The Unofficial, Incomprehensive Guide to Studying for the Bar

Congrats on finishing law school! 1L year many of us attended a session where 2Ls and 3Ls
talked about preparing for exams. Some of the advice was probably helpful, and at a minimum
we got a better idea of what to expect. When I was about to start studying for the biggest exam
of my legal career, however, I had no clue what I was going to be doing over the next couple of
months, and most graduating 3Ls were similarly uncertain. Now that I’ve survived the bar exam,
I figured it would be useful to put together a guide to help demystify the bar preparation process.

I solicited and compiled thoughts and advice from friends to make this guide. In parentheses
after each comment is the state in which the commenter took the bar. You’ll notice that many of
the comments contradict each other, illustrating that there is no “correct” approach to preparing
for the bar. I’m sure this won’t answer all of your questions, and the views presented here reflect
the experiences of about fifteen people, so you’d be ill-advised to rely too heavily on them,
particularly for questions with few responses, but I hope it is helpful. Good luck!

- Emily

Disclaimer – we know lawyers-to-be are a litigious bunch, so to be clear, I make no promises

about anything – this is simply to give you some insight into the range of experiences that people
had while studying for the bar.

1. What are the different sections of the bar exam?

The sections vary from state to state, but some common themes:

• State essay questions: You read a hypothetical and answer questions about it. In New
York, the questions typically provide some guidance regarding what you should be
discussing. For example, they may ask “Did person A commit X crime?” or “Was the
court correct in dismissing person B’s motion?” In New Jersey, the questions are more
open-ended, saying something along the lines of “What causes of action does person C
have, and what defenses might person D have?” Other states may have different formats.

• Multistate Performance Test (MPT) – You get a case file, some fake cases and laws, and
instructions to complete a task, which is often drafting a memo or brief, but might be
something less familiar like drafting a will or a contract. Even if it is something you’ve
never done before, that’s not a problem – they tell you what you need to do. Basically,
the MPT requires you to follow instructions, analyze law, and apply law to fact. You’ve
been preparing for this for the past three years in lawyering, internships, clinics, etc.

• Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) – 200 multiple choice questions covering contracts, torts,
constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, and real property. In addition to counting
toward your score on the exam you are taking, your MBE score may allow you to waive
in to DC and a couple of other states, and if you decide to take another bar exam within
 the next few years, you may be able to transfer your MBE score to use with the latter
exam.

New York also has New York-specific multiple choice questions. These questions cover random
details and there’s pretty much no way to study for them. You just need to accept the fact that
you’ll be guessing on most of them, but so will everyone else and it is graded on a curve.

2. What is the schedule of the exam?

This of course is different in each state as well. In New York the schedule the past few years has
been:

Tuesday:
9 am – 12:15 pm: 3 essays and 50 New York multiple choice questions
1:45 pm – 4:45 pm: 2 essays and 1 MPT
Wednesday:
9 am – 12 pm: 100 MBE questions
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm: 100 MBE questions

3. Should I take BarBri classes?

Responses from people who took BarBri Classes:

I was glad I did BarBri classes – it was expensive and not exactly fun, but not awful either, and I
think bar studying would’ve been a lot more painful without it, largely because it helped me
know what I needed to be doing. I think it would’ve been a lot more work and a lot less efficient
without Barbri. It also made socializing with law school friends easy since we were on campus
for the classes. If your firm is paying for it, it is a no brainer, but even if you’re paying for it
yourself, it is probably worth it. They do have scholarships available for people going into
public interest or who do not have a job offer. (NY)

Really, I would only stress how important it is to do BarBri. Even if you think you can't afford it.
Just not worth regretting it later. (NY)

For first-time takers, I recommend doing BarBri or Kaplan or whatever. (CA)

I found Barbri useful for the same reason I found Testmasters useful: structure. I do not have the
discipline to create my own schedule and stick to it. Barbri prepares a schedule for you, and if
you stick to it you’re almost certain to pass because, like any other business, their brand
depends on results. What this also means is that they obviously tell you to do way more than you
need to. But if you do your best to stick to the study schedule, and take it with a grain of salt if
you don’t get to everything on the schedule, you should have no problem. (CA)

