Top Ten Best Reddit Bar Exam Study Tips

Top Ten Best Reddit Bar Exam Study Tips

The bar exam is a stressful experience for most bar examinees. That stress can lead to bar examinees frantically searching the internet high and low for the “hidden key” to passing the bar exam. Unfortunately, there is not a single key that will guarantee you pass the bar exam. There are, however, some great nuggets of information on the internet that you can incorporate into your bar exam preparation. This post has consolidated the 10 best bar exam study tips from Reddit posts, so you don’t have to spend your precious bar preparation time searching for them!

Top Ten Best Reddit Bar Exam Study Tips

1. Treat the bar exam like a job.

This is one of the best pieces of advice for the bar exam we found on Reddit! If you want to be successful in taking the bar, you should treat bar preparation like a full-time job! While you prepare for the bar exam, you should consider studying for a fixed time each day and plan your life around your study schedule.  Eight hours of studying, exclusive of breaks, is a good goal for each day. Just like your job, it is a good idea to have a consistent start time and end time each day. If your bar exam starts at 8:30 in the morning, then it is a good idea to start studying at or around that time. Following this type of schedule usually allows you to take 1-2 days off per week if you are studying for 10 weeks. Treating the bar exam like a job will help you focus better and study more effectively. For more information, see the following Reddit post.

2. Pace yourself in your bar preparation.

You’ve probably heard this before, but studying for the bar exam is a marathon and not a sprint.  You need to pace yourself through the bar exam preparation period. There is a large amount of information you will be learning during bar prep, and you cannot learn it all at once. It is better to learn the material in chunks followed by doing practice questions to solidify your understanding of the material. Then, you can move on to the next chunk of material and repeat. As you move from subject to subject, always remember to practice what you already learned so you don’t lose sight of that information.  For more information, see the following Reddit post.

3. Discuss your study plan with your employer and family in advance.

Studying for the bar exam can be both stressful and overwhelming. This is why it is essential to discuss your study schedule and plans with your employer and family well in advance of your bar preparation. You will need to have time with no interruptions in order to efficiently study for the bar exam. The last thing you want is for your employer to ask you to complete a time-consuming high-stress project in the middle of you studying for the bar exam. Tell your employer and family when and how you plan on studying and get their support in advance! Having the support of both your employer and family can make bar prep much more seamless (and less stressful!).

4. Practice MBE questions, essays, and performance tests.

Learning the rules and exceptions is a must when studying for the bar exam. However, many bar examinees forget that application of the law is just as important as memorizing it.  The bar exam does not test raw memorization. It does, however, test your ability to apply the facts of a particular hypothetical to the law in a methodical way. Writing and outlining essays and performance tests, as well as practicing multiple-choice questions are the best methods to get comfortable applying the facts to the law. You should practice under timed conditions to help you allocate the correct amount of time to reading, analyzing, and selecting the correct answer choice for MBEs as well as writing answers for essays or performance tests. Ultimately, practice will not only help you increase your abilities, it will also build your confidence in your abilities to perform well on the bar exam. For more information, see the following Reddit post.

5. Bar Exam Mnemonics

In order to be successful on the bar exam, you will need to memorize a large amount of information. Bar exam mnemonics are one of the best ways to help you to store information and recall it quickly and efficiently during the bar exam. For example, one mnemonic everyone should remember is TTIP. This mnemonic makes up the requirements for a joint tenancy. In order to create a joint tenancy, you need (1) language similar to “joint tenants with rights of survivorship” and (2) the mnemonic.  TTIP stands for T = Time, T = Title, I = Interest, and P=Possession. Therefore, in order to have a joint tenancy, (1) the interests of the joint tenants must vest at the same time, (2) in the same document/instrument granting title, (3) where all joint tenants have an equal share in the property, and (4) all joint tenants have the same right to possess the property. Reddit has its fair share of unique mnemonics you can find with a simple search. We also put together a blog post on useful mnemonics!  It can also be a good idea to make up some of your own mnemonics!

