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Did you focus on studying and memorizing the rules? Or writing essays and doing MBEs?

Memorization and MBE

Went to a hotel for the last week and relaxed. The hotels (took the bar in two states at different times) were both within walking distance of the Bar Exam site so I would not have to worry about parking or traffic.

I listened to a few lectures, did some multiple choice questions, and studied flash cards. I put in a fair amount of studying, but made sure to exercise, relax at the beach, get a massage, watch some movies, etc. For me, personally, making sure my mind and body were healthy and relaxed was key. Your mileage may vary. Good luck.

last 1.5 weeks was all essay prep/memorization. Before that was 95% MBE prep. Do some essays but definitely outline as many as you can that last week and look at the answer outlines. That really helped me to remember to add the random filler in my answers that gets you extra points for stuff you already know but skip putting in your answer because you are too focused on the "meat" of the problem.

Practice multiple choice questions in MBE topics in which I felt most unsure and outlining MEEs in topics where I felt unsure. Also, if you've been shirking the MPT make sure you do one or two timed essays because the only trick to the MPT is timing, and a lot of people leave points on the table because they don't manage their time well on the MPT.

For the last 2 -3 weeks - Lots and lots of practice (as others stated above). I probably did at least 2-3 essays a day and at least one PT exam every other day. I did not do as many practice MBE questions (as I was already scoring pretty well). However, if MBE is not a strong suit, then definitely should do practice MBEs.

As far as memorization, for the final 2 weeks I would go back to what I studied/memorized during the first weeks (since so far removed); and would spend most of the time on subjects I did not feel as comfortable with as I was with others.

Also, unless you are cramming (because you started late or did not study as hard as you should for the past few weeks).... I highly advise taking at least 1 or 2 full day(s) off in the next two weeks. And I do mean full day(s). Go see a movie, go to the beach, hang with friends, read a book or whatever it is that will help you relax and take your mind off the bar exam. It will do you a world of good. You have to give your mind rest and let it reboot.

Remember, you do not have to be perfect. (And you cannot memorize all the rules)

Good luck!

I had checklists of all of the issues for each essay topic (my tutor made them for me). I made sure to spend an hour in the morning and an hour before bed memorizing those checklists, so that it would be impossible for me to miss any issue on exam day (spotting every issue is hugely important even if you don't remember every rule perfectly).

Other than that, I did at least 25 mixed MBEs every day (usually more, I think, can't remember exactly) and at least 4-5 essays every day (making sure to cover 2-3 subjects per day). I was mostly just outlining the essays, rather than spending time writing out full answers. I also mixed in a couple of PTs just to sure up that skillset as well.

The last 2 or 3 weeks is definitely a time to work on some variables that you may not have been working on as much while having to learn all the law. In other words, increase the number of questions that you do at any given time to build endurance, and be absolutely sure that you are working within the time limit that you'll have on the exam for each MBE question. Continue to build your knowledge base but be sure not to neglect the variables that play into bar success other than knowledge.

Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)

If you haven’t adjusted your sleep schedule to reflect the time when you will be taking the bar (ie be up and mentally ready and able to think and apply and go at 730-8am) now is the time to do so as well.

You probably won’t get a lot of sleep the night before, but try to get your rest as much as possible

MBE plus outlining and reading / rereading the outlines. I stopped all essay prep about 3-4 weeks out. Passed with room to spare.

JohnnieSockran wrote:I had checklists of all of the issues for each essay topic (my tutor made them for me). I made sure to spend an hour in the morning and an hour before bed memorizing those checklists, so that it would be impossible for me to miss any issue on exam day (spotting every issue is hugely important even if you don't remember every rule perfectly).

Other than that, I did at least 25 mixed MBEs every day (usually more, I think, can't remember exactly) and at least 4-5 essays every day (making sure to cover 2-3 subjects per day). I was mostly just outlining the essays, rather than spending time writing out full answers. I also mixed in a couple of PTs just to sure up that skillset as well.

Would you mind elaborating on this checklist?