Yes, you should take BarBri Classes. Not because they are brilliant or necessary, but because if
you are working at a firm, it probably costs you nothing, and the course is really a very
organized and well-trodden system for preparing. They've done this before, you haven't, trust
their system. That said, remember that their target audience ranges from brilliant NYU
grads to, um, less than brilliant people. So, find a balance between taking them seriously,
and having the confidence to realize that you are going to crush this exam. (NY/NJ)

Responses from people who did not take BarBri Classes:

I didn't take Barbri or any class, but I did buy the Barbri books (new for $1000 for California)
and I generally followed the class schedule (copied from a friend before leaving school). I loved
it and would highly recommend it. My summer was pretty relaxed, I freaked out a little at the
end - like everybody does - but I didn't see a law student between graduation week and the day I
showed up to take the bar, and I got to control who I talked to about the materials I was
studying, when I did have questions or just needed to vent. I think this made the stress very
manageable, especially considering how tired I was of law school and the law school
atmosphere by the time graduation came around. (CA)

I definitely recommend the BarBri ipod program. You can rewind it if you space out, and I much
prefer studying when I feel motivated to study and in the comfort of my own home/car/local
coffee shop to studying on a preset schedule in a big classroom of stressed out people. (NY)

I didn’t take a BarBri class, but I did take the online Kaplan class, which cost somewhat less
than BarBri. I found that it was the perfect level of intensity for me; I could spend a few hours a
day studying but still have time to go the gym, run errands, and unwind. The online class is good
for people who have some moderate self-discipline to stay on top of lectures and assignments.
(NY)

4. Should I be doing BarBri’s Primer or Preview program before the classes start?

I did part of whichever one you were supposed to do right before the classes started. It was
totally unnecessary – they teach you everything you need to know in the class. I should’ve just
spent that time enjoying myself before the classes started. You could always do one or two to
see if you think you’ll find it helpful if you want. (NY)

Don't do brabri primer or preview, vacation and rest till class starts. (NY)
You don't need to do the two early-start programs that Barbri offers, the Primer or the Preview,
but my recommendation would be to do one of them if only to get used to the kinds of studying
you will be doing. If you don't have time or don't want to do these, don't worry; everything will
be covered in full during the rest of the program. DON'T assume that you will have time to
cover them after the program starts, because you won't. (NY)

I took Kaplan’s pre-course course, whatever it’s called. It wasn’t especially helpful, that I recall,
but it wasn’t much of a burden either. It was probably a good way to ease into the much more
detailed lectures that followed. (NY)

I forget now whether CA even has a primer. If primer is that MBE preview thing where you do
practice problems for all 6 MBE subjects and then go over the answers, yes I did that. In
retrospect, it wasn’t necessary because you can learn everything from the regularly scheduled
lectures and start drilling the subjects as you learn them. (CA)

No. You should be doing whatever it is that you need to do to feel relaxed and stress-free before
you start to study for the bar. You don't get anything for acing the thing, you just need to pass.
And if you work hard during the summer, you will pass. If you fail, it won't be because you
missed the preview program, it'll be because you didn't spend enough time preparing in June
and July. (NJ/NY)

5. How should I be studying? Should I do everything in BarBri’s Paced Program?

BarBri provides you with a schedule of homework assignments called the Paced Program.

