How many weeks did you take to study for the bar? Forum

[judysmith]

For those who have passed, how many weeks did you take to study for the exam? And if you care to share, how many hours a day and what was your study routine like? I am curious as to how many weeks on average works best for passers. Thanks!

[blueapple]

I followed the Themis schedule so I think that was 10 weeks, studying "full time" (meaning I didn't have a job or anything). I think really it was 9 weeks because I took most of a week off in June, so I was paying catch-up for the rest of the summer. I usually studied from 9 until 4 or 5, but sometimes earlier if it was just one of those days where I couldn't focus. Unless I was doing an MBE set or simulating test conditions with a bunch of essays in a row (my state's essays were 20 minutes each) I would take lots of small breaks since that's how I work best. Later in the summer I would sometimes come home from school and do an extra set of MBE questions before bed. The last two weeks before the exam I ramped things up and was probably at school for 10-12 hours most days. I spent the the last couple of weeks mostly outlining and preparing for essays but did 50 MBE Q's per day (and reviewed them). Make sure you review every single MBE question you do, including the ones you get right!

[Nebby]

10 weeks

[pleasepass]

I took Barbri and followed their schedule, which was 10 weeks. I usually started around 8:00 or 8:15 and studied until 5:00 or 6:00. I took at least an hour long break for lunch and to go out for a walk. Passed Virginia on first attempt.

[trebekismyhero]

Total time of barbri was 10 weeks, the first month I worked a a job and probably only studied three to four hours a day. Studied full time the last 4 weeks. At the time I was nervous that I worked, I probably should've taken an extra week or two more to study more full time for peace of mind, but passed so it was fine

[jess]

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[ArtistOfManliness]

six weeks, 6-7 hours a day for the first four weeks, then 4 hours a day for the last two weeks?

kinda sorta followed barbri? passed by a v considerable margin

[hangingtree]

NY July 2016, Barbri. 11 weeks. Started a week early or so to learn the handful of subjects I hadn't studied in law school. At first, I was really focused and studied productively like 10 hours a day. Then, after week 5 or so, I began experiencing huge diminishing returns. Was averaging something like 75% on the Barbri MBE questions from mid/late-June to test day in late July, with minimal gains. Tried to push through this, but couldn't muster the motivation. I coasted into test day with very light review of MBE subjects, fairly light MEE practice, and a few full simulated exams.

99th percentile MBE and ~75th percentile MEE/MPT.

[mds79]

UBE July 2016. I followed the Themis schedule, so it was about 10 weeks. I usually studied from about 9:00 AM until I was done with the day's work, about 2:00-3:00 PM. I tried to bank a few extra assignments each day, though, so I could have ended earlier. Didn't study on weekends at all. Spent the last couple of weeks mostly doing MBE practice questions and semi-serious MEE outlines, as well as reviewing Critical Pass flashcards.

Passed with a score well over the required score for my jurisdiction, and high enough to transfer to all other UBE states.

[Jmazz88]

Wondering people's opinions on this as well. Currently doing Barbri, and have only really been studying about 6 hours a day, albeit 7 days a week, since Christmas Eve. Scoring around 55-60% on the practice MBE questions. Feeling like I'm not doing enough.

[Nebby]

Wondering people's opinions on this as well. Currently doing Barbri, and have only really been studying about 6 hours a day, albeit 7 days a week, since Christmas Eve. Scoring around 55-60% on the practice MBE questions. Feeling like I'm not doing enough.

Keep it up. It'll always feel like you're never doing enough tbh

[mds79]

Wondering people's opinions on this as well. Currently doing Barbri, and have only really been studying about 6 hours a day, albeit 7 days a week, since Christmas Eve. Scoring around 55-60% on the practice MBE questions. Feeling like I'm not doing enough.

Keep it up. It'll always feel like you're never doing enough tbh

^This.

Bar study is a marathon, not a sprint. Ideally, you'll be peaking just before test day, not halfway through. It's amazing what a mindfuck the whole bar process is; don't let it make you crazy! You'll get there.

[pdwannabe]

I worked full time and took no time off (except the days of the exam). I studied a total of about 40 hours, mostly crammed into the final 1.5 weeks. I did self study. I had outlines for MBE and essay topics, MBE questions and answer explanations, and access to old essay q's/MPTs and model answers. I already had a pretty healthy background in crim law and crim pro due to clerking and loading up on those classes in law school, so I focused mostly on the other topics.

