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.

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

Please wear soft-soled or rubber-soled shoes so as not to disturb your fellow applicants.

Violation of the mandatory dress code may result in your dismissal from the exam site and the disqualification of your exam.

2:50,

thanks for the laugh. i am studying (taking a 5 minute break at the moment) for the bar and the humor is much appreciated.

btw, this is a pretty affable thread, and a nice change of pace in terms of a general rallying around bar-takers. i expected more schadenfreude than compassion. i'm pleasantly surprised.

For me, a few ludes in the morning, then a few lines of blow in the afternoon really settled my nerves.

I can haz bar exam?

Do at least a couple practical exam questions to practice, if for no other reason than to be sure you can get your answers down in time.
Re: the essays -- the main thing is to get buzz words down. If you have to go light on studying a topic or two, at least memorize some of the main vocab so you can throw it out there if you have to.
Re: mbe's -- it's all about practice questions, not so much about reading the outlines. (Though flashcards can also be helpful.)

Main advice, if you want to have any friends left after the exam -- DO NOT talk about specific questions/answers from the exam afterward, and DO NOT say it wasn't that bad, or you're sure you passed, etc. I know at least one cocky person who failed, and before the results came out, he was making the rest of us sick with worry about how we'd done.
Also, have at least a couple back-up alarms to wake up, including someone to call you at a set time. Knowing there was no chance I'd oversleep helped me get a little bit of shut-eye the night before.

Oh yeah, sleep well over the weekend, or take some pre-tested PM medication (Tylenol, benedryl). Don't take a PM med to help you sleep if you haven't had it before though. It could have the opposite effect on you and keep you up all night.

I convinced myself it was "just for fun" (don't know how, maybe the pass/fail nature). I think the CA bar was one of my most pleasurable experiences (studying for it sucked though). People around me seemed annoyed that I was smiling the whole time. Come to think of it, that was pretty annoying. Oh, and I made jokes like "oh, did you guys get that corporations cross-over in number 3" when there was no corporations cross-over...ha ha ha ha!!!

Man, I'm a loser.

Somewhere Loyola2L is freaking out because his 3rd tier BarBri class hasn't prepared him for the 3rd tier bar exam.

Honestly, my advice is ignore all advice (even this!) because none of these people know that their strategy worked. We don't know by what margin they passed, whether or not doing something other than what they are suggesting would have gotten them a "higher score," etc.

My advice is DO WHAT YOU THINK YOU NEED TO DO, not what others do. Be yourself because being yourself has (ostensibly) worked for you.

Uh, OK, 5:07, thanks for trolling in an bar-exam advice thread.

All I know is that the night before the exam, I busted up laughing hysterically with the thought that the bar exam was the next day. I realized that my life, and especially this exam, were so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. This is how I passed.

There's really no difference between Pieper/Barbri with respect to passing, but I found Pieper to be a relatively humane experience, if only because far fewer law graduates take the course. This means that one has to deal with far fewer law graduates while preparing for the bar exam, which is always nice. Also, John Pieper is a realist and gives alternative study plans for people who work and take the bar exam (yes, they exist). He's encouraging and not really into scare tactics.

I posted this on another thread - if you suffer from insomnia, get a prescription for Ambien/Lunesta/whatever and take it the week leading up to the exam. If you don't have any weird side effects, take it before the exam. At the very least, I was reassured knowing I had it on hand should I have trouble falling asleep. For the vast majority of people, these drugs are a Godsend (well, at least for me).

Ditto on what most people say: don't discuss the exam and don't listen to your friends who are convinced they answered everything properly. They are likely wrong.

You just have to pass, not ace the thing!

MY ADVICE FOR PASSING THE BAR EXAM:

Rule No. 1: Stay loose.

Rule No. 2: Stay loose.

The six week run-up to the exam should be consumed with reading the long outlines for comprehension (2-3 hours a day is fine), walking and relaxing, and attending the BAR/BRI lectures.

Don’t start cramming until the week before the exam.

Do not spend any time around demanding or needy boyfriends/girlfriends. If necessary, break it off. This is all about you and your state of mind.

24 hours before the exam, do nothing except light diversionary activities (no study).