I started out doing everything in the Paced Program and lasted about 3 days – it seemed like
more work than necessary to me. The one thing I found it really important to stay on top of was
doing something with my notes each day – for some people it was making an outline, in my case
I made hundreds of color-coded note cards with all the information that I had filled out in the
lecture handouts. I never really used any of the other outline books – the stuff from the lectures
was plenty. While there were occasions where I’d get a day behind, if I had fallen much further
behind than that, it would’ve been really tough to catch up. The one exception was that I
decided I wasn’t going to bother with commercial paper because it was a small area of law that
I was completely unfamiliar with, and that way I would have more time to focus on other stuff.
Of course there ended up being a commercial paper question on the exam, but I don’t regret the
decision because it would’ve taken a lot of time that was better spent on other stuff.
I also did some of the practice MBE questions (mostly online), outlined two or three practice
MPTs in my head (as opposed to actually writing them out), and did a couple of practice essays
in my head during the course. I also wrote out the essays and MPT that BarBri graded. One
piece of advice there – at the point when they had us submitting an essay for grading, I knew
nothing, and it seemed like it wouldn’t be that helpful to get feedback on an essay where I didn’t
have anything to say. My solution was to glance at the question to figure out what area of law it
was, and then quickly look over that section of law so I was at least a little bit familiar with it. I
then closed my notes and went back to the essay question with little bit of knowledge, but not too
much, which I figured would approximate where I’d be at the time of the exam. Also, definitely
turn in the essays on time – if you turn them in at the later date, by the time you get them back it
is so close to the exam that I don’t think it would be as helpful.
I also went to the practice MBE thing at the Javits Center which I thought was helpful because it
gave me an idea of what to expect. It would also be a good idea to set a meeting point with your
friends while you’re there since you won’t have your phone with you for the actual exam.
Then after the course ended I spent lots of time going over my note cards to learn the
information, did a bunch of essay questions in my head, and did MBE questions. At the point
when the class ended, I still felt like I knew pretty much nothing, but with the help of my
notecards, I was able to learn so much in such a short period. By the exam, I felt like I was
more than adequately prepared. (NY)

I have no idea how I passed the bar. I did probably 2 practice essays total. The only thing I
made sure to do was outline my notes after every class and then read every outline maybe twice
before taking the test. I have no idea how I passed. (CA)

PRACTICE THE ESSAYS OVER AND OVER. Even if you stare at the page and blank out at first
(like I did the first few, umm, weeks..) And finally, make notecards. I went to lecture, filled in the
blank, typed up my notes, printed them out, highlighted, distilled, reduced, and then put all that
on notecards. And did the practice questions, but not every day, more crunched up towards the
end. And the day before the bar I didn't look at a book. (NY)

I think a definitely useful release valve was the 2 or 3 times I got together with friends and
watched the online recordings of the class, rather than going and sitting in a cold lecture hall
and not really being able to talk for that time. I mean, I don't recommend this for every time, but
it was nice now and then.
I only did full out essays for the homeworks that they wanted us to turn in. For pretty much all
others, I did like 7-8min essays. After years of schooling, at this point I think we're all probably
pretty good at developing a point. The issue for me was knowing which points to develop. So I
just would go through essay after essay (really focusing on the ones in areas I felt weak the
closer it got to test day), reading the essay questions, bullet pointing the issues as I spotted them,
and then turning to look at the answers to see which issues I hit and which I missed. Others of
my friends did sit and spend like 45min on each essay. It's all about what matters for you, but
for me the biggest issue was time. I wanted to make sure I covered enough and I also wanted to
avoid burning out... doing 5 7-8min essays back to back seems a lot easier than doing 5 45-min
essays back to back.
I cannot stress enough how useful I found the part of the BarBri program where I could create
my own quiz, telling it what kinds of questions to give me.
 I did exactly what Steve and Erica said over and over again not to do (wait until the last 2-3
weeks to start studying) and did exactly what they said probably wouldn't happen if I did (pass).
I pretty consistently went to class, but I was awful at outlining after class and I think I only
turned in the 1st practice essay as far as homework was concerned. Happily enough, despite all
that, I did pass. However, that last 2 weeks was a rollercoaster ride of emotion because I hadn't
worked as hard as all of my friends at least seemed to have been working and I really thought
that I had very little shot of passing. If for no other reason than to keep your stress levels down,
I highly suggest staying on top of the work. But if you do fall behind, realize it may not mean the
end of the world after all. (NY)

What I learned from California was that the BarBri paced program schedule was good. My
goal was to follow that, and beyond that, I just tried to relax. I went to class and paid attention,
then I did the assignments and studied a bit. I tried to treat it like a job. So that's my advice,
develop a structured schedule, stick to it, follow the BarBri plan and relax. And really do write
the essays. It's 8 weeks or so of preparation, so don't waste your time early and you'll be more
relaxed late. (CA)

