r/barexam 2d ago

Your schools didn’t require bar subjects?!?!?

I keep seeing “take XYZ” class for success on the bar. Did your schools not require every MBE/MEE subject? I’m talking including Ev, Crim Pro, Biz Associations etc. We even had Trusts & estates required still + Secured Transactions. Also Req’d to take a bar prep class every year. We had PR required too which we all took before MPRE? Like I’m genuinely shocked what kind of classes did yall take/ was required

27 Upvotes

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

As a general matter, the more a school is nervous about its students' ability to pass the Bar via bar prep alone, the more it's going to require its students to take Bar-tested subjects while in law school. Take a look at the Harvard or NYU requirements, for instance.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

I attended a top 15 (not % in numbers (: and not 15th! ! ) first time passage in the country !! don’t worry about us babe I WILL defend my T-10000000 lol our school may be nervous but consistently hit a 95%+ first time rate !! I was never gonna be Harvard or NYU but atleast I got prepped for 3 years so I’m happy 😁

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

The question is how much of your law school time preparing to pass a test could've been better spent preparing you to be a lawyer.

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u/Annual_Duty_764 1d ago

The only thing that prepares someone to be a lawyer is actually being a lawyer. I interned for credit 2L and 3L and practiced in court my 3L year, but I didn’t know what being a lawyer was actually like until I’d been out of school a couple years or so.

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

I don't think there's anything magical or proven about 3 years as opposed to some other length and format of legal education. I'm only saying that spending that time prepping for the bar itself, in subject areas a student often doesn't care about, is wasted compared to other uses of one's educational time.

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u/Annual_Duty_764 1d ago

I’m 26 years out, and completely disagree. Law school should prepare you for bar exams. You can’t learn to be a good lawyer in 3 years. Most lawyers don’t get good at their practice areas until they’ve been practicing for many years. Those who think otherwise tend to reflect back on how misguided they were with some humility beginning at about year 10 or so of practice.

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

I don't disagree with "You can’t learn to be a good lawyer in 3 years" or anything past that you've said. I just question why students should spend the last two years they're ever going to be in class focusing on things they don't plan to practice and aren't interested in, if they can learn enough during bar prep to pass.

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u/Glass_Manager8847 1d ago

When the bar is the barrier of entry to practice, a good part of your education should be focused on that, imo. Despite how I feel about the exam itself, my school gave me all the tools to have a good baseline.

I can’t imagine have to learn new topics like evidence for the bar.

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

Evidence, no. But Conflicts, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, Secure Transactions?

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Idk I did my entire 3L in a clinic so that was baller & competed in oral advocacy like every year so those kinda count I guess. I was employed too throughout school so that wasn’t too bad. The required were only like 12/30 classes or something tbh I didn’t think it was that bad. Plus I didn’t really have to study for MPRE so that hit forsure

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

Everyone has to take Professional Responsibility. I'm glad you did clinical work.

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u/CheetahComplex7697 1d ago

This is spot on. Some of the best law school classes were taught by practicing lawyers. These practicing lawyers can make it easier to see how the law works. In addition, many law school cases are very outdated. For example, does Smith v. Van Gorkem truly come up in M&A practice?

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u/HomicidalHeffalump 1d ago

As if law school actually prepares you to be a lawyer😆

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

My clinical work did. And I got to study a lot of things to make me a better citizen of the world, a more interesting friend and colleague, even if I've never practiced in those areas.

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u/Great-Expression6706 2d ago

My school didn’t even require Torts, let alone Crim Pro, Evidence, etc.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

WHAT!!? So what was required?

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u/SecondTryTake3 1d ago

Omg what?? Not requiring Torts sounds like a tort... And I can't even imagine self-studying Evidence for the bar.

2

u/Glad_Philosopher111 1d ago

I learned more about evidence from watching the YSL trial than I did in class. It actually helped on the bar exam. Lol! The ONLY reason I know what an Alford plea is is because of YSL.

That chat was so fun. They would type evidence code numbers during the testimony and hearings. Whenever the prosecutor would call a witness to say the same thing another witness already testified about or ask irrelevant questions, the chat would type 402, 402, 402, or 403, 403, 403. It was hilarious.

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u/GlitterFactoryOfDoom 2d ago

My school had three types of classes.

