Tips for the California Bar Exam (Attorney Exam - Essays Only) Forum

[barexamtips]

I passed the Illinois bar almost ten years ago (right out of law school). However, unforeseen circumstances last year resulted in a move in California. The good news was that my firm was willing to let me transfer to a California office. The bad news was that I had to take the California bar exam (February 2016 attorney exam (essays only) - I know this post is late!) I was out of law school for almost a decade, in the midst of planning and going on a 2.5 week honeymoon overseas, and had a ridiculously busy work schedule as an associate at an AMLAW100 firm with a 2000+ hour billing requirement. So,I knew that to study for the California bar, I had to maximize the minimum amount of study time (a few weekends, two weeks off work - one week to study, two days for the actual exam, one day to just relax after it was over!). I remembered scouring the forums for any tips on study materials, tips, etc. that I could find, as well as just encouragement and commiseration from others suffering through the same studying process (studying while everyone else is at Super Bowl City, watching the superbowl, or celebration Chinese new year is NOT fun!)

I told myself that if i passed the bar on the first try, I'd pay it forward to writing about how I did it. Hopefully it will help others who are in the same situation.

FIRST, and foremost, the most IMPORTANT tool in my toolkit was a big blue book called Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam (the "Blue Book") (https://www.amazon.com/Essay-Exam-Writi ... FYVBT900RR) This book was basically my bar exam bible during my weeks of cramming. It covers every topic that is tested on the essay exams, both in detailed outlines and in simple memorization outlines. It probably is a little outdated, and not as detailed as some people would like, but for someone like me (who had only a limited amount of time to cram a limited amount of information into my head), it was perfect. I figured if i could just understand and remember as much of the topics from this book as possible, I would know enough to pass.

Second, I bought a set of old Barbri books (three years old) off Craigslist. I figured there's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars for a brand new set of Barbri books, when the information could not have changed so drastically as to prevent me from passing the exam. Honestly, the only book I used out of the set was the Convisor Mini Outline. I used it as a reference tool - when there was something in my Blue Book outlines that I didn't understand or wanted more detail on, I went to my Convisor outline for a more detailed explanation.

I also printed out every old essay question and answer off the California bar exam website.

And that's it. Those were the only two study tools that I purchased. Using those two tools, here's how I studied. For every day that I had (basically 11 or 12 days), I focused on one or two topics (depending on whether the topic was big (Contracts) or small (Remedies)). I then read my Blue Book outline for that topic. Then I handwrote (yes, handwrite - it takes longer and helps with memory much better than typing)) my OWN outline based off the Blue Book outline (and the Convisor outline), in a manner and order that made sense to me. Then I read and reread my own outline a few times to help solidify it in my mind. Finally, I read the sample essay questions and answers in the Blue Book on that topic, to make sure I understood the answers. I also arranged the bar website's sample essay questions and answers by topic, and read the corresponding essays Qs and answers on the same day that I was working on that topic. So my day would look something like this:

1-2 hours – reading and understanding the blue book outline
5-6 hours – creating my own outline
1-2 hours – reading the sample questions and answers on that topic from the Blue Book and from old exams off the Cal bar site.

I did this for as many topics as I could during my limited time period. I couldn’t get through all of them, so I had to pick and choose. To do that, I literally went online and googled bar exam essay predictions. This is the site that I used: https://www.barsecrets.com/blog/dr-sacc ... a-bar-exam. I know that it’s risky and not 100% accurate (I think they were 1 topic off on my February 2016 exam), but I had to take the risk given my limited time frame.

I honestly didn’t even look at any performance tests at all because of the limited amount of time I had. I figured that after practicing at a firm for so many years, that should be the easiest areas for me to just wing it (e.g. writing a persuasive motion or a memo should be second nature by now). I know that this is also not the best way, but again – limited time, limited resources.

And that’s it. I did what I could, using the method above, crossed my fingers, and went into the exam. Fortunately it worked, I passed in one try, and I am definitely grateful that I don’t have to go through it again. But for those in a similar time / resource crunch, I thought I’d share, in hopes that it can help someone streamline their studying as well.

Good luck everyone! You can do it!!

P.S. I also immediately sold all of my bar materials the day after finding out I passed the exam. Might as well recoup those costs!

