Bar/Bri Bar Review

Ok… having taken the bar, and having taken this bar review course, and having gotten my results…(they were good so maybe this is swayed, who knows) I feel as though I can fairly analyze the quality of this review course and maybe steer someone in the direction of either taking this or avoiding the extra cost of the class.
First, I will talk about the positives of this course: The professors, for the most part, were really good. They kept your attention, really tried to focus on the materials that would be on the bar, and some of them were even funny. I especially enjoyed the Property professor since he basically explained to me in three days what I never really grasped in a solid year of Property in Law School. I have to appreciate that. They took their time with the subjects and were generally pretty amenable to answering questions during the breaks. The materials were extensive. So extensive in fact, that there are still books I never even opened. They are still sitting in a box under my desk. I think BarBri does this to insure that if a random question appears on the bar they can say, hey, we gave that to you in your materials. Regardless, I have a ton of materials from taking this class. Also, they offered three practice essays that were actually graded so you could get a feel for how you were doing throughout the summer with your writing skills. That made me feel much better was helpful for not only me, but for my friends as well. If you miss a class, you can make it up online or you can go to the night class that’s offered as well. This was very nice to have as an option. Also, there were some bar heavy subjects I never took in law school and I felt like after sitting through the BarBri class on the subject, running some of their practice essays and looking over their review materials, I was able to get a pretty good grasp on subjects that were completely foreign to me. That’s the mark of a decently run course.
Some downsides now (because there have to be some)
They offered the class at Wash U. Parking is a nightmare there and you had to buy a summer parking pass from Wash U. That is ridiculous in my book. I took the metrolink, but most of my friends forked over the cash. Also, the room the class was offered in was freezing cold. I mean, people brought blankets in freezing cold. I know it’s hot outside, but seriously? Why so cold? This may be more of a Wash U issue, but the BarBri reps were always snotty about it when anyone brought it up. Which brings me to another point… some of the reps were snotty… they made us show IDs every day when we walked in… who is trying to break into BarBri to learn about Commercial Paper? I mean really… relax a bit! Finally, the cost. Wow, this is not a cheap class. I mean, we are talking 4 figures here. The books are outrageous and they will buy them back from you, but only for a few hundred bucks and you could get more for them if you sold them on
. That’s my plan at least. Oh, and they want you to sell them back before you get your bar results… so if you fail and have to retake the bar, you might have to buy a whole new set of books… not cool BarBri… not cool.
So, if you are taking the bar, and you are looking for a review course, I would say, this is probably the one to take. They focus on essays and multiple choice, and on the weird MPT that is offered in Missouri and only a few other select states. I really did learn a lot and it was great to be refreshed by this course. Was it expensive? Yes. Did I pass? Yes. Was it because of BarBri? Who knows… but I have no doubt it played a large role…
I realize this review is really only helpful to anyone that may take the bar on Unilocal… but hey, it’s helpful to know regardless right?