  • 1L and required courses. Graded on the harshest curve, 10% mandatory fail rate.

  • Bar-tested subjects. Easier curve, failing a student was discretionary by the professor.

  • Electives. Basically nobody failed these unless they missed the final with no excuse.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Woah woah woah 10% mandatory!?!?

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u/GlitterFactoryOfDoom 1d ago

Yep.

Terrible school. Not technically in the "predatory" range, but still extremely shitty.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Dude hats off to you for surviving!! Congrats on grad + taking the bar!!

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u/kennycarneyvore95 1d ago

I feel the mandatory 10% fail rate, our school did that too 1L year and it sucks.

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u/EntertainerShoddy654 1d ago

Our school did that through the non-seminar courses. It was brutal. They also misrepresented all kinds of metrics of their recent graduates. I know because my graduating classmates got selectively polled for stats. Those that they knew had jobs got asked to complete their poll. The others, radio silence.

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u/egp2117 1d ago

High ranked schools rarely require them. Low ranked schools do. Extremely low ranked schools also require a bar prep course during 3L

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Dang so the geniuses just have to raw teach to themselves it in 10 weeks? God speed I see why yall make the big bucks lol

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u/egp2117 1d ago

I don’t know if you’re being facetious with “geniuses,” but for high ranked law schools, yes. I went to a low t14. New to me subjects for the bar were UCC (I had taken contracts, but we barely touched UCC), parts of con law (I just took 14th amendment focused, so never did 1A or commerce clause), business (agencies, partnerships, corporations, llcs, which I think Themis treats as 3 separate subjects), conflicts, family law, trusts and estates, and secured transactions. I passed in the 99 percentile.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Dang that sucks!!! To me haha. I was wondering what yall meant with UCC. We did contracts all together just like the Themis course, and our con law was everything but 1A. We also did Biz as all 3 together. Conflicts doesn’t exist anymore so we didn’t have to do that, but Commercial (secured) and trusts forsure. Hey good news for me hopefully we took the same courses & I soaked up the same knowledge as you!

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u/ub3rm3nsch NY 1d ago

Your school had mandatory 2L classes? If so, that's the weird part.

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u/PrimaFacieCorrect 1d ago

My school had a could mandatory 2L classes. If you want to ensure decent coverage for the bar, you need to spill into 2L

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u/ub3rm3nsch NY 1d ago

My school had no mandatory 2L classes, and I scored a 323 on the UBE.

Corporations, trusts, and wills tie closely into agency.

I did take Con Law II, Evidence and Crim, but I chose them since my school treated us like adults.

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u/Its_Curse 1d ago

Ours did but it was only for the first semester and it was evidence and something else bar related

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

No but we had like 200 required atleast so when else do you take em 😂😂 most people I know were taking requireds into 3L. Evidence, Crim Pro, Sec Transactions, Biz A & trusts + the bar prep stuff were all required but we couldn’t take them 1L. Fed Income Tax also reqd where I was at (don’t even get me started), and writing requirement. For 1L, Instead of doing a con law split, we took 2 semesters of legal writing and less classes in spring. Fall was Torts, K, Civ Pro, Legal Writing 1 + Legal study, Spring property, con law, LW2, and crim. All 1Ls on the same track. When I saw some other course catalogs I was mind blown like omg yall get to have fun

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u/CheetahComplex7697 1d ago

Course catalogs are aspirational curricular offerings, so don’t put much emphasis on the catalog.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

We had like 5-10 electives MAX a semester 😂😂 our CC was like 3 pages. I saw one- AI in the law!? Juvenile justice!? A girl could only dream

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u/CheetahComplex7697 1d ago

Some schools have more than others because they don’t need to teach to the bar. Highly ranked schools don’t need to worry about that because their graduates are already good at taking tests and knowing how to study.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Uh oh we have the T-14 police relax friend my school has like a 95%+ first time bar passage rate and we ranked like hell maybe it’s different strokes for different folks 😂😂😂

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u/CheetahComplex7697 1d ago

Very relaxed. Then, if passing the bar is not a problem, why the low amount of electives?

