My advice for studying for the bar is to take the day before the bar off to relax and catch up on all the sleep you've been missing these past few weeks. You've already learned all you're going to learn by that point. The best thing to do is try to quiet your nerves. Good luck everyone!

What was the story about that woman who lost her mind while taking the NY bar exam and started running around the Javits Center screaming about her pencils?

What year was that? Or does it happen every year?

just study and dont worry about others.

if you have gone to the bar bri lectures and put in 5-6 hours on your own the past couple of weeks then you will be fine. Remember, it is a test to determine whether you are minimally competent to practice law. Don't worry about the smart/famous people who have flunked the bar - look at all the horrible TTT attorneys who passed it and know that you will be okay if you put in the effort.

just study and dont worry about others.

Here's the deal: If you take Bar/Bri seriously, you'll pass.

The majority of peole I know who failed the exam were incredibly smart but they just blew off studying. That doesn't mean you can't pass. A lot of people have. I'm just saying your odds of passing dramtically improve if you just do all that crap (go to class, read the crap, study the crap, etc., etc.).

I passed NY the first time. Its not a hard test but it will grind you down by the end of the first day. Do all that crap that they tell you to do: eat a light breakfast, drink lots of water, relax, blah, blah, blah. Its not rocket science, its the bar: take it in, spit it out on test day.

My advice is to ignore everyone else around you during the exam itself --ESPECIALLY at breaks. Some #&%!-hole during my bar exam kept bragging right before we were heading in for the multistate that he'd "never gotten fewer than 98% of the questions right" when taking practice tests. I almost passed out right there--until a friend who went to law school with the jerk tapped my arm and told me to ignore him because he was a known blowhard. He failed. I passed, and so did my friend. Being a bit nervous and not being cocky is a good sign.

Good luck, you'll be fine! I also second the advice about taking the day before the bar off. I didn't take it off completely, but I did chill out and just sort of casually read over my notes and I'm positive that helped me relax and focus.

5-6 hours per day that is

You should probably stop reading blogs the week before the test.

is anyone else finding it completely impossible to follow Barbri's so called "paced" program?

Earplugs.

This is the most miserable thing I have ever done

Bring lunch with you.

1:45,

The paced program is impossible to follow. If you followed their schedule you'd be burnt out after 2 weeks of the course. I did maybe 4-5 hours of studying a day (more once Bar Bri ended) in addition to the Bar Bri course and I passed.

The paced program is crap. Make your own schedule. You know yourself.

I just did 100 NY multiple choice practice questions and only got 44 right. I am so going to kick some ass next week...

It isn't necessary to follow BarBri's pace program. As others have said, 5-6 hours a day will do it. Of course, now that you're in crunch time, I'd make it 8-9 hours/day.

And, don't study the day before the exam.

The paced program is ridiculous. I was off pace after about three days. I worked steadily and hard over the course of the summer but did not come close to doing everything BarBri suggests and I passed the first time. On the essays, remember IRAC, and if you don't know the law just make one up and apply it to the facts. You will get points that way. Good luck.

I forgot to bring pencils, and hadn't studied for NY multiple choice one iota. I still passed.

Make your own flashcards and review them until your eyes bleed. If you're taking the NY exam in Albany and haven't been there before, drive to the Pepsi Arena the night before and figure out what you're doing. You don't want to end up in Empire Plaza is all I'm sayin.

I took it last year. Like almost everyone, I felt ill prepared, overwhelmed, etc. If you haven't wigged out yet, do it. Last year, right around this time (or maybe the weekend before) I had a complete meltdown where I lost confidence, got really drunk and said screw it.

The last week, I was in a peaceful nirvana - sorta like the, i've done the best that i can do, let's face the inevitable.

The reason why I recommend that is, you won't wig out during the exam. I did not freak out at all, since I got it out of my system. And i'm a pretty uptight freak when it comes to prepping for exams.

Also, have faith in your essays and WRITE EVERY LITTLE THING. In little broken sentences. If you know the distinction b/w MBE and NYS, mention it. If you're using a laptop or even writing it, bold/underline/the key words. Make sure the reader knows that YOU know what they are looking for.

