How Long Should I Study For The Bar Exam?

How Long Should I Study For The Bar Exam?

Students frequently ask how long they need to study in order to achieve success on the bar exam.  Although there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question because there is no form schedule that will work for everyone, this blog discusses the typical study hours and time frame for applicants preparing for the bar exam.  Read further to see how we answer the question “How long should I study for the bar exam?”

How Long Should I Study For The Bar Exam?

How many hours should I study for the bar exam?

A good general goal to set is 400 hours of study time. However, this may be more or less, depending on a few things:

• How well you did in law school, particularly your first year (the better you performed, the less work you will need to put in to pass)
• If you learned the law well in law school (For example, if you had closed-book exams and you memorized the law well, bar prep will be a review! If you had open-book exams and never felt like you really learned the law, then more work will need to be done in bar prep)
• How long ago your first year of law school was (if you graduate in three years, it is fresher in your mind than if it took you five years to graduate)
• Whether you took a lot of “bar” classes (e.g. Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Business Associations, etc.)

If you struggled in law school, graduated a while ago, and didn’t take a lot of bar-related classes, you will have more work to do than someone who just graduated after completing law school in three years, excelled in law school, and already covered a lot of the bar exam material in law school.

About half of your time should be spent learning and memorizing the law and the other half should be spent doing practice problems, including multiple-choice, essays, and MPTs (if applicable to your state). With this half-and-half goal in mind, you may realize after digging into the material that you need to allot more hours for studying. Given this, it is best to start studying for the bar early so you can squeeze in some additional hours if you need them. The earlier you start studying, the sooner you will be able to adjust your schedule and save yourself from cramming study days into the last couple of weeks before the bar exam.

When should I start studying? 

You should allow yourself 9 weeks of full-time studying (40-50 hours a week). If you are studying for the bar exam amidst other commitments, you will need to accommodate for less weekly hours by starting earlier (more like 15-20 weeks of studying). You can calculate the day you should start studying by counting backward from the bar exam date the number of weeks you determined you will need. Keep in mind holidays, planned vacations, long weekends, etc. when calculating your start time as these weeks/days will not be part of your total week/hour count.

For a typical law school graduate studying full-time, starting a week after graduation is typical and usually allows for sufficient study time. However, as mentioned above, starting earlier, at least to dabble in the material and get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses, will be helpful in determining how much longer or shorter you may need than the standard 400-hour (9 weeks of 40-50 hours) student.

Tips to keep in mind in planning your study hours

It’s a marathon, not a sprint

Whether you’re studying full-time or amidst several other commitments, plan your study schedule to be sustainable over several weeks. Cramming may have gotten you by in undergraduate your undergraduate years, and perhaps once or twice in law school, but the bar exam is different. Your bar exam score, and your sanity, will be greatly helped if you plan for the long game. Because the bar covers so many areas of law and hundreds of sub-subjects within those areas of law, you need to not only give yourself time to learn and memorize the material, but also to review it, and review it again. In addition, your success on the bar exam will depend in large part on the quality and practice of your strategy. Strategy takes repetition to nail down and repetition takes time.

Consider Your Breaks

What you are doing when you are not studying is almost as important as what you are doing when you are studying! Breaks are critical to allowing you to focus, retain information, and also keep your sanity!

Whether they are planned vacations, expected holidays, or breaks for your own sanity, you must consider these breaks as gaps in your studying. Calculate the breaks when planning the amount of weeks you will need to hit your goal of study hours. Breaks are a good thing, and necessary! If you’re studying full-time, you can likely take most weekends and evenings off just as you would in a full-time job. Short, regularly scheduled breaks (such as weekends or half days during the week) will help you sustain the rigorous studies over several weeks.

Quality > Quantity

Although it is prudent to set a goal of study hours based on your specific needs and situation, ultimately, the quality of your studies will be a much stronger indicator of your success on the bar exam than the number of hours you actually study. Mastery of the bar material takes time, but in order to maximize that time, you must practice quality studying.  If you are consistently performing poorly on practice exams, the solution is likely not that you need to convert your 8-hour study day to 10 hours. More likely, you need to study smarter rather than simply longer.