For the MBE, I read the MBE topic outlines twice each and made handwritten flash cards on stuff I knew I wouldnt remember from the outlines. I would then do the flashcards for a particular topic, then do some MBE q's. I would then read the answer explanations for each q, even if I got it right. I did do MBE q's for each topic but not as many as I had hoped for because I started studying way too late and ran out of time and energy. Someone on TLS had suggested doing 2000 MBE q's, which I had access to but just didnt have the time. Seems like a wise recommendation in retrospect to feel super comfortable and safe. I never did a practice exam, though I always timed myself when I did the MBE topic q's. Regardless, I did pretty well on the real MBE

For the MPT, I quickly skimmed the intructions for an old one.

For the essays, I read these one to three page condensed outlines that I found on reddit of all places. I also read Tanicus's guide. Because I only had about 40 hours and wanted to focus most of my time on the MBE, I really had no time or interest in a full-length family law outline, etc. So I read the short ones a couple of times each, then started reading old questions and model answers. I knew fuck all about these topics and was super nervous, so during the actual exam, I made up a lot of rules and then analyzed the facts according to my made up rules. That tactic seemed to work because I scored well on the written portion.

I've never done Barbri/Themis/Kaplan, but it seems they really instill some serious fear in you about the bar exam. The bar exam is not hard, and the score required to pass it is so low. There are so many idiot lawyers in my field. I am constantly amazed at how people who dont even have basic grammar and spelling skills could have passed the bar exam. Knowing that those people were attorneys helped me feel pretty relaxed about the whole exam. With that said, I do NOT recommend studying only 40 hours for the exam. It worked for me, but to be safe, I would recommend 4 weeks of treating studying like a full-time job if you want to go in with peace of mind. 10 full weeks is absurd to me, but I guess you're locked into that if you pay for a prep program.

this seems similar to where im at right now with ~4 weeks to go. i also focused on crim law/crim pro in law school and know basically nothing about anything else. could you link me to where you found the 1-3 pg outlines? that would be super helpful

[jess]

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[pdwannabe]

The Tanicus ones are stickied.

The reddit ones are here: https://www.reddit.com/r/LawSchool/comm ... ou/camigae and here https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx9Pi-0 ... dQWXc/edit and here https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx9Pi-0 ... hHWUU/edit

thanks! these look good. but did you say there were 1-3 page ones? these are more 10-25 pages each

[MKC]

I did half of Barbri in something like 6 weeks. I do not recommend cutting it this close. It was enough, but I was definitely sweating it.

Obviously YMMV, and I'm sure there are many, many people better at this shit than I am.

[Jmazz88]

I'm currently sitting at 35%/40% for Barbri right now. Really feel like I hit a wall this week; only did about 4 hours a day. Trying to keep myself motivated and hungry, but it's definitely difficult.

[Neve]

Technically 10 weeks - the length of a bar course - but I slacked off during the first part so the 3.5 weeks before the bar were jam packed with an entire bar course. Don't get behind in studying! It's hard to catch up!

[wlp0001]

Wondering people's opinions on this as well. Currently doing Barbri, and have only really been studying about 6 hours a day, albeit 7 days a week, since Christmas Eve. Scoring around 55-60% on the practice MBE questions. Feeling like I'm not doing enough.

Ya, I am with you. I thought bar prep would be much worst. My schedule is pretty much Monday-Saturday 9-5 (plus/minus an hour or so depending on Babri's schedule). Sundays are half days for me. As of right now, I have done every single thing Barbri has told me to do. I also did some extra essays and MBEs on the side (if I can mentally handle it). I shot a 141 on the midterm this past Friday, which I feel pretty good about.

P.S.
Almost game day, we all will be ready. Preparing for 10 weeks is half the battle, the other half is actually showing up on game gay (not only physically but mentally). Showing up on game day means that you don't get too nervous and don't get rattled by any essays or mbes. Just accept the fact that you are not going to know everything and there will be shitty times during the rest of the prep and on the day of the exam, but shake it off and move on. Ohh, and #ownthebar.