Finally, pack earplugs (there was construction going on last year), wear layers (there was strong AC and i'm really glad i wore my sweatshirt). Get plenty of rest in the days LEADING UP to the bar. You will NOT get a good night's sleep the night before (and in b/w the first and second day). If you are staying in the city like I did, you'll get woken up by everything - trucks, honking, cops, etc. So sleep plenty in the days leading up so you will not be exhausted on test day.

Finally, pack lots of munchies that can give you a boost but is not so obnoxious to others. Like a bag of (unsalted) almonds/nuts. Last thing you want to worry about is salty fingers.

Definitely pack a lunch. There is little time to wait in line to buy lunch, eat and take an actual little break.

Why would anyone want to practice law in NY?

CA:

Take your evenings off from studying.

Practice the Performance Tests -- actually write them. I think a lot of people simply bomb these.

When writing an essay, use lots of headings and get your buzzwords upfront.

Bring your lunch to the exam.

Don't listen to other people talking afterwards, especially following the MBE. Nothing good ever comes from this.

Don't, don't, don't study during lunch.

Study a bit on the evenings between days, especially as you narrow down likely essay topics for Day 3, but quit by 9 or so and watch a movie or some TV.

Don't bother checking the CA bar website early -- results will be posted when promised and not a moment sooner.

Good luck!

The NY Bar exam is difficult to study for, but easy to pass. Don't psych yourself out. 86% pass rate for first-time takers from ABA-accredited law schools, I'll take those odds any day.

Also, don't worry about how well you are doing on practice exams. PMBR questions are damn good and close (assuming they havent totally revamped it due to the lawsuit).

I barely got half of them right in practices (another reason why I wigged out early). But, in the end, you can pull it off with the essays, even if you do poorly on the MBE. And like the above posters wrote, ignore everyone - and those who you study with and are considerate enough NOT to talk about how well/crappy they've done - do activities to take your mind off studying - even if it's a movie for 2 hrs.

The best thing I did to prepare for the bar was arriving at the hotel the Saturday prior to the bar (my bar was a Tuesday-Wednesday bar). I arrived mid-day Saturday, and literally holed up for Saturday afternoon/evening, all day Sunday, all day Monday. Studied, studied, studied. BARBRI and PMBR were great, but it really look that focused concentration for several days for everything to gel together in my mind. Forget those people who say "don't study the day before" -- that's crap! Study every second you can. It will be over with before you know it and you'll never have to go through it again. GOOD LUCK!

I took the NY bar in 2002 up in Albany -- on day one, the guy next to me gave up after the first half of the day and didn't come back after lunch. The woman behind me cried in the afternoon and just put her head down. As long as you can keep your shiznit together, you'll be fine. Also, if english is your native language, you've got a leg up on many other examinees -- it'll amaze you the number of foreign attorneys taking the test.

NY to 190, that's why.

The firm, government agency, judge, court or where ever you are going if you already have a job or the prospective employer you are hoping to work for will not care if you were the top score on the bar or the last one to pass. All that matters is that you pass.

For the MBE or NY MC - If you find you can't answer a particular question, skip it and move on. You don't need to get every answer correct to pass. You don't want to waste time racking your brain for an answer which may cause you to have too little time later for a question you know you can answer.

For the Essays - after you have read the question, read it again. Then read it again. Then plan your answer carefully. Don't start writing right away. A quick outline of the points you want to hit and some thought into organization will go along way. Even if you spend 5-10 minutes doing this, it is time worth spending.

It's probably too late to improve your own score, but you'll be in a relatively better position if others do worse. Wearing a tin foil hat to distract others gives you a big edge!

Book a massage a few days before. Ahhh! Feel that stress melt away. Seriously, it's worth the money.

When I took the bar, I was clerking outside of New York. Unfortunately, the rules in NY were that if you applied from out-of-state, you had to go to Albany to take the exam and you couldn't sit in NYC (this was 1985 so I don't know if the rules changed). Well, it turned out very fortunately for me that I did. Someone in NYC took the exam, freaked out that they failed and somehow stole the entire box of filled out exams for everyone with a last name beginning with a "K" or "L" (presumably he or she was a "K" or "L"). Well, the thief didn't get far with it, they recovered the box of exams, but because it went outside the chain of custody of the bar examiners, they made everyone whose exam was in the box take the exam over again in January of the following year. I remember having a friend who went on a long vacation to Greece right after the bar exam thinking that she aced the exam and then coming home and getting a notice that she had to take the exam over again; not because she failed but because someone had tried to steal her exam. So as you are taking your exam, just remember this story.