Pay attention to how you are progressing in your performance at every step of your studying process. This allows you to quickly spot when you need to change your strategy. Consider the following questions as an assessment of your study quality:

• Is there a time of day that you are more or less focused? Can you adjust your timing to maximize your best hours of the day?
• Are you prioritizing the most pressing issues or consistently gravitating to what is easiest? If writing essays feels laborious for you, start with the essays! Do the hardest thing first or you will have a less likelihood of ever getting to it as you get more tired and drained throughout the day.
• Do you take enough breaks? A good rule of thumb is 45 minutes on, 10-15 minutes off. That may seem like a large percentage of time (25% of your day on break?!), but if you spend your breaks wisely, a regular break schedule like this will allow you to have high-quality study time while not burning you out by lunch.
• Are they restorative breaks? If you are just sitting at your desk scrolling on social media, a break may not feel like a break! But if you take a quick walk around the block, grab a healthy snack, or call a friend, you will likely feel rejuvenated after your break!
• Is your memorization strategy working? The best memorization is active memorization. Simply reading and re-reading outlines will not effectively help you memorize the material. Active memorization includes quizzing yourself, reciting definitions with flashcards, writing out lists of factors/elements, etc. Passive ways of approaching material (reading outlines, watching lecture, listening to podcasts) are not nearly as effective when it comes to actually learning and memorizing the different topics.
• Is your study space conducive to good study habits? As much as you can, you want to create a space that allows you to stay focused for hours. You want to be comfortable.  Studying in a space that is inviting can help you stay focused.  Keep your phone in another room (and check it on your frequent breaks if you must), give yourself enough surface space for all your materials, and keep the area decluttered and clean.

Bar Study Schedule Example

The following schedule is an example plan for the first week of a 2-month study schedule. Notice the combination of memorization (reviewing subject outlines), practice essays, and multiple-choice, as well as supplemental strategic articles to help you study smart. Notice also that you should be studying the same subject for multiple days, adding on additional subjects as you review “mastered” subjects (i.e. Real Property extends from Day 1-4, and day 6 with Torts added on Day 4). Day 7 is a scheduled break. As mentioned above, having taking regularly scheduled breaks will help you sustain a disciplined study schedule without burning out.

For the full study schedule, check out this blog post.

Day 1: Real Property

• Review Real Property outline
• July 2011 Real Property MEE
• 30 Real Property MBE questions
• Review our free guide on how to pass the MBE 

Day 2: Real Property

• Review Real Property outline
• Feb 2013 Real Property MEE
• 30 Real Property MBE questions
• Review our free guide on the best way to study for the MEE

Day 3: Real Property

• Review Real Property outline
• Feb 2012 Real Property MEE
• July 2013 Real Property MEE
• 30 Real Property MBE questions
• Review our free guide on highly tested MEE topics (and save it as a reference) 

Day 4: Torts

• Review Real Property outline
• Review Torts outline
• 30 Torts MBE questions

Day 5: Torts

• Review Torts outline
• Feb 2011 Torts MEE
• Feb 2012 Torts MEE
• 30 Torts MBE questions

Day 6: Review And Practice

• Review Torts and Real Property in depth
• July 2012 Torts MEE
• 30 Torts MBE questions
• Review the entire MPT Guide

Day 7: OFF

For the Unconventional Bar Student

Although the majority of bar takers recently graduated from law school, and many can study full-time over the course of two months, not everyone has that luxury. If you are an “unconventional bar student,” don’t fret. You can still pass the bar! Because of the nature of your schedule, there is no “typical” study plan.  However, we do have some tips to consider to help create a plan that works for you!

You will have to sacrifice “fun” at times, but remember, this is just a season!

Studying for the bar exam is a daunting task.  If you are already working, you will inevitably have to say no to evening plans with friends or weekend trips with family. You may have to unsubscribe to Netflix or delete your social media apps from your phone so you’re not tempted to binge-watch or scroll late at night instead of studying or sleeping.  You will have to make sacrifices, and your life will look different during these months. However, this season will pass.  You can return to normal life as soon as you walk out of the exam room on exam day!

Set a schedule and stick to it.

If you’re beginning to study for the July bar exam in March, it may feel like a long way out. It can be tempting to let yourself “flex” on your goals when it seems like you have plenty of time. Don’t be fooled by the days on the calendar! If you do not make a plan, you will fall behind and end up cramming before test day. Save yourself the stress (and the score!) and remain disciplined from the beginning!

Consider taking the week (or few days) before the bar exam off.

The bar exam is stressful in and of itself. If you can avoid adding work projects, deadlines, and meetings to your concerns, you will be better off. If you can, save some PTO for the days leading up to the bar exam! This can help you to review, rest, and mentally prepare yourself for the exam.  Additionally, this will help minimize distractions from the office in the days leading up to the bar exam!

The hours you put in will likely need to increase.

Why? Because your spread of weeks increases. Because you must retain the information for a longer study period (closer to 4-5 months rather than 2), reviewing and revisitng material is going to be crucial!

A good way to accommodate review hours and stay consistent with those review times is to schedule them in advance. For example, set aside every other Saturday morning for review. If you prefer, you can set aside a week of evenings every month for review. Treat these review sessions as regular check-ins on your progress with memorization and understanding. By treating reviews as a progress check, you can be sure to adjust your study schedule based on your needs. Remember to be strategic about your review and to study smart- with quality over quantity as your goal.

For more study strategies to help make your studying time more effective, check out this article on study tips and tricks. If you need additional help with maintaining good study strategies, a personal tutor may be right for you!