Studying for the Bar Exam

So you’re going to start studying for the bar exam… you’ve graduated from law school (congratulations!) and now you’ve got to summit Everest before you can practice.

You can read these tips even if you’re in your 1L year or if you’ve just finished 3L and are in denial about studying or you’ve just graduated are getting ready to pass the bar!

Bar Prep Programs

You need to take one. Do not, I repeat, do NOT try to study for this by yourself with some book you bought off Amazon. This is not the time to get creative with money. I personally took a Kaplan bar prep because I taught LSAT prep for them in college and law school and I really liked how their company and materials were structured. I had friends who took BarBri and enjoyed it. Basically, my view on bar prep programs is that they are designed to help you beat the test. Kaplan I know let’s you retake the prep program if you fail. If you do exactly what these programs tell you to do you are going to pass.

Kaplan offered an online only, in person only, and combo courses. I went with the combo courses because I knew I learned better when I had a human explaining things to me live and I couldn’t turn on the tv but I also knew there were going to be days when I was studying that getting out of bed or off my couch wasn’t going to be an option.

PS if you are looking to save money – who isn’t – and you’re not yet finished with your 3L year check out this post where I talk about how I saved thousands of dollars on my bar prep program.

When to Start Studying for the Bar Exam

Immediately. I graduated on a Friday, was hungover Saturday and Sunday, and started studying Monday. Do not take a break or you will never get back in the groove. See studying for the bar exam as an extension of law school – you just did three years you can do two more months.

You’re going to have Freak-Outs

There are going to be times you’ll flip out or have an axiety attack. Some of my more memorable ones include:

the time I was at the gym and I had an anxiety attack because I kept think about all the bar preppers who were studying at that moment while I wasn’t – qu the freakout and I left ten minutes later to go study
the time when I came home and my mom convinced me to lay in the pool for an hour in the middle of the day. I told her I would only do it if she quizzed me. I got out five minutes later and grabebd the book out of her hand yelling that she wasn’t quizzing me correctly
another time the refridgerator broke and the repair man was trying to tell me how the fridge worked so he could explain why it was wasn’t working. I stopped him mid sentence, apologized, and said I didn’t have the brain bandwidth to understand that information. The next few minutes of him fixing the fridge was awkward but I seriously couldn’t intake any non-Bar information

Thee are totally normal so don’t beat yourself up too bad about them. Give your close people a heads up when you feel one coming on though.

Create a Study Schedule

When you’re taking a bar prep class you’l have basically a premade schedule of what you have a lecture on and then what to review or prep for. It will also include practice tests and essays. This is a great template to use but you also need to make a time schedule. I tried to start at 8am and end of 5pm, with an hour break for lunch. This didn’t always work out but I tried to stick to it. There were some times were I needed more sleep and watched my lecture online and kept studying after 5pm. Find a time schedule to work for you and stick to it.

Educate the People in your Life

You are going to get stressed out – see ‘freak outs’ above and people who are/have not studied for the bar will not understand. Your family is going to see you stressing and say things like “Oh you’ll be fine” or “Don’t worry, you’ll pass.” These are the worst things that can be said to a bar prepper. After a melt down in front of my mom, I told her she had to be more aware of what she said to me. Here were the options I told her she could say to me:

You’re studying so hard sweetie, you’re going to do amazing!
You are preparing for this, you will be ready!
I can’t imagine how tough this is, but I know you can get through this!
Can I pour you a glass of wine?
Do you want to go out to eat/take a walk/etc after you’re done studying today?
I wish I could help, is there anything I can do so you don’t have to worry about it?

Take Care of Your Mental Health

Just like you created a study schedule you need to have a schedule to take care of your mental and physical health. Make sure you eat healthy meals and work out. I wish I had signed up for yoga class or orange theory every day – it would have made me get out and focus on my health for at least an hour each day. I came home and studied at my mom’s house for a week in the middle and she had dinner for me every night. I cried the first night because it was so overwhelming. When I went back to my apartment I bought premade meals from Central Market so I would have healthy dinners.

Bottom line is studying for the bar exam is pretty awful; it’s going to take up your entire life and if you have any jerk friends they aren’t going to get it but when you’re done with the bar you’re done. Seriously, as long as you pass, that’s all that matters. NO ONE is going to ask your score, I promise you NOT ONE employer is going to ask what you got on the Bar. If you pass by 40 points it’s the same as passing by 1 point.