But do you really know what happens in those courses?

Most commercial bar review programs are primarily composed of lectures.  Professors from all over the country travel around to deliver lectures on different subjects.  Some of the lectures are funny and entertaining and some are a bit dry, but they all give you lots of information on the substantive law. You can expect (depending on the subject) to spend at least part of your days during the week in lectures.

Can you ask questions and have a dialogue with the professor giving the lecture?

Typically not, for logistical reasons —— if there are hundreds of people attending the lecture, how could the professor answer everyone’s questions?

Most courses will also provide you with a study schedule.  That study schedule will assign you practice assignments outside of the lectures.  These will include essays, multiple-choice practice, and performance tests.

But what else do you need to think about?

You need to review and learn the law outside of class. Most of us don’t learn the law just by attending a lecture, we have to outline it, make flow charts, or flash cards.  You should be spending time outside of the lectures developing these study materials for yourself.

And how do you know what study materials to make?

Think about how you studied in law school. How did you get ready for finals?

Most commercial bar review courses also have lectures on the written portions (how to approach an essay or a performance test) and the multiple-choice questions.  These lectures can give you general tips for approaching each section.

Always remember though, commercial bar review courses are created to help a large number of people prepare.  They are not built strictly to support you. If you need additional help with essays, multiple-choice questions, or the performance test, you should ask for help.  You can reach out to mentors, tutors or academic support professionals.   Remember only you can make sure you are ready for the bar exam. Make sure the preparation period works for you!

What Happens During a Commercial Bar Review Course? is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

Then I recommend you go online to the state bar website and download some questions.  The California bar website has essay questions and performance exams going back to 2002.

So print out a few essay questions and one performance test (or download the PDFs if you are trying to save a few trees).  Now read them.

As you read the essay question, I want you to ask yourself, “Is this question really that hard?”

I would like to argue, no, the question isn’t that hard. Typically, the fact patterns are about half a page to three quarters of a page long.  Although some questions will test law that may not seem like common knowledge, some (like a question from July 2010) test negligence. And we all remember negligence, right?

Have you ever read an MBE question? No? Then you should read one of those too! The MBE actually publishes some retired questions. So take a look!

Now let’s take the performance test (also available on the state bar website).  Read the task memo. What is it asking you to do? Typically, it is asking you to write some sort of memo or pleading.  Have you done that before? Likely, your answer is yes.  Have you read cases to pull out relevant law? Yes.  So again, ask yourself, “Is this really that hard?”

Well, of course, the bar exam is hard — or more people would pass it. But as you get ready to think about getting ready for the exam, I want you to think about what makes the bar exam difficult. Because knowing what makes it difficult will help you study and prepare.

So here you go — my thoughts on what makes the bar difficult:

(1) The amount of law you need to learn.  In California there are 13 bar exam subjects (depending on how you count them).  That is a lot of law.  It can be very overwhelming, when you compare it with your law school career, when you used to study for perhaps four finals at once — not 13.

(2) The focus on test-taking skills.  Many people may not realize it, but other than testing the law, the bar requires you to be an excellent test-taker (time management skills and essay writing skills are definitely also being tested).

(3)  Time pressure.  You have to do a lot of work in a short amount of time. Think about the essay you read. Could you write an answer in 60 minutes? Or draft the performance test memo in 90 minutes (after you have spent 90 minutes reading and outlining)?

(4) Fear around multiple choice. A lot of folks hate multiple-choice questions. To be honest, I don’t like them either.  But they are approximately a third of the test. You need to realize that multiple choice is an important part of the exam and an area where you can practice and get better.

(5) The pressure we put on ourselves to pass. One of the most common statements made by students is what happens if I fail.  Yes, it is terrible if you fail the bar exam. I hope that you don’t have to live through that! But it is important to maintain perspective to keep the anxiety from getting out of control and becoming detrimental to the work you are doing to prepare.

Keeping in mind the five things that make the bar difficult will help you study smarter.  If you need help, ask for it! Please contact me if you would like to talk about bar exam tutoring.

Five Things that Make the Bar Exam Hard is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

If you haven’t been outlining all semester long, you may be feeling lost, frustrated, or even scared. Perhaps you don’t even know how to start with those outlines.  Should you give up? Put your name on another person’s outline?

I say no! You still have time.  And we are here to help.

Please check out my post on the Law School Toolbox where I discuss five things you can do to handle being in law school crisis mode.

