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The Unofficial, Incomprehensive Guide to Studying for the Bar Congrats on finis

The Unofficial, Incomprehensive Guide to Studying for the Bar Congrats on finishing law school! 1L year many of us attended a session where 2Ls and 3Ls talked about preparing for exams. Some of the advice was probably helpful, and at a minimum we got a better idea of what to expect. When I was about to start studying for the biggest exam of my legal career, however, I had no clue what I was going to be doing over the next couple of months, and most graduating 3Ls were similarly uncertain. Now that I’ve survived the bar exam, I figured it would be useful to put together a guide to help demystify the bar preparation process. I solicited and compiled thoughts and advice from friends to make this guide. In parentheses after each comment is the state in which the commenter took the bar. You’ll notice that many of the comments contradict each other, illustrating that there is no “correct” approach to preparing for the bar. I’m sure this won’t answer all of your questions, and the views presented here reflect the experiences of about fifteen people, so you’d be ill-advised to rely too heavily on them, particularly for questions with few responses, but I hope it is helpful. Good luck! - Emily Disclaimer – we know lawyers-to-be are a litigious bunch, so to be clear, I make no promises about anything – this is simply to give you some insight into the range of experiences that people had while studying for the bar. 1. What are the different sections of the bar exam? The sections vary from state to state, but some common themes: • State essay questions: You read a hypothetical and answer questions about it. In New York, the questions typically provide some guidance regarding what you should be discussing. For example, they may ask “Did person A commit X crime?” or “Was the court correct in dismissing person B’s motion?” In New Jersey, the questions are more open-ended, saying something along the lines of “What causes of action does person C have, and what defenses might person D have?” Other states may have different formats. • Multistate Performance Test (MPT) – You get a case file, some fake cases and laws, and instructions to complete a task, which is often drafting a memo or brief, but might be something less familiar like drafting a will or a contract. Even if it is something you’ve never done before, that’s not a problem – they tell you what you need to do. Basically, the MPT requires you to follow instructions, analyze law, and apply law to fact. You’ve been preparing for this for the past three years in lawyering, internships, clinics, etc. • Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) – 200 multiple choice questions covering contracts, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, and real property. In addition to counting toward your score on the exam you are taking, your MBE score may allow you to waive in to DC and a couple of other states, and if you decide to take another bar exam within the next few years, you may be able to transfer your MBE score to use with the latter exam. New York also has New York-specific multiple choice questions. These questions cover random details and there’s pretty much no way to study for them. You just need to accept the fact that you’ll be guessing on most of them, but so will everyone else and it is graded on a curve. 2. What is the schedule of the exam? This of course is different in each state as well. In New York the schedule the past few years has been: Tuesday: 9 am – 12:15 pm: 3 essays and 50 New York multiple choice questions 1:45 pm – 4:45 pm: 2 essays and 1 MPT Wednesday: 9 am – 12 pm: 100 MBE questions 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm: 100 MBE questions 3. Should I take BarBri classes? Responses from people who took BarBri Classes: I was glad I did BarBri classes – it was expensive and not exactly fun, but not awful either, and I think bar studying would’ve been a lot more painful without it, largely because it helped me know what I needed to be doing. I think it would’ve been a lot more work and a lot less efficient without Barbri. It also made socializing with law school friends easy since we were on campus for the classes. If your firm is paying for it, it is a no brainer, but even if you’re paying for it yourself, it is probably worth it. They do have scholarships available for people going into public interest or who do not have a job offer. (NY) Really, I would only stress how important it is to do BarBri. Even if you think you can't afford it. Just not worth regretting it later. (NY) For first-time takers, I recommend doing BarBri or Kaplan or whatever. (CA) I found Barbri useful for the same reason I found Testmasters useful: structure. I do not have the discipline to create my own schedule and stick to it. Barbri prepares a schedule for you, and if you stick to it you’re almost certain to pass because, like any other business, their brand depends on results. What this also means is that they obviously tell you to do way more than you need to. But if you do your best to stick to the study schedule, and take it with a grain of salt if you don’t get to everything on the schedule, you should have no problem. (CA) Yes, you should take BarBri Classes. Not because they are brilliant or necessary, but because if you are working at a firm, it probably costs you nothing, and the course is really a very organized and well-trodden system for preparing. They've done this before, you haven't, trust their system. That said, remember that their target audience ranges from brilliant NYU grads to, um, less than brilliant people. So, find a balance between taking them seriously, and having the confidence to realize that you are going to crush this exam. (NY/NJ) Responses from people who did not take BarBri Classes: I didn't take Barbri or any class, but I did buy the Barbri books (new for $1000 for California) and I generally followed the class schedule (copied from a friend before leaving school). I loved it and would highly recommend it. My summer was pretty relaxed, I freaked out a little at the end - like everybody does - but I didn't see a law student between graduation week and the day I showed up to take the bar, and I got to control who I talked to about the materials I was studying, when I did have questions or just needed to vent. I think this made the stress very manageable, especially considering how tired I was of law school and the law school atmosphere by the time graduation came around. (CA) I definitely recommend the BarBri ipod program. You can rewind it if you space out, and I much prefer studying when I feel motivated to study and in the comfort of my own home/car/local coffee shop to studying on a preset schedule in a big classroom of stressed out people. (NY) I didn’t take a BarBri class, but I did take the online Kaplan class, which cost somewhat less than BarBri. I found that it was the perfect level of intensity for me; I could spend a few hours a day studying but still have time to go the gym, run errands, and unwind. The online class is good for people who have some moderate self-discipline to stay on top of lectures and assignments. (NY) 4. Should I be doing BarBri’s Primer or Preview program before the classes start? I did part of whichever one you were supposed to do right before the classes started. It was totally unnecessary – they teach you everything you need to know in the class. I should’ve just spent that time enjoying myself before the classes started. You could always do one or two to see if you think you’ll find it helpful if you want. (NY) Don't do brabri primer or preview, vacation and rest till class starts. (NY) You don't need to do the two early-start programs that Barbri offers, the Primer or the Preview, but my recommendation would be to do one of them if only to get used to the kinds of studying you will be doing. If you don't have time or don't want to do these, don't worry; everything will be covered in full during the rest of the program. DON'T assume that you will have time to cover them after the program starts, because you won't. (NY) I took Kaplan’s pre-course course, whatever it’s called. It wasn’t especially helpful, that I recall, but it wasn’t much of a burden either. It was probably a good way to uploads/Geographie/ bar-exam-guide.pdf