Finished every essay in the barbri book...just outline them

I spent the last few weeks (1) memorizing rules (i.e. lots of mnemonics), (2) reading each of the Barbri essays with brief outlining, and (3) taking timed, short MBE sections. I felt like I had plenty that I could do, but those three things seemed most important at the time. In hindsight, they were three things that really helped carry me during the exam. I was pretty heavy into making flash cards myself, especially during the last few weeks with memorization.

For essays, at least for non-UBE, state-specific essays, they can only test you on so many issues. I felt like Barbri provided a good sampling of essays that covered every way they could test certain subjects (i.e. trusts/estates, secured transactions, and family law). I would read each of the essays they provide (assuming you're using Barbri but I imagine other test prep programs do the same) and make sure you understand what to do for each. There were at least 2 or 3 essays, of the 12 on the bar exam that I took, that were almost identical to ones that I saw in Barbri. Building in (I assume) almost perfect scores on those essays really gave me confidence while taking the exam.

For better or worse, I didn't take off any days for the last few weeks. I stuck to a pretty consistent 9 AM to 7 PM (plus some scattered memorization after) schedule. That worked for me, in part because that's how I typically operate, but I can see how I would have probably been more efficient if I gave myself more time to rest and/or take a day off. I would just stick to whatever schedule maximizes your efficiency and ensures that you're focused while working. You can certainly overdo it and set yourself up for unnecessary stress going into the exam. Prepare to feel comfortable with the things you know on the exam. You won't know everything, and will have to guess more than you expect no matter what, so don't study with that in mind.

Angel66 wrote:Did you focus on studying and memorizing the rules? Or writing essays and doing MBEs?

Memorization (Critical Pass and miscellaneous outlines on the non-MBE subjects that I found online, as I didn’t like the Kaplan ones), 30-50+ MBE practice questions per day, and I wrote one MPT.

I was still doing Barbri, but I was mostly making sure that I had all of my flash cards memorized.

Nicolena. wrote:

JohnnieSockran wrote:I had checklists of all of the issues for each essay topic (my tutor made them for me). I made sure to spend an hour in the morning and an hour before bed memorizing those checklists, so that it would be impossible for me to miss any issue on exam day (spotting every issue is hugely important even if you don't remember every rule perfectly).

Other than that, I did at least 25 mixed MBEs every day (usually more, I think, can't remember exactly) and at least 4-5 essays every day (making sure to cover 2-3 subjects per day). I was mostly just outlining the essays, rather than spending time writing out full answers. I also mixed in a couple of PTs just to sure up that skillset as well.

Would you mind elaborating on this checklist?

It was a list of every issue that could be tested for each subject. I had a separate checklist for each subject.

I have a nine hour drive I have to make the friday before the my day 1. I've been putting some serious volume in and it kills me to take that much time away from the material. Any suggestions on how to somehow utilize the time? Don't want to just waste it. figured i'd just re-listen to my weakest MBE subject lectures.

I think mine was largely memorization and MBE. My path to passing was maximizing my MBE, so I had slowly been increasing my questions per day to about 60 (in sets of 20).

One recommendation: Take care of any non-bar exam related stuff now. Outside something unforeseen, there should be no surprises between now and exam day. The last thing you'd want is to be derailed by something that has nothing to do with the exam. I've had stuff that would came up @ work several weeks before, - unsurprisingly, I didn't pass. When I passed, I had already had everything taken care of through the end of the month.

You're almost there - 2 weeks comes by sooner than you think.

OMLS48 wrote:I have a nine hour drive I have to make the friday before the my day 1. I've been putting some serious volume in and it kills me to take that much time away from the material. Any suggestions on how to somehow utilize the time? Don't want to just waste it. figured i'd just re-listen to my weakest MBE subject lectures.

Sounds solid to me. since you'll be driving, it's not like you can read/answer questions

My $.02

OMLS48 wrote:I have a nine hour drive I have to make the friday before the my day 1. I've been putting some serious volume in and it kills me to take that much time away from the material. Any suggestions on how to somehow utilize the time? Don't want to just waste it. figured i'd just re-listen to my weakest MBE subject lectures.

Are you talking day before the exam?

