Six-Month Bar Exam Study Schedule

Six-Month Bar Exam Study Schedule

Most bar examinees prepare for the bar exam in  8–12 weeks. That means that they generally start studying 2-3 months before the bar exam. While this is true for most bar examinees, it is not true for all of them. In fact, many bar examinees must study for longer periods of time in order to fully prepare for the bar exam. In this post, we focus on a 180-day (6-month or 26-week) bar exam study plan for those who require additional time to prepare for the bar exam. The study plan will focus on helping the bar taker (1) learn and digest the issues and concepts, (2) memorize the rules, and (3) apply the rules in order to be successful on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) portions of the bar exam.

Six-Month Bar Exam Study Schedule

Bar examinees who may need a longer preparation schedule include those who are working full or part-time during the study period, LLM graduates who might already be licensed in another country, and others who have different time commitments and obligations during the bar preparation period. Bar examinees who will be working full or part-time will likely only be able to study on weekends and a couple of hours a day during the workweek.  These students, therefore, may need longer study time to get through all the study material. For these individuals, they will most likely need to begin studying well in advance of the normal 2-3 month bar preparation period because they will be balancing work obligations as they prepare for the bar exam.

LLM students who received their J.D.-equivalent degree outside of the United States may also need extra time to prepare for the bar exam. The main reason for this is that these students likely did not complete coursework in fundamental law courses that appear on both the MBE and MEE portions of the bar exam. These courses include torts, real property, evidence, contracts, constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal law, and criminal procedure. Other courses LLM students might not have experience with include MEE subjects: business associations, secured transactions, wills, trusts, and family law. Therefore, these students will likely need extra time to master these subjects because they have never encountered this material before.

Bar examinees that take conventional bar preparation courses end up spending 400-600 hours preparing for the bar exam.  For our purposes, we will take the average time these students study, 500 hours, and craft a 180-day schedule for those students who need additional time to prepare for the bar exam. Since there are 26 weeks in the 6- month time span, this schedule requires an average of 20 hours per week of studying in order to reach the 500-hours goal. Further, since this study schedule for the bar is over a long 6-month period, we will break down the tasks into weekly segments to give the student enough flexibility throughout the week to reach the 20 hours of study.  Finally, with the additional time to prepare, students can spend more time on a certain subject or topic as needed.

Free Resources We Recommend

We will reference materials in our 6-month study schedule, in particular MEEs and MPTs to complete. These can be found for FREE on the NCBE website and are linked below:

• MEE links: Find Feb 2010 – July 2014 MEEs here on the NCBE’s website
• MPT links: Find Feb 2010 – July 2014 MPTs here on the NCBE’s website

Without further delay, the 6-month or 26-week study schedule is below! Please feel free to modify it as it suits your needs. This is just a general schedule for you to follow.

Bar Exam Study Schedule: A 6-month (26-week) Self-Study Plan

Week 1: Real Property

• Review Real Property outline
• February 2012 Real Property MEE
• 50 Real Property MBE questions
• Review our free guide on how to pass the MBE

Week 2: Real Property

• Review Real Property outline
• Feb 2013 Torts Real Property MEE
• 50 Real Property MBE questions
• Review our free guide on the best way to study for the MEE
• Review our free guide on highly tested MEE topics (and save it as a reference)

Week 3: Torts

• Review Real Property outline
• Review Torts outline
• Feb 2012 Torts MEE
• 50 Torts MBE questions

Week 4: Torts

• Review Torts outline
• July 2012 Torts MEE
• July 2015 Torts MEE
• 50 Torts MBE questions

Week 5: Review and Practice

• Review Torts and Real Property in depth
• Feb 2015 Real Property MEE
• 50 Real Property and Torts MBE questions (25 each, mixed)
• Review the entire MPT Guide