Remember, YOU ARE GOING TO PASS IF GRADUATED FROM AN ABA ACCREDITED SCHOOL—UNLESS YOU LET THEM MIND F**** YOU INTO FLUNKING.

MY BAR ANTICDOTE:

The second day of the exam I OVERSLEPT. I wake up, realize I have (barely) the minimum time to get to Hastings COL (my test site) by bus. I have exactly the buss fare.

I get on the buss sweating bullets.

The driver goes 6 blocks, stops, and announces: “I am sorry. Its my first day on this route. I should have started at the beach. I have to go back. Everyone off the bus. Here is a transfer.

At this point I have 10 minutes to make it to the exam (impossible) and there is not another buss in site. I have a FLEETING thought of hijacking a car, then come to my senses. (Part of the psychological fitness-for-practice component, no doubt). I am f***ed, because I know they lock the doors at 9:000am.

I bus finally arrives, I arrive at the test site at 9:15 am. But the doors to Hastings ARE OPEN!!! I then find out that the exam starts a half our later the second day, and I AM SAVED!!!!.

But I am badly shaken, and I attempt deep breathing exercises. Just as I calm down (barely) a classmate I barely know grabs me by the front of my shirt, slams me against the wall, and starts screaming “I’m flunking! I ‘m flunking!

I extricate myself with the minimum force. Shaken, I find my seat just minutes before the morning’s essays are circulated. Survival instincts kick in. I successfully resist the string urge to shit in my pants.

I do fine.

Third day, I am a cocky SOB. I turn my bluebooks in 20 minutes early, just to be an asshole.

I walk out of Hastings to encounter another classmate I barely know. (He had a pocket protector all through LS with different colors of highlighting pens.) He say he has a bottle of scotch at his near campus apt. We drink it. I call my Dad, who is with cronies at the SF Tennis Club. I drink several scotches waiting for the game to finish.

We go to the Waterfront restaurant. We have Suave out of bottles shaped like a fish.

I find a LS après Bar party. I drink a lot. I say unfortunate (but true) things to several people.

I wake up in an apartment not my own.

I passed. Might or might not be a mistake. If the latter it has not yet been discoved….

I agree with the folks who advised that you use your tried and true methods. You took the LSAT and did well enough to get into law school, and took law school essay exams well enough to qualify for the bar exam. Now is not the time to change the strategies that have gotten you this far.

Having said that, I did find that not studying the day beforehand or the night in between did help maintain my fraying sanity.

The three-day bender I went on with law school friends afterwards is a happy memory.

As a first-time passer (CA, July 2006), I ignored everything that everyone had advised me to do.
- I was told to dedicate the summer to Barbri. Instead, I worked as a full-time summer associate until 2 1/2 weeks before the bar and did Barbri in the evenings.
- I was told to take PMBR. I didn’t.
- I was told to write out lots of essays for practice (if I had a dollar for every person who told me, “It’s not good enough if you only practice issue-spotting, you have to WRITE the essays...”) I didn’t write out more than one essay per subject (and in some cases, didn’t write out any.) Instead, I focused on issue-spotting and reading over a fair number of Barbri’s sample answers to get familiar with the suggested structure.
- I was told to submit all the “graded” assignments to Barbri. I submitted five out of seven...and one of those, I copied nearly-verbatim from their sample answer. That was the only one on which I received a passing score.
- I was told to stick as close to the paced program as I could. I didn’t even look at the paced program after the second day. I’d estimate that I did 5 percent of Barbri’s assignments.

When it came time to take the bar, the same sorts of things happened:
- They say never to discuss questions you’ve finished during lunch breaks or at the end of days 1 or 2. Well, I prefer to do it that way when I have friends who are game. So yeah, I realized I’d missed some stuff, but on the whole, I felt much reassured.
- Conventional wisdom is to stay at a hotel walking distance from the bar exam. I decided to commute from my home 25 miles away and just get up earlier. It was wonderful to minimize the time spent around neurotic bar-crazed students and to sleep in my own bed.