6. Have everything ready to go for the bar exam.

A week or so before the bar exam, make sure you have everything you need for the bar exam. Put items and clothes aside you plan to bring with you (and make sure they comply with any dress code requirements!). The items you can bring to the bar exam vary from state to state, so be sure to get a list of what you can and cannot bring to the bar exam! Normally you will need to place your items in a clear plastic bag to bring into the bar exam. Some of these items may include ear plugs, pens, #2 pencils, a pencil sharpener, admissions certificate, identification, and a watch (usually analog). Also, be sure to have your laptop, charger, and potentially a mouse and/or keyboard if you will be attaching these to your laptop during the exam. If allowed, you should also bring water and some healthy snacks. If the dress code is flexible, wear loose-fitting comfortable clothes and sneakers for the bar exam. It is also a good idea to wear layers of clothing so you can take some off if it gets hot or put/keep them on if it gets cold in the exam room.

7. Include exercise as part of your bar preparation.

Exercising during your bar preparation is an essential element in retaining the information you will need for the bar. Exercising will also cut down on your anxiety of the bar exam. Bar preparation and the bar exam are both physically and mentally draining and you need to do everything in your power to maintain your health during this process. Having a set exercise routine built into your bar studying schedule is a great idea because it will force you to make exercise a consistent part of your studying routine. Exercise will help cut down your stress levels and anxiety and increase your stamina, making bar preparation more efficient. Ultimately, this will make the long stressful days of the bar exam much more manageable. For more information, see the following Reddit post.   

8. Each question is worth the same amount of points.

Don’t fall in love with any one question on the bar exam. This goes for multiple-choice, essays, and performance tests! With the exception of the 25 ungraded MBE questions, all multiple-choice questions are worth the same number of points. Also, all essays are worth the same number of points. Finally, both performance tests, assuming you are in a UBE jurisdiction, are worth the same number of points. Spend approximately 1 minute and 48 seconds per MBE question, 30 minutes per essay, and 90 minutes per performance test for most UBE jurisdictions. The best way to make sure your timing will not stand in the way of you passing the bar exam is to practice multiple-choice questions, essays, and performance tests under timed conditions. By doing this, you will learn how to read, process, and select answers for multiple-choice; and outline and write your answers for essays and performance tests in the allotted time. For more information, see the following Reddit post.

9. Make up a rule on essays if you cannot remember one.

One clear way to get no points on bar exam essay questions is to leave the question blank. You may leave a question blank because of a timing issue or not remembering the rule(s). This is why it is essential to practice your timing during bar preparation. On the other hand, if you get to an essay question and you spot the issue and you cannot remember any part of the rule, DO NOT PANIC! You should take a moment, take a deep breath, and then make up a rule that fits the facts of the hypothetical. By doing this, you are giving yourself a chance that the bar graders will give you points for spotting the issue, analyzing the facts to the rule, and concluding. You may even write a rule that is partially correct and receive most of the points allocated for that particular question! Therefore, if you cannot remember a rule while writing the essays, simply write a rule that fits the fact pattern and analyze it as you would the correct rule!

10. Plan exam logistics in advance

If you will be taking the bar exam out-of-state or far from where you live within a state, it is best to book your accommodations in advance of beginning your bar preparation. It is a great idea to find a hotel that is within a short walking distance from where you will be taking the bar exam. This will prevent some anxiety on exam day as you won’t need to worry about parking and traffic. Also, you can leave your lunch in your hotel room. During the lunch break, you can quickly walk back to your room, eat, and then return to the exam without being overwhelmed because of timing. It is also a good idea to arrive a couple of days before the bar exam, especially if you will be traveling long distances. This will help you acclimate to new area and potentially new time zones in advance of taking the bar exam. For more information, see the following Reddit post.

We hope that the above 10 Reddit bar exam study tips are helpful for your bar study! If you have any questions about any of our materials or programs, please contact us!

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