I just want to say one word to you - just one word. Are you listening?

Flashcards.

Anyway, worked for me, and I pretty much blew off the "paced program." In fact I also got the pre-filled-out Bar/Bri lecture notes from a friend so I pretty much stopped going to class. You can definitely get away with doing that as long as you actually do learn the basic material... the wait is just a little scarier because you can't comfort yourself by telling yourself you followed the recommended program, so you'll probably be ok.

Wear earplugs. Do not discuss the exam with anyone. Relax as best you can. Write down everything you can think of on the essays. Don't sweat the multistate, just pick an answer and move on.

Remember: you either pass or fail, so you're only shooting to get a D-. You can do that. You will think you failed, most people think that. Put it out of your head and be confident.

Bring chocolate with you to the exam and eat it frequently. Good boost of calories, a dose of caffeine and makes you feel better.

After you take the MBE, it'll feel like you did horribly. The MBE is tough, but misleadingly so. I didn't think I did great on it (a lot of questions seemed like 2 answers were correct), but I ended up passing with a good margin. I think they throw out a lot of questions in the end when they score the test.

Study up on those mortgages.

Ok, let it be known, once and for all -- THERE ARE BLITHERING IDIOTS WHO PASS THE BAR ALL THE TIME (and work with me). All you have to do to pass the bar is study consistently and put in the effort. Believe me, there are tens of thousands of lawyers out there who barely have the IQ necessary to tie their shoelaces.

Remember to keep exercising, preferably by having lots of sex, the dirtier the better. That's what got me through the NY bar.

Also, try to keep in mind that this is unlike any other test. You get no extra kudos for getting an A+. Shoot for a C and be happy to get a D-.

Make sure you sneak out of the testing area to smoke multiple cigarettes during the exam.

1. Read the essay answers provided to you by BAR/BRI -- not so much the questions, but just the answers.

2. Invest in an XBox and a game that involves guns. Great stress reliever. It'll keep you from flipping out.

I took PA and NJ last year. On the day of the PA essays - the first day of bar exam for me, my laptop crapped out when I hit the start exam button on Softest, the software program used to administer the exam. I almost lost it.

But I just took it one step at a time, calling one of the computer tech guys over to reboot my laptop while I read the question and began to outline my answer. After about 10 minutes, the guy got my laptop going again and I was able to type out my answer. And I passed no sweat after that inauspicious start.

Learn the lecture notes. Don't worry about the short outlines, and don't even open the long ones. The BAR/BRI people have been at this for a long time, and 90% of what's on the test is taught in the lectures. If you've got the lecture material down, you're fine.

I am taking NY next week and I haven't gotten a single Bar/Bri question wrong all summer. I am a God.

1:52 -- Good advice. I absolutely lost it a week before the exam, after studying 9-5 all summer (BarBri included). I did every BarBri question and every PMBR question and never got higher than about half correct. Overpreparing, to be sure, and it broke me with a week to go.

So I spent that week in total "fuck it" mode. Lots of beer, couch, chips and TV. When the exam came, I was shockingly calm. Also shocked at how much I had actually retained. Passed with no problem.

Masturbate.

California exam: bring your lunch in a cooler. It's amazing how refreshing a cold drink and cool lunch is.

If you have a very compact laptop without an internal disk drive, like mine, shove your external disk drive into your laptop bag first thing (or duct tape it to your power cord). One guy I know forgot to bring his external disk drive, and that totally threw him off because he had to hand write the exam, despite having prepared to type it out.

EXPECT a bad thing or two to happen. It inveitably will, e.g., not getting enough sleep the night before, traffic delay, etc. If you konw it's coming (and Murphy's law says it will), you won't be so thrown off when it happens. And if nothing disruptive happens, all the better!

My biggest bar challenge (Virginia) was that I showed up at my hotel on Sunday only to find that there was a girls' 10-12 year old softball tournament in town and all the teams were staying at my hotel, screaming all night. The biggest challenge of the exam was not to be in jail for felony murder during the exam.

disk drive?

