Advice For Someone Working While Taking February Bar Forum

[brohaters1]

Can anyone that has worked while taking a bar exam, or that is working while studying for the February bar exam, offer advice? I haven't stated studying yet, should I be worried?

If it maters I am at a law firm, so the hours can be rough. I think I will get some time off prior to the bar (1-3 weeks).

When should I start studying?

How should I study? Any different than the first time around (I passed a different bar)?

[Mr. Pink]

I worked 50+ hours a week while studying for the July exam. Depending on how busy I was I could sometimes study a little at work, but not often. But at the same time, I knew this going in and started my bar prep around April to allow more time to get through everything I wanted. I am also not the type to study a whole lot either. I put maybe 3-5 hours in a day, 4-5 days a week. I think the key was knowing my weak areas and focusing on those and using the material I was comfortable with as "breather" days in between my more difficult areas.

Everyone is different, but if it were me and I knew I was going to be working some long hours and trying to study for the Feb exam, I would consider starting right away. Put a study schedule together that will work for you (focusing on the weak areas) and stick to it. It's probably going to be tough, but it can certainly be done.

[brohaters1]

This is scary (you starting in April). So am I screwed if I haven't started studying yet?

I don't even think I have access to Barbri's online stuff yet.

[s1m4]

What state?

[brohaters1]

TX

[sparty99]

tag

[Bearlegdairy]

I spent a lot of time listening to lectures (Themis) that, in retrospect, were just not all that useful. I passed, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd spend more time in the early stages of studying figuring out what wasn't working and focus on what was.

[sparty99]

I spent a lot of time listening to lectures (Themis) that, in retrospect, were just not all that useful. I passed, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd spend more time in the early stages of studying figuring out what wasn't working and focus on what was.

I agree. The lectures are a HUGE time sink. Really a waste of time.

[colonial108]

I worked full time and took the UBE in February (plus I have four kids and all of their activities, so time was extremely limited). It can definitely be done. I took Themis and here is precisely what I did:

--I listened to the lectures only in the areas of law I did not take in law school. The lectures on all of the topics you took 1L year are just not that necessary, IMO. You can easily refresh your memory of that stuff from the summary outlines.

--I read the full outlines thoroughly a couple of times. They look daunting, but they aren't as terrible to get through as it would seem.

--Essays. Here is where a lot of people would probably disagree with me, but I didn't spend hardly anytime writing essays. I did, however, read every single essay question and model answer. This was very helpful. Frankly, I just didn't have the time to do all of that writing, so I didn't. I got a good feel for the essays from the model answers. I did submit all of the required graded essays. I did the graded practice MPT, but that was the only MPT I did. After taking the actual bar exam, I don't think practicing the essays or MPT's would have done me much good anyhow. Like I said, this worked for me, it may not be the way to go for someone else, however.

--Multiple Choice. I did them all. Every single one. It was like 2250 of them when it was all said and done. They helped me with every aspect of the bar exam--even the essays (because you get really good at knowing the law by doing the MC). I did all of them where you could see your answer/explanation immediately afterwards. I would typically read ALL of the answers and explanations for each question because that will help you with the distractor answers on the real thing.

-As it got closer to the bar, I just read and re-read the summary outlines (and I made notes on them) until I was blue in the face. The night before the bar exam, I went to dinner and didn't study. If you don't know it by then, you don't know it.

--The most valuable piece of bar exam advice I can offer is to remain calm, and do NOT freak out over the sheer volume of material. It's pretty intimidating, but when you are actually taking the exam things will be pretty clear. I remember many times while studying I would think "there's no way, I can retain all of this for the exam." Once you start reading the question, you will lock in to it and the rules will just come back to you. It's really weird, but true. If you don't know an answer within the first 30 seconds or so, move on and come back later because it flies by.

I didn't spend nearly as much time studying as most others I knew, and I passed fairly easily. I am really glad I did all of the practice MC, though because you start to see the patterns and the real exam isn't too far off of that.

Best of luck.

[OklahomasOK]

TX

Essays are your key. Kick ass on those, score at the median on the MBE, and you'll pass. I did just that on the July administration. I got diminishing returns after 500 or so MBE questions. Much greater returns studying essay topics. Overall score of 745 with a 143 on the MBE. You can do the math and figure out where I excelled.

The real estate essay is a crap shoot but know your lien laws. Know the DTPA like the back of your hand. Corporations/ Business Entities should an important area to focus. Family law is difficult but learnable. Commercial paper should be fairly low on your priority list. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

[LAWYER2]

I was able to listen to lectures at my desk @ work with my headphones on. Once I got home, I'd do whatever assigned MBE's and/or outline essays. Go over flash-cards (using iPad app) in bed before going to sleep.

two weeks out, I'd recorded myself going through the flashcard sets and would listen to them on repeat in my sleep and driving to/from work. I also cut out all alcohol/substances to make sure my brain had a fighting chance.

Hope this helps.