[Ritz13]

Dear barexamtips,
Thnx. for ur detailed guidelines. It helps.
I failed 2 times Feb. 15 & Feb. 16 with no improvement in Essays (2 in 60 and rest all 10 in 50s) and PT (all in 50s). I took Themis but somehow it didn't worked for me. Courses where so overwhelmed that their strategy didn't worked for me. Not good in Memorization and my Analysis/application was also weak.
I got this Blue book. Except Const. Law rest all subjects are good to follow. Due to my full time work, I not able to devote complete time. I appreciate your views. I will hand write this time in Ontario, CA (staying in VA).

Will be great if u can connect with me ritz13@live.com as I need further guidance. I have to pass this time considering the MBE advantage and new changes.

Thnx. for ur time.
Ritesh

[kcoffey]

Thank you for sharing these tips! I added these methods to Barbri study while I studied for the Texas Bar exam and I did very well on the essays.

[mattinfll]

Thanks for this - I am a 9 year atty in Florida and moving to CA. Luckily I will have about 4-5 weeks to devote full time to study.

But I am avoiding taking the BarBri CA atty exam online course and focusing on the essay book and few other similar essay outline resources. I have been looking for validation that I am making the right decision since it seems counter intuitive not to take one of the big box prep courses.

[Angel66]

Thanks for this - I am a 9 year atty in Florida and moving to CA. Luckily I will have about 4-5 weeks to devote full time to study.

But I am avoiding taking the BarBri CA atty exam online course and focusing on the essay book and few other similar essay outline resources. I have been looking for validation that I am making the right decision since it seems counter intuitive not to take one of the big box prep courses.

I’m taking the July 18 attorney exam too and I didn’t sign up for any of the big box bar review courses. During my last bar exam prep, I almost completely gave up Barbri at the end. I found watching videos to be a complete waste of my time.

[JakeTappers]

I passed the Illinois bar almost ten years ago (right out of law school). However, unforeseen circumstances last year resulted in a move in California. The good news was that my firm was willing to let me transfer to a California office. The bad news was that I had to take the California bar exam (February 2016 attorney exam (essays only) - I know this post is late!) I was out of law school for almost a decade, in the midst of planning and going on a 2.5 week honeymoon overseas, and had a ridiculously busy work schedule as an associate at an AMLAW100 firm with a 2000+ hour billing requirement. So,I knew that to study for the California bar, I had to maximize the minimum amount of study time (a few weekends, two weeks off work - one week to study, two days for the actual exam, one day to just relax after it was over!). I remembered scouring the forums for any tips on study materials, tips, etc. that I could find, as well as just encouragement and commiseration from others suffering through the same studying process (studying while everyone else is at Super Bowl City, watching the superbowl, or celebration Chinese new year is NOT fun!)

I told myself that if i passed the bar on the first try, I'd pay it forward to writing about how I did it. Hopefully it will help others who are in the same situation.

FIRST, and foremost, the most IMPORTANT tool in my toolkit was a big blue book called Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam (the "Blue Book") (https://www.amazon.com/Essay-Exam-Writi ... FYVBT900RR) This book was basically my bar exam bible during my weeks of cramming. It covers every topic that is tested on the essay exams, both in detailed outlines and in simple memorization outlines. It probably is a little outdated, and not as detailed as some people would like, but for someone like me (who had only a limited amount of time to cram a limited amount of information into my head), it was perfect. I figured if i could just understand and remember as much of the topics from this book as possible, I would know enough to pass.

Second, I bought a set of old Barbri books (three years old) off Craigslist. I figured there's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars for a brand new set of Barbri books, when the information could not have changed so drastically as to prevent me from passing the exam. Honestly, the only book I used out of the set was the Convisor Mini Outline. I used it as a reference tool - when there was something in my Blue Book outlines that I didn't understand or wanted more detail on, I went to my Convisor outline for a more detailed explanation.

I also printed out every old essay question and answer off the California bar exam website.

And that's it. Those were the only two study tools that I purchased. Using those two tools, here's how I studied. For every day that I had (basically 11 or 12 days), I focused on one or two topics (depending on whether the topic was big (Contracts) or small (Remedies)). I then read my Blue Book outline for that topic. Then I handwrote (yes, handwrite - it takes longer and helps with memory much better than typing)) my OWN outline based off the Blue Book outline (and the Convisor outline), in a manner and order that made sense to me. Then I read and reread my own outline a few times to help solidify it in my mind. Finally, I read the sample essay questions and answers in the Blue Book on that topic, to make sure I understood the answers. I also arranged the bar website's sample essay questions and answers by topic, and read the corresponding essays Qs and answers on the same day that I was working on that topic. So my day would look something like this:

1-2 hours – reading and understanding the blue book outline
5-6 hours – creating my own outline
1-2 hours – reading the sample questions and answers on that topic from the Blue Book and from old exams off the Cal bar site.