Week 6: Evidence / MPT – Objective Brief

• Briefly review Torts and Real Property
• Review Evidence outline
• July 2014 Evidence MEE
• 50 Evidence MBE questions
• MPT – Read about Objective Memo in MPT Guide and complete Baby MPT
• MPT – look at July 2011 objective memo to understand the format (In re Field Hogs, Inc.) and jot out the answer untimed. (Note: all other MPTs should be timed!)
• MPT — 90 minutes Feb 2014 (In re Peterson Engineering Consultants)

Week 7: Evidence

• Review Evidence outline
• Feb 2016 Evidence MEE
• July 2013 Evidence MEE
• 50 Evidence MBE questions

Week 8: Review and Practice

• Review Torts, Real Property, Evidence,
• 45 Evidence, Torts, Real Property MBE questions (15 each, mixed)

Week 9: Wills (Decedents’ Estates) and Trusts

• Review Wills outline
• Review Trusts outline
• MEE 3 questions – 90 minutes
• July 2013 Wills MEE
• July 2015 Trusts MEE
• July 2012 Trusts MEE
• July 2012 Trusts MEE
• Feb 2013 Evidence MEE
• 45 Evidence, Torts, Real Property MBE questions (10 each, mixed)

Week 10: MPT – Persuasive Memo

• Briefly review areas above where you are experiencing difficulty
• Review Wills and Trusts outlines
• MEE 3 questions – 90 minutes
• Feb 2013 Trusts MEE
• Feb 2012 Wills MEE
• Feb 2015 Wills MEE
• MPT – Read about Persuasive Brief in MPT Guide and complete Baby MPT
• MPT – 90 minutes Feb 2014 (In re Rowan)
• MPT – 90 minutes July 2012 (Ashton v. Indigo Construction Co.)

Week 11: Constitutional Law

• Review Constitutional Law outline
• July 2011 Constitutional Law MEE
• July 2012 Constitutional Law MEE
• 50 Constitutional Law MBE Questions
• MPT – 90 minutes July 2013 (Monroe v. Franklin Flags Amusement Park)

Week 12:  Constitutional Law, Conflicts of Law

• Review Constitutional Law outline
• Review Conflicts of Law outline
• Feb 2013 Constitutional Law MEE
• Feb 2014 Constitutional Law MEE
• 50 Constitutional Law MBE Questions
• MPT – 90 minutes Feb 2013 (In re Guardianship of Will Fox)

Week 13: Contracts and Sales

• Briefly review Constitutional Law outline
• Review Contracts and Sales outline
• Feb 2011 Contracts and Sales MEE
• Feb 2012 Contracts and Sales MEE
• 50 Contracts and Sales MBE Questions

Week 14: Contracts and Sales and MPTs – Opinion Letter

• Review Contracts and Sales outline
• Feb 2013 Contracts and Sales MEE
• 50 Contracts and Sales MBE Questions
• MPT – Read about Opinion Letters in MPT Guide and complete Baby MPT
• MPT – 90 minutes Feb 2013 (In re Wendy Martel)

Week 15: Review and Timed Practice

• Review Constitutional Law and Contracts, MPTS
• Briefly Review Torts, Real Property, Evidence
• MPT – 90 minutes
• 45 Contracts and Sales and Constitutional Law MBE Questions (15 each, mixed)

Week 16: Criminal Law and Procedure

• Review Criminal Law and Procedure outline
• July 2011 Criminal Law and Procedure MEE
• Feb 2014 Criminal Law and Procedure MEE
• 50 Criminal Law and Procedure MBE Questions
• MBE – 100 question MBE timed (optional, without Civil Procedure)

Week 17: Criminal Law and Procedure

• Review Criminal Law and Procedure outline
• July 2014 Criminal Law and Procedure MEE
• July 2016 Criminal Law and Procedure MEE
• 50 Criminal Law and Procedure MBE Questions

Week 18: Civil Procedure

• Review Civil Procedure outline
• Feb 2012 Civil Procedure/Conflicts MEE
• July 2015 Civil Procedure MEE
• Feb 2014 Civil Procedure MEE
• 50 Civil Procedure MBE Questions

