Feeling overwhelmed by bar prep? Here are five tips to manage anxiety and study smart!

Feeling overwhelmed by bar prep? Here are five tips to manage anxiety and study smart!

Here our five best tips if you are feeling overwhelmed by bar prep!

1. Remember, you don’t have to learn everything.

In fact, you are more likely to pass if you don’t try to learn everything. So, start by focusing on the highly tested areas of law.

Not sure what the highly tested areas of law are?

• Here are the highly tested areas of law on the multistate essay exam (MEE).
• Here are the highly tested areas of law on the multistate bar exam (MBE).

If focusing on the highly tested areas of law sounds stressful, remind yourself that it is the best way to study effectively. Start with these areas and then fill in the gaps by learning the other less-tested areas of law later!

Takeaway: your goal is to pass the bar exam — not learn everything about every area of law!

2. You can improve your MBE score by using real MBE questions. 

Most commercial courses do not use real MBE questions. (And most students don’t realize this!)

Put yourself at an advantage by purchasing actual official NCBE-released questions. These are the closest you’ll see to the actual MBE questions. Learn more about real MBE questions here.

Takeaway: your goal is to pass the bar exam — use the questions you are most likely to see on the exam!

3. You don’t need an A to pass. 

A lot of students stress out because they are not scoring high on practice tests. But remember you do not need an A to pass the bar exam. Just knowing this should give you some relief and you should feel less overwhelmed by bar prep!

For example, if you are in New York (or any other UBE jurisdiction that requires a 266) you need a 66.5% to pass. That is a solid D! (And remember that this is a scaled score so you can even score lower in most jurisdictions!) There is also no minimum required score on the essay and MBE score. (So, for example, it doesn’t matter how you get that 266. You could score a 133 on each the MBE and essay portion. Or you can score a 120 on the MBE and a 146 on the essays.) This brings us to our next point.

Takeaway: your goal is to pass the bar exam — not get an “A” 

4. Don’t ignore your strengths.

We see this so often…a student will excel in writing and thus completely ignore the essay and multistate performance test (MPT) portion (telling themselves they will do fine on those portions). Instead, they only study the MBE portion. This is a recipe for failure. If writing is your strength, take advantage of it. Learn the law you need to know for the essays. Practice MPTs and essays. In the vast majority of jurisdictions (including UBE jurisdictions) you just need that overall passing score and it doesn’t matter how you get there!

Takeaway: your goal is to pass the bar exam — whether that is by doing stellar on the written portion, the MBE portion, or performing okay on both portions!

5. Take care of yourself. 

You will be so much more productive and you will learn more effectively and remember what you retained if you:

• Eat well. Plan your meals ahead of time if possible. Eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, carbs. Stay away from drinking too much alcohol. (As a side note, if your family is looking for ways to support you, ask for gift cards from food delivery services and then order healthy meals at the beginning of the week!)
• Exercise. Even if it is just going on a walk around the block, lifting weights for a few minutes, or going on a quick run at lunchtime this will make a huge difference in your study time. You will notice that you are able to focus. You will not get as burnt out. You will have energy when you study.
• Sleep. This is so important. Do not try to sleep less to study more. You may study longer but your time will be ineffective. You should aim to get however much sleep you need every day.
• Take breaks! It is nice to schedule short breaks throughout the day — e.g., 15 minute breaks every couple hours and longer lunch breaks
• Relax your mind. It is easier said than done, but make it a goal to do something to clear your head at least once a day. Meditate in the morning. Or do yoga. Or practice visualization. It is also helpful to stay away from negative people to help keep you in a relaxed state!

Takeaway: your goal is to pass the bar exam, and you need a healthy body and mind to do that! 

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