I did this for as many topics as I could during my limited time period. I couldn’t get through all of them, so I had to pick and choose. To do that, I literally went online and googled bar exam essay predictions. This is the site that I used: https://www.barsecrets.com/blog/dr-sacc ... a-bar-exam. I know that it’s risky and not 100% accurate (I think they were 1 topic off on my February 2016 exam), but I had to take the risk given my limited time frame.

I honestly didn’t even look at any performance tests at all because of the limited amount of time I had. I figured that after practicing at a firm for so many years, that should be the easiest areas for me to just wing it (e.g. writing a persuasive motion or a memo should be second nature by now). I know that this is also not the best way, but again – limited time, limited resources.

And that’s it. I did what I could, using the method above, crossed my fingers, and went into the exam. Fortunately it worked, I passed in one try, and I am definitely grateful that I don’t have to go through it again. But for those in a similar time / resource crunch, I thought I’d share, in hopes that it can help someone streamline their studying as well.

Good luck everyone! You can do it!!

P.S. I also immediately sold all of my bar materials the day after finding out I passed the exam. Might as well recoup those costs!

Thanks for this. A little shocking there isn't more out there on this exam. I will likely be taking the February Attorneys Exam. But I will be working full time between now and then. If you had additional time/this much runway, is there anything you would recommend? I know its a hypo, since you didn't, and can't say what would be succesful, but just thought I'd ask. I'm a bit reticent to start too early just because I will forget a bunch. Can't believe I'm actually taking another bar....

[MandyNC]

Just thought I would chime in that for the Attorney Exam I prepared almost solely with the big blue essay book. I also read every single model answer from those available online on the bar website, printing them out and highlighting the black letter law/rules in each answer. I also made hand-written notes, sometimes verbatim, of the subject matter outlines provided in the blue essay books. This was done as a memorization tool. I would read the model answers from the bar website and then compare the rule/black letter law in each essay to the relevant portion of the book outlines to make sure I was processing the correct rules/law. I ended my studying writing out the condensed outlines (2 to 3 pages each) from the blue book. Lean sheets are also good as one more source of the rules to digest, especially for the CA distinctions.

I worked in two hour increments with a full time job and probably got in 50-60 quality hours between December and the exam.

If you are not a strong writer, the Wolters Kluwer practice test book (same publisher as the blue essay book) is also handy. But I didn't prep for the PT other than reading the recommended tips/instructions and skimming a couple sample tests to be sure the task made sense.

Hope this is helpful to those with full time job/attorney background.

ETA: Passed Feb 2018 attorney exam on first try. Had passed NC bar exam on first try a few years prior.

[AspiringCALawyer]

Just thought I would chime in that for the Attorney Exam I prepared almost solely with the big blue essay book. I also read every single model answer from those available online on the bar website, printing them out and highlighting the black letter law/rules in each answer. I also made hand-written notes, sometimes verbatim, of the subject matter outlines provided in the blue essay books. This was done as a memorization tool. I would read the model answers from the bar website and then compare the rule/black letter law in each essay to the relevant portion of the book outlines to make sure I was processing the correct rules/law. I ended my studying writing out the condensed outlines (2 to 3 pages each) from the blue book. Lean sheets are also good as one more source of the rules to digest, especially for the CA distinctions.

I worked in two hour increments with a full time job and probably got in 50-60 quality hours between December and the exam.

If you are not a strong writer, the Wolters Kluwer practice test book (same publisher as the blue essay book) is also handy. But I didn't prep for the PT other than reading the recommended tips/instructions and skimming a couple sample tests to be sure the task made sense.

Hope this is helpful to those with full time job/attorney background.

ETA: Passed Feb 2018 attorney exam on first try. Had passed NC bar exam on first try a few years prior.

At the time I took the Attorney exam in Feb 2016, Barbri did not have this class. Instead, I was stuck with regular class. Since I had used Barbri before about a decade earlier to pass NY and PA bars on first try, I followed the same technique of lectures, etc. Plus, I wasn't sure whether doing MBE questions would be helpful. At the beginning of Feb., I felt this model was not particularly effective. Unfortunately, I did not pass. I reused the materials in July 2016 (did not pass again). I also supplemented with BarEssays subscription and review of the model essay answers on the CalBar website.

