Can I Take The Bar Exam Before I Graduate Law School?

Can I Take The Bar Exam Before I Graduate Law School?

“Can I take the bar exam before I graduate law school?” seems a strange question to ask. Most student do not want to sit before they complete their studies. However, some states do allow students to sit for the bar exam if they meet certain requirements. In this post, we go over which states allow this, and some of the rules they set for early bar exam takers.

Can I Take The Bar Exam Before I Graduate Law School?

The answer in most states is no. 40 states and U.S. territories do not allow students to take the bar exam before they have officially graduated from law school. But what about the states that do allow it? We’ll go over how this is handled below.

1. In which states and territories can I take the bar exam before I graduate?

The following states allow you to take the bar exam before graduation from law school:

Arizona
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
New York
North Carolina
Oregon
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin

However, many of these states have restrictions on when you must graduate by in order to sit for the bar exam.

2. Some states allow you to take the bar exam before a degree is confirmed, but all work for the degree must be completed.

Of the above, several states allow students to sit for the bar exam only if they have completed all work for their degree, but have not officially had a J.D. conferred. Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Virginia and West Virginia allow this option. This is primarily for students who complete their J.D., but won’t officially graduate before the bar examination.

3. Several states require you to graduate within a certain number of days after taking the bar exam.

First, you should check your state’s restrictions and guidelines before deciding whether to take the bar exam early. The National Conference of Bar Examiners publishes these guidelines every year. You can also check with your state’s Board of Law Examiners (or its equivalent) if you have any further questions.

Generally, most states require you to receive your degree within a certain period of time. For example, North Carolina and Kansas require  degree completion within 30 days of the bar examination. Iowa has a similar rule, but allows 45 days for degree completion. Mississippi and Wisconsin give bar exam takers 60 days to complete their degree. Many states operate under these restrictions, requiring students to complete their J.D. within a few weeks or months of taking the bar exam.

3. Are there are other types of restrictions?

Some states allow credit hour exceptions as well. For example, Texas does not require a degree be completed within a specific amount of time. However, students must be within 4 semester hours of completing their degree in order to sit for the bar exam early. Indiana allows takers to sit for the bar exam before graduation if they have fewer than 5 semester hours to complete, are within 100 days of graduation, completed two hours of professional responsibility training, and completed all other requirements for admission to the bar,

As you can see, states that allow students to sit early for the bar exam put many restrictions on who can sit. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of all the guidelines. Arizona’s requirements could have a blog post of their own! Make sure to follow up with authorities in your state before you commit to sitting early for the bar.

Should I sit for the bar exam before I graduate from law school?

This is also a good question to consider if sitting for the bar exam early is an option! Our general advice is: It is stressful to study for the bar exam and law school at the same time (so if you are doing both at once, consider the stress you will be under!) However, if you did well in law school — particularly if you did well your first year of law school — then it may be worth it to consider studying for the bar exam before you graduate as you have already learned a lot of the highly tested law and should be able to recall it when studying for the bar exam.

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