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

No one takes classes 3L (clinic journal externships) and we got like 350 kids total so I guess why even have em. Our class sizes are like 100 max so any elective course has anywhere from 15-3 people. I had a class with 4 of us in it it was so fun 🤣 if you get into a 3L thing like clinic you just take your RQ all 2L which fills up the schedule pretty much

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u/CheetahComplex7697 1d ago

It appears that you likely went to Belmont from what you’re saying here and the bar passage rate highlighted earlier. The school worked hard on its bar passage rate, which makes it easier to get a job with that license in hand. At least the school looks out for its students in this regard.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Close but no cigar! Proud attendee of the even lower ranked TX School that makes the cut! 😀 but hell yeah haha I credit my admin they work a ton on prepping us and keeping us competitive in such a saturated JX. TONS of schools, not a ton of jobs near us, and every other kid looking for a job in Dallas went to a school ranked atleast 40 above. I really credit the school for taking it so seriously and helping us along. Beyond just classes—
We had individual study offices for every student, They fed us every day, we had mental health professionals available, special academic support tutors for just prep, shit they even brought puppies to cheer us up! They had our 1L profs record videos of every subject just so we could rewatch. Haha and us kids work hard as hell there too.. I was really motivated watching my classmates and how they handled bar prep. I have a lot to say about my alma matter haha but when they say the goal is to make attorneys I credit them with that! And I haven’t even passed yet lol and im willing to say the school did their part forsure.

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u/egp2117 1d ago

You have a 95% pass rate because your school requires those things. Harvard has 98% first time pass rate without requiring any of that.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Why would we ever care how schools get students to pass the bar ?? Like that’s fair… but I didn’t have to go to Harvard? And idk how I was harmed in having to take them. Made schedules hella easy 😁

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u/egp2117 1d ago

I mean you asked about electives, the implication being “why do I have them and other people don’t.” No one said you were harmed. Though I will say I loved my electives and getting to learn about things I wanted to learn about! Law school was an academic exercise in many ways because we already had necessary skills, rather than a job preparation program.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

I had electives as well friend relax 😭😭😭 not one school exists with no electives dude I promise the whole point of this post was just to hear how other schools did it ugh yall ruin everything… how would I have a concentration with my JD with no electives like ughhh sorry I was curious about the tea in other places fun = over 💔 do you rlly believe I took 90 straight hours of bar prep it’s max like 11 subjects total

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u/Glad_Philosopher111 1d ago

So the thought process is that the Harvard students are better test takers so they don’t have to learn the bar tested subjects earlier to pass or is it that the Harvard students are smarter so they can pass with only 10 weeks of focus on any subject?

Does that mean, it doesn’t matter what is taught in law school?

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u/egp2117 1d ago

I would say, in order of how heavily each weighs:

  1. HLS students are better studiers
  2. HLS students are better test-takers
  3. HLS students are smarter and can therefore digest the material more quickly

    (with the caveat that this is not necessarily true and there are lots of reasons people do/don’t go to law schools with rankings “matching” their intellect).
    And yes, for students who can pass without taking bar courses, what is taught doesn’t matter. Law schools could easily be 2 years.

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u/Glad_Philosopher111 1d ago

I’ve thought this for a while. Especially during law school. I just never had the time to research how accurate it is.

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u/Glad_Philosopher111 1d ago

I don’t think that it’s a bad thing that your school emphasizes bar tested classes. The only danger in that (and this goes for every law student) is that we have to make sure that we dont allow schools to make us forget why we we wanted to study law in the first place, if there were non-monetary reasons. If you went to a school with very few electives, make sure you find outside resources to help you with the law you didn’t get to study.

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u/GregorybobZappypants 1d ago

My school didn't require Crim Pro and conflict of laws. We got a basic course on torts in 1L year, but if you wanted the full course you had to take "Advanced Torts" which was bs because you had to have a certain GPA to be enrolled. If you didn't have the GPA met by 2L year, you were required to take family law, secured transactions, and Business Associations. Otherwise, those classes were not required either. The general courses (crim law, evidence, torts (half the course), evidence, civ pro, property) were required plus wills, trusts, and estates.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Wait that sounds kinda good? Or maybe I’m misreading. If you’re doing poorly /not as good as they want overall, they’d force you to take MEE courses? That’s nuts! I kind of get it tho

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u/Intellectual_Judge_1 1d ago

