Here’s a great post from the Law School Academic Support Blog on why writing thorough issue statements on exams is so important: https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/academic_support/2018/10/rabbit-trails-and-exam-writing.html
You Failed the Bar Exam. Now What?
https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2018/10/24/you-failed-the-bar-exam-now-what/
Welcome to Law School! Bar Prep Starts Now!
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It’s the end of August, which means that law schools are filling up with new 1Ls, excited to begin their law school journeys. I used to tell students not to worry about the bar exam yet – just focus about the first semester, and you’ll be able to get to the bar exam later. While it’s true that you don’t need to worry about the details of the bar exam yet, your legal career does start now, and it’s important to spend the time developing the learning habits you will need for the bar exam and for law practice.
Both the bar exam and law practice require you to work with a large volume of material – to understand it, synthesize it, and ultimately apply it to a new set of facts. Those are the skills you are learning from day one of law school. Beware of shortcuts. If you don’t figure out how to do this in the manner that works best for you, it will be harder later.
That means you’ve got to struggle through making case briefs. It means you need to struggle through making your own study materials – outlines, flashcards, charts. You may think that this doesn’t apply to you, that you can use other people’s outlines or canned briefs and still do well. Maybe you can, but it will be much harder, and you won’t graduate with some of the fundamental analytic skills that lawyers need.
The first semester of law school is difficult. Everything is new and different. But you can do it. Many people have done it before you. There are resources at your school to help – get to know your academic support professors and your Student Affairs staff. Really engage with your class material. All of that will pay off when you enter the bar study period because you will be able to hit the ground running.
Every year I speak to students who tell me that they don’t know how to study. They got through law school without figuring out who they are as learners. That makes bar prep much harder. I’m not saying never look at anyone else’s outlines or commercial study materials. It’s helpful to use them as a tool – as a reference point. But you need to know how to get to that place yourself too. You need to work with the material to make it your own. Now is the time to develop that skill set so that it becomes second nature to you. It will pay off for the bar exam, and throughout your legal career.
Congratulations!
You did it! Congratulations!
Just getting through the bar exam is a huge undertaking. Go out and celebrate!
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Stop
Stop now. Your brain and body need to rest. They need time to absorb the material and get ready for two intense days of testing.
Stop looking at your outlines.
Don’t do any more practice questions.
Stop searching the internet for last minute tips and predictions.
Go outside. Have an ice cream cone. See a movie. Do something that forces you to get your mind off of the bar.
You’ve got this!!
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Make An Exam Day Plan!
It’s important to make a plan for exam day. You want to know when you have to wake up, how you’re getting to the test site, what you can bring to the test site, what you’ll eat, and how you’ll get home. You also want a plan for what you’ll be doing during each portion of the exam.
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Stop by the test site before exam day so you don’t have any anxiety about getting lost. Make sure you give yourself plenty of extra time to deal with every day issues such as traffic and transportation delays. Make a back up plan in case your first transportation plan doesn’t work.
Thoroughly review the security policy for your jurisdiction so you know what you are permitted to bring in to the test facility, and what you are not permitted to bring in.
Map out a plan for your day.
If you’re taking the UBE on the east coast, your schedule will look like this:
Tuesday
9:30-12:30: 2 MPTs
2:00-5:00: 6 essays
Wednesday
9:30-12:30: 100 MBEs
2:00-5:00: 100 MBEs
(On the west coast, your MPTs will be in the afternoon and your essays in the morning.)
It is your responsibility to keep track of your timing, so know what time you should be at each point. At 90 minutes, move on to the second MPT (that’s 11am). Spend no more than 30 minutes on each essay. For the MBEs, you’ve got 1 minute and 48 seconds per question. That’s roughly 17 questions per half hour, 25 questions per 45 minutes, or 33 questions per hour.
Make a schedule for yourself and look at it every day. Memorize it. Write it out on scrap paper next to you as soon as the exam begins so that you can stay on track.
It’s also recommended that you bring your own lunch. Many test sites will offer meal services. However, if you bring something you 1) won’t have to wait on line and 2) can make sure the food won’t upset your stomach or make you sleepy.
Wherever you are taking the bar exam, dress in layers. The room will either be too hot or too cold. You want to make sure you are comfortable and not distracted by your body temperature.
Also make a plan for what to do if you don’t know something, or what to do if you start to panic. It’s impossible to know everything. There will be a sub-question of an essay that you don’t know. Practice making up a rule. Plan for it.
Also make a plan for what to do if stress and anxiety fill your head and make it difficult to focus. Will you get up and walk to the bathroom? Will you write out a mantra on scrap paper? Will you close your eyes and take three deep breaths before reading the next sentence? Have a plan so that you can move through your anxiety, instead of letting it move you.
My MBE Scores Are Going Down!
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I’ve heard from a lot of people in the past day or so who are very concerned because their practice MBE scores are going down. Unfortunately, this is very common. It does not mean that you are forgetting everything, or that you are going to fail the bar. It happens to plenty of people, and they go on to pass.
There are a number of potential reasons for this decline, but the important things to remember are 1) you’re in good company, and 2) you’re still going to pass the bar.
Keep pushing forward. Try switching the source of your MBE questions. Try focusing on essays. You want to see as many fact patterns as possible, so read through several essays every day, issue spot, and read the model answer. You can even copy down the model answer if that helps you learn.
Be active. Don’t just read and re-read your outlines. Talk, write, test yourself.
Keep going. You’re so close to the finish line!
Nothing Is Sticking!
It’s common to feel like nothing is sticking, no matter how many hours you put in. But, that feeling doesn’t mean it’s accurate. You know a whole lot more than you think you do.
If you feel like something isn’t working, switch to a different activity. Changing methods frequently is good for your brain. It helps with memory retention.
Make sure you stay active with your learning. Don’t just read and reread. Talk things out, write things out, do practice questions. Just keep moving forward.
One Week To Go
You’ve got one week to go before exam day! This week should be about shoring up your memorization and seeing as many essay and MBE fact patterns as possible.
This week you can assess what you know and what you don’t know. You can decide which sub-topics to throw away because getting them will take too much time. Trust yourself during this time period. Only you know how you learn best – not your bar company, not your friends, not even me. If your gut is telling you to spend time memorizing, do it. If your gut is telling you that you need to do more practice, do it.
Don’t put too much stock in bar exam predictions. They’re right sometimes and wrong sometimes. The bar examiners work hard to be unpredictable. So, you can look at them, and make sure you know the areas of doctrine that they predict. But, be prepared for everything. Don’t just prepare for those subjects.
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