In addition, Alison (from the Girl’s Guide to Law School) and I have released a new course to help teach you how to outline – in just an hour or two.  Although you may feel like you don’t have “extra time” right now for such a course, it can end up saving you hours of wasted energy preparing incorrectly!

Click here to find out more and please email me with any questions.

What to do if you haven’t started outlining — or if you don’t know how to outline is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

And many people think that there is nothing you can do to get ready for the bar exam now. That is just not true.  You can get your life ready by thinking ahead.

 Things to think about:

• Have you financially figured out how to support yourself?
• Do you have a stable living situation?
• Do you have any travel planned — weddings and such that are going to be distracting/time-consuming while you study?
• Have you talked to your family/friends/significant others about how important these two months are (and how you will be really busy)?

Answering these questions for yourself now will help make sure you are ready to enter the preparation period and focus on your exam success.

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO NOW TO GET READY FOR THE BAR EXAM is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

Introducing the Law School Toolbox is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

Studying for the bar exam is among the hardest things you will have to do in your legal career. It is a test of character, to be sure. It is a test also of your endurance and dedication. Until I launched my own business, I had not gone through anything else that was quite so personal, so intensive. And now, upon reflection, I can see that many of the lessons I have learned in building my business are useful in the context of studying for the bar exam.

By way of background, I worked as an associate in a large law firm for a number of years. Last year, I left my practice to start a small business. In the transition from working as an associate in a large law firm to being an independent small business owner, I was faced with creating some very specific strategies for growing my business and defining my own success. While there is plenty of information out there about what makes a successful small business (and more information still about how many small businesses fail!), much like studying for the bar exam, there is no formula per se. Rather, you have to know yourself, capitalize on your strengths, and devise a system that works for you.

With this said, there are a number of behavioral tools that are key for any successful entrepreneur, irrespective of business type or objectives. And, incidentally, these tools will serve you well as you are studying for the bar exam, too.

1. Work hard. In pursuing any business endeavor, and in studying for the bar exam, there is no substitute for dedicated hard work. To succeed, you must work hard. You must put in long hours and late nights and get up early to do it all over again. While this may sound obvious, it is the awareness that is important – the willingness to work hard must be front-of-mind every day.

2. Create a schedule. When you are studying for the bar exam, just as when you are running your own business, your days are mostly your own. You are the master of your schedule and what happens within the course of a day depends on you. This can be both a positive and a negative. It is positive because it allows you freedom to work in the manner that is best for you; it is negative because it can be overwhelming, and can lead to a lack of structure.

At the outset when you are studying for the bar exam, devise a defined schedule for your days. Create a schedule that is realistic and easy to stick to. Build in some flexibility and account for variables that inevitably come up from time to time. Make adjustments in your daily schedule where things are not working. And study smart. Think about the best use of your time and energy. Focus on areas that cause you difficulty or that are sure to appear on the exam (and not on remote topics that may or may not appear on the exam in the form of one multiple choice question).

As a tip, make your daily schedule the wallpaper on your computer so you are seeing it constantly. This will help keep you on track.

3. Set goals. No business can thrive without a set of clearly defined goals. This is true when you are studying for the bar exam, as well. Of course, the long-term goal for anyone studying for the bar is to pass. But this goal is a broad one, and difficult to tackle in any meaningful way (it is similar to a small business owner setting the goal of making a lot of money – a valid goal, but not specific enough to take on without smaller, more realistic goals in place first).

To make goal setting realistic while studying for the bar exam, write down daily, weekly, and monthly goals over the course of your studying. These do not have to be major goals in every instance – identifying small, defined goals in furtherance of the larger goal (passing the bar) will suffice and will increase your chances for success. For example, what subject might you study on day one? What improvements would you like to see in your writing by day 15? What score are you aiming for on your mid-study period practice exam? Small goals in support of the larger goal will keep you on track and help you stay motivated when the actual exam is still months away.

As an additional tip here, your goals should be uniquely your own. Do not be influenced by the way others are approaching their studying. Everyone has different study needs and tactics – what works for one person may not work for you. Focus on your own needs and forget about what others are doing.

4. Do not be discouraged. When studying for the bar exam (again, like any business endeavor), it is easy to succumb to feelings of discouragement or dissatisfaction. Any bad news, in the form of a bad practice test, for example, or a day where you did not get as much studying done as you would have liked, can really bring you down. Instead of allowing yourself to be discouraged, use this as motivation to continue moving forward. Stay the course. Start the next day with a fresh perspective, a renewed motivation, and a positive sentiment about the remaining days of studying. No process, including studying for the bar exam, is a flawless one.