Week 19: Civil Procedure

• Review Civil Procedure outline
• July 2013 Civil Procedure MEE
• July 2015 Civil Procedure MEE
• 50 Civil Procedure MBE Questions timed

Week 20: Review and Timed Practice

• Review all MBE subjects and MEE subjects to date,
• MBE – 100 question MBE timed

Week 21: Secured Transactions

• Review Secured Transactions outline
• MEE 3 questions – 90 minutes
• July 2012 Secured Transactions MEE
• Feb 2013 Secured Transactions MEE
• Feb 2014 Secured Transactions MEE
• 60 Civil Procedure and Criminal Law/Procedure MBE Questions mixed (30 each)

Week 22: Family Law, MPTs –  Wildcard Tasks

• Briefly review Secured Transactions outline
• Review Family Law outline
• July 2011 Family Law/Conflicts MEE
• July 2014 Family Law
• Feb 2016 Secured Transactions MEE
• More MBE questions as necessary
• MPT – Read about Wildcard Tasks in MPT Guide
• MPT – 90 minutes July 2013 (Palindrome Recording Contract)
• MPT – 90 minutes July 2012 (State of Franklin v. Soper)

Week 23: Corporations and LLC’s, Agency and Partnership

• Review Corporations and LLCs outline
• Review Agency and Partnership outline
• July 2013 Torts/Agency MEE (bullet point)
• July 2016 Corporations MEE (bullet point)
• Feb 2012 Corporations MEE (bullet point)
• July 2011 Partnership MEE (bullet point)
• Feb 2012 Partnership MEE (bullet point)
• Feb 2014 Agency and Partnership MEE (bullet point)
• Feb 2013 Agency MEE (bullet point)
• More MBE questions as necessary
• MPT – 90 minutes Feb 2012 (Franklin Resale Royalties Legislation)
• MBE – 100 question MBE timed (optional)

Week 24: Review and Timed Practice

• Review all MBE subjects and MEE subjects to date Part 1
• MEE 3 questions– 90 minutes – Feb 2010 exam (Questions 1-3)
• If you need more Corporations practice, briefly bullet point
• July 2012 Corporations MEE
• July 2013 Corporations MEE
• July 2014 Corporations MEE
• MPT – 3 hours Feb 2010 MPT if additional practice is needed
• MBE – 100 question MBE timed

Week 25: Review and Timed Practice

• Continue to review all MBE subjects and MEE subjects Part 2
• MBE – 100 question MBE timed
• MPT – 90 minutes Feb 2011 MPT #1 (In re Magnolia County)
• MPT – 90 minutes Feb 2011 MPT #2 (Franklin Resale Royalties Legislation)
• MEE 3 questions – 90 minutes – Feb 2010 exam (Questions 4-6)

Week 26: Review and Timed Practice

• MBE – 100 question MBE timed
• MBE – 100 question MBE timed
• MPT – 3 hours July 2010 MPT (both MPTs administered)
• MEE 6 questions – July 2010 exam

We hope that the above study plan is helpful for you, and if you have any questions about any of our materials or programs, please contact us!

JD Advising Early Bar Prep

For those students who will need extra time to prepare for the bar exam and are looking for a bar preparation course, we recommend our Early Bar Prep program. Our Uniform Bar Exam prep course has helped thousands of bar examiners pass the bar and comes highly recommended by students who have used it to pass the bar. The resources listed below will be referenced by the study plan that follows.

We have done our best to link to as many free resources as possible in order to help bar examiners who are not signed up for our bar prep course to still be able to follow along. The MBE, MEE, and MPT resources are listed below. Students who sign up before May 1 for July bar exam administrations and before December 1 for February bar exam administration will be added to JD Advising’s Early Bar Prep program which allows bar examinees to begin studying well in advance of the ordinary student period.

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