How To Begin Studying For The Bar Exam

How To Begin Studying For The Bar Exam

Are you getting ready to begin studying for the bar exam and are wondering where you should start?  In this post, we provide tips for how to begin studying for the bar exam!

How To Begin Studying For The Bar Exam

1. Understand the format of the bar exam.

Having a clear picture of what will be tested on the bar exam and how it will be tested should be your first step. Look at the subjects that are tested on your bar exam. In doing this, understand which are tested on the multiple-choice portion of the exam and which are also tested on the written portion.

Here are details of the bar exam format for the UBE, Michigan, and California bar exams!

If you’re looking for information on another jurisdiction, contact us and we’ll be happy to help you figure that out.

2. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.

Identify any testable subjects that you did not take in law school (or took, but didn’t do well in). Those are probably the subjects that you want to start working on first (or, at least review early if you are sticking to a predetermined schedule created by your bar prep company).

Additionally, evaluate your test-taking skills. Are you good at multiple-choice questions? Do you struggle with essay writing? These will be good indicators of where you need to spend additional time as you begin reviewing and completing practice questions.

3. Make a study schedule.

If you don’t already have a study schedule from your bar prep company, make a plan of when you will cover each subject so that you give yourself adequate time to cover each and every subject.

Check out our post on how to make a bar prep study schedule for more information, along with our UBE-specific study schedule!

4. Start with the big picture.

When you are ready to start reviewing substantive material, you may want to start small. Start with the table of contents or a “cheat sheet” to review the major topics that are covered within that subject.  Once you understand the different topics and you start to see the “big picture” of each subject, then you can dive into the lengthier outline and start filling in more gaps with additional rules.

When you are ready to move into the larger outline, start by reading it. Do the concepts make sense to you? Can you follow the examples and see how the various rules fit together?

Once you have read the outline thoroughly, practice memorizing the material before you move into practice questions. Memorization is critical. Check out our tips for memorization to help you master the material!

5. Dive in!

Sometimes the anticipation of bar prep and not knowing what to expect can lead to anxiety. If you can, request your bar prep materials early and start reading through the outlines.

Many students are simply worried because they heard horror stories about bar prep and don’t really know what to actually expect. Once you get started, you often will realize that it isn’t necessarily as bad as others make it sound! The hardest part can be simply be getting started!

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