The point of this little story is not that everyone should do what I did; rather, that the ‘correct’ decisions vary for each of us. I’m not sure that a thread containing bar advice does any good for anyone taking the exam - it just shows them a litany of people who have made different decisions than they have, which can cause them to freak out and be sure they will fail (I for one was sure I’d fail many days because I had spent so few hours studying, relative to people who weren’t working full-time, and done so few of Barbri’s prescribed assignments.)

Fear not, friends. If 5:41 can pass the Bar without knowing how to spell "bus" or "anecdote," you should be fine.

I kinda slacked off for the first few weeks of Bar/Bri. I went into the first multi-state practice exam pretty cocky. The morning session ended, I corrected my test and was so distraught I went to lunch and had a beer. I came back loose and with that slightest hint of alcohol buzz that having one beer can sometimes give.

I rocked the snot out of the second half of that practice exam so I resolved to have a beer at lunch each of the three days during the bar exam. I did and I passed.

Oh, I also mistook a contracts question for a torts question (caught my mistake in time, though) and finished half an hour early the last day.

My cousin--then a second year attorney from DC who came out to take the CA bar without studying for it--had a Cap'n and Coke at lunch on day 1, a double on day 2, and two doubles on day 3. He, however, did not pass. So take my advice with a grain of salt (or whatever other garnish you add to your drink of choice).

Bottom line: you've been kicking ass in exams all your life--there's no reason for you to think that will stop now. You will do fine and you will pass. Although your ass will likely be sore from the rock-hard chairs and your shoulders may never unhunch, you will survive. Good luck.

PMBR. And PMBR. And more PMBR.

PMBR was lame. I took the mock exam (very helpful and good for a confidence boost), but totally ditched the seminar part of it. By the time PMBR comes up (the 3 day one, not the earlier 6 day one), you need to be studying, not sitting in a dumb seminar.

Oh, and be aware, neither PMBR nor BarBri actually have questions anything NEAR like the ones on the Bar Exam. But, somehow, it all works out...

Totally agree with what 6:06pm wrote.

But, 5:51, at least 5:41 made the effort to use the proper "accent grave" on "après."

July 2002 Virginia bar taker here. My year, there were examiners looking around for people who didn't follow the dress code. The suit and sneakers requirement is annoying, but don't waste all of your hard work and bar prep time by getting kicked out of the exam for not following the rules.

I didn't follow the BarBri pace program; didn't take Essay Advantage; and didn't take PMBR. I didn't do a single Performance Test, only did one or two practice essays, and read the Civ Pro and Trusts & Wills outlines for the first time less than three days before the bar. Up until July 6, I only went to class and did not study outside of class. Per my usual style, I did everything that people are saying not to do: I crammed over the last few weeks, including the day before and the nights between testing days. My flight was delayed (almost making me miss the bar); my laptop refused to start; and the person next to me had a breakdown.

In the end, I passed the CA bar on my first try on a test date where the cumulative pass rate was lower than 50%. (Oddly enough, I look back fondly on my experience: The bar is a rite of passage and I was ready for it to be my turn. Plus, it was satisfying to be able to combine aspects of my legal education -- otherwise so compartmentalized -- into single essays/factual scenarios.)

In the end, I knew myself and trusted my mind. While I intended to be more diligent and on top of things, I knew that there were times in the past when I had procrastinated but had come out ok. I kept a positive attitude while studying those last long weeks (I do enjoy the law) and kept a positive, focused attitude during the bar exam itself. And I stayed the hell away from everyone (except my freaked out seat-neighbor, who I tried to talk into finishing the test): In the weeks before the exam, I remained far away from my law school classmates who were breaking down left and right; during the exam, I kept my distance from test takers who were gloating or crying over their essay answers. I treated myself to some yummy comfort food and a couple of long distance calls to my family (who I knew were cheering me on).

So, to those of you worrying that you haven't been as diligent as you would have liked, the time for such thinking is AFTER you get bar exam results, not now. Right now, just focus on what your weaknesses are, on not making the same mistake twice, and keeping your focus and your cool. You've made it this far and you can make it through this.

Good luck.

Don't touch the long outlines. Waste of time.

Don't practice performance tests (as someone stated before). Can you follow instructions?

You don't need PMBR. Medium Bar/Bri questions are close enough.

