Bar Exam Prep

Well, it's May. If you're a law student, May means 1 of 3 things: School's out; Summer school starts; or it's bar exam time.

For me, the bar exam was the hardest, yet easiest test I've ever taken; I guess having the fear of failure is quite a motivator to do very well. On the first day of the exam, I thought I was going to throw up. On the drive to the exam hall, my wife kept asking if I was all right and if we needed to pull over. If I could have thrown up, I probably would have. Truth is, I couldn't even muster enough courage to puke, because of the sudden wave of fear I'd gathered about 90 minutes prior to the exam. By the time the proctors bellowed "begin" though, I was "full guns" and focused.

I used to believe in the principle that Wisconsin adopts: if you attend a state school, you can waive the bar exam. Not any more though. I think every last and recent graduate should suffer just like me. Two days of pure hell, followed by 2 months of anxiety.

The fact is, everyone does it. It's a right of passage, and if you've done what you need to, then you'll be fine. My advice is simple: develop a study routine, and stick to it. Bar prep is your job for the next 2 months (although I worked 30 hours per week from graduation until July 1).

I took the BarBri and PMBR bar exam courses. I know people who didn't, and they passed. Frankly, I think you could do it, but why risk it? The Cowgirl Lawyer, has a well-written blog post, which basically agrees with my philosophy.

You need the study routine to give you comfort and stress relief More importantly, the routine is a method to allow you to accomplish all the studying that has to take place. I'd go to our local city library, or fortunately, to the law school's library (it's surprisingly empty from August to December, January to April, and May 15 to August 15), and sprawl out over a desk. I made sure I only took my study materials, no laptop or other distracting devices. 

Here's my daily routine (beginning July 1):

9:00  50 MBE questions & review

12:00 lunch (30 minutes)

1:00   Review BarBri materials; pick 1 subject to study

5:30   Dinner

6:00   Create study flash cards, posters, review missed MBE questions, etc.

8:00   Relax (tv, movies, etc)

10:30 Bed

I liked my scheduled because it created order out of chaos. The amount of information is overwhelming, and you need a logical way to tackle it. You also need to make sure you're spending some time for yourself. I didn't study on Saturday night, or Sunday. I felt I should have a little time away from the material (although it's always close, no matter what). I also didn't get discouraged if I "slacked" during some study sessions. Slacking is your mind's way of telling you to take a break. Just remember, don't take too long of a break.

The PMBR program recommended 50 questions per day from May to the bar exam. I stuck with it. You need to see a lot of questions to start to understand MBE logic. When I took the MBE, I felt like I knew 75% of the correct answers, just because they were similar to previous questions. I didn't try to "kill" the test, merely make sure I scored my 130 to pass.

In the final 2 weeks before the exam, I started taking regular full MBE exams. I'd do a 3 hour chunk in the morning, followed by review in the afternoon. I always did "discouragingly well" on my practice MBE exams, don't worry. They really are more difficult than the real MBE. By the time I took my final practice, I was scoring 135-140. The important thing is to see the types of questions. 

I didn't do a lot of essays. I don't know whether that helped or hurt me, although I felt like I was fine on the real exam. I knew I could write an essay, so I practiced issue spotting on each practice essay question. Most of the questions had 10-15 issues, large and small. I shot for 75-80% of the issues. The best essay-writing advice I received was to remember that the person reading your essay is a solo/small firm lawyer who has a busy practice and has about 3 minutes to read your answer. Be concise, be clear, and make it very easy to read. Also, add some statement like, "and since this is a rather complex issue, I would always seek the assistance and counsel of my senior partner or mentor." That has to be good for something, right?

I studied alone, I passed the exam. I don't think that group or single studying is a factor. Again, it's important to establish and stick to a routine. 

You're going to do fine, if you get in a good habit. If not, you're going to fail, and you'll re-read this blog post, kick yourself, and work harder. I know several attorneys who didn't pass (they didn't follow any sort of routine to study) on their first, second, or third attempts, it's not a big deal.