When I saw Barbri had a separate attorney exam class, I was curious as to its effectiveness. I did notice on the schedule that the study starts in late April versus May (for July exam). I wasn't sure why there was that difference. I skipped retaking the exam in 2017--waiting for the results from one day exam. Plus, I'm still trying to figure out the best strategy for my next attempt (perhaps Feb 2019).

You mentioned the Wolters Kluwer practice test book. Could you provide more detail or is that the same as the blue essay book you mentioned? I'm not familiar with this resource. Based on a recommendation, I had acquired the PT book by Mary Gallagher in late 2016; however, I imagine that's out of date with the changes to the exam. I really can't afford another class or to hire a tutor; therefore, I'll probably need to self study the next time.

[MandyNC]

Just thought I would chime in that for the Attorney Exam I prepared almost solely with the big blue essay book. I also read every single model answer from those available online on the bar website, printing them out and highlighting the black letter law/rules in each answer. I also made hand-written notes, sometimes verbatim, of the subject matter outlines provided in the blue essay books. This was done as a memorization tool. I would read the model answers from the bar website and then compare the rule/black letter law in each essay to the relevant portion of the book outlines to make sure I was processing the correct rules/law. I ended my studying writing out the condensed outlines (2 to 3 pages each) from the blue book. Lean sheets are also good as one more source of the rules to digest, especially for the CA distinctions.

I worked in two hour increments with a full time job and probably got in 50-60 quality hours between December and the exam.

If you are not a strong writer, the Wolters Kluwer practice test book (same publisher as the blue essay book) is also handy. But I didn't prep for the PT other than reading the recommended tips/instructions and skimming a couple sample tests to be sure the task made sense.

Hope this is helpful to those with full time job/attorney background.

ETA: Passed Feb 2018 attorney exam on first try. Had passed NC bar exam on first try a few years prior.

At the time I took the Attorney exam in Feb 2016, Barbri did not have this class. Instead, I was stuck with regular class. Since I had used Barbri before about a decade earlier to pass NY and PA bars on first try, I followed the same technique of lectures, etc. Plus, I wasn't sure whether doing MBE questions would be helpful. At the beginning of Feb., I felt this model was not particularly effective. Unfortunately, I did not pass. I reused the materials in July 2016 (did not pass again). I also supplemented with BarEssays subscription and review of the model essay answers on the CalBar website.

When I saw Barbri had a separate attorney exam class, I was curious as to its effectiveness. I did notice on the schedule that the study starts in late April versus May (for July exam). I wasn't sure why there was that difference. I skipped retaking the exam in 2017--waiting for the results from one day exam. Plus, I'm still trying to figure out the best strategy for my next attempt (perhaps Feb 2019).

You mentioned the Wolters Kluwer practice test book. Could you provide more detail or is that the same as the blue essay book you mentioned? I'm not familiar with this resource. Based on a recommendation, I had acquired the PT book by Mary Gallagher in late 2016; however, I imagine that's out of date with the changes to the exam. I really can't afford another class or to hire a tutor; therefore, I'll probably need to self study the next time.

https://www.wklegaledu.com/bar-review-s ... e_bar_exam
The blue essay book and this performance test book are, I believe, from 2012 or around there. I prepped using these and then just reviewed the July 2017 test questions to see how the new format affected things. You now also have the Feb 2018 to work from. I honestly don't think the changes in question format are terribly significant from the three day exam to two day.

[Feb2018AttyBar]

I took the Feb 2018 Attorney’s exam and passed while working full-time. I started studying in December & took 2 weeks off of work right before the bar. I learned a lot from this board so wanted to pay it forward and share what worked for me:

RESOURCES
- Very old BarBri materials
- Baressays premium account: the outlines & Attack Templates were useful, as was their page containing a summary of Issues Tested throughout the last 10 years of the bar.
- CA Bar Model Essay answers
- Mary Basick’s Essay Exam Writing for the CA Bar
- MPT exams to practice: GA has a lot to practice from
- Makethisyourlastttime – great motivational weekly emails & practical advice

LESSER KNOWN RESOURCES:
- Videos: emersonsbarreview.com, passthebar.com (these are old, but still helpful)
- Podcasts: Californiabartutors.com (has free podcast that covers all the Bar topics)