The most important thing is to keep up with the paced program. Falling a couple of days behind
is a really bad idea; it's very hard to catch up since you have significant assignments nearly
every day. On the other hand, as long as you don't fall behind, the program is very manageable.
You will still have time to relax, etc.
Make sure to turn in your assigned essays for grading and feedback.
There are a couple of methods of note taking for Barbri; try each of them early on and decide
which works best for you. Most of the Barbri lecturers provide "outlines," which are basically
fill-in-the-blank worksheets; during the lectures you are supposed to just follow the outline and
fill in the blanks as you go along. Then, in the afternoon or evening, you are supposed to
transcribe and condense the information from the worksheet into your master typed outline. I
found this to be a waste of time, and preferred to basically ignore the worksheet and just take
notes on my laptop during the lecture like I always did in class. I would either condense as I
went along, or clean it up afterward when I was studying. This way, instead of spending lots of
time typing everything after the lectures, I could focus on the rest of the assignments.
Make flash cards. Most of the learning necessary for the bar is memorization. You should end
up with a huge stack of flash cards, which, since you will have been studying them all along, you
will be able to breeze through as the actual exam approaches. Many of us would be happy to
share our outlines and/or flash cards, but I don't suggest that anyone take us up on it. It's better
for the bar to create your own stuff. (NY)

I used the flashcard approach, mainly because handwriting things helped me to learn them much
better than typing them out. I also created handwritten signs outlining certain key themes/ideas
from various subjects, which I hung up on my fridge and walls.
I got way behind on the paced program (you should try not to do that!), but by the end of the
summer, the only thing I wished I had done more of were the essay questions. So even though
they’re totally painful – do the practice essays!! They help you figure out what areas of the law
you need to spend more time studying. (NY)

I didn’t complete every assignment in the comparable Kaplan program; one thing I found really
useful was the online quizzes that broke down my scores in each area so I could focus on the
sub-topics that were really tripping me up. I focused mostly on those practice quizzes as well as
essays. I’m not sure that I ever wrote out a complete essay; I mostly wrote out a bunch of
detailed outlines. I think that was really helpful; when I sat down to take the bar, I started by
sketching a quick outline of my answers, which helped me organize my thoughts and not flail
wildly quite so much.
I also made flash cards for myself on various doctrines that I reviewed as much as I could
tolerate. I didn’t make them too elaborate, and it was nice to know that I was progressing as I
could remember more and more of the cards as the summer went on. (NY)

DO THE PACED PROGRAM: I did everything in the Paced Program, and I managed to have a
chill and relaxing summer as well. Don’t listen to people who say it’s impossible, because that’s
really not true. Treat it like a full-time job (you’re going to be working in one soon enough
anyway): a couple hours watching a lecture, a couple hours writing essays, and a couple hours
drilling MBEs. Yes, on the one hand, you should know that the Paced Program is designed so
ANYONE can pass –i.e. they give you more than you probably need to do over the summer. But
it’s much better to go in the exam confident than not. Like law school finals, it is a head game
and staying frosty in a timed setting is just as important as knowing the material.
WATCH LECTURES at 1.5x speed: this was an amazing trick I discovered. You can download
all barbri lectures and watch them at 1.5 speed on Windows Media Player. A lot of the lecturers
go at a snail’s pace, and I’d zone out a lot in class. Don’t freak out if you don’t quite understand
the material during the lecture. You’ll be reviewing it at least 5 more times thereafter.
PRACTICE ESSAYS: Also, especially with the CA exam, you want to really get that IRAC essay
formula down. Writing a structured answer is the key to success, and the best way to build a
habit of writing in a structured fashion is through repetition. Be sure to plan/outline your answer
for 10-15 min and then write for the other 45 min, and organize using headings. I had an
Evidence essay question that was a beast and I was under the gun and totally out of time.
Instead of trying to write out complete sentences, I wrote a bunch of headings and then bullet-
points for relevance, hearsay, authentication, privilege, etc. with a few words of analysis for
each. It was a rushed answer but it still had structure, and I think that made a difference.
I found it helpful to submit my essays for grading. Some of the comments I got back were sort of
bogus and made me feel like the person hadn’t read my essay closely, but other comments were
very constructive. And if nothing else, it forces you to write the essays under timed conditions,
and gives you a sense of how close you are to passing – e.g. if you get above 60 or 65 on most of
the essays you can feel pretty confident going into the actual exam.
CONDENSE NOTES INTO SHORT OUTLINES: It’s annoying to try and study off of lecture
notes using the handouts they give you. Type the notes up – it’s a good way of forcing yourself to
go through the material. Then take the notes and try to condense each subject to 5 pages. You
can then use those short outlines for a quick refresher each night before the bar. Incidentally, I
didn’t really type my notes throughout the summer, but it worked out fine for me to just do them
during the 10 days of crunch time leading up to the exam.
DON’T STRESS IF YOU “FALL BEHIND”: That’s in quotes because there’s really no such
thing. The Paced Program gives way more than you need to do, so I imagine even doing 60-70%
of it will stand you in good stead (though, as I said, I pretty much did it all). Again, the most
important thing is staying calm during the exam. At some point there’s too much to cram in your
head (though, believe me, you will try), and you’re invariably going to misstate the law so don’t
convince yourself you’re screwed if you don’t know every nuance of every subject well enough to
write a Law Review article on it. (CA)