5. Take mental health breaks. When I first launched my business, a friend and fellow small business owner told me that the one piece of advice he wished he had been given when he started his business was to take breaks. He said he had run his business for years without rest, because there was always more to be done. When you are studying for the bar exam, your work is never done. It feels as though there is always something more you could be doing. This does not mean that you must spend every waking hour studying. In fact, this is counterproductive. Allow yourself some downtime, and some recharging time. Exercise, even if just for 15 minutes a couple of times a week. Eat regular meals. Spend five minutes on your favorite website. Allow your mind and body a reprieve from the consuming bar exam study process so you are energized and working at full capacity when you go back to it.

* * *
So that’s it. Your entrepreneurial guide to studying for the bar exam. Take a moment to take these in, and then get to your bar exam studying like you own it. Because you do.

Desiree Moore is the President and founder of Greenhorn Legal, LLC. Greenhorn Legal offers intensive practical skills training programs for law students and new lawyers as they transition from law school into their legal practices. Ms. Moore is also an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and was an associate at the law firm of K&L Gates. She can be found on Twitter at @greenhornlegal.

Guest Post: An Entrepreneur’s Approach To Studying For The Bar Exam is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

For some, there may be a few days or almost a week until exams.  But everywhere law students are wondering what they can do at this point to give themselves the best chance for the grades they want.  Here are a few tips:

Finish those outlines as soon as possible.  I have discussed on my blog how important outlining is, but at this point in the semester those outlines need to be pretty much done. And if they are not, finish them as soon as possible. Remember to focus on the important information in the outline and don’t include mini-briefs of cases. For more about outlining, see here.

Get your materials together. You should have collected as many practice exams and hypos as your professors have released. The exams and hypos should all be in one place (in a folder or a binder). You should have your outline for a given class printed out and in the same place. Hey, you know what makes things even easier? Create one “finals” binder! In that binder you can have a tab for each class. Each tab can include your outline, class notes (if you have them on paper) and any practice exams. That way you will never waste time by not having your materials together.

Get a study plan. I have talked before about how important it is to be organized. And finals are no different. You need a study plan. What should be on this study plan?

• What subject or subjects you are going to study each day up to the end of exams.  I recommend that you study up to (but not exceeding) two subjects per day for a minimum of three hours each. This keeps you from wasting time getting materials together and gives you an opportunity to really study and get some work done.
• When you are going to take breaks, exercise, etc.  Contrary to popular belief you shouldn’t only study during finals.  (And I am not the only person who feels this way; see The Girl’s Guide To Law School.)
• When you going to take practice exams. You want to spread them out and not just save them for right before exams.

Make sure your computer is ready for test day.  Most students are taking exams on computers these days.  You need to make sure your computer is ready with all the software and that it has been tested. Most of the software programs allow you to run a “practice exam” program. Use this! Practice writing on the program, so you are used to where all the buttons are. Also, make sure it doesn’t have any issues with your computer. Sometimes you need to turn off certain programs so as not to conflict with the testing program. You want to figure this out prior to test day so you can do your best to avoid any computer issues.

Make a day-of-exam plan.  The day-of-exam plan is critical.  Here’s what to include in the plan.

• When and where your exams are and how you are going to get to them. Taking the bus? Make sure you leave enough time for the bus to be late. Driving? Make sure that you have saved enough time to find parking.
• Whether you are using a computer. If so, how early do you need to get there to set up your computer?
• Where to sit in the exam room (if you have a choice).  I always liked to sit in the front so I couldn’t see what everyone was doing behind me.  Also, if there is a problem, you are typically close enough to get the proctor’s attention.  But that is just a personal preference.  If you do have a preference though, get there early to get the seat you want.
• What to take into the room. Outlines for an open-book test? Water to drink? Pens? Highlighters? Do you need pencils for a multiple-choice test? You don’t need to “move in” to the test room, but you do want to think through what you are going to need.
• What to eat before the test. Make sure you eat something that will keep you from getting hungry but won’t make you crash during the exam.
• What to do while you are waiting for the exam to start. There will be people in your class that continue to study in the testing room.  Please don’t do that. Nothing you will learn in those last 15 minutes is going to make one bit of difference in your grade. Does it stress you out to hear people quizzing each other? Bring headphones!  I used to sit silently in the testing room listening to my iPod before each exam to help keep me from getting distracted by other people.

