Steal my study hack that passed me 3 bar exams—
🔸 My first was 1996 (NY). Debilitating back spasms made it too painful for me to sit for the in‑person bar-prep courses (which were the only game in town then).
So I studied alone at my parents’ house.
Even my firm mattress felt too mushy, so I studied, ate, and slept on a comforter on the floor.
I listened to BarBri lectures on my “boom box” — a case of cassette tapes from old lectures that were sent to me by snail-mail.
I received an accommodation under the ADA to take the exam lying on the floor.
I ended up in a private office at a random Albany office park about half a mile from the regular testing site.
Because I was taking 600 mg Ibuprofen every six hours, I feared I’d fall asleep during the exam.
I did during the multi-state.
But I passed overall.
🔸 My second bar exam was in 2000 (PA) (<5 yrs).
I had a 4‑month‑old baby with chronic ear infections that regularly kept her home from daycare.
I would carry her around the house in a Baby Bjorn while listening to BarBri tapes on my headphones, stopping for long visits to a wall mirror so she could watch and entertain herself.
I passed.
🔸 The third one was in 2010 (NJ) (no waive-in).
By then, I was back in Big Law; I had three young children and was working full time.
My workload left me only ten days to study for the bar.
I passed.
⬇️
The SAME STUDY HACK saved me each time.
👉 I transcribed the answers to practice essay problems. 👈
I didn’t even read the facts or prompts.
I just recopied the model answers—slowly enough to really see how they were put together.
Here’s why this worked for me and why it can work for you—
When you retype model answers, you aren’t just copying. You are training your brain on:
▪️ How issues are spotted and set up for analysis.
▪️ How rules are worded so graders can check elements quickly.
▪️ How facts, legal sources, and conclusions are braided together in paragraphs.
🔷 Education researchers call this the “WORKED-EXAMPLE EFFECT”:
You learn complex tasks faster when you study fully worked solutions instead of trying to reinvent everything from scratch.
—Recopying bar answers turns them into worked examples you can feel in your hands.
—Because the “hard part” of solving the problem is already done, your limited mental energy is freed up to notice structure, transitions, and stock formulations.
—Over time, those patterns become reusable templates.
On exam day, you won’t be searching for words; you’ll be plugging new facts into familiar moves.
🗣️ That’s why I still tell bar takers:
If you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, or short on time, you can do a lot worse than my simple practice—just recopy the answers, and pay attention to the structure.
Try it and let me know how you do?
I really think this can be your game changer.
💌 Amanda
P.S. What’s your bar-exam story? Any tips for Feb testers?