Do whatever works for you. Last year was the first year that you could watch all of the classes
at home via internet. I did that. I went to like two classes live in person. Totally overrated. In
fact, it was easier to study while being able to hit pause at home than it was to actually come to
the lecture and try to keep up with their notes in real time.
The homework is excessive. Instead of thinking in terms of how many of the assignments I did, I
scheduled it in terms of how much time I spent studying. And I started slow and ramped it up.
That works for me. But do you.
I also spent a lot of time creating flashcards. That was a big help to me because I could take
them anywhere, and I could cull it down to just the flashcard that turned out to be really
important. You don't need to know everything to pass. I got a secured transactions question that
I had no law on at all. I simply identified it as secured transaction and talked about the
consequences depending on how things could be viewed. It was fine. (NJ/NY)

6. Can I have a life outside of studying?

I definitely was doing lots of stuff outside of studying up until right near the end, and I wish I
had continued to do other stuff even then. I took the afternoon BarBri class, so most days I went
to the gym before class and then showered and felt quite refreshed when I got to class (I often
was studying while working out though). Some of the evenings I took dance classes or got
together with friends in addition to studying, but there were some nights when I just studied. I
also had a wedding to go to the weekend before the bar, which turned out to be a fun break,
though I made sure not to stay up too late and throw off my sleep schedule completely. (I also
ended up having to have my wisdom teeth out less than a month before the bar, which I
obviously wouldn’t recommend, but that meant a number of days with no studying and classes to
make up, and I still was fine).
Right near the end I felt like I was supposed to study all the time, so I tried to do that. I never
attempted to study nonstop during law school because I knew that I’m incapable of that – even
during finals I would mix in fun stuff and exercise because I know that I work better that way,
but for some reason I thought it was different studying for the bar. Of course it wasn’t – I ended
up wasting time being unfocused, and should’ve just continued to take time off.
Also, I’m sure you’ve heard about how awful and time-consuming studying for the bar is, but I
think that’s exaggerated. It’s not fun, but it isn’t awful either, and your schedule is flexible
enough to allow you to do plenty of other stuff. (NY)

Bar summer was a LOT of fun, but don’t feel like a nerd if you want to study before July 4th! A
lot of your friends may boast about how little studying they are doing in June, but I knew I would
be way too stressed to put off most of my outlining, reviewing, etc. until three or so weeks before
the bar exam. So, have fun, but make sure you are getting enough done to keep mid-July anxiety
attacks at bay. (NY)

Timewise, I probably put in 10 hours or so a day, which left plenty of time for summer-style
screwing around. I also made sure to do stuff every day that helped me relax (for me that was
running and such things). (CA)

I definitely did. I studied for some few hours a day – probably no more than six – and went to the
gym, ran errands, basked in the sun, and actually managed to get enough sleep most of the time.
On weekends I limited myself to reading my flashcards and catching up if I had neglected
anything during the week. (NY)