STRATEGY
- I had a schedule of how to tackle the material & how much I planned to study a week. I started in December & had a goal to finish reviewing all the material once by the middle of January (going over one topic at a time), go over the material again starting in January focusing on my weakest areas & spending the last two weeks before the bar doing a grab-bag of essays. I averaged about 3-4 days of study during weekdays (2-3 hours each time) and 10 hours total study during the weekends. I spent about 2-3 days on each subject originally. My aim was to get through at least 4-6 essays on each topic before moving on to the next.
- I did not outline, instead I reviewed the BarBri materials, relied on the Basick Essay Exam Writing book outlines and did open book essays to try to retain the material. The last few days before the Bar, I used the short outlines in the Basick book to try to memorize/retain the black letter law. For me practical application helped me to remember the BLL more than rote memorization.
- I tried to exercise, take breaks and eat healthy, reminding myself that it’s a marathon and not a sprint.
- On days when I was less motivated, I would watch the videos and listen to podcasts to still stay in the bar prep mindset.

ESSAYS
- I started out writing full answers but quickly moved on to outlining, making sure that the structure of my answers followed the Bar’s released model answers and the highly scored answers from Baressays. I focused on issue spotting, analysis and organization.
- I spent a lot of time trouble-shooting my answers to see what I missed & identifying if I misunderstood an area of law, my memory failed re: the black letter law, I missed a nuance in my analysis or whether my analysis/organization was sloppy & unclear.
- In the last few weeks before the Bar, I looked at the Issues Tested page from Baressays to see if there were lesser-tested issues that I was less familiar with and made sure I did a few essays covering those topics.
- Also in the last few weeks I focused on timing.

PT
- Timing, organization and analysis (comparing and contrasting cases) were the hardest part for me as I don't do this type of legal writing a lot in my practice. I made myself do at least 1 PT a week.

SUMMARY
- By the end of my bar prep I had done 100+ essays and 10+ PT exams.

The bar is a beast but it can be conquered! Good luck!

[AspiringCALawyer]

https://www.wklegaledu.com/bar-review-s ... e_bar_exam
The blue essay book and this performance test book are, I believe, from 2012 or around there. I prepped using these and then just reviewed the July 2017 test questions to see how the new format affected things. You now also have the Feb 2018 to work from. I honestly don't think the changes in question format are terribly significant from the three day exam to two day.

Thanks.

[Angel66]

I took the Feb 2018 Attorney’s exam and passed while working full-time. I started studying in December & took 2 weeks off of work right before the bar. I learned a lot from this board so wanted to pay it forward and share what worked for me:

RESOURCES
- Very old BarBri materials
- Baressays premium account: the outlines & Attack Templates were useful, as was their page containing a summary of Issues Tested throughout the last 10 years of the bar.
- CA Bar Model Essay answers
- Mary Basick’s Essay Exam Writing for the CA Bar
- MPT exams to practice: GA has a lot to practice from
- Makethisyourlastttime – great motivational weekly emails & practical advice

LESSER KNOWN RESOURCES:
- Videos: emersonsbarreview.com, passthebar.com (these are old, but still helpful)
- Podcasts: Californiabartutors.com (has free podcast that covers all the Bar topics)

STRATEGY
- I had a schedule of how to tackle the material & how much I planned to study a week. I started in December & had a goal to finish reviewing all the material once by the middle of January (going over one topic at a time), go over the material again starting in January focusing on my weakest areas & spending the last two weeks before the bar doing a grab-bag of essays. I averaged about 3-4 days of study during weekdays (2-3 hours each time) and 10 hours total study during the weekends. I spent about 2-3 days on each subject originally. My aim was to get through at least 4-6 essays on each topic before moving on to the next.
- I did not outline, instead I reviewed the BarBri materials, relied on the Basick Essay Exam Writing book outlines and did open book essays to try to retain the material. The last few days before the Bar, I used the short outlines in the Basick book to try to memorize/retain the black letter law. For me practical application helped me to remember the BLL more than rote memorization.
- I tried to exercise, take breaks and eat healthy, reminding myself that it’s a marathon and not a sprint.
- On days when I was less motivated, I would watch the videos and listen to podcasts to still stay in the bar prep mindset.

ESSAYS
- I started out writing full answers but quickly moved on to outlining, making sure that the structure of my answers followed the Bar’s released model answers and the highly scored answers from Baressays. I focused on issue spotting, analysis and organization.
- I spent a lot of time trouble-shooting my answers to see what I missed & identifying if I misunderstood an area of law, my memory failed re: the black letter law, I missed a nuance in my analysis or whether my analysis/organization was sloppy & unclear.
- In the last few weeks before the Bar, I looked at the Issues Tested page from Baressays to see if there were lesser-tested issues that I was less familiar with and made sure I did a few essays covering those topics.
- Also in the last few weeks I focused on timing.

