What part of the country are you from?

 

The following snidpit was posted today in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education Bulletin.  I found it interesting that a higher percentage of African-Americans in the west hold 4-year college degrees than African-Americans in the northeast.  It was also interesting that the gap between the two races was larger in the northeast than in the south. What are your thoughts?

 

African Americans in the Western States Are More Likely to Be College Educated Than Other Black Americans

Nationwide, slightly more than 18 percent of all adult blacks over the age of 25 hold a four-year college degree. For whites, the figure is 31 percent, significantly higher than the rate for blacks.

But there are vast differences in the educational attainment of blacks and whites depending on the region of the country in which they live. It is in the western states where blacks have made the most progress. In the West, 24.8 percent of all black adults over the age of 25 hold a college degree. This is about 34 percent higher than the national average for blacks and 52 percent higher than the rate for blacks in the Midwest.

Furthermore, the gap between the races is much lower in the West than in other regions of the nation. In the West there is a gap of 9.7 percentage points between the college completion rate for whites and the college completion rate for blacks. Nationally the difference is 12.5 percentage points. In the Northeast, the gap is the largest. In that region there is a 16.3 percentage point gap in college completion rates between whites and blacks.

More advice on studying for the bar exam

For more advice on studying for the bar, check out Irrational Basis. She's compiled a pretty interesting link list complete with pretty handouts.

Procrastination and the Bar Review

Today I made a very important decision.

I will not procrastinate.
I will not procrastinate.
I will not procrastinate.
I will not procrastinate.
I will not procrastinate.


While driving in to work today, I reminded myself that I had not yet developed a schedule.

The mental conversation went like this . . .

Me: K, you have to develop a schedule. Design it up, print it out and account for every hour of the day and include the subjects that you plan to study for each day. It should be pretty, really, pretty.
Conscience: But, your first assignment isn't due until June 8th.
Me: Well, even still I should at least start studying for the MBE.
Conscience: But how, I don't even know what subject to start with.
Me: Let's see, the first assignment requires me to study Business Relationships and Professional Responsibility. Those aren't MBE subjects. I wonder what subject Micromash suggests I study first?
Conscience: Let's see . . .it doesn't say.
Me: Well I guess, I can't study until I know everything there is about "how to study"

and that's when I started to ignore my conscience, because I recognized that last line as my usual old excuse to procrastinate. I im'd one of my dearest-friends-in- the-law and asked her to call me. She happens to be at a top BIGLAW litigation firm in D.C. She also passed the Georgia Bar on the first try (she studied using Barbri).

she suggested the following, and noted that she will charge $30p/hour for future sessions:

1. Stop worrying about which subject to begin with for MBE.
2. While there will be some state distinctions on the MBE subject areas, they are minimal.
3. The most important component to MBE studying is building stamina while learning the material.
4. You must do 50 MBE questions each day under timed conditions, preferably in the morning.
5. Review the answers immediately following the test.
6. Spend only an hour and a half doing both.

The last bit of advice was passed on to her when she was studying last summer.

Micromash Bar Review for New York Bar Exam

I am brave. this I know. While 80% of all US law students study for the bar using Barbri, I am doing a self-study course that most of my classmates haven't even heard of. i must admit, however, that after reading all of the "introductory" materials for my self-study bar review course. I am starting to get a little scared. partly because I noticed a bunch of errors in the Micromash written material, which I am praying does not continue when I begin to read my subject-matter outlines. I am also nervous because they [Micromash writers] are telling me to study a few hours a day and gradually build stamina. excuse me, call me what you like but that's a bit frightening. who studyies for the New York bar and only spends 30 hours a week doing it!!! So as with everything else I am going to keep their guidelines in mind, and do what I do.

Anywho, there are 3 components to bar study. I learned all about this stuff this weekend during my "introductory" study session.

1. MBE. this is the multistate exam, which is taken on Wednesday. Every bar examinee in every state takes this same exam. 200 questions, 6 hours, 40% of the exam grade. MBE consists of six subjects-Torts, Contracts, Evidence, Property, Crim Law, & Con Law. Micromash suggests you "skim" the condensed outlines, and when you are done skimming, you should use the software in a guided learning mode to answer random questions in the subject. You get feedback on each question. When you are finished with a subject, the software populates the results, and from there you can determine what areas of the law you need to focus on. And if you're having a really hard time, you can go to the review text which provides in-depth coverage of the law. And if you are an expert of course you can go on. Micromash suggests spending 25 hours each week on the MBE portion.

