Should I Start Studying for the Bar Exam Early?

Should I Start Studying for the Bar Exam Early?

Should I start studying for the bar exam early?: Many students worry about when they start their bar prep. Typically, most students for the July bar will start in May, and for the February bar exam, they will start in December. For some, though, bar exam prep needs to start earlier, for a variety of reasons. In our experience, the people who need to start their bar prep early are those who:

Should I Start Studying for the Bar Exam Early?

1. Graduated near the bottom of your class.

If you graduated near the bottom of your class, you need to start studying for the bar exam early. It might be that one bad semester or year ruined your class ranking, but chances are you struggled with the material throughout law school. If this is the case, you need to give yourself more time to review and make sure you understand the material.

2. Struggled a lot with first year courses.

If you really struggled with first year courses, you need to start your bar prep early. The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) is composed of questions primarily from your first year. Since this is such a huge part of your overall score, you need to start studying early if you did not quickly grasp the concepts in these courses the first time around.

3. Plan on working (or have other time-consuming circumstances).

Bar prep is a time-consuming and intensive process in and of itself. If you are combining it with work, or family obligations, or a combination of both, you need to be realistic and start studying earlier. The time you spend at work and with your family takes away from your time reviewing for the bar. By lengthening your review time, you can study at a slower pace and not miss out on any of your other commitments.

4. Have anxiety issues.

Anxiety can be crippling, especially when it comes to the bar exam. It can also severely impact simple efforts to review material. For those who suffer from anxiety, starting your studying earlier can be very helpful. Not only does it allow you more time to review substantive issues, but it also allows you to deal with any performance issues as well. For many with anxiety, extra time is a coping mechanism that allows them to believe they are in control. So make sure you give yourself the time you need to study and work through your anxiety by starting your review early.

5. Failed the bar in the past.

If you failed a previous bar exam, you also most likely need time to figure out what did (and did not!) work in your previous attempt.  Give yourself time to analyze what worked previously, and to figure out how to approach areas where you struggled differently. You might need a whole new approach to studying, and that takes time! Do not repeat the same mistakes that caused you to fail previously.

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