If you've been studying hard and treating this exam like the full time job that it is, I'd recommend not studying the day before. Relax, rest your mind, get to the hotel and sit quietly in your room and watch some TV or sometihng. Maybe review a few flashcards before bed, and then just do your best to get 7-9 hours of sleep, which in my experience was incredibly difficult the night before the exam.

Nah, four days before. I've heard a lot of great and valid perspectives about approaching studying the day before and the day before that. Two camps really. The "don't study" variant to rest-up, but then there are those that see plenty of value in putting in time those days before. I'm sort of a sicko as it is and intend to study because I hate myself, but also interested in how other people handled it personally.

My main motivation in studying the days immediately before is, that I noticed a crash refresher on as much information as possible (after of course having spent 9 weeks studying for 10 hours/day) really primes my mind with information that has otherwise gone stale. Seems to work for me, but curious as to how others approach it.

OMLS48 wrote:I have a nine hour drive I have to make the friday before the my day 1. I've been putting some serious volume in and it kills me to take that much time away from the material. Any suggestions on how to somehow utilize the time? Don't want to just waste it. figured i'd just re-listen to my weakest MBE subject lectures.

Record yourself reading your outlines and listen to it on the way there.

OMLS48 wrote:I have a nine hour drive I have to make the friday before the my day 1. I've been putting some serious volume in and it kills me to take that much time away from the material. Any suggestions on how to somehow utilize the time? Don't want to just waste it. figured i'd just re-listen to my weakest MBE subject lectures.

If you are doing barbri, you could always listen to all the MBE simulation videos (if you haven't already). They have some helpful tips.

Or you could have someone quiz you on some flashcards, explain concepts to them.

Keep going with those MBE questions. I did at least 30 per day right up to the exam. I skipped Monday (day before the essays). I did 30 more MBEs on Tuesday night after the essays were finished. Then I did 10 more Wednesday morning right before the MBE.

Keep pounding those MBE questions (and read the answers especially if you get a question wrong) so they become second nature come game day. By the time I took the bar, I've finished every single Barbri question, both Emanuel, and thousands of adaptibar questions. I know some people complained about the timings for the MBE, but I finished both of my MBE sections with more than an hour to spare each time.

As to essays, just keep outlining especially those abstract areas that you didn't take in law school. I wouldn't be too concern about MBE subjects for the essays since you are already learning those doing MBE questions.

Lastly, having a hotel room within walking distance to the test center is a HUGE plus.

Passed the 2/18 CA bar here (after multiple failures).

MBEs
- This part never changed for me throughout my study schedule
- Stuck to 30 mixed questions first thing in the morning
- Compiled answer explanations + rule statements on a google doc that I edited/reviewed every other day

Essays
- 2-3 weeks out, I outlined/cooked 3 essays for one subject each day
- The final week before exam week, I purely issue-spotted for 2 subjects a day, 3-5 essays per subject
- The review process was always the same: BarEssays. I read 3 answers per essay, one that scored 65, another that scored 70, and something that scored around 75+
- I didn't really do rote memorization, but I tried to have a general issues checklist down for most (if not all) of the subjects. By this point, it was clear certain sub-issues for each major issue popped up more frequently than others. I made some mnemonics for some of these sub-issues, but I sort of retained a lot of them through osmosis + repetition + practice.
- To put it another way, if I had at least a general issues checklist down, I'd generally remember the major sub-issues for each general issue. And, even if it was in my own words (versus very specific language on leansheets/study guides/whatever else), I was generally able to cobble together some sort of rule statement.

PTs
- I did a full practice PT each week (usually a Wednesday)
- Since I was still doing essays on these days, I would try outlining or issue spotting a few essays right before doing the PT to simulate the time crunch
- It was all about sharpening my time management... trying to be done reading and have a rough outline done within 35-45 minutes

Bar Exam Week
- I checked into my hotel Monday, but did not study that night
- Tuesday night, I did a mixed set of 30 MBE questions and read through my google doc compilation
- Wednesday morning, I woke up extra early to do a mixed set of 15 MBE questions to sort of get the juices flowing. I'm not even sure I looked at the answers / results hahaha.

Hope this helps or let me know if I can clarify anything.

Good luck all!