Good luck getting ready for finals. You can do it! And at the end, a blissful winter break is waiting for you.

GET READY TO WALK INTO FINALS is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

This week I wrote a guest post for The Girl’s Guide to Law School which helps answer these questions.  Check it out here.

What to do if you fail the bar exam?!? is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

And why is it so important to outline the various calls of the question? Because you don’t want this to happen: A student was taking the bar exam and there was an evidence question that had five parts. The parts were outlined in the call of the question and numbered one through five.  This student did not outline the call of the question on scratch paper and didn’t include a header for question number three in her essay answer. The text blended into question number four. What happened? That student lost major points because the grader couldn’t find question number three. If the professor has given you five questions, make sure you answer each one individually and call out each question using a header.

For help with essay exam writing and preparation, please contact Amicus Tutoring.

Should You Outline Before Writing an Exam Answer? is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

The thing about studying for finals or the bar exam is that it is a marathon and not a sprint. It takes hard work and discipline to study daily (while taking much needed breaks) and oftentimes you are the only one setting up the study schedule.  You have no easy accountability except the test looming in the future. And if you have a tendency to procrastinate, that can lead to disappointing exam results.  Why? Because you cannot cram for a law school test. To be successful you must study, learn the law, and practice. And this cannot be done in one day or even in a couple of days.  Steady work is required throughout the exam period.  So what can you do? There are a number of techniques you can use to help fight procrastination.

• Set up a study schedule. Everyone should do this — it is very helpful to plan out your day/week or even month of studying.  What does that mean? Well, you can assign a given week a subject to focus on and set goals for that week. What if next week was “torts week,” for example?  Then, my goals for the week would be to update my torts outline, write at least one practice exam on torts, and do two hours of torts multiple-choice questions.  Once I have set out those tangible goals, it is easier to discipline myself to accomplish them.
• Set up an accountability structure for yourself.  Sometimes it is just too difficult to make yourself write that practice exam (because we all know how fun that can be). How can you help yourself get it done? Set up a deadline for yourself.  Talk to your friends and set up a meeting to get together to review the practice exam as a group. That means it has to be done. Or if you don’t want to do that, set up an appointment with a professor to review the exam.  These external deadlines will help keep you on track.
• Keep a journal.  Journaling is an interesting technique that can help with many facets of managing a study period. Keeping a journal can help you deal with anxiety and also create accountability to yourself.  By tracking the work you do every day, you can highlight what you did that you are proud of on a given day and what you wish you had done.  Some even argue that this is a very effective technique with managing stress during the bar exam. See Matt Racine, The Bar Exam Mind: A Strategy Guide For An Anxiety-Free Bar Exam.
• Take breaks to reward yourself. Breaks are very important when maintaining a productive study schedule. You cannot study all day every day.  You must take breaks in order to re-fuel yourself and re-focus.  But these breaks need to be planned. They need to be a given Sunday morning for hiking with friends, or a dinner out on a Friday night.  Do not become overly indulgent in breaks.  Breaks can keep you from getting burned out, but they should not take away from quality study time. For more on procrastination and the importance of breaks see Survive Law School: Stop Procrastinating on The Girl’s Guide to Law School.
• Go to a place that is conducive to studying.  When I was in law school, I was never very good at studying at home.  Home was full of distractions even though I lived alone (laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, phone calls, bills — you name it, I could come up with something to do). So I used to study at locations where I could intensely focus. Sometimes this was the law school library. However, during finals I frequently found the library too busy, crowded, and full of nervous energy.  So a friend and I started studying at a library near a medical school in town.  The library was open to the public but had no public Internet.  (And this was before smart phones.) So when you were in a place with no Internet, there really was no Internet. And it was great because all you could do was study.  You can also take steps to make wherever you study more conducive to studying. Turn off the wireless on your computer. Turn off your cell phone.  Make the minutes count. That will also prevent you from getting sucked into checking Twitter or Facebook or responding to e-mails. Keeping yourself focused will help with procrastination.

Many students find that working with a tutor can also help them stay focused and on track. Please contact Amicus Tutoring if you would like help preparing for finals.

Procrastination: How to Get in Gear and Get the Grades You Want is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC