How to Make a Bar Exam Study Schedule for the Month Before the Bar Exam

How to Make a Bar Exam Study Schedule for the Month Before the Bar Exam

Now is the time to break away from your Barbri schedule and make a review schedule that is tailored to you!  We recommend that you make a “month before the bar exam” study schedule in this way.

How to Make a Bar Exam Study Schedule for the Month Before the Bar Exam

1. First, figure out the number of days until the bar exam.

We will assume you have 23 days until the exam. (If you are truly looking at this a month before the bar exam, you will have longer,  and that is great! You can simply spend more time on each subject!) However, you do not want to study up until the exam, so subtract about three days. Then leave an additional couple of days to review. So maybe you will spend about 18 days of solid studying before you review and have a lighter weekend before the bar exam.

2. Come up with a study plan tailored to you.

Remember that the multistate bar exam subjects are:

• Contracts and Sales
• Civil Procedure
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Real Property
• Evidence
• Torts

If you are in a Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) or UBE jurisdiction, the essay subjects include all of the MBE subjects (above) plus the following:

• Agency and Partnership
• Corporations and LLCs
• Decedent’s Estates (Wills)
• Trusts
• Conflicts of Law
• Secured Transactions
• Family Law

A few tips are:

• Review each MBE subject more than one day in a row. This is called “chunking” and you will remember it MUCH better if you look at it for more than one day in a row.
• Review an “easier” MBE subject with a “harder” essay subject. (Like if you hate Real Property and Secured, don’t review them on the same day! Review Real Property with an MEE subject you like, like perhaps Family Law)
• If you like an MBE subject, spend less time on it. If you really struggle with one, spend more time on it. This is your schedule and it should be tailored to your strengths and weaknesses.
• Leave some “lighter” days where you can take timed exams.

An example of how to do this is below. (This is tailored to the Uniform Bar Exam.)

3. Incorporate timed exams into your schedule.

We recommend incorporating two 3-hour essay/MPT exams and two 3-hour MBE exams. However, if you struggle with timing or if you have not practiced timing at all, you may need to do more than this!

We also recommend that you do NOT take a timed exam right before the bar exam. We recommend taking your last three-hour timed exam about a week before the bar exam. You can still review problems after that, but you do not have to take a timed exam.

Your schedule may look something like this:

• Day 1: Real Property 
• Day 2: Real Property, review MPT formats/essays
• Day 3: Real Property, 3-hour essay test
• Day 4: Torts, Agency, Partnership, 3-hour MPT test (and add another if needed) 
• Day 5: Torts, Corporations, review MPT formats/essays
• Day 6: Civil Procedure, Wills
• Day 7: Civil Procedure, Trusts
• Day 8: Review past 7 days, 3-hour MBE test
• Day 9: Evidence, Family Law
• Day 10: Evidence, Conflicts
• Day 11: Contracts, review MPT formats/essays
• Day 12: Contracts
• Day 13: 3-hour MBE test, 3-hour essay test 
• Day 14: Criminal Law, Secured Transactions 
• Day 15:  Criminal Law, Secured Transactions
• Day 16: Constitutional Law
• Day 17:  Constitutional Law, review MPT formats/essays
• Day 18: Constitutional Law, Catch-up day 
• Day 19: Review
• Day 20: Review
• Day 21 – 22: Weekend before the bar exam. Pack, review last minute things
• Day 23: Day before the bar exam. Don’t review or do a light review. Practice visualization

For each subject that you review each day, you will want to:

• Review your outline
• Answer (at least bullet point) a few essays
• Answer MBE questions

Check out a sample daily study schedule here if you are looking for more information!

If you have any questions about this proposed study schedule for the month before the bar exam, please ask in the comments below or contact us!

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