as well give them your name so you get the 1L price.
Hope this helps :) Jen C. former (!) 3L
What a great post. Thank You!
One gripe for me is that in some cases BarBri calls a live lecture showing a DVD in an auditorium.
Regarding memorization strategy, what did you end up with?
Christal, your opinion is that Bar Prep is a scam, if you could design your own "legitimate" prep course what would it look like?
Congrats on getting through it!
Hi... to answer the question:
Right now, law students end up sort of held hostage for a couple K each by a few companies because everybody's "got to" take an additional test prep course in order to fit the curve. The fees are high, as are the stakes. (All that does not touch on the subject of professional associations as mechanisms of exclusion once the academic hoops have been jumped through...) Then there's preparing and testing experience itself--which, at least for some, amounts to intellectual shock treatment. :-)
I imagine it might help to have bar prep incorporated into the law school's 3L curriculum somehow; or allowing loans/grants to apply to test preparation courses or materials (which they don't, as far as I'd been told).
As far as the testing method itself, I don't have alternative, though in a world where I ruled everything, I might have the law school directly certify.
Pax. :-) -cw
Thank you for this post! The BarBri/Rigos decision is one of my most pressing concerns as I approach my 3L year (though I suspect I should be more concerned about employment *shrug*) and this was very helpful in thinking about how to approach it.
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