Absolutely, my bar summer was great. I studied hard and was diligent, but I always had my
nights and most of my weekends free until about July 12th. Giving yourself time to relax and
decompress is vital, and you can build that time in even if you are adhering religiously to the
Paced Program. I ended the summer feeling like it was really not so bad. I was learning the
black letter law (which you don’t necessarily get from your classes in law school). (CA)

I treated studying like a job. At first, it was a pretty cushy job, where I got into work around 10
and I left work around 3. I did not work weekends. Each week, I ramped it up ever so slightly,
so that by the time I was near the end, I studied about 9am to 9pm. Still not unmanageable. I've
had plenty of worse days at the firm since then. Don't burn out. This might be the last time in
your life that you are young AND unemployed (let's hope). Don't squander it entirely on getting
the best score on the bar exam. Make the most of the summer while you still can. (NJ/NY)

7. Should I take PMBR or any of the BarBri extra classes?

I didn’t do any of the extra stuff and didn’t feel like it was necessary. My impression is that
PMBR is useful if you’re having a particularly tough time with the MBE but I don’t really know.
(NY)
PMBR offers different questions and gives you a practice test. But not sure whether its worth the
$500. I’d go on amazon and see if you can get the books at a discount. (NY)

I did BarBri’s one day essay writing session. We all thought was useless, but at least it forced
me to start thinking about the essays. (NY)

I was really nervous about my essays so I did the program where you submit extra essays to
BarBri for grading. I thought it was helpful – I don’t know how much it actually taught me, and
just practicing writing the essays in the book would be fine also, but it made me less nervous.
(NY)

PMBR is unnecessary, whatever it is. So is the extra Barbri stuff. The paced program is designed
to be all you need for the exam. (CA)

No. You are smart. Use your freetime wisely (beer & BBQ). (NJ/NY)

8. What should I do the night before and days of the test?

Day of the bar just keep your confidence up. Pray, meditate, ask your friends for support, do
what you need to do to try to get centered. If you don't live in Manhattan, get a hotel if you can
to avoid the stress of having to travel and make sure you're on time. (NY)

When the test actually rolled around, I felt very prepared. At that point, I focused on relaxing
the day before the test (I stopped studying around 2 PM I think), and staying focused and
relaxed during the test. California is three days, so on Tuesday and Wednesday evening I didn't
study, I just relaxed. (CA)

Definitely get there early, especially on the first day – there was a really long line and I almost
ended up not having time to go to the bathroom before it started even though I thought I had
allowed plenty of time. Then again, some people seemed to think they couldn’t afford to go to
the bathroom during the exam, which is absurd. You can always read over a question before
you go and then use the time to be thinking about your answer, or occasional mental breaks are
good too.
Also definitely bring your lunch the first day, and for most people the second day too – there’s
not much around Javits and there are thousands of people who want to eat at the same time as
you. On the other hand, I actually decided to buy lunch the second day because I knew that I
wouldn’t need the whole time on the MBE and if I kept sitting there I would second guess myself
and change things. I found a place on menupages in advance, and went there to get food which
I brought back and ate with everyone else. I found that getting away for a bit helped me to be
focused again in the afternoon.
Some people had notes there and were studying, but I think it is much more important to just
relax at that point. (NY)

It sounds cliché, but get enough sleep! I did a little last minute studying and while waiting in line
(especially on the first day) read over my flashcards, more for desire of something to do than
anything else. I don’t think that it contributed to my score much, but it kept me in the mindset
without making me too anxious. (NY)

Not just the days before, but a few days in advance you should try and get your sleep schedule
sorted out. The exam sucks especially hard when you’re tired – which I was because I stayed in
a cheapo Best Western where the beds make springy sounds whenever you move.
In terms of what to do the actual days before the exam, I felt that it really built up my confidence
to read my condensed 5-page outlines. I ready the CA essay subjects the Monday night, then the
6 MBE subjects on Tuesday after the first day of the exam, and then on Wednesday I read all of
the CA subjects minus the three that were covered on the first day of the exam. No need,
however, to bring outlines to the exam center. Center yourself, relax, listen to music, shut out the
world, or talk to people if they’re not lame gunner weirdos trying to talk about the exam. (CA)