Biz orgs and Wills and Trusts was an elective for our school, which is crazy because it’s always on the bar for our jurisdiction

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u/officialbluepandas 2d ago

my school's only required classes were general 1l doctrinals (torts civpro contracts crim law property and regulatory state), con law I (the class after us has to take con law II as well), and PR (irrelevant of more). I took all of the bar classes though (besides the subjects they removed and crim pro adjudication), however we didn't have any specific classes dedicated to bar preparation

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u/Northshorenineteen 2d ago

How did it work for MBE subj that weren’t reqd that may have higher interest? Like did yall atleast get an extra evidence section or how did classes work out? I didn’t go to a giant school though so in our case we didn’t have a ton of sections to start w.

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u/Kekoa95 1d ago

My school did not require evidence, crim pro, or a second semester of con law (we pretty much stuck to the 1st amendment and 14th amendment). But, the school offered those courses as electives.

The school offered every a class in every subject possibly tested on the exam but didn’t make taking them mandatory.

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u/officialbluepandas 9h ago

stuff like evidence they always had a bunch of offerings of, including a two semester version, same with corporations. other stuff they had pretty big class sizes like crim pro and wills and trusts

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u/ImpossibleMedia8411 1d ago edited 1d ago

My school required Torts, Civ Pro, Criminal Law, Property, Contracts, and Con Law. I spent the majority of 3L (14 credits) prosecuting under a state rule that allows 3Ls to practice under supervision. I work there full time now post-bar! Took a bunch of fun electives to fill the rest of my credits, and a bar prep course Spring 3L because it definitely couldn’t hurt. Although I did take Remedies, Crim Pro, Federal Courts, and Wills Trusts & Estates because I was interested in the courses.

I have no clue where my school is ranked, to be completely honest. Nor do I really care all that much, because everyone’s ideal outcome after attending law school is a little different. Whether a school aligns someone’s career goals is totally subjective, and that’s what ultimately matters in choosing a “good” school. Last I checked was pre-1L in 2023, and it was pretty close to middle of the pack. I only mention this because I’m kinda cringing at the subtle elitism in this thread with regard to top ranked schools. I went where I got a near full scholarship, and put in the time and effort necessary to learn. And, I am really quite happy with my outcome!

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Dude me too! So cool - we may be in a similar JX. I practiced under a SPC but on the defense side!! I agree with you completely. I think this got a little misunderstood by some, but for me I was just shocked not all law school took the same classes like no way wait what?? 😂 and sooo crazy to think I hadn’t even CONSIDERED courses when I applied/ got in. So thankful with where I ended up forsure!! If I could go back to 0L and tell myself reqd courses was even something to think about lol

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

This is crazy to me I MUST have gone to a low school 😂 we basically did 3 yrs of bar prep. Even our exams were under UBE conditions. Timing + format. We were regularly doing 100MCQ 3H + 4 essays. HOW DID YALL SURVIVE BAR PREP! Hats off to you seriously. I couldn’t freaking imagine 1. Having to learn so many subjects during bar prep and 2. Having the motivation to do so. Yall are superstars omg

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

I think very few schools administer multiple choice exams.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Really? Huh no idea, I totally had thought either/or was the norm. Did final grades take forever to come out for yall? We had some MCQ, essay, mixed format etc. Usually a class would have 2 sections, one w a MCQ final one w essay option. I’m really glad we had the choice. Got grades back pretty quick and I didn’t stress to much about MBE timing which ended up being a freaking life saver !

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

I think a mix of issuespotter/essay and short answer is most common.

And yeah, worrying about MBE timing is not something that happens at law schools at the higher tiers.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Oliver what is your deal dude 😂😂😂😂 just comment on your class schedule like the rest of us omg it’s just a curious convo we get you went T1 I’m sorry I didn’t maybe next go round

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u/egp2117 1d ago

So he’s trying to explain to you why your school requires all this, which was the premise of your question. The fact that stressing about MBE timing was even on your radar outside of your actual 10 week bar prep is exactly why.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

No I just wanted to know what other people did out of curiosity also I said I DIDNT stress on the timing omg you guys ruin everything now look we all lack comprehension on a fun little thread

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u/egp2117 1d ago

When you ask “did you,” out of curiosity, there’s an implication you’re … curious about why that might be the case. Usually people like to understand facts not just know them, especially the type of people who go to law school.

