How to Pass the Bar Exam the First Time You Take It
Taking the bar exam? Want to succeed? Here’s a few tips from a poor soul that had to take the bar exam in two different states…and taking these tips to heart helped her pass the first time, both times.
- Understand the distinctions in the law, and understand them well. If you don’t understand them, or you think you “sort of†do, make sure you talk to other students or appropriate person. This is especially important for multiple choice.
- SLEEP. Every night. 8 hours. Your brain needs to process and rest. It’s better to get the sleep and feel refreshed instead of cramming that last piece of information in that you won’t remember, anyway, because you’re too tired.
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Alfred E. Neuman sez: What, Me Worry About the Bar Exam?
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so you need to be able to train yourself appropriately. Your brain is like a muscle–you probably haven’t utilized it ever before like you will in the bar exam, so you need to realize that you actually have to train yourself to absorb more and more information over time.
- Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. If you ARE getting overwhelmed, stop, breathe, think of something else for a few minutes, go for a walk, work out, go to the beach for a short swim!
- Don’t underestimate the bar exam. Just as some of you have to control your tendency to freak out and find it all too much, some of you have to remember that this is big–a lot of money and a lot of wasted time if you do not take it seriously. Study every day, no matter what, for at least a few hours.
- The biggest fear, of course, is fear of failure. But quit fearing failure if it is driving you to panic (which then will drive you to fail, because you can t think). The reality is-those of us that have taken the bar know that it is incredibly difficult. I don t know a single person that was 100% confident they passed right after they took it. If you fail, we won t look down on you, we know how hard it is –and how easy it could be to slip into panic. Take a breath, know you can do it again and it will not be the end of the world, I promise.
- FOCUS. Keep your mind on the matter. Make the time you spend studying QUALITY time, as opposed to quantity. I personally would rather study in a focused manner for 2-3 hours than spend 8 hours doing it half-heartedly, wouldn’t you?
- Know, now, that your friends and family, no matter how well-intentioned, do not understand what it means to study for the bar exam.
- DO NOT sit and obsess with everyone else about the bar exam (this includes the days of the bar exam).
- DO NOT compare the amount you study to what others say they are studying. It’s irrelevant. The quality of your time and focus, and covering all the material, is what matters.
The key components to success, in a nutshell, are that you learn to focus and avoid distractions, especially those that are emotionally draining/straining.
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Preparing for and passing the exam on the first attempt is commendable. Preparing for and passing a second exam (on the first attemp) is even better. Fifteen years after law school, preparing for and passing a third bar exam is…at the very least something that is only done by someone who knows how to prepare. There is a massive amount of information required to pass the bar exam in any jurisdiction. There is a massive amount of information in a good bar review program.
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Sit down on Day one with the attitude of LETS JUST DO THIS THING… let others tit there thinking “Oh my God, its now or never”