Bar Exam Schedule: The Final Two Weeks

As I post this, there are about two weeks to go until the bar exam. Yes, it is that close.

Recently,one of my Twitter followers asked me if I had any tips for the final two weeks.

I do.

Switch into memorization mode

During the last few weeks, you have been attending bar exam lectures (either in a classroom or virtually); have been getting familiar with bar exam subjects, including subjects you may not have taken during law school; have been creating bar exam outlines and flashcards; and getting familiar with the structure of bar exam testing, including practicing essays, performance tests, and MBE questions.

All that information can be overwhelming at times. Just finding the time to make your outlines or flashcards or to review lecture notes can be difficult, especially when you’re spending half of the day listening to a lecture.

At this point in time, your bar exam lectures should be over or just about over. When these lectures are done, you will have an additional three or four hours each day in which to study. You will be amazed at how much you can learn during this extra time.

You should have all your study materials completed or nearly complete by now. In the final two weeks before the bar exam, you need to concentrate on memorizing your notes, outlines and/or flashcards. If you already have a subject wired, limit review of that subject and focus on subjects with which you are having more difficulty.

Take practice tests

Practice testing is very important to help you solidify what you have been learning. It is also important because it helps you get used to the time pressure of bar examination.

Many commercial bar prep programs, such as BarBri, build into their schedules a full-blown multi-day simulated bar examination. For those of you who have already done this, good for you. You understand what the bar examination will be like.

If you have not taken a full-blown bar exam practice test, you should select one day in the next week in which to spend the day doing a practice bar exam. (For advice on how to do a practice exam, see my post on anticipation of bar exam conditions.)

Even if you are taking a full-blown practice exam during the next two weeks, you still need to do mini practice tests. That is, you should write a few essays under timed conditions with no notes, take blocks of MBE questions under timed conditions (e.g., answer 50 MBE questions in 1.5 hours), and write out at least one performance test under timed conditions.

It is possible that you have already written out numerous performance tests and essays. If you’re to the point where you don’t feel that writing out a complete answer is of any value to you, then practice outlining answers so that you continue to hone your issue-spotting skills.

Get your sleep schedule adjusted

It is my belief that you should generally study for the bar exam during the hours in which the bar exam is administered in order to train your body and mind to perform at peak levels at the proper time. That is, your studies should generally take place between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Based on what I have seen on Twitter and what I have read on some blogs, many people study late into the night. If this works for you, great. Unfortunately, you can’t take the bar exam at 10:00pm, so you will need to adjust your sleep schedule in order to be awake and alert during the two or three days of the bar exam when you will be expected to perform during “regular business hours.”

Unless you are one of those rare people who can fall asleep at any time of day, you will need to start adjusting your sleep schedule now so that waking up at 6:00 am and being ready to start the bar examination at 8:00 am won’t kill you.

Probably the easiest way to adjust your sleep schedule is to begin going to sleep 15 to 30 min. earlier each day until you’re going to sleep at an appropriate time, such as 10:00 pm. (If you’re having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, you might — in consultation with your health care provider — want to explore using the amino acid 5-HTP.)

Confirm your examination arrangements

Now is not the time to be worrying about how you will get to the bar exam testing site or what hotel you will be staying in. If you do have these worries, get them out the way as soon as possible so you can concentrate on memorizing and practicing.

If you are not staying at a hotel near the bar examination site, make arrangements for getting to the bar exam site each day. Will you drive yourself? Is a friend driving you? Do you have a backup plan if someone gets sick or your car breaks down? Figure this all out now.

If you will be staying at a hotel, consider packing your suitcase now with all the clothes and supplies (pencils, pens, erasers, watch, earplugs, etc) you will need for the test. Consider what sort of snack foods you will want to have with you at the hotel, and make a shopping list for those foods.

Keep stress down

The overriding goal of this blog is to help you reduce your bar exam stress. If you have a particular concern that is causing you stress or anxiety, search this blog and you should find an answer. You should note that any stress you might be feeling right now should be reduced as you continue to memorize and learn more thoroughly the bar exam information.

If you need additional help reducing stress, consider using visualization to help you. For example, you may want to visualize walking into the bar exam testing site and remaining calm.

You might also consider saying affirmations to yourself when you wake up in the morning and when you go to sleep at night. For instance, you might say:

I have total recall of all necessary information;
I know everything that is necessary; and
I am a lawyer.

And most of all, don’t forget to take breaks. Take a day off each week. Take a short walk during lunchtime on the days that you do study. Hang out with your friends in evening. Exercise. Just do something for an extended period of time but does not relate to studying for the bar exam.