Developing

a Game
Plan for the Bar
Exam

Goals for This Session

Give you a sense of what your bar review schedule will look
like
Provide you with some 8me management strategies for your
bar review period
Share advice from past takers
Provide you with strategies for maintaining your mental
health and well-being during bar study and the bar
examina8on

Learning for the Bar Exam

Diers from learning in law school Much clearer

50 60 Hours per week (minimum)
Most Popular Bar Prep Providers BarBri, Kaplan and Themis

Bar exam learning, par8cularly for the Mul8state Examina8on (MBE),
involves mastery of legal rules and principles in par8cular contexts and
formats.
Course-spoOng (not just issue-spoOng) is required.
Uncertainty as to what will be tested.
Requires both global (big picture) and sequen8al learning (small
details).

Your Winning Game Plan

What dis8nguishes those students who pass?

A rm intent to take and pass your bar exam

Advance planning for the bar review and bar exam process

Planning for your exam logis8cs

A consistent investment of 8me

Studying for the bar exam is a full-8me job
Most students spend somewhere between 8-10 hours a day studying
during the bar review period
Stay ahead of schedule so that, if a crisis arises, you will have some
cushion for taking 8me to deal with the situa8on

Your Winning Game Plan

What dis8nguishes those students who pass?

A nancial plan
An academic check

During your third year, do a realis8c self-assessment regarding
your knowledge of the subjects tested on the bar exam

Stress management

Your likelihood of success on your bar exam will increase if you
can be focused, mentally tough and condent during your review
and exam

The Big Picture

Before your bar review course begins, sit down with a blank
calendar:
Bar review is typically a ten-week process late May un8l late July

Mark all the weeks from the start to the end of the bar prepara8on
period
Block out any days that you will not be available for bar prepara8on
for example, for a wedding, a family members birthday, etc.

Do not take more than one day a week o
You should study 8-10 hours per day

Day-By-Day Calendar
When determining how to use your 8me during bar review,
on your calendar you should mark:

Your bar review: Blocks of 8me when you will be in your bar
review course and the subjects covered during each day of your
course
Time to refresh: Block of 8me you want to take o to refresh
(include one-hour break per day and at least two three-hour
breaks per week)
Study 5me: Blocks of 8me you will have available for studying
(structure your study 8me in two- or three-hour blocks with ten
minute breaks every hour or so)

Time Management During Bar

Review
50-60 hours per week Study schedule will evolve over the course
of bar review period.
Study in two to three hour periods take a ve to ten minute break
every hour

Give yourself personal 8me each day (an hour or so)

Give yourself two longer periods of 8me per week to refresh (two to
three hours)
Reward yourself
Con8nually remind yourself why you will pass the bar exam

One Month Before Your Bar

Review Starts
Begin reviewing MBE subjects
Contact all the people who are signicant to you, explain to
them the importance of passing the bar exam and the study
8me needed (at least 50 hours per week)
Do at least one thing that you enjoy that you will not have
8me to do while youre studying for the bar exam
Remind yourself why you will pass the bar exam

First Four Weeks of Your Bar

Review
Get into a rou8ne right away, including a`ending class, studying
your bar review outlines, reviewing the material covered in class for
reinforcement, and doing prac8ce test ques8ons
Rou8ne will likely include:

Reviewing/preparing for class

A`ending class
Making sure you understand and memorize the law
At least 34 mul8ple choice ques8ons per day
At least 2 essays per week
At least 1 performance ques8on per week (if applicable)

Do not fall behind You will be learning new material every day

Second Four Weeks of Your

Bar Review
This is the 8me when students start feeling overwhelmed
A study plan helps control anxiety - Take it one step at a 8me and
concentrate on comple8ng the tasks in front of you
There will be both victories and setbacks For example, graduates
noted that everyone earns a 4 on their rst graded prac8ce essay

Con8nue to take 8me to refresh Take planned breaks

One hour daily
Two three-hour breaks per week
Reward yourself

Last Two Weeks of Your Bar

Review
Most bar review schedules leave the last two weeks open for students
to study on their own

This 8me frame should be devoted to self-tes8ng to make sure your

recall of the law is as automa8c as possible
Review substan8ve law
Do just enough prac8ce ques8on to stay in the ow - Do mixed MBE
sets

Take care of yourself

Con8nue to take at least two three-hour breaks per week to engage

in ac8vi8es you enjoy
Start going to bed early enough to wake up at the 8me you will need
to wake up for the bar exam
Do your studying during the hours you will be taking the bar exam

Last Two Weeks of Your Bar

Review
Conrm that you know where your exam will be administered,
how you will get there, and where you will park
Conrm any hotel reserva8ons
Pack what you need to take with you to the bar exam Make
sure you read exam instruc8ons - Bar examiners are oien
very specic as to what you can bring, wear, use when taking
the exam, etc.

Plan what you will eat
Plan to take layers of clothing along so you can adjust if the
exam-room temperature is uncomfortable

Last Two Weeks of Your Bar

Review
Plan how you will manage your stress on your exam days
Plan how you will celebrate the end of all your hard work aier
the bar exam is over
Remind yourself why you believe you will pass the bar exam

Advice from Prior Takers

The exam is one part knowledge and one part strategy
staying calm throughout the process is key.
Its a marathon not a sprint. Keep it steady. Know there will
be good day and bad days.
Start early; the sooner you start post-gradua8on, the less you
will have to cram into each day. Do exactly what you are told
to do each day in your schedule, and you will be ne. Dont
get behind. Treat it like a job. Allow yourself something fun
each week to look forward to a reward for working that
week. It help to keep you mo8vated and give you a short
break.

