Practical Suggestions on How to Pass the Bar by John P. Virgino Graduation for law students is so anti-climactic.

As if the spartan life we have lived the past four years is not enough, we still have to gear up and march to the Coliseum and wage an even greater battle. he fight is filled with uncertainties, for when we step into the ring, we are on our own. here is no assurance that we would emerge as victorious Gladiators cheered upon by the crowd, or be the ne!t "appy #eal for the royal lions. he first thing a reviewee must do is to accept this reality. $tudying for the bar is one big marshmallow test. %t would entail a drastic change in habit and lifestyle. $acrifices must be made. he sooner you accept it, the better you could cope with the bar e!am&s demands and challenges. As $un 'u once said, the art of war includes (nowing ones enemy. he number one enemy that a bar reviewee must confront is his fear ) of the un(nown, the an!iety as to what lies ahead. %t is human to fear what one doesn&t understand. $o, the main goal of this e!ercise is to help you understand what the bar is. % hope this article could serve as a map that would aid you con*uer the bar&s perilous terrain. he tips contained herein are not foolproof. %ts ob+ective is modest-it is simply to pass the bar. #ost of the suggestions contained here were culled from my e!perience. "owever, to give it some credibility, % also included the effective habits of fellow reviewees, as well as sound advice from previous topnotchers ,#acel and -a+.. I. PREPARING FOR THE BAR / $et your goals and devise your own strategy on how to do it. 0hen you have no gameplan, you simply conform and follow what the others are doing. his can be dangerous. / $trategi'e and ma!imi'e. 1ollow the Pareto principle. 2ach one is given more or less the same amount of time to study. 3ou must be able to manage your scarce resources. Concentrate on your critical few, the 456 input that would produce 756 of your output. / 8rgani'e your materials ahead of time. 9uy the right boo(s and review materials. Political :aw -8utline by ;achura :abor :aw- A'ucena&s 2verybody&s :abor Code and Alcantara Civil- Jurado a!ation -<an Calica&s -eviewer Commercial -#iravite=Villanueva

Criminal -8rtega ;otes -emedial --egalado :egal 2thics -Aguirre $ A- 2- >% a good and sturdy boo(stand a good lamp, white light a cubicle made from illustration boards, this would give you privacy and minimi'e distractions ,for student lounge people. earplugs, to bloc( off noise. %t also sends a signal to noisy co-reviewees to shut-up vitamins=supplements noteboo(, inde! cards a good supply of highlighters post-its. he tags can be used to divide the material, which can mar( your goal for the day. 9y brea(ing the boo(s into parts, it ma(es reading more manageable.

II. STUD ING FOR THE BAR / #aster the codal provisions. his is a minimum re*uirement. 3ou can never go wrong with this strategy. / #anage your time according to the weight of the sub+ect. ;ot all bar sub+ects are created e*ual. / Prepare a tentative schedule for your bar review. / Ad+ust your body cloc(. $leep early, start early. $ome reviewees even go to the e!tent of simulating the bar month by ma(ing #onday their rest day ,since #ondays are brain-dead days during $eptember. / "ave a study buddy so that you can have a benchmar(. his would help pace yourself, giving you the e!tra push to study. 3our study buddy must have good study habits. $he need not be your girlfriend. / :earn the art of answering the bar. $tudy how bar *uestions are phrased and how it should be answered. he bar *uestions are crafted differently from the usual law e!ams we have. :oo( at the $uggested Answers published by the ?P :aw Center. $ome *uestions repeat over time so ma(e sure you get the survey of bar *uestionnaires to concentrate on areas, which are favorite sources of *uestions.