My mother-in-law reminded me to pack a flask for the hotel in Albany. That was great advice.
The night before, I sipped bourbon and smoked cigarettes in the pool. Don't bring a whole
bottle though, a flask is just enough to stay out of trouble. I saw one girl in the exercise room,
running as if she was racing. Everybody has their own way of coping, but figure out if you are a
runner or a smoker and carry on. (NY/NJ)

9. What about taking a second bar?

I took NJ the day after I took NY. I didn’t buy the BariBri NJ supplement, and I don’t think
people who did found it very helpful. I didn’t study for Jersey at all. The one thing I probably
should’ve done was at least look at the NJ questions since they’re in a different format than NY,
but I passed, so I guess it was ok that I didn’t. One of the questions on the exam was totally
impossible – none of us had any idea what they were looking for. If that happens, just remember
that it is graded on a curve, and nobody else has any clue either.
The other question of course is whether it is worth it to take NJ in addition to NY. NJ never
gives reciprocity, so if you think you’ll ever want to practice there, it is probably worth getting it
over with. On the other hand, NJ is more expensive than NY, and also, after you’re admitted, NJ
requires new attorneys to take a few NJ-specific CLE (continuing legal education) classes,
which are a pain (though prior to 2009, the NJ requirements for new attorneys were a lot more
onerous), so if you have no expectation of ever working in Jersey, it is probably not worth it.
I ended up taking the Alaska Bar this winter after taking California over the summer. Alaska
was a little different for me because I was working at the same time. I didn't take a BarBri
course, but I did set schedules for myself to stay on track and stuck to them. I tried to study 3-4
hours a night, which I was generally able to do, with more time on the weekends. Alaska makes
everyone re-take the MBE even if you took it elsewhere, so I split my time between that and the
Alaska materials. Then, again, I relaxed the day before the test and between test days (Alaska is
2.5 days of testing so two evenings between tests).

Took CA, so this was a non-option. But know that CA allows you to waive into DC and some
other states and after 5 years you can waive into NY, whereas you can never waive into CA.

I took NY and NJ because I work for a NJ based firm with lots of NY clients. The NJ exam was
pretty straightforward, far less difficult than NY I thought. I got the Barbri supplement. The CD
basically just tells you that you are going to pass and explains why. If you are willing to pay
$50 for a boost in confidence, then its money well spent.
There is a key difference between the NY and NJ bars that is worth mentioning. In NY, you have
to study for a wide variety of subjects, while in NJ, you know what subjects are going to appear
for the most part. Also, in NY, you get points for knowing NY specific law, while in NJ, you can
talk pretty generally about common law rules, as long as you are showing that you know how to
apply facts to rules (you learned how to do that in Lawyering, your 1L year.) This explains why
people who take both NY and NJ tend to focus on NY and spend a day or so on NJ, if that. They
aren't crazy, I promise. (NY/NJ)

10. What if I’m studying on my own?

I think it's important for self-studiers to have someone to talk to who is taking the class for the
same state, but you don't have to follow everything and basically just need to decide how much
knowledge you are comfortable with. There were a few times that talking to someone in the
class really set me straight - for example, I started studying out of the long outline books (which
are legal sized and huge) and then was told by someone else to use the mini review book
(according to their class, you weren't supposed to use the long outlines ever - which is something
to consider if you are buying the books separately for yourself). The big message of the class
seemed to be you're going to pass, you're going to pass, you're going to pass, which is great and
all and was reassuring when I started freaking out by myself, but do you really need to spend all
this time in class being reassured? (no.) One thing I noticed was that I may have covered more
things in my self review of the outline than people did in the class. One of these things happened
to be an entire essay on the actual exam, so i knew what the elements of the tort were when no
one who took Barbri seemed to have heard of it.
As far as time, I started about a week late, and I set aside my full weekdays to study, but slept in
every day, watched a lot of tv, and procrastinated a ton. I thought I was screwed when I hadn't
practiced a single essay by July, but this didn't turn out to be so bad. I only practiced the
performance test once or twice. I did study the night before the test, which I hear you're not
supposed to do, and between days at the hotel where I stayed (the CA bar is 3 days). I didn't do
a whole lot but this helped me feel like my brain hadn't been entirely drained of all knowledge.
I think my advice would be for people to do things their way, however they feel comfortable, and
not get hung up on any rules you hear in a class or anywhere else. (CA)