PT
- Timing, organization and analysis (comparing and contrasting cases) were the hardest part for me as I don't do this type of legal writing a lot in my practice. I made myself do at least 1 PT a week.

SUMMARY
- By the end of my bar prep I had done 100+ essays and 10+ PT exams.

The bar is a beast but it can be conquered! Good luck!

Thank you very much for sharing! This is very helpful. Do you remember roughly how many hours in total did you spend on the bar prep?

[California dreamin]

I’m signing up to take the feb 2019 California bar exam but run a very busy law firm. I will only be able to study on weekends and maybe an hour or so on weekdays. Is this possible for me? I’m practicing law for 14 years. I’m ordering the big blue book for essays as suggested. What about the book for the performance test? Any suggestions? Thank you to those who have paid it forward

[morethan20yearsout]

I took -- and passed-- the Feb 2019 CBX Attorney exam, on the first try, while working full time, and being out of law school more than 20 years. I think I did a lot of things wrong, but apparently I did enough things right to pass. For what it is worth, I thought I would share, as I am extremely grateful to not have to re-take the exam. By way of background I note that I have been practicing law since 1997, but had not studied for anything since I took (and passed) the NY bar in 1996. (I'm also a terrible typist and wont be fixing errors here; please be patient). I felt extremely daunted by the entire process, and intimidated by the prospect of failing in front of my colleagues (I stayed at the same law firm, and was simply transferring offices).

First, I think the hardest part was psyching myself out about the low pass rate. This was not helpful. Yes, the chances of passing are low, and chances for passing after being out of school for more than 20 years are extremely low. But you absolutely can pass. Also, I am not a litigator -- I practice a very narrow niche regulatory practice - so ALL of the topics were foreign to me. I still passed the first try.

Second, during my prep, I took Themis and failed -- by a hefty margin -- the first few practice essays. I found this very disheartening, especially since their comments/feedback was supremely unhelpful ("see model answer"). And because I had written my answers "open book" and I thought they were quite good. (In hindsite, they were excellent, more than adequate to pass, but Themis made be feel terrible). From them on, I used themis just for my own practice; I asked them not to give me feedback, and didn't type any full answers - just steam of conscious notes. This saved time and emotional energy. I do think practicing essays is important, but I never wrote full essays during practice - I wanted to see as many fact patters as possible. (I also never did any full mock tests - it would have just taken too much time).

Third, the Blue Book, as people have mentioned, was invaluable. It's not perfect, and some topics and essays are dated, but I don't think that matters. If you are short on time, I would go right to this. Nothing against Themis, but I don't think their prep program is helpful for the Attorney's exam. even the lectures are boilerplate MBE prep - and they waste tons of time and are only somewhat relevant to the attorney's exame. While I listened to the lectures, I never revisted my notes or used anything from the lectures to study. The essay workshop lectures are more valuable. but not as valuable as the BlueBook.

Fourth, spent almost no time on the PT. I rough outlined one and looked through a few old examples on the CBX website. While I'm not sure I recommend this approach, if you are short on time, consider skipping this.

Fifth, I studied maybe 5-10 hours (total, not per day), on average, every other weekend, for two months. By studying I mean listening to lectures (again, not sure that was worth it) and mostly sketching essays or even just reading the Bluebook. I didn't officially take any time off work, but the week before the exam, I used vacation, and spent most of my time studying - at least 6 hours a day.

Sixth, I recommend NOT following topic predictions. I will admit that I did, and I was about 70% WRONG. That's not great odds. Its tempting, when short on time, but I think the examiners are getting more creative - more double, triple, or quadruple cross-overs. I don't think trying to guess is a great strategy. That said, when short on time (as I was), I understand the inclination, just proceed with caution.

I think those are all the useful tips I have. I will admit I was pretty miserable prepping for the test (the content is totally irrelevant to my practice, and I'm far to old to remember any study techniques), and know that I did not write any great essays, but it was enough to pass. this confirms what they say: this is a test of minimum competency.

I do think it is important to study -- I would not go in cold -- but if you can stick it out over a few weekends, plus some crunch time at the end, it is doable. If you have been successfully practicing for a long time, it feels like a disadvantage, but remember, it has advantages too - you know how to handle pressure; you can do hard things; you can manage uncomfortable situations; you can handle curveballs; you can do it!
Best of luck.