Advice from Prior Takers

Pace yourself. Take a break from 8me to 8me to digest the
informa8on. Remember IT IS ONLY A TEST.
If the system urged by your bar prep company doesnt t the way you
learn best, give yourself permission to deviate a li`le and use strategies
that target the way you learn best.
Dont get discouraged studying and preparing for the bar is dicult.
Do as many prac8ce essay ques8ons as possible and get as many graded
by the bar review course graders as possible. I think this was a huge
help to me This was especially important for Maryland since the
essays are worth 66.67% of your score.
Approach studying for the bar exam like you would approach a job.
Make a schedule, get into a rou8ne, take it seriously, a`end all classes.
However, make sure you are leaving enough 8me each day or week to
do things that you enjoy: go the gym, watch tv, get fresh air, etc.

Advice from Prior Takers

The exam is one part knowledge and one part strategy staying
calm throughout the process is key.
Once you pay for your bar review course in full, they will send you
all of the materials. In addi8on, BarBri has a pre-bar program which
allows you to start reviewing topics months/weeks before the actual
bar review course starts. Honestly, I would recommend this to
students because it gives them more 8me to refresh their memories
on topics they have already taken instead of trying to squeeze
everything in with new materials they will be learning.
One thing that surprised me was how dierent from law school
[studying for the bar exam] was, and how much more straight-
forward the material and presenta8on is.

Advice from Prior Takers

Its okay to do more work than they give you, but never, ever do
less. Surround yourself not only with people of similar study habits,
but people who are taking the same bar. Also, bar exam study 8me
is not the 8me to be looking for jobs, apartments, etc. Do not even
try.
If I had to take the bar exam again, I would at least start reading
the short outlines before the bar review course (during the 8me
between gradua8on the review course start date).
Put in the 8me, work the program, youll be ne. Exhaust all
prac8ce materials. A`ack the test, and do MBE prac8ce ques8ons.
You wont know everything but you wont be expected to either. If
you feel like you failed the MBE aier taking it, you did just ne.

Advice from Prior Takers

On average, I would start work at 8:00 and nish between 5:00 and
6:00 Monday through Friday. I would take 5-10 minute breaks every
hour and a half (that was the cri8cal mass point for me to retain
informa8on) and a 45 minute lunch break. I would occasionally do
work on Saturday to catch up, do some MBE ques8ons or an essay,
but never more than half a day and I always took the whole day o
on Sunday. My studying ramped up two weeks out from the bar as I
review but went down to around 40 hours a week the nal week
and I did nothing the day before. (NOTE: This student studied 51-60
hours per week)
Though the hours I spent per week changed as the test neared, I
was spending about 8 hours per day, 5 days a week un8l July 4. Aier
that, I was spending 10-12 hours a day 6-7 days a week.

Advice from Prior Takers

Generally, I would recommend over-studying. For three
months all you have to do is study for the bar exam, treat it as
a job, not just a 9-5 but one where some8mes you work late.
Set a schedule and s8ck to it. Do everything your bar review
course tells you and then more. One thing someone told me
which was extraordinarily helpful was when doing prac8ce
MBEs write down why you selected each answer in a separate
notebook and review your thought process on all wrong
answers. Addi8onally do all the prac8ce tests and essays, it
seems like a lot to do but August 1 will be there before you
know it. Over prepare and never have to worry about the
exam again.

Advice from Prior Takers

Trust the bar exam course. At the beginning, it might not seem like
youre doing enough. Dont worry, they will give you a lot more
soon. Dont try to work ahead too much they have paced the
program in a par8cular way for a reason. Its also likely that there
will be 8me when its just impossible or imprac8cal to get through
everything the course tells you to do in a day. Just do as much as
you can and try to catch up on the weekends, but dont feel like
youre going to fail because of it. Take breaks throughout the day.
Taking some 8me o on 4th of July and Memorial Day wont kill you,
either. Eat well.
Do not get behind. Measure yourself against the benchmarks
provided by your course. Do everything your course says to do do
not skip assignments because youve heard that it over prepares
you. Do the essays and even if you dont submit them to be graded,
grade them yourself.

Advice from Prior Takers

Watch the videos that are reviews of prac8ce tests. It seems like
theyre something you could just skip because theyre not the
formal lectures on given subjects. But really, they were some8mes
more helpful than the substan8ve lecture. Some of the professors
gave really, really helpful 8ps when they went over the prac8ce
tests. They point out the common fact pa`erns and teach you how
to narrow down the answer choices and pick the correct
answer. (NOTE: This student took BarBri).
I would also advise not thinking of the MBE as just another
standardized test that you can game. Based on my experience
with it, that will only get you so far knowing the MBEs tricks is not
a subs8tute for knowing the law. So dont think that doing a million
prac8ce MBE ques8ons to get comfortable with format is sucient.
You need to make sure you know the substance as well. I saw a lot
of people this year make that mistake while studying and then get
thrown when the MBE tested specic points of law.