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What should My Michigan Bar Exam Essay Writing Schedule Look Like?

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book pictureMany students ask us what a good Michigan bar exam essay writing schedule looks like. Some students wonder if completing one essay per day is enough. Other students try to complete several essays each day. We recommend an approach that makes essay-writing a consistent part of your schedule, and yet one that keeps it manageable. We also recommend that your Michigan bar exam essay writing schedule includes several timed essay exams.

The below recommended schedule is an excerpt from our new book, How to Pass the Michigan Bar Exam.

Michigan Bar Exam Essay-Writing Schedule for
Two-to-Three Months Before the Bar Exam:

  • Begin answering essay questions at the beginning of your bar exam preparation. Do not put it off! Start with the most recent essays. Only begin to answer essay questions after you have reviewed the substantive law. This will provide you with a great review of the highly-tested topics.
  • Bullet point your essay exam answers for the majority of questions that you answer. This will help you answer more and get exposed to more law that is tested right from the beginning.
  • Aim to answer about two or three questions per day for the subjects you review.
  • At least once a week, write out full answers to essay questions. If you are planning on hand-writing the bar exam, write out your answers to get accustomed to writing for several hours in a row.  If you are planning on typing the bar exam, type your answers.
  • Self-grade your essay answers (that is, compare them to the Examiner’s Analysis, and see what you stated correctly and what you stated incorrectly. Make a note of it on your essay answer and make it a point to review your essay answers in the future). If possible, get feedback from an outside source as well.

Michigan Bar Exam Essay-Writing Schedule for
One Month Before the Bar Exam:

  • Focus on writing answers to the most highly tested subjects. Bullet point some answers but make sure to write full answers for others.
  • Continue to self-grade your essays.
  • Time yourself. Start by completing three questions in one hour. Then complete 6 questions in two hours.  Last, complete 9 questions in three hours.  If you are looking for a challenge, give yourself only 18 minutes per question (rather than the allocated 20 minutes per question).

Note: If you are the type to get really anxious or the type to panic or “freeze up” during an exam, we recommend that you complete several timed exams to minimize the risk of that happening on the actual exam. Incorporate a few one-hour three-question exams in the beginning of your bar exam preparation. Then complete a few two-hour six-question exams in the middle of your bar exam preparation, and some three-hour nine-question exams toward the end. We also recommend you complete multiple choice exams, too!

If you are looking for more Michigan bar exam tips, please check out our new book, How to Pass the Michigan Bar Exam.

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