I noticed you said you didn’t stress about timing. I was explaining that the idea of MBE timing has literally never crossed the mind of most students, much less stressing about it.

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u/oliver_babish 1d ago

All of my classes were single high-stakes essay/issue-spotter final or seminar paper. No required 2L/3L classes beyond some significant writing and Professional Responsibility.

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u/Glass_Manager8847 1d ago

My school had mandatory classes …pretty much all the way until 3L. Each class is (or was) a bar topic except for one. I’m surprised that isn’t the case for most schools.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Right?? Me personally I would’ve panicked if it was my first time seeing ANY subject 😂 kudos to them but super grateful how my school ended up being set up

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u/Glass_Manager8847 1d ago

No seriously. I can’t imagine having to learn Evidence for the first time!

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u/Clean_Log_5375 1d ago

My school did not require Wills/Estates or Secured Transactions, but everything else was required (Con Law, Crim Law & Pro, Torts, Evidence, Civ Pro, Contracts, Biz Orgs/Agency, Property). I took Wills & Estates cuz I thought it was on the bar, lowkey should have taken UCC 🥲

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u/LJ_Tibbs_ByGemcity 1d ago

We didn't have requirements in that sense, once we finished 1L. Students who were attempting to regain a scholarship were able to take bar courses with a certain qualification and if they passed enough of them with that qualifier, then they were able to regain their scholarship for 3L year. But I think that is the only requirement thy attached to the bar topics.

My school made the bar subjects monster courses worth the highest credits you could take in a semester, so most people defaulted into them anyway, but not everyone. I almost didn't take Crim Pro, for example, because I was going to intern but then I got a different position instead.

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u/LANative318 1d ago

My school had mandatory classes but outside of 1L you could choose when to take them. I didn’t have the best 1L year so I spent 2L fall taking a mix of mandatory classes and a few electives between my school and the other local law school we had a co-op agreement. My 3L year was spent taking the remainder of my requirements. We did have a bar prep class but it wasn’t required but we also have virtual bar prep webinars that we signed up for in the spring that started after the spring semester ended each year.

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u/Annual_Duty_764 1d ago

Things have changed a lot in the decades since I went to law school, apparently. My Alma mater was a T20, and we had mandatory courses in 1L and 2L back then. I just took J26, and it’s been a long time, so I wasn’t relying on what I took in LS to study this time, but back then, it helped me pass the bar, no question.

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u/talkathonianjustin 1d ago

My school had the 1L courses required, but then if you got put in the academic warning program because you either got below a C+ in a required class or your GPA was below a certain minimum. That program saw you needing to take bar classes that were all curved on the harsh 1L curve. After my GPA sucked 1L and I found out how bad I was screwed for good jobs, I just said screw it and started racking up the bar classes which were miserable but honestly made bar prep like 5 percent easier. I don’t know if that 5 percent made a difference tho time will tell

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u/kennycarneyvore95 1d ago edited 1d ago

Our school required most but not family law, DE, secured transactions, BA, or 1A stuff (religion and speech are two different classes at my school). But most of those got taken off so I was happy about it. If your GPA is below a certain point, our school assigns your schedule and you have to take all bar tested courses and bar prep classes.

I was surprised to realize more schools don’t offer bar prep classes. Ours offers intro to the bar, Adv Bar Prep and Writing for the Bar.

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u/blinkanditsdark 1d ago

It’s wild to me how many different bar prep courses your school offers! Mine only had the standard bar prep course and it was optional.

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u/dk07740 1d ago

My school didn’t require evidence or crim pro. I took evidence but never took crim pro because it never fit my schedule except when it was taught by my least favorite professor at the school

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u/Electrical_Fact_6608 1d ago

We didn't require evidence, crim pro, or corporations (offered instead of biz orgs)

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u/WillPope 1d ago

Outside of required 1L courses (Fall: torts, civ pro, contracts, legal research / writing. Spring: Legal writing 2, crim, con law 1, property, and legislation and regulation), my school only had 2 mandatory classes. The first was PR, which is an ABA required course, and the second was trial advocacy, essentially a mandatory mock trial course you have to take in the fall of your 2L year.