I disagree about the lunch thing. Go to Grey's Papaya a few blocks up the street and eat dogs. Papaya is the aristocrat of fruit.

Most importantly, work really hard. The thing that scared me most wasn't failing, it was the idea of having to study again. That alone should motivate you to do it right the first time.

(a) Take a day, better yet two, off before the exam.

(b) Bring your own lunch to the exam.

(c) Don't study the evening(s) between your two- or three day exam. If at all possible go buy yourself sushi or something and drink a beer. Watch crappy television.

(d) When you read your essay question; spend an extra minute reading the question. Then day dream for a minute. Then read it again. Then again. Write down what you think the question is, then check your work. The five minutes of making *damned* sure you know what the question was will give you a lot of piece of mind between now and results time. Nothing worse than getting half-way through an essay and realizing (or just thinking) you answered the wrong question

I took the bar in Albany, at the Clarion Hotel. A girl I knew from U of Chicago knew a couple of people who were staying in that hotel but were taking the exam at the Pepsi arena. They gave her the key to their room, which was absolutelly awesome as it allowed us to eat and get a good rest for the afternoon part of the test. It was a great relax.

The week before the bar I was getting between 55-60% on the MBE. It happened that I passed the bar with (only) 120 correct answers on the multi-state. If you are getting 60% now, you are more than fine. Just focus on drafting kick-ass essays.

By the way, I am an LLM from Latin-America and English is not my first language. If I did it, you can.

This isn't like law school. Having the most organized essay won't win you extra points. So read the essay and once and just start writing. The graders look for certain ideas/concepts, so as long as they can find them sprinkled in with the rest of your nonsense, you'll get the points. Better to have a relatively unorganized mess with all of the ideas than a well-planned partial answer with only a couple. Besides I often find that when I start writing about something, it triggers my memory better than if I just sit there thinking.

i agree with 1:55 that the NY exam is hard to study for. in summer 2004 we got an essay question about the NY no-fault insurance statute. oops. i totally made that answer up. i focused most of my energy on the multistate on the theory that a good multistate score would counterbalance a poor NY score. i passed the exam and did fairly well on the multistate, so i guessed it worked. that said, i did spend a couple hours a day studying for the NY portion (mostly by reviewing flashcards and my notes). overall, i'd recommend putting in a solid day of studying (between 6 and 8 hours) starting at 9 or 10am. take nights off, get drunk and relax with friends and/or your significant other.

Be Zen-like. Pay no attention to the person seated near you who inevitably will get up and leave as though they've actually answered all the questions with an hour remaining. Nor should you acknowledge that annoying know-it-all kiss-ass from your summer associate class who inevitably will try to tell you how much he's studied. Point: FOCUS and CALM. The two most important things.

Great stress reliever at the beginning of the exam: look at the 4 people closest to you. Think you can beat one of them? You can. That means you will likely pass. [seriously, you'd be amazed at the nutjobs who populate any bar exam]

Until then, yes, it's going to suck. This is as bad as it gets, though. My real advice is to practice writing the essays, over and over again. Most people don't do enough of the essays. [I had bad essay scores. I like to think it's because I have bad handwriting, but the real answer is probably that I didn't spend nearly enough time practicing them. I still passed anyway]

2:15 - felony murder? Did you have other plans for the softballers besides just killing them?

Any advice for people starting law school?

Spot-on, Wildcat.

Any advice for people starting law school?

VA folks:
Be sure to do all the civ pro practice essays, or at least read them. And ignore that psycho from PMBR if she told you to wear zip-off safari pants with a blazer. Those VA Bar Examiners mean business about the wardrobe requirements. And I think the gents get super-secret extra bonus points for a bow-tie.

My random advice:

* Get away from people a week before the exam. Study at your parents' or some other place. Just get away.

* Don't use a computer the week before the exam (besides checking e-mail, etc.). Start sequestering yourself. Only focus on the outlines you've printed out. Make small flash cards (I prefer handwritten) or, what I call, "bullet-point cards." Memorize them.

* Pack a lunch for the two exam days. My Mommy packed mine!

* Stay away from BarBri's book on essays and model answers. For the last week, focus on (1) memorizing and (2) using the actual NYS Bar Exam essays from previous years (see NYS Bar's website).

* Disregard the Pace/Paced schedule. Focus on memorizing now!!!!

