Detailed Study Schedule

To successfully pass the bar exam, examinees must commit to memory large amounts of legal information. In order to ensure that students make time available to study all bar exam subjects while taking into account their family, work, and other life responsibilities, a detailed bar study schedule is essential.

Flash Cards

During my bar original bar studies, I found a simple way to convert legal subject matter outlines to flash cards by separating my outlines into short sections and printing them on 2” x 4” Avery-style mailing labels. I stuck those labels onto 3” x 5” index cards, organized them by subject matter. The law becomes much easier to learn because these flash cards can only contain a limited amount of information. Thus, this method makes it easier to “mentally digest” the massive amounts of information that must be internalized as part of a student's bar studies. To assist in the process of making memorization easier, we color code each subject area by using varying color index cards.

Auditory Learning

Many people learn better by listening rather than by reading. Additionally, many bar students have daily commutes to work or other downtime, such as when exercising, where active bar study is not possible. For my bar exams, I converted my bar subject matter outlines to digital audio files using rudimentary text-to-speech technology on my iMac. I downloaded these audio files onto my portable MP3 player, and although the voice on the recordings was distinctly and distractedly robotic, I listened to those audio files over and over again during my commutes and anytime that I was not actively working on other parts of my study plan. Text-to-speech technology has greatly improved in the last few years. Listening to audio created from a student's law subject outlines can be a great asset in helping students internalize vital legal concepts.

Memory Palace Method

Remembering a trick I used in college to memorize lines to a play, I physically associated my outline flash cards to various items in my apartment. This process creates mental (neural) connections between the legal subject matter on my flash cards and various real-life objects arranged in a physical space. This process taps into human's innate abilities to more easily create and access memories related to spatial information as opposed to memorizing complex and abstract information. This process was highlighted in the 2011 book by Joshua Foer titled "Moonwalking with Einstein," about his experience as a journalist that became a world-recognized memory champion.

MBE Drills

Regular practice of MBE questions under timed conditions is a vital part of the bar exam study process. For most students, I recommend taking and answering, on paper, 50 MBE questions every morning to start their study day. The most important part of this process is the detailed post-exam review of answers to understand exactly why a student got each question right or wrong.

IRAC

My legal writing professors tried diligently to teach me to think and write in IRAC format. Yet even after three years of law school, my understanding of how to write using IRAC was still shaky. So, I reviewed model bar exam answers to distill how those answers were written using IRAC and reverse-engineered the right way to employ IRAC on the bar exam by breaking the law into separate elements and diligently applying the facts to the law.

Taking Sample Essay and Performance Tests (PT)

Regularly taking sample bar exam essays and PT's under timed conditions is also an important part of the bar exam studying process. Students should develop consistent methodologies for answering essay and PT questions. This should include developing systematic methods of reviewing test questions, outlining test answers, and writing answers, so these procedures become second-nature by exam day. An important part of this practice is a careful post-exam review of answers and comparisons with models answers to understand exactly what issues were spotted and not, and how well the student employed IRAC in their answers. Over the course of their bar exam studies, these reviews are necessary to show students what bar exam information and processes they are mastering and which areas require additional focus and improvement.

Performance Test (PT) Mastery

Most commercial bar courses only minimally touch on PT strategy. All of the information needed to maximize a PT score is included in the provided test materials. Therefore, failing to focus on PT’s is a sure way to leave available exam points on the table. In my bar studies I analyzed many years of California PTs until I understood the common tropes employed by the bar examiners in these tests. I have repeated this process with New York, Nevada, and the Model Performance Tests used by the UBE states.

Virtual Exam Approach Methodology Review

Some students, frequently due to excessive test anxiety, have trouble recognizing and articulating issues that arise in their cognitive approaches and methodologies when taking practice exams. We can assist a student with creating a visual recording of a student's essay or PT performance. A coach can review the recording to assist the student in pinpointing areas of mastery and those requiring additional focus and improvement.

Excessive Test Anxiety and Improving Mental Health

Many students, especially those from under-represented and disadvantaged social, cultural, and ethnic groups, face added psychological and emotional burdens when facing the bar exam. We assist our students with developing healthy coping strategies to challenge and reduce the emotional burdens that the bar exam can place on them.

Assistance with Exam Accommodations

Students with diagnosed learning or physical impairments may have the opportunity to request test accommodations from state bar authorities.