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Hi everyone,

I'm a new law school student working that 1L grind, and I've got a question I'd like to put past all of you.

My family has an annual family reunion at a lodge during the same week at the end of July each year. In our family, this is seen as "the week" that everyone is expected to make work and reserve as it's the only time we're all in the same place together. I'll be sitting for the July 2022 Bar Exam, and just found out that I'd be coming home from this family vacation on Saturday and taking the exam that Monday/Tuesday. This leads me to my question...

If I diligently prepare and study for the Bar Exam, how crucial do you think that last week of studying will be? I've often found, that for exams like this, the bulk of the prep is in the months leading up to it and that last week is mostly for lightly reviewing things and taking sample MC/essay questions. Is that not the case for the Bar?

So what do you all think? Should I sit out the family reunion that year or can I make it work?

Thanks in advance for any and all input!

I’d sit it out, personally. Just take a post bar trip. Maybe it’s just a function of personality, but I would not feel confident a pre-bar vacation would put me in the right headspace to take the bar. Yes, it’s best not to cram the last few days before, but I also think it’s possible to over-relax. That would have been my fear, anyway. Unfortunately, it certainly won’t be the last vacation you’ll skip for the sake of your legal career. It’s not a particularly vacation-friendly profession tbh.

Halp wrote:I’d sit it out, personally. Just take a post bar trip. Maybe it’s just a function of personality, but I would not feel confident a pre-bar vacation would put me in the right headspace to take the bar. Yes, it’s best not to cram the last few days before, but I also think it’s possible to over-relax. That would have been my fear, anyway. Unfortunately, it certainly won’t be the last vacation you’ll skip for the sake of your legal career. It’s not a particularly vacation-friendly profession tbh.

I agree with this. If you pass the bar comfortably, it'll be frustrating. If you fail the bar by a point or two, it'll be miserable knowing you took the vacation.

Either way, you'll have time after the bar to vacation. Not the same as the family gathering, but you might still be able to visit the folk most important to you individually.

it really depends on personality. some people would really benefit from unplugging a week before the bar and relaxing. i personally would be a nervous wreck, even though you've basically learned all you can by that point.

based on the fact that you are asking this question during first semester of 1L, i am inclined to believe you would fall into the nervous wreck camp, but i'm no psychologist.

I kinda crammed a lot the week before the bar, so don’t think I’d have been comfortable with this.

The other thing is that the week before the bar it is VERY hard to think about anything OTHER than the bar exam, so I would have been awful awful company. I get the benefit of unplugging/taking a break from studying, and it’s not that I think you necessarily have to study that entire week to pass - I just personally wouldn’t have even enjoyed such a trip. And I’m *not* normally someone who freaks out about exams.

Just FWIW.

dabigchina wrote:it really depends on personality. some people would really benefit from unplugging a week before the bar and relaxing. i personally would be a nervous wreck, even though you've basically learned all you can by that point.

based on the fact that you are asking this question during first semester of 1L, i am inclined to believe you would fall into the nervous wreck camp, but i'm no psychologist.

LOL, I missed this! I thought it was a 3L! OP, I say this with all the love in the world...truly...but you should be spending your mental energy on other things right now. (And if your family is already bugging you about this, they need to step way off.)

A big thank you to everyone who responded! You gave some thoughtful answers for consideration and I am appreciative of that. Sounds like I should go with my gut and skip that year.