I studied on my own using the Kaplan online program and procrastinated a little more than I
should have, though it all worked out fine. It takes some moderate amount of self-discipline to
follow the program, even if you don’t complete every single assignment. The only study
interaction I had was asking my boyfriend to help me review flashcards, which was helpful. I’d
say just to keep up with the lectures, understand where your weaknesses are and focus on those
in quizzes, and outline as many essays as you can tolerate. My tolerance was on the low side, I
have to say. (NY)

I didn’t study on my own. More power to you if you have the discipline. My advice to you is try
and snag someone’s BarBri paced program schedule. That will at least give you a sense of how
to stay on track rather than stabbing in the dark. Having taken BarBri, I think that it is totally
doable to just purchase someone’s used materials and do self-study. (CA)

11. Reassuring Stuff:

I don't really have any advice, but I think it would help some people's stress levels to include my
experience. Time management was an issue for me during the New York day of the bar exam
because of a faulty watch and my just being generally inattentive to the ExamSoft clock and
having a poorer sense of time than usual probably because of stress and sleep deprivation. As a
result, I did not even begin the NY Multiple Choice or the MPT, and I only finished about half of
one of the essay questions. That's almost 25% of the entire exam. As a result, I was pretty certain
I'd failed, but as it turns out, I passed (and I didn't do spectacularly well on the MBE either--less
than 150). It might be worth sharing that with prospective NY Bar takers so that they don't fret
too much if they run out of time on any part of the exam and end up leaving entire sections
incomplete. (NY)

At the end of the Kaplan course, there was a final video of the director of the program cheering
us on and assuring us that we’d be fine. I was anxious no matter what anyone said about pass
rates, though I did find it really reassuring to know that it was the norm for people to do rather
significantly worse on practice quizzes than on the bar itself. This was definitely true for me. It
was also a big relief to hear that what the examiners are looking for in the essays isn’t a precise
grasp of the law but rather a general idea of the rules plus a convincing legal explanation (and
good writing/organizational skills) to support whatever answer you come to. (NY)
The CA bar is not actually a hard exam overall. Guaranteed, you will have one essay that is a
beast, but don’t let it get under your skin. The rough thing about a 3-day exam is it is 3 days. The
nice thing about a 3-day exam is that you have plenty of chances to make up for a misstep on a
particular section of the exam. And remember this isn’t law school – you don’t need to nail
everything, you just need to get 65% or whatever low bar they have for a “passing” score. (CA)

If you take the studying even remotely seriously, you will pass. The concepts are easy. It is
simply a matter of knowing a little bit about everything. Don't sweat the details, and don't let
this thing take over your life.

It is graded on a curve, and if there is a hard question, it is probably hard for everyone. Also,
most people take BarBri, so if something isn’t covered in BarBri, nobody else knows it either, so
no worries.

BarBri will sometimes say things like “The average score on the MBE of people who passed the
exam was X.” Then lots of people feel inadequate if they don’t score X on their practice MBE.
This is silly for two reasons – first, you haven’t finished studying so your score will improve, and
second, if the average score was X, that means that approximately half the people who passed
the exam scored lower than X.

NYU’s pass rate is above 95%. For the July 2009 NY exam, it was about 97%. I believe the rate
is even higher among people taking BarBri. Basically, as long as you study, you will almost
definitely pass.

GOOD LUCK!

Thanks to Joanne Albertsen, Andy Artz, Kristen Baker, Jason Banks, Anjali Bhargava, Nishanth
Chari, Joe Hutchinson, Lars Johnson, James Long, Natasha Sardesai, Molly Tack-Hooper and
others for their contributions!