Preparation for each topic of the bar exam

After attending your bar review conference, you look at your outline, essay book, MBE questions, and wonder, “What should I study first?” While it’s great to experiment to find what works best for you, here’s a look at what method I used that worked for me. I ended up evolving from one method to another. I’ll tell you what that was and why I evolved, after learning the hard way.

First, let’s look at all the possible options you could study for each subject:

What could you study?

Let’s say you are in the process of learning mistakes. You could do any of the following:

1) Go to a reading class

2) Review class reading notes

3) Check the converter schematic (or whatever schematic you have)

4) Ask MBE questions

– Timed or untimed

– Review MBE answers, only wrong or all answers

5) Practice rehearsals

– Outline only or full essay

– Timed or untimed

– Review the model schematic or model essay

– Redo test

Preparation method for the bar exam n. Problem #1: Less effective

At the beginning of my preparation for the bar exam, what I generally tried to do was the following, in this order:

1) Review Scheme

2) Go to class reading

3) Review class notes

4) *Ask MBE questions without time/timed time

6) *Make an essay and scheme without time / time

7) Repeat steps 1, 3 – 5, in the order and to the extent you deem necessary.

*I would review sample answers after asking each set of questions

This system isn’t bad, but here’s why it wasn’t the most effective method for me:

Doing steps 1 and 3, on your own, was a BIG waste of time. He often took a LOT of time to do, didn’t get much value out of it and was exhausted by the time he got to the MBE and rehearsals.

Not only do the outline and lecture notes take hours and hours to complete, but I rarely felt like I could do better on the essay or MBE questions as a result of all the time invested.

Remember, EVERYTHING YOU STUDY SHOULD HELP YOU DO BETTER IN ESSAYS, MBEs, AND PERFORMANCE TESTS (if applicable). After all, that’s what they test you for, not how well you memorized the rules. If what you’re doing isn’t making you better as a result, change tactics.

Here’s an example of what I did that really slowed me down:

During the end of the first two weeks of bar exam prep, we spent three full days in class reviewing contracts, going through at least 100 hypothetical questions. Afterwards, I decided that I was going to put everything else on hold and finalize the contracts. I reviewed each and every one of the hypotheses, until I was clear in my mind what the answer was. I put aside all my other topics, essays, and MBEs, and spent three full days, yes, three days in a row going through those hypotheticals until I felt like I had cold contracts.

Excited, I opened my MBE book to start answering multiple choice questions about contracts. After the first five questions, I almost burst into tears. I only got one correct answer! I didn’t know anything! I finished the set of multiple choice questions and failed more than the Detroit Lions 0-16 season. As you can imagine, a kind of panic took over my mind. I spent three days going through ONLY the notes for the contracts class, I was way behind on everything else and couldn’t even pass the MBE.

Maybe I’d have better luck with rehearsals? I opened the book and my heart skipped a beat when I realized that I couldn’t answer anything at all. This was a huge turning point in my preparation for the bar exam. I had been only slightly behind in my studies up to this point. Afterwards, I fell VERY behind and never caught up (the good news is I was still able to pass!).

The point of the story is this: just going through notes, attack sheets, and schematics will get you nowhere. You MUST do real practice essays and real time multiple choice questions in order to prepare to pass the exam. Use your lecture notes and outline to review where you went wrong on your practice tests.

I’m not saying NOT to check your outline or class notes. Have to! But just do it in a way that will help you in rehearsals and MBEs.

This is what I mean:

After taking a practice or multiple choice essay, CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. As you review your answers, you’ll probably see a lot of things you did wrong. Then review your outline and lecture notes to see exactly what you did wrong and how you can fix it next time. Often times, if you just check the model response, it will tell you the relevant rule and how it applies, so you don’t even need to go back to your schematic or lecture notes anyway. Still, check them out if you think the sample answer doesn’t give you all the information you need. The information you need would be the amount by which you can eliminate a perfect answer if you were to see the same question again.

So this is the method I adopted toward the end of my bar preparation that saved me a lot of time, energy, and consulting expense.

Bar Exam Preparation Method #2: Most Effective

1) Go to class reading

2) *Ask MBE questions without time/timed time

3) *Do an essay and outline without a time limit/timed

4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 in any order and as needed

*Review each answer after each set of questions, using outlines and class notes if necessary

But how can I take practice tests if I haven’t looked at the rules yet?

I know this is what you’re thinking. I thought that too.

The first MBE and the first two essays, you probably know absolutely nothing. At least, that’s how it was for me, without fail. I looked at each essay for the first time and my mind went blank. I barely knew enough to spend ten minutes writing an essay, let alone an outline.

It’s okay!

This is how you will learn. I will delve into preparing for MBE practice essays and questions in a later post. Dive in, practice, review the model’s response, learn your mistakes, and dive back in. By the third essay, you’ll have a good handle on things and by the fourth you should be weeding out the passing answers!

Although this technique worked for me, the most important thing to do is DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU. During law school, if you’ve been the ‘outline writer’ or ‘rule memorizer’ and it’s worked for you, keep up your method of reading and memorizing rules before taking an essay. That’s great. This is your bar exam and your preparation. Do what you feel is right for you.

As always, best of luck in passing your bar exam.

“This name appears on the pass list.”