Crush the Bar Exam, Not Become Cardozo

By Ammon Jeffery
Updated: January 10, 2022

One pitfall all bar preppers need to avoid is getting lost in the weeds—taking deep dives into topics that you may not need to, and effectively wasting time you can’t afford to lose. You may be tempted to ask while reading a bar prep outline, “But what if [x] or [y]?” Considering hypotheticals is a valuable practice in law school, but normally it’s unwise when it comes to bar prep. You’re here to crush the bar, not become Cardozo.

Passing the bar exam requires getting a solid grasp of certain essentials, the “meat and potatoes” of each subject, rather than looking to write a legal treatise. After all, once you pass, you’ll have time to take all the deep dives you want or your clients need.

How Crushendo helps you pass the Uniform Bar Exam

At Crushendo, we design our products and services to help you gain what we believe to be the highest chance of passing. We map out our outlines with careful reference to the NCBE’s MBE Subject Matter Outline and MEE Subject Matter Outline to make sure we address, prioritize, and emphasize the appropriate subjects and sub-topics.  We also review all released official MBE and MEE practice questions from the NCBE and try to integrate their relevant principles into our materials. We believe if a doctrine has been tested before, it’s likely to be tested again.

Crushendo also provides MBE, MEE, and MPT practice questions licensed from the NCBE, the company that writes the Uniform Bar Exam and knows better than any other company what your exam will actually look like. All MEE and MPT questions come with the point sheets that graders actually use. Many of the MBE questions come with helpful explanations and links to our related sub-outlines.

Ultimately, we work to help you memorize the material we think you need to know in order to pass the Uniform Bar Exam. Just because another bar prep company covers a subject that we don’t, does not mean it is actually within the scope of what you need to know for the exam. That said, regardless of the program you use, you will never know everything tested on exam day. But that’s to be expected. You don’t need an “A” to crush the bar exam.

A leading example

Let’s look at an example to paint a better picture of our process. Our outlines cover when leading questions are and are not appropriate. A likely topic to be tested on exam day. Here’s how our outlines cover it:

“You should not ask leading questions unless you Cross Hostile Ninjas.

  • Cross – Leading questions are okay on cross-examination.
  • Hostile – When you have a hostile or adverse witness. Or,
  • Ninjas – Necessary – When necessary to develop the testimony. FRE 611(c).”

As you see in this example, Crushendo doesn’t just “cover material,” but we provide ways for you to remember the things you read and help them stick in your brain. Crushendo does this by creating mnemonics, chunking the material into sections, using illustrations, and of course, offering killer audio.

Letting you know what to expect

At the beginning of each of the outlines we create, we let you know how important each subject is when it comes to being tested on the UBE. You’ll see graphs such as the one below:

This allows you to better gauge and allocate your time efficiently. We don’t just guess the right emphases. We take the NCBE subject matter outlines at their word. We just put the NCBE’s emphases in an easier to understand, visual format.

Give yourself the best chances of passing

The time you have to prepare for the bar exam is limited. You should aim towards giving yourself the best chances possible of passing. This means studying hard and smart, allocating your time to learning the topics that are most likely to be covered on the exam, with the kind of depth it has been tested in the past.

Crushendo offers you a simple, straightforward, and affordable process that focuses on memorizing what you need to know, using mnemonics and other proven strategies that will allow you to perform to the best of your ability while taking the test. Remember, your goal should be to crush the bar exam. You can always become a Benjamin Cardozo later.

If you are interested in crushing the bar exam, be sure to check out our material. Also, our blog has excellent, free resources, including helpful tips and tricks videos.

ammon jeffery

About the author

Ammon Jeffery loves writing. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English. His hobbies include reading, and playing video games and board games. He lives in Utah with his cute wife and daughter. His dream vacation is to explore WWI sites in Europe.

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