2. State Review. In New York, the state portion is administered on Tuesday and consists of 5 essays utilizing NY law (45 mins each; 40% of exam), 50 multiple choice questions (60 mins; 10% of exam) and the MPT-multistate performance test (90 mins; 10% of exam). I think NY has the rep for being the hardes b/c of the number of subjects tested, but I'm not sure yet. I made it a point not to talk about the bar exam during law school, and now that I'm not studying with other law students I'm really out of the loop, which I think is a better way to study. The NY Bar tests on the 6 MBE subjects and 7 other subjects that I don't care to mention. The Micromash State Reveiw pairs you with an attorney mentor. We have essay-assigments due each week that are to be submitted to the mentor who will return the essay graded. The assignments tell you which subjects that you have to read for the week, and the reading is usually 200 pages. 45 minutes should be spent on the essay, b/c this is all you will have on the exam. But you can use the study materials at your own pace. Micromash also suggests I use the software for the state questions at my own pace.

In order to be admitted to the bar I am also going t o have to sit for the MPRE- a national professional responsibility exam. Most law students sit for this exam prior to commencement, but I had better things to do-like secure post-grad employment. But I plan to take this exam August 10th, although I still haven't registered. Can someone remind me?

Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pimping in it!

Deciding to blog was the easy part. Now I have to decide how to make the blog an extension of my greatness-aesthetically speaking, that is. So, as I learn and attempt to venture into the world of html, please be patient. There are times that you may see the page change two or three times. If you like something on the page and then I change it, please let me know. If you know html, please help! The above photo was taken from www.afrikids.com. Afrikids is a Child Rights Organisation, which works along indigenous communities in Ghana to improve the quality of life for rejected and vulnerable children.

As for the bar, I received the Micromash materials in the mail on yesterday, and I am reading over the introductory guide. (For all you Georgetown Bartenders-I am taking a self-study course called Micromash. Yes I know that everyone else takes Barbri. Yes, I placed my deposit to lock in. I decided that a self study bar review course would work better for me. I decided to assert my legal independence and venture into the world where only the brave will go by escaping the antitrust jungle that is Barbri, but I digress. . .) My next step is to create a schedule. From my understanding that's the most important component of adequate bar preparation. The publishers recommend 175 hours spent on state specific material and another 175 hours spent on the MBE (multi-state bar exam). I estimate that I will be spending two 8-hour days on the weekend, and 6 hours a day during the week studying if I stick to a 6 week schedule. Intimidating. If I stick to this schedule I should have some review time at the end of the summer. Which would be nice.

I should mention that the bar exam is going to be held in Albany, NY on July 24-25, 2007. I just booked my airfare! Woo hoo!!! Southwest was having a sale. I called Winter and Barbie**, two of my friends that are also taking NY Bar. Winter had already booked her airfare, so as usual, she lost out on the deal. But I helped Barbie save some money. Now I just need a hotel room. And of course every hotel in Albany has been booked for 2 years, by crazed and obsessed law students from all over the world. Am I going to ever escape them!!!

Other things that I did today: Baby and I got Beamers washed. Went to breakfast. Went to Law Center to get handwriting specimen for NY Bar Examiners and also submit transcript request for the same. Went to work. Worked.

Tonight I am planning on doing something fun, sadly I am going to be missing Winter's graduation party.

**All names have been changed to protect the innocent. I ain't ask for their permission, so we'll keep their names a secret. but these two names will probably become important to you, so remember them.

Studying for the New York Bar Exam . . .and Blogging

Why? Funny you should ask. Now that I have finished four grueling, stressful, hard, did I say stressful years of law school I am afraid that I will loose contact with the awesome people that I met. Second, now that I am finished law school, I have to study for the bar. Which bar? The NEW YORK STATE Bar exam. yeah, I know, that is the hard one. But I plan on studying. Why? Because I know people that are smarter than me and failed.

In so doing, I will be generally inaccessible to my friends and family. But during the process, that is studying for the bar, I want everyone to know how I'm doing, what I'm eating, what I'm thinking. You know . . .all the stuff that I would tell you if I were talking to you, but since I'm not you now have to read it.

Lastly, I am blogging because there is always room for improvement. And as I start my brand new legal career I think it would be neat to be able to look over my thoughts from years prior and use these thoughts as the barometer for my personal life. Hopefully, I will see the improvement.

Now, I make no promises. To quote my brother, "I don't want to sell you a dream and have to buy it back," I may post throughout the day. I may post once a week, or even once a month. I didn't say I was perfect, I am in the process of a huge change.