/ 0hile studying for the bar, ta(e down notes and prepare your mnemonics. 0hether we li(e it or not, the bar is a memory game, and there is no substitute for memori'ing. / 2mphasis should be made on the *uality of your study time and not the amount of hours you spend studying. <on&t be obsessed with the number of pages you read in a day. he problem with being obsessed with the number of readings is that you are tempted to postpone your understanding of the material since at the bac( of your mind, you intend to second and third read it any way. ;e!t thing you (now, it is already bar month and you&ll be cramming all the information in your head. / -ead to understand and not for the sa(e of simply reading. -eading can become a mechanical e!ercise. #ost reviewees brag that they have read their bar materials three times. <on&t be alarmed. $ome read faster than the others. "owever, speed-reading should not be done at the e!pense of comprehension. %t is better to have one good reading than have three lousy readings. / :ess is more. 8ne important fau! pas to avoid is the temptation of reading a lot of materials. 0e have this thin(ing that five months should be spent reading all the materials we can get. Anything less would ma(e us feel guilty and insecure. 3ou may read all you want, but remember that you should not spread yourself too thinly. he truth is, the bar is composed of only @5-A5 *uestions per sub+ect. 3ou must be conscious of the fact that the e!aminer will grade you solely on the basis of the way you answer these *uestions. he fact that you read all the commentaries would be immaterial. / Practice good handwriting s(ills. his is important. 3our e!am may be readable to your law professor, considering that he is chec(ing around fifty blueboo(s. %magine multiplying it by one hundred. 9ar e!aminers are humans too. heir patience could be e*uated as inversely proportional to the number of blueboo(s they will be chec(ing. he bar e!aminer might not have the forebearance to decipher your encrypted hieroglyphics. III. !A"EATS / :earn the proper way of highlighting materials, since you will re-read the materials. "ighlight only the important words and phrases. Avoid highlighting everything since it defeats the very purpose of highlighting in the first place. / -ead carefully. <on&t accept everything you read as gospel truths. here are a lot of errors that you need to correct in your reading materials. Also, ma(e sure that the law you are reading is udpated. / Avoid the #aricon virus ,the syndrome of photocopying all the materials that one can get his hands into. A tribute to #aricon, the !ero! empress. li(e the plague. he ne!t time someone flash you a candidate

material, thin( twice. %nspect the materials carefully and determine if you truly need it, or whether you will be able to read it. Photocopied materials give us a false sense of security. 0e +ustify this photocopying spree saying that you need the option of being able to read it if your time permits it. he danger lies in the fact that if we have too many materials at hand, it might overwhelm us and reduce us into a state of helplessness. %t also ma(e us lose our focus. Added to this, is the sense of inade*uacy if we failed to finish our ambitious reading list. / -umors are +ust rumors. %n the duration of the bar review ,even after., be wary of the rumors that would spread. 8ne e!ample is that you will hear that this person is the e!aminer, so the ne!t step you will ta(e is to as( if he has written a boo( so that you can buy it. 0e have this standing theory that the one responsible for spreading these rumors are the boo( publishers who wants to increase their boo( sales. <on&t believe these rumorsB 9e aware of the fact that you are e!tremely vulnerable as a reviewee. 0ithhold belief even when the person tells you that the information comes from a Cvery reliable source.D 0ith respect to (nowing who the e!aminer is, don&t preoccupy yourself with it. As a co-e!aminee bluntly puts it, in spite of the fact that we (now our law professors, we still could not predict the *uestions that they as( during finals. his is the same case with the bar e!aminers. / "ot tips are not hot, even if they are stamped confidential. ips are overrated and you should ta(e it with a grain of salt. %t caters to a reviewee&s psychological need, a placebo. 2ven if you did not receive any hot tips, don&t despair. 3ou can do good without it, maybe do even better. I". RE!O##ENDATIONS / $hould you enroll in the bar review classesE 0ell this is open to debate. % enrolled in the bar review classes because my philosophy then was never to shortchange my review. % told myself that si! thousand pesos might spell the difference between passing and failing. 2nrolling would preclude me from blaming myself, in the unfortunate event that % fail, thin(ing that % would have passed if only % enrolled myself. "owever, % was disappointed with the way review classes were conducted. he lectures could be boring and slow at times. :istening is a s(ill, it drains too much energy and ta(es too much of your time. $ometimes, you will be deluded into believing that your understanding mirrors that of the lecturer. 3our option would be to +ust borrow the materials from a co-reviewee and have it photocopied. a(e time to sift through the materials and segregate the materials you thin( might be useful. / $hould you billet yourself in a hotelE % tal(ed to my classmates who did not stay in hotel and they said that they were more rela!ed. %f you decide to stay home, thin( of these two thingsF a. how to receive the tips ,if you still thin( it is indispensable. b. how to get to the e!amination area on time ,G am ideal.