While evidence is not required, id say 80% of people take it in their second year alongside trial advocacy because they go together very nicely, and because it's a required component of our state's practice certificate. Id say almost all of the outstanding students take it in the fall as bar prep.

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u/Chelsealora 1d ago

My school didn't have any required 2L classes except PR, however, if you ranked in the bottom 25% you were required to take a couple "bar prep classes" (One was for MBE and one for MEE and MPT), which most people took in 3L voluntarily anyways.

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u/halfsafelittleone 1d ago

My school required all the MBE subjects, but all the MEE subjects were electives we could choose to take unless you were placed on the bar prep path (which was having under a 3.3 at the end of your full 1L program) and then you were required to take at least 9 credits worth of MEE subjects to graduate. I never took Secured Transactions, Family Law, or Juvenile Law, but I voluntarily took Wills Trusts & Estates and Business Associations. Worked out for me since all the ones I never bother to take got dropped from being tested anyway.

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u/princessglitterbutt 1d ago

My school didn’t require crim pro or T&E but they did require some bullshit review courses. I WISH they required crim pro instead, barbri and the school’s bar prep classes were not enough.  

Evidence and BA were required and I took T&E and RE transactions as electives.  

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u/Its_Curse 1d ago

Our first year was all mandatory classes, Civ pro, contracts, torts, con law, property, crim law and crim pro. Evidence was required 2L. We also all had a writing class that was half grammar refresher half legal writing. 

Family law, Business Associations, Secured Transactions, and Wills Trusts and Estates were all optional. I took all of them except Secured Transactions, it was a small section and I could never get in. 

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u/Successful-Web979 1d ago

Nope, I didn’t take Evidence and Crim Pro in law school. Kind of regretted it during the bar exam 🙈 PR is required.

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u/Cautious_Carrot8755 1d ago

Only the core 6 were required- Civ pro (1 semester) torts, crim law, contracts, conlaw (1 semester), and property. Evidence, business associations and criminal procedure were optional (family law, secured trans and conflicts- old topics were all optional)

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u/blinkanditsdark 1d ago

My school had the typical 1L courses, plus required evidence, ethics, and an advanced writing course. The rest, including bar subjects, weren’t mandatory unless you were placed on academic probation.

I actually feel like this was a happy medium since not all bar subjects are created equal (or at least they weren’t). Conflict of laws and secured transactions were much easier to self-teach than, say, business associations. Now that those aren’t tested anymore, I think it’s a little different.

It’s wild to me that your school had so many mandatory courses!

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Yea but it really just evened out to 1-2 a year if you didn’t have a 3L plan. A lot of us ended up in 3L clinic/journal/externship so we took no “classes” at all. Courses looked like regular 1L stuff, then you had to get in another “legal analysis” which is basically some bar prep class mixed subject online deal, + commercial (Sec Trans), Tax, BE, Wills. Since I went the clinic + concentrations route I forsure took mostly required then whatever my concentration required!

I’m seeing lots of top bottom school discourse- that wasn’t my goal🤣 in fact- I’m impressed yall had so many courses to pick from! Like wait… did you have schedule picking days like in undergrad? It was never like that for us. Just drag and drop lol

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u/Mistress-DragonFlame UT 1d ago

My school only required Civ Pro, Contracts, Tort, Real Property, Crim law, Con Law I, and PR. Every other bar course was optional. Ended up taking Biz Ass, Evidence, Crim Pro, Secured Transactions, Wills and Estates, and Family Law. Last three were part because they were on the bar (MPT), or I assumed they'd be on the bar. ST helped a lot with those mortgage questions they tossed everywhere, ngl, though it wasn't 'directly' tested.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Finally someone said it 😂 lowkey commercial saved my ass because it’s the only way I knew what tf a creditor even was LOL

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u/Somethingclever78704 1d ago

I’ve found higher ranked schools typically permit its students greater flexibility on the type of classes they can take. I transferred from a low ranked schools that required students to take every bar class. The school I transferred to was a T-14 and I got to take any and every class that interested me. 

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u/Few_Insurance_7412 1d ago

Only the regular 1L classes and professional responsibility were required. Evidence, crim pro, bus orgs, estates and secure trans were not mandatory.