* Breathe -- a lot! Drink tons of water the night before the exam. After the first exam day, drink tons of water again.

* Whoever wrote above re: getting into the "oh, fuck it" mode after having freaked out, well, they're right. I think most people go through that, especially a few days before the exam. Remind yourself, that's this is it. You've worked hard all summer and now it's time to do it. You've done all you can.

* Focus your studying (and your studying during lunch on the "essay day") around the Frequency Chart! That thing is golden.

* Finally, I recommend studying NY Practice the day before the first exam day. Most of the NY Multiple Choice questions are CPLR based. Also, memorize all your Statute of Limitations years. Make a list: 7 years (whatever it its), 6 years (x?), etc. Memorize it. A lot of questions seemed to be straight memorization.

2:12 is wrong. Whatever you do, do NOT masturbate, at least not the night before the exam.

It will make you SLEEPY!

Also, you might go BLIND!

I took the exam in New York in 1985. The lost the computer sheets with the answers. Not just mine, but 500+ people who took the exam in the west side passenger ship termiinals.

I'll blog the details later...

To 2:15:

Felony murder probably isn't the crime I'd have been charged with under those circumstances!

I will pass the best advice I received to you all: ACE THE MBE and you *cannot* fail.

Take as many MBE practice questions as you can. I took Barbri and the PMBR 3-day. The 3-day was useless as a substantive training class, but was a great bar simulation. It is tense, you are worried, etc. I scored about a 109/200 (raw) on the practice MBE at the PMBR class. I ended up with a 178/200 (raw) on the actual thing, something I never could have anticipated. With a score like that, I could have paraphrased the Rules of Monopoly on the NY-section of the bar and still passed.

What I hope to get across: get as much of the NY stuff as you can down, but dedicate the lion's share of your studies to the MBE. Master that, and you are golden.

A gaggle of twelve-year-old girls? Fuck yeah!

"serenity now!"

Masturbate DURING the bar...why do you think the PT guy in CA keeps telling us to take those long bathroom breaks?

I just took Bar/Bri's simulated MBE and got 154 questions right out of 200? How does that translate into actual scaled and raw score? What is the level of difficulty of the actual MBE compared with the Bar/Bri simulted MBE? Is the actual MBE harder or easier? Thanks.

IF YOU'RE READING THIS, IT MEANS TWO THINGS: (A) YOU'RE NOT STUDYING AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, (B) THE ODDS OF YOU FAILING ARE INCREASING BY THE SECOND. ENJOY!

For me, the MBE was A LOT harder than the simulated Bar Bri test, and also harder than PMBR. Miraculously, however, my MBE score was higher than my Bar Bri test score, and about the same as my PMBR scaled score. I think the bar examiners toss out a lot of the questions that are tough.

Not sure if anyone cares about the bar here in the legal backwater that is Arizona, but here's how to write an Arizona bar essay: five minutes of issue spotting, twenty minutes of rule dumping, five minutes of actual legal analysis. Rinse and repeat 11 more times. Then go drinking, because you just finished 66% of the bar and anyone can fill out a bubble sheet with a raging hangover.

The bar is on a scaled system with a typical pass rate of 65-70%. You don't need to be brilliant. Keep it simple. Aim for being less stupid than 35% of the people in there.

Finally, during lunch break, while there are very few dining options in downtown Tucson, avoid El Minuto Mexican Cafe. Not just for your sake, but for the sake of your fellow exam takers.

For most people,

PMBR > MBE > BAR/BRI
(109) (178) (155)

in terms of difficulty. My respective scores above don't necessarily show that, of course.

2:36 - call Bar/Bri for a question like that you toolbag.

is there anyone out there reading this who has failed the bar? feel like sharing?

Sure-fire exam passage advice:

Break if down for me now...

WHITE

yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh

GIRLS

yes, sir!

WITH

don't stop now

ASIAN

awww yeah

GUYS

Wow - the bar exam was really hard. In fact, if you havent been studying at least 10 hours a day for the past two months, you are pretty much screwed. Just remember that your entire future is riding on this one exam. That's right. If you fail, you will forever be marked as a bar exam failure. You will probably lose your job offer - or at least you will never make partner. Imagine what you husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend will think of you - all that stress and time spent for nothing, zilch, nada. Your parents will be embarassed as hell - imaging them having to tell all of their friends you failed. The best part is that very few people fail, so this will be a confirmation that you are a zero.

