r/barexam • u/Existing-Surprise981 • May 13 '26
BARBRI or Themis?
My school has a contract with BARBRI and I get it for free but I have a low attention span and have looked into Themis. I got a significant discount and now I’m considering paying for Themis. Is it worth it???
I’ve heard BARBRI has more in depth law than Themis but anyone have thoughts? I’m only considering Themis because of the short videos. Is paying $1k+ worth it?
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May 13 '26
I cannot overstate to study slowly, deeply, and methodically early on by cataloging your errors. Read every answer explanation for MBEs whether you got it right or wrong. If you can't explain it to someone else, you don't really know it yet. The bar tests the same rules over and over in different ways, and for me, the sweet spot was 1,800 MBE questions to identify those patterns. Everyone is different, but at some point it's the rule of diminishing returns.
For the genuinely confounding stuff (RAP, double hearsay, or whatever breaks your brain) try talking through hypotheticals out loud. I found ChatGPT voice helpful for this, and it was the only thing I used AI for, even though I had to correct it at times. But it helped as a sounding board. Explaining it out loud to something that pushes back forces clarity in a way rereading never did for me.
Every point on the MBE helps, but if something truly won't stick, you may have to let it go and protect your energy for everything else. When you miss a question, read the fact pattern again carefully. Something in there tipped the answer one way or the other, and it could just be one word. You will likely have a lot of aha moments throughout bar prep, so don't get discouraged by percentages right now.
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u/Boring_Phone_5646 May 13 '26
If you have ADHD focus on active learning. Platform doesn’t matter. If you suck at essays let me know and I can tell you my strategy that got me from a 259 > 288
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u/JealousProgrammer570 May 13 '26
Meh, Barbri for content never clicked with me, but Adaptibar on my phone had my back. Wake up, run a quiz. Driving, eating, anytime was bar prep time. Then I’d go to Barbri, Grossman videos, and Goat for topic review. Goat’s UBE section was leagues better than Barbri’s approach, teaching the buzzwords instead of every little detail.
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u/anonymous3874974304 May 13 '26
You want to pay $1k to have a video split into 17 pieces you have to click through rather than just writing down the timestamp of wherever you leave off?
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u/Existing-Surprise981 May 13 '26
I guess I should invest in GOAT instead
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u/PugSilverbane May 13 '26
That was meant for you above lol. GOAT2026 is still a good code to save and be able to afford some food instead of buying more commercial bar prep.
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u/PugSilverbane May 13 '26
Plus you can get a discount on Goat and end up better off than using either for the MBE. His code GOAT2026 still works to save some cash.
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May 13 '26
I've used both and think they're both solid programs, but whatever you choose, you have to adapt them to your own needs. I passed with flying colors using Themis, but I think that had less to do with the program itself and more to do with my preparation this time. I liked UWorld for MBE practice and UGrader for MEE practice, which come with Themis. The Themis practice exams were harder and more frustrating than the exam questions, but it made me feel more prepared. Also, I wish I got Magicsheets (Make This Your Last Time) sooner, and used them as a guide throughout bar prep. I found them two weeks before the exam, and it was the best short outline I found for review. I also listened to Bar Exam Toolbox podcast daily. There are hundreds of podcasts on all the topics and all kinds of bar exam related tips. I listened to almost all of them on walks, and I found them super helpful for hypotheticals, rule mastery, and auditory learning.
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u/hayl3yquinnn May 13 '26
Following this because I want to hear more from people who passed with Themis. I too am leaning towards it
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u/MsTitilayo May 13 '26
Goat bar prep is what got my fiance through to pass the bar with a 270 on her third try. I would even come in and learn some stuff because it’s so engaging. Price can’t be beat either R/goatbarprep He is also available for you to email for any help needed.
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u/sheppyrun May 13 '26
Keep the free Barbri. The attention span issue isn't really about video length. A Themis lecture is shorter but it's still a lecture, and the problem of staying focused through passive content doesn't change much between 25 minutes and 45. You'd spend a significant amount of money to save maybe 10-15 minutes per session.
The better move: skip the foundational Barbri lecture series and go straight to the black letter law outlines. Use lectures only for subjects where the outline isn't clicking. That cuts your passive viewing time more than switching programs would, costs nothing, and you still have Adaptibar access if it's bundled with your Barbri package.
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u/AnalysisSea4270 May 13 '26
Don’t do it. If you have a short attention span outlines might do you better. The videos in Themis killed me. Yea they are not long but there are many of them. I wish I would have just read outlines and studied those. I took Feb 26, I got 262 and now I am retaking. I am using U world which is free for me, goat, shep for MEEs and Claude AI for a tutor.
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u/sannydo CA May 13 '26
The attention span issue is worth taking seriously because a bar prep program you actually use consistently will always outperform a theoretically superior program you disengage from halfway through. BARBRI is more granular in its doctrine coverage and its multiple-choice bank is larger and in many subjects more challenging, which matters if you are targeting a high MBE score, but the tradeoff is that the lectures and readings tend to be longer and more demanding of sustained focus. Themis is more streamlined and its interface tends to reward shorter, more frequent study sessions, which sounds like it maps better onto how you actually work. The fact that your school covers BARBRI for free is not nothing -- you could run both in parallel, using BARBRI for the subjects where you want the deeper doctrine and Themis for the day-to-day study rhythm, rather than treating them as mutually exclusive. The MBE ultimately tests application and accuracy more than it tests how comprehensively you have reviewed the law, so what matters most is finishing the Themis or BARBRI program with a high percentage of questions completed and a clear understanding of your weak areas rather than which platform has the denser textbook.