%f you decide to stay in a hotel, % suggest that you don&t share a room, to minimi'e movements and distractions. / $tudy in the student lounge. Personally, % thin( my stay there has helped me pass the bar. he daily interaction with fellow reviewees, the +o(es, small tal(s and power naps form part of the student lounge e!perience. %t has definitely (ept my head above water in those grueling five months. here, we found humor in our collective misery. / 2!ercise. %t is normal to gain weight during the bar review. 0e reviewees use eating as a mechanism to deal with tremendous stress. % eat five full meals during the bar, e!cluding merienda, because % used eating as an e!cuse not to study. <on&t worry, you will shed the unwanted fats after the bar review ,% did say my advice is not foolproof rightE. o deal with this, some co-reviewees enrollled in gym classes. 8thers simply +og around the academic oval. 2!ercise improves blood and o!ygen circulation, even when it only means a wal( to the vendo machine. / %n the duration of the review, pamper yourself once in a while. his is part of stress management, to combat the possibility of burnout. ". I#PORTANT RE#INDERS / <uring the night before the e!am, try to get a good night rest. 9ubble bath. <rin( a warm chocolate. / As( someone ,your bar buddy. to prepare your food. Grab a sliced $ubway so that you can eat and read in the afternoon within :a $alle. / 9e sure to bring all the papers ,e!am permits, %.<.. %t is suggested that you buy a transparent envelope and hang it in your nec( ,with a fancy %< holder. so that you won&t lose these important documents. his is simple but this would be very helpful, as it would reduce unnecessary stress. / 9ring a +ac(et or umbrella. / <o not bring your celphones inside :a $alle and avoid the hassle of depositing it. / Go to :a $alle early to avoid the madness in the hotel lobby. >now in advance which gate you would have to go to. / Choose the materials you thin( you have to read in the interim before the e!am. 9ring only these materials, lest you want to sub+ect yourself to a panic attac(. -emember, you need to rela! yourself. / ;ever leave your blue boo(, switching is not a remote possibility

/ 9ring mineral water, sweets=chocolates as brain boosters during the e!am. "I. DURING THE BAR E$A# he thirty minutes before the e!am after the proctor told us to bring our things in front was really nervewrac(ing. %magine staring blan(ly at your co-e!aminees and whispering to yourself that the minutes could have been productively used reading codal provisions. / After the distribution of the e!am *uestionnaire, scan the *uestions. Compute the number of *uestions and allocate your time accordingly. -emember that it is o(ay if you feel you don&t (now the answer. his is the so-called information rush. 9reathe and allow things to settle down. / %n answering bar *uestions, ta(e a deep solid breath and process the *uestion. 9e responsive and try to answer clearly and directly. Cite legal provisions or case law to support your arguments. %f you don&t (now the e!act provision, cite a provision that you thin( comes close. %t is rare that you (now all the answers to the *uestions, don&t fret. %n the event that you don&t (now the answer, guess, but support it with legal arguments or case law. ?se good 2nglish to mas( your ignorance. #y e!perience with the bar is that even if % (now the answer, % had difficulty answering because % wanted to craft and formulate my answer in the best possible way. 9e conscious of time, ma(e sure to start writing, never mind if it is not as grand as you initially wanted it to be. / $(ip *uestions you are not sure of the answers. Just be sure to get bac( to it. -eview your answers, ma(e sure you answered all the *uestions se*uentially. "II. AFTER THE BAR E$A# / :earn how to compartmentali'e. 2ven if you didn&t do well in one e!am, don&t despair. <on&t let the bad feeling affect your performance in the ne!t e!am, otherwise it will not only be one sub+ect you will have to worry about. % avoided discussion of answers with fellow reviewees. %t is cathartic for some but it is depressing for most. % personally believe that the e!ercise is very counter-productive. %t only depresses us more to (now that our classmates were able to elo*uently answer the *uestions we thought was difficult. 8ften, our co-reviewee approached the legal problem from a different angle and we tend to blame ourselves for failing to see it the way he did. / 9e contented with your answers. 3ou have already submitted your blueboo( have already done everything from your end. %t is already up to the e!aminer to appreciate your answers. %t is futile to feel sorry. $ure you could have answered better but it is sad that it always seems to dawn only after you

submitted the boo(let. -emember that given the limited time we had, we may have failed to give our best and most rational answer. he ratio of last clear chance comes to mind. / $weet $urrender. Pray and trust in the :ord Almighty. As a friend puts it, the bar is a humbling e!perience. %t is impossible to control all the factors that would guarantee our passing the bar. ?ndergoing the bar e!perience ma(es us more (eenly aware of our limitations as human beings. 0ithin the limited time we have, we can only study and prepare so much. % believe that there is more to the bar than the bar *uestions we need to answer. he real e!am is surviving the four $undays without crac(ing from the tremendous pressure the whole e!ercise brings. %n the course of writing this article, % may have committed some mista(es, grammatical or otherwise ) my apologies. 1or whatever this article might lac( in logic and coherence, is made up for with a genuine and sincere desire to help you hurdle and pass the bar. Goodluc( to all of youB