Oh, and stop listening to people like me. We just think it is funny to make you freak out.

True story - I took the bar at the Javits in July 03. three or four fat people broke their chairs in the middle of the exam. Very funny. Big crashing shound following by laughter. Very very funny. If you are fat, I'd go on a diet or ask for a stronger chair.

I don't know anyone who did PMBR (6 day and 3 day) who didn't just pass, but managed to multistate as well.*

* In MI, if you get a 150 or better scaled score on the MBE, all you need is a "good faith effort" (i.e., write something down) on the essays. That was a good thing since I forgot to study no-fault and answered the truck-car pile up question with, "Apparently, someone is going to be sued."

Don't eff it up. This one is for all the marbles.

Don't talk to others during the lunch breaks. I talked to so many idiots who got questions WRONG but were convinced they were RIGHT. It drove me crazy in the days after the test, so I did follow-up research on the questions only to find out that I was right and the other boneheads who told me that I was wrong during the lunch break were totally WRONG!!! My favorite was the knuckleheads on essay day who thought the Article 2 Sales question was an Article 9 Secured Transactions question and laughed at me for screwing it up, when it was him that f*cked it up!

Anon 2:50 - I think that's the best essay answer I've ever heard. And undoubtedly correct!

Have sex the night before the bar. And get a pedicure after the first day (while reading US magazine). And when it's all over, get really really drunk and then spend the next day at the beach.

NY: If you are in the Pepsi Arena in Albany, prepare for it to be cold. It may be July outside but inside it was January. When I took it people turned up in T-shirts and ended up buying sweatshirts during the lunch break.

Also, bring candles - I took the bar there three years ago and there was a storm the night before and the electricity was out. You did not want to be working reception that night as hundreds of freaked out wannabe lawyers started demanding candles and flashlights.

LA: This is a marathon, not a sprint (cliche, but true). When you've finished each day go home, relax, and sleep. You have the whole of the next day to prepare for the next stage. I thought this one was more demanding than NY in many ways but you can pass it, even without Civil Code classes in lawschool.

I took Bar/Bri but didn't stay with the insane "paced" program -- just went to class every morning, took the assigned essays seriously, and in the afternoons read the parts of the study guide that looked helpful. I had my folks quiz me with flashcards a little bit in the evenings, too. My dog died the week before the exam and I got a nosebleed in the middle of the MBE -- still passed the CA bar on the first try.

By far the most helpful thing was paying for a hotel room on the exam site and eating from groceries I brought with me: I really needed that "alone time" in the evenings after the exam.

Obviously, do not pick apart questions with your friends afterward, or listen to the jerk doing so at the table behind you while exams are being collected. Odds are that he is wrong and you were right.

STUDY THE MORTGAGES SECTIONS IN PROPERTY --- THERE A TEN THOUSAND QUESTIONS DEALING WITH THAT SHITE.

Check out the Bar Review LolCats on Facebook. Man, that group just can't be beat.

Seriously, if there are people who have time to make bar review lolcats, then you will pass.

double espresso was a good choice to balance need for caffeine / bathroom needs.

A family friend is a proctor in WA and apparently had to administer the exam in a bathroom one year because of a girl with stress-induced diarrhea. So however bad a case of nerves you think you have, there are others out there who will freak out much worse than you. Take comfort in that.

Remember the the MBE writers don't understand the rule against perpetuities any better than you do. The question set up always involves an option to purchase land, and the option decends to the heirs of both the grantor and the grantee. It violates the RAP. I don't know why.

Any state that would test the RAP on an essay is not a state where you would want to live or work.

I second David at 3:15 but note that chocolate covered espresso beans work even better for a jolt of caffeine without a trip to the bathroom. Ladies' room lines at the Javits were HORRENDOUS.

If you're not taking the Texas bar, be glad you're not taking the Texas bar - it's longer than most states by at least half a day (we do things bigger here), and it includes Oil and Gas, which not many schools teach.

1.) Be good to yourself (sleep. exercise. get massages the week of the bar exam).

