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I am living on the East Coast but taking the CA bar exam. I'm not sure when to fly out to CA before the exam. I want to minimize lost study time, and jet lag, and make sure I can get into a routine. Does anyone have any advice?

Interested in this too. I am coming back around July 18th. Although, I'll have my car in Georgia, so I am contemplating shipping it back, or driving cross country from GA to back to CA.

From my experience, getting there two days in advance is most ideal.

stella55 wrote:I am living on the East Coast but taking the CA bar exam. I'm not sure when to fly out to CA before the exam. I want to minimize lost study time, and jet lag, and make sure I can get into a routine. Does anyone have any advice?

I traveled from Illinois to Ontario for CA February 2016 bar. Given the unpredictability of winter weather, I arrived a week (the Tuesday) before the exam (according to hotel, a lot of people come on Sunday). It gave me a chance to get acclimated (weather, time zone) and discover my surroundings (food options), including a visit to the Ontario Convention Center the weekend before to look around. I even timed walking from the hotel to Convention Center (I'm anal).

As I contemplated what date to arrive, I had to take into account how to continue my studies. I did the Barbri course online; therefore, with a laptop I would still have access to those materials. The challenge was which books to bring. I finally settled on the notes outline, Convisor Mini Review and the CA Essay book (I tore out all the essays I had already written to make it lighter). I also brought the PT that I still had to do per my personal study plan. It was very heavy in my backpack; however, I made it.

If I have to repeat in July, I would probably not arrive until the Friday or Saturday before, if I were returning to Ontario. If I pick LA Convention Center, I might arrive a little earlier.