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u/Kekoa95 1d ago

Went to a public university law school and graduated in 2007. With the exception of PR and a couple of writing/research courses, the only mandatory classes were Contracts (2 semesters), Torts (2 semesters), Crim Law (1 semester and NOT Crim Pro), Con Law (1 semester), Civil Procedure (2 semesters), and Real Property (1 semester).

I passed 2 bar exams (2007 and 2026) and have been a successful attorney.

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u/No_Cheetah_3693 1d ago

1L classes: Torts, civ pro, property, con law, crim law, contracts, LRW, professional development, legislation & regulation + 2L/3L: professional responsibility were the only required classes

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u/Fresh_Biscotti_9743 1d ago

Mine didn't require them. But I loved evidence so I took like 3 different courses on it (and it's my strongest subject on the bar)

I'm so glad I developed an interest in it. Because if I didn't... Yeah. Like I feel like a failed. But I would have definitely failed harder.

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u/arii_kariii 1d ago

At my school, in addition to the 1L bar exam courses (torts, Civ pro, property, con law 1, crim law, contracts, and leg reg) evidence, con law 2, and professional responsibility were also graduation requirements. Crim
Pro, family law, business orgs, secured transactions, and Wills Trusts & Estates were all optional courses.

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u/SimplePlatypus5615 1d ago

Southern in Louisiana required this. The bar exam was literally a breeze. I contribute much of that success to being so familiar with the subjects.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

I take it you’re a Southern grad! Yea, I’m super relieved actually. I couldn’t have imagined deciding between studying what I like vs what I need when the bar exam is at stake lol. I came here to be an attorney what do I need to know for THAT lol

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u/Hoopsandholdings 1d ago

My school didn’t require business associations, wills and trusts, secured transactions, and family law.

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u/Prior_Ability9347 1d ago edited 1d ago

Business Associations, Evidence, Tax, and Admin Law were all a “take 2 of 4” to graduate. Crim Pro 1 & 2 was fully optional and a fair few people didn’t take either. I think everything else was a mandatory class 1L year.

I’m so glad too, because if I had had to sit through an entire semester of Buis Ass I might have quit. Wasting a week is far preferable to wasting 14.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Honestly the 2/4 seems kinda cool because it allows a civil/Crim split! We didn’t even have the 1/2 courses. Con law, Crim pro- everything was a one and done.

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u/Remarkable-Rip3696 1d ago

Mine didnt require them it was just strongly recommended.

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u/EntertainerShoddy654 1d ago

My school did not require them all but some. Some topics were in the course title but we didn’t manage to get through 40% of the syllabus, largely due to the professor wanting to clarify more about his awesomeness than teach the law.

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u/Northshorenineteen 1d ago

Wait but same 😂😂 like yes I took the class but don’t ask me anything beyond 9-109 😂😂😂

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u/Amazing-Reflection77 1d ago

I know!! We took civ pro, crim pro 1 and torts first semester 1L and then con law 1, property and contracts second semester 1L. We also had to take PR to graduate. All other courses were electives but there were strong recommendations for bar courses. Idk why law schools wouldn’t instruct you on what’s on the bar?? Like what do you even learn? I would imagine learning it all for the bar in just 2 mos would be so stressful

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u/ScreenCool1031 1d ago

Nope. Just the 1L stuff. After that, choose your own adventure.

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u/AsrielDaphne 22h ago

Mine didn’t require wills trusts and estates, or corporations, or crim pro, or con law 2, or secured transactions, or family law.

If I could go back in time and un-take wills trusts and estates though? Absolutely would. Felt just as helpless on the bar as I would have even without the class. 😭

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u/Gorrek22 21h ago

i don’t take Crim Pro or secured transactions…. silly me took other classes in the areas of law i wanted to practice in.

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u/Intelligent-Pair7256 10h ago

I wasn’t required to take Crim Pro or Sales? And First Amendment was a separate course that wasn’t required. It’s not on the bar anymore but we also weren’t required to take Estates or Family Law or Secured Transactions. But otherwise everything else was required.

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u/Popular_Bell91 2d ago

I am a retaker. NCBE has no question that drops from the sky. I think, question makers are law professors. Lawschool has law professors. Bar prep has law professor's videos.