2.) Trust your tried-and-true study methods (assuming they have been successful for you in the past). If you're someone who's always crammed for tests and done well, learn from that, and don't try to follow Bar Bri's schedule. Spend the week before the exam doing rote memorization, and the time before that going through practice essays and MBEs.

I am glad I am not taking the Texas bar, because then I would have to practice in Texas.

Texas to 25K!

Why are people always looking for tips, tricks, secrets, etc. for studying for the bar? I suppose they get some reassurance from hearing about what was done by people who passed (eventually). The bar is 90% memorization, and you just need to know enough to pass. Whatever you did to study for your first spelling test in second grade will work for the bar.

As has been said previously, I found the actual MBE to be much harder than BarBri led you to believe it would be. Part of that, of course, is the stress of the test.

Another bit of advice (probably goes without saying) is to do the practice tests where the subjects are jumbled together (i.e., don't do 25 Con Law questions, then 25 Evidence questions, etc.). It trains your mind better when you have to switch from subject to subject (not to mention, there are times when you read a question and are prepared for a criminal law analysis, but instead you find evidence questions).

Lastly, if you can get the PMBR materials it is worth it to just read through the questions and answers. They know what they are doing. In my year, there was a question on the test that was identical (literally identical) to the PMBR materials (something about killing a sea lion vs. a sea otter).

Has anyone ever been thrown out of the VA bar for having the wrong attire?

When I took it I couldn't believe how loosely people were interpreting "courtroom attire." Nobody seemed to be checking at all.

Please tell me that you're allowed to remove your suit coat for the VA bar...

Virginians:

Look closely at the VA short answer questions the night before the Virginia day. Those are often recycled verbatim or nearly so. I had forgotten to look those over until the last minute and was relieved when I saw so much familiar material on the exam. I think those short answers are equal to one full essay, so it's worth your time.

On behalf of all practicing attorneys who have had the misfortune of moving to a state without reciprocity and thus being forced to take a second bar exam ten or more years after graduation, while working full time, allow me to say:

SUCK IT UP AND QUIT YOUR WHINING, YOU PUSSIES.

Sure, there are some notable exceptions, but if you went to any sort of decent law school and fail the bar, you're a moron. Your moronity is further evidenced by your reading a blog for exam advice. Quit the websurfing and do some actual work.

@ 01:54 PM

"Practice the Performance Tests"

You've got to be kidding me. The Performance Test is an open book, closed universe, instruction-following exercise. If you can't do the Performance Test cold, you don't deserve to be a lawyer. Listen to Bar/Bri's logistics tips (rip out pages, outline, etc) and flip through a couple to get an idea what they look like.

BUT DO NOT WASTE 1 MINUTE ACTUALLY DOING ONE OF THESE TESTS. You aren't learning anything of substance, and if you need practice following instructions, you should give up on being a lawyer now.

1. Borrow barbri books from a friend.

2. Skim through them once. Twice if it seems difficult. This should take a couple hours a day for a week or two.

3. Read some novels you've been meaning to get to with your free time. Bonfire of the Vanities and some assorted Rushdie is a good mix.

4. Spend some time figuring out how you're going to spend your bar loan or stipend, since you didn't take any classes or buy any books. iPod, new computer, flat panel TV, etc. This is a good time to get in touch with a tailor, as well. Try out Raja Fashions or Tai Pan Row.

5. Go to the beach a few times. You can combine this with three if you're hurting for time.

6. About two weeks before the exam, you'll feel like you should start studying. Spend a couple of days taking multiple choice practice tests, maybe something on NY Wills and Trusts and NY Procedure, if you didn't go to school in NY.

7. You'll quickly get bored and go to the local public library, where you'll check out a stack of books about sailing. Read those instead; it's more interesting.

8. Two days before the exam, go upstate and hang out with some of your law school friends who are also up in albany. Go over some multiple choice and NY specific subjects, but also spend some time in the gym and pool and your friend's country house.

9. At the exam, try really hard not to be the first one out of the room. Even if you're really bored, you do not want to be that guy (or girl). Wait until two or three other people leave, at least. When you leave, you can't talk with other people, but don't say it was the hardest thing ever; likewise, do not say it was easy.

