Final-Week Bar-Exam Tips
This post is for those taking the bar exam next week.
I’ve been in your position 3 times:
Every time, it was sheer hell.
The volume of material was prohibitive.
Unprecedented.
Abnormal, even.
And ohhhh, soooo painfully boring. 🥱
And every time, around one week out, I said to myself,
“There’s no earthly way I can possibly learn, memorize, and know how to apply all this material.”
I was sure I’d fail.
But here’s the thing:
Each time, everything came together in the final days.
⬇️
Here’s what I found most helpful during this final push:
1. Read as many essay answers as possible.
You don’t even need to read the questions; just absorb the answers. This helps you learn new legal concepts through the stories in the fact patterns while simultaneously seeing the framework for how those concepts are applied.
2. Use all your learning receptors.
Mix up reading, listening to bar exam tapes, writing things down in your own words, and even writing by hand. When you feel bogged down, put on an audio tape and listen to it while you walk.
3. Practice typing model answers to practice exams.
This helps reinforce the material and will improve your speed and efficiency on test day because you’ll be in rhythm.
4. In the hours before the exam, read through model answers on difficult topics one last time.
You’d be surprised how much will stick with you.
🌟 5. Right before the exam, take a deep breath and visualize yourself calmly retrieving all the information you’ve collected over the past weeks.
Repeat to yourself:
“I will be calm, cool, and collected. I will be systematic, methodical, and test-savvy. I will slay this exam.”
***
I’m sending you fortitude, extra brain cells, and some extra grace to give yourself during this beyond unbearable time.
I’ll be here cheering from the sidelines.
I’m betting on you.
💌 Amanda
P.S. Here’s a brief synopsis of my 3 crazy bar-exam experiences, in case you’re curious:
▪️ My first was New York, in July 1996, right after graduating. At the time, I was dealing with debilitating back spasms that prevented me from sitting in a chair. I “sat” for the bar thanks to an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act that allowed me to take the exam while lying on the floor.
▪️ Second, when I moved to Pennsylvania before I’d been practicing for 5 years, I had to take that bar in Feb 2000. While studying, I had a brand new infant at home who suffered from chronic ear infections that kept her home from daycare that winter more often than not. Study “days” became fits and starts around her nap schedule.
▪️ Third was New Jersey in 2010. NJ didn’t let lawyers “waive in,” regardless of how long they’d been practicing. But my caseload at the law firm didn’t let me take off more than 10 days to study.
I passed each time.
YOU CAN, TOO!!!