How to Take Notes During Bar Exam Lectures

How to Take Notes During Bar Exam Lectures

As you get ready to begin your bar preparation classes, you may wonder what exactly you are supposed to do during the lectures.  In this post, we discuss how you can (and should) take notes during bar class!

How to Take Notes During Bar Exam Lectures

1. Preview Your Outlines in Advance!

One of the most helpful things you can do to make bar exam lectures most effective is to preview your outlines in advance.  That way, you already have an idea of what topics are going to be discussed and what areas of the law you have questions about.  Mark the areas where you are confused or areas that are brand new to you. This way you can make sure to take extra-detailed notes during a lecture when those topics are covered.  This will also make it easier to stay on top of the lecture and not feel like you are drowning in new material!

2. Think about what worked in law school

Did you have to hand-write your notes in law school so that you wouldn’t get distracted by programs on your computer when you should be paying attention?  Or did you have to type because you were not a fast enough writer to get all of the details down during class?  Consider trying whichever method worked best for you in law school! If you’re unsure where you fall, check out our post What Is My Bar Exam Learning Style? to help you figure that out!

3. Don’t create more work than necessary

Your bar exam materials very likely include outlines of all the law you need to know, including examples of the various laws.  You don’t need to start from scratch and write everything down in your notes.  Working with the outline will ensure that you are not wasting time by writing things down that are already in your outline!  For instance,  you can consider hand-writing notes in the margins of your outlines!

4. Be flexible and consider changing your approach

You do not have to stick with the approach that you pick on the first day of class!  If you begin by hand-writing notes in the margins of your outlines but quickly find out that the lecturer provides more information than what is in the outline and you struggle to get all the details down, consider bringing a laptop to class and typing notes instead.  Or, if you find that you are spending too much time after class comparing typed notes to the outlines, consider switching to hand-written notes. With a professor’s permission, you may even be able to record a lecture to listen back to later in the day in case you missed anything.

5. Our recommendation

Our recommendation is that you preview the materials in advance, take your outline to class, and take notes in the margins of the outline by hand.  This will be the most efficient method of note-taking.  (Just make sure you have a good outline!) You can see some of our JD Advising sample outlines here. Taking notes by hand will ensure that you get all the information you need. It will also prevent you from wasting time comparing and compiling different sets of notes after the lectures.

• Looking to Pass the Bar Exam?

  Free Resources:

  • 🌟Bar Exam Free Resource Center: Access our most popular free guides, webinars, and resources to set you on the path to success.
  • Free Bar Exam Guides: Expert advice on the MBE, the MEE, passing strategies, and overcoming failure.
  • Free Webinars: Get insight from top bar exam experts to ace your preparation.

  Paid Resources:

  • 🏆One-Sheets: Our most popular product! Master the Bar Exam with these five-star rated essentials.
  • Bar Exam Outlines: Our comprehensive and condensed bar exam outlines present key information in an organized, easy-to-digest layout.
  • Exclusive Mastery Classes: Dive deep into highly tested areas of the MBE, MEE, MPT, and CA bar exams in these live, one-time events.
  • Specialized Private Tutoring: With years of experience under our belt, our experts provide personalized guidance to ensure you excel.
  • Bar Exam Courses: On Demand and Premium options tailored to your needs.
  • Bar Exam Crash Course + Mini Outlines: A great review of the topics you need to know!

  🔥 NEW! Check out our Repeat Taker Bar Exam Course and our new premier Guarantee Pass Program!