Congratulations to all of you who have completed law school! As many of you are preparing for graduation you may also be thinking about the pending bar examination. Here are 10 things you should consider and do to ensure success.
- Sign up for a bar preparation course like Barbri. There are many good bar preparation courses but I can attest that Barbri is fantastic. While self study may work for the LSAT or other exams, the bar exam is different. Invest the money and take a prep course.
- Attend the Twitter Chat hosted by The Student Appeal Journal. The Twitter chat will occur on Thursday May 24th, 8PM EST. Get details here!
- Relax and do not study until after graduation. I did not pick up a book until May 27th and given you will intensely study for the next 2 months virtually every day, you should relax so that you are energized.
- Follow your study plan. Barbri and other organizations will give you a study plan that outlines exactly what you are supposed to accomplish each day. Do not fall behind as you will have more and more added on to your schedule each day.
- The bar exam is a marathon and not a sprint and you cannot cram for it. There is just too much material that you have to learn.
- Understand the big picture and understand exactly what the exam is made up of. The bar is made up of various pieces and you have to understand the composition of the exam so that you can allocate time accordingly.
- The key to success is on the bar exam is doing as many practice questions as you can. The Bar preparation organization should give you more practice multiple choice and essay questions than you could ever do. All you have to do to guarantee success is complete the questions.
- Make sure you do the practice questions under timed conditions. Time management is a key to success and you may as well get used to the time restrictions. See my post on time management and do not borrow time from exam questions.
- Do not stress yourself out as you will likely pass. See my blog post that shows there is almost a 90% chance you will pass on your first attempt.
- Take study breaks during the process. You should try to take a day off every few weeks. You will find the schedule extremely hectic but a day here and there will help you energize.