10. One year later, you will be sitting in your office thinking back on last year, and you will wish you had not passed.

Remember to relax. Otherwise, this stress-related condition could result:

http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/adeno/2004takahashi/webpage/diarrhea%20pic,%20symptoms%20and%20disease%20page.jpg

3:16, did it look like this?

-The new Harry Potter book does not come until after the bar exam as far as you're concerned

-Watch your favorite TV show the night beofre or something that relaxes you (World Series of Poker... very relaxing)

-Ignore others (covered already)

-If you can't ignore others, don't be intimidated by the dumbass who has to wear his/her Harvard/ Columbia/ Yale,etc. Law School T-Shirt to the exam. Look upon said person with pity that they need to broadcast what school they went to. That person is most like a virgin

-Bring something to eat that you know what upset your stomach. Balance bars, etc.

- Wear the most comfortable thing you own. Bring a layer in case it is cold

- Don't panic within the next week and start changing all your rituals. You'll just psych yourself out.

- CPAs and med students have it worse. We just bitch more. You'll do fine.

You should hope you fail. Being a lawyer blows. I wish I'd failed. My prayer for you is that you fail. You're welcome.

If you pass, that means you studied hard enough. If you fail, that means you either didn't study hard enough or wigged out.

And be glad you're not in Darfur, running for the Chad border, you softie elites!

3:39,

Absolutely. At least three people that were in the laptop room with me were sent out to get a tie, put on a more appropriate blouse, etc. Don't test the proctors. That said, during the test people were free to remove coats, loosen their ties, and so forth.

My boyfriend failed the bar twice. First time he didn't take Barbri because he couldn't afford it. He failed by a couple points. Second time he got a credit card just to put Barbri on the credit card, but he was working full time, so he missed quite a bit. He failed by a couple points. Third time he studied on his own again but using Barbri materials. He was still working full time, so he was limited in his study time. He passed by a bunch. not sure what the moral of the story is, but the Bar does get easier on multiple takings. I have another friends who failed the Bar by one point. He was mad, but knew it was a fluke. He took it again, didn't repeat Barbri, and passed easily.

I guess I'm saying failure isn't the end of the world. It happens to smart people every once in a while. But the odds are good it won't happen to you.

Those studying for the bar - try not to think about the line you are on. On one side is a quagmire of debt which you will never be able to pay off (hey look, there's Bandy and she even passed!!!!11) and the historical respect of your peers. On the other side is a nice 160k income (possibly more if you're an EE) and the schadenfreude (at least those of you in NY) of knowing at least a few assholes who failed. In other words, don't look down.

And if you fail the bar, at least you don't have cancer (hopefully)!

I took the NY exam last summer, my favorite part of the exam was when someone farted during the exam and about 5 or 6 rows of people all started giggling. It was great, I felt like this was just like any other high school exam I have taken.

Relax, study the frequency chart for the NY essays, there are like 6 or 7 topics which always come up for the essays - study those and you'll be fine.

Do flashcards for the Multi-State, I bought some from e-bay and those helped me.

Lat,

Freakin' hilarious redo of http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Keep it up.

WTF, VA requires you to wear courtroom attire? Is that the only state the requires a dress code for the Bar?

http://www.vbbe.state.va.us/letter.html

2007 Virginia Bar Examination
Mandatory Dress Code

Dress for all applicants MUST conform to the standards suitable for a lawyer appearing in a court of record in Virginia, i.e., a suit or jacket and tie for males, and a suitable dress or suit (pantsuits are acceptable) for females.

Do not wear perfumes, colognes, scented powders or anything of the sort as there may be those taking the exam who have allergies which are aggravated by these scents.

You may want to consider layered clothing as we have little control over fluctuating temperatures.

NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS

The Board is aware that many law firms and other professional offices
have "dress down" policies of varying descriptions. There is no "dress
down" or "casual dress" policy at the Virginia Bar Exam.

Applicants who come to the Virginia Bar Exam are expected to dress
in proper attire. For men, proper attire is coat and tie. For women, proper
attire is traditional business attire.

Recognizing the high calibre of professionalism that has traditionally
characterized the bar, the Board is confident that no further discussion of this topic will be necessary.

barexam2005.blogspot.com

BEST
WEBSITE
EVER.

E
V
E
R
funny, spot on, incisive, with a brilliant summary of the pointers. e verything she said was EXACTLY as i found it.

Take Pieper.