@ 6:06
"neither PMBR nor BarBri actually have questions anything NEAR like the ones on the Bar Exam"

BS. I saw some of the *exact* intermediate Bar/Bri questions on the MBE.

5:41 -

"We go to the Waterfront restaurant. We have Suave out of bottles shaped like a fish."

You drank shampoo out of fish-shaped bottles?

"Suave does what theirs does, for a lot less!"

Dear 5:51: The bar exam doesn’t not test for spelling, grammar, penmanship, or anything but 1. spotting the elements/issues (THANK GAWD) and 2. saying something pertinent and brief about each.

But yea, you are right--if i can pass, you can pass.

6:06 is either full of shit or a shill for Bar/BRI. PMBR was the best prep I could have had for the MBE (took the bar in 1996).

By the way, there WILL be questions on the MBE which will totally throw you for a loop. On my exam I remember one about land surveying, where we had to interpret metes & bounds, and another about riparian rights. If you get something like that, just chillax and pick an answer at random - you've got a 25% chance of getting it right.

"accent grave"? Is that what that little do-hicky is?

You guys is smart; first time passers for sure.

Make sure you take thre time to point out any typos in the exam Q's. I am sure the guy grading 50 exams over breakfast with the kids screaming will be so impressed he will give your BB a 90....

Actually, it's 60 exams, after dinner, while getting a blowjob from my boyfriend.

To anyone who has taken VA - do they make you wear the suit jacket the entire time, or can you put it on the back of your chair during the exam?

The PA bar exam won't be cancelled for any reason whatsoever, even in case of zombie attacks. What a bunch of assholes. Remember, this is all part of the mind-fuck game they try to play on applicants.

*** NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS ***
The Pennsylvania bar examination WILL NOT be postponed or canceled for any reason (including inclement weather).

No extra time will be given for lateness for any reason.

*IMPORTANT NOTICE*

Applicants are NOT permitted to have in the examination room:

Purses, tote bags, backpacks, briefcases, computer cases, study materials, etc. All of these items MUST be left outside of the examination room in the unsecured lobby area.

Applicants are NOT permitted to bring into the examination room or store in the Applicant Lobby area the following items:

Cell phones, pagers, palm pilots, calculators, alarm watches, headsets of any kind or any other electronic or programmable devices.

Note: No electronic devices may be stored in the applicant lobby area, even if turned off or disabled. If these items activate (make noise) they will be confiscated by the board staff and the incident will be reported to the Board of Law Examiners. Violations will result in disqualification.

*PLEASE LEAVE ALL VALUABLES AT HOME, IN YOUR CAR OR HOTEL ROOM*

The Board of Law Examiners is not responsible for the security of these personal items.

Dear 6:45:

Suave wine, as in Suave, Italy.

"Some producers patented their own bottle shapes i.e. Fazi-Battaglia Verdicchio, Yago in Rioja, and Black Tower in Germany. Fazi-Battaglia features a fish shaped bottle."

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbottles.html

After the bar exam, y'all need to get out more......

NOTICE TO BAR CANDIDATES
REGARDING STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS RULE ON FRAUD, DISHONESTY AND OTHER MISCONDUCT (22 NYCRR § 6000.9)

When sitting for the bar exam in New York, please be aware that among other conduct, it is a violation of Board Rule § 6000.9 on Fraud, Dishonesty and other Misconduct to have written or designated any answers or other information on an answer sheet or booklet after the announcement of the conclusion of an exam session.

On every recent exam, instances of violations of this rule have been reported to the Board.

The penalties the Board has imposed on candidates found to have violated the Board rule by continuing to write after time was called generally have been all of the following: (1) nullification of the results of that examination; (2) disqualification from taking future New York State bar exams or applying for admission on motion for one or two years (the rule permits up to six years); (3) transmission of a written report of the matter to the Committee on Character and Fitness in New York State; and (4) transmission of a written report of the matter to bar admission authorities in other jurisdictions and countries where the candidate is or may seek to be admitted to practice law.

At the conclusion of each session of the examination, a pre-recorded announcement is made stating "STOP WRITING, CLOSE YOUR EXAMINATION BOOKS, AND STAND SILENTLY AT YOUR DESK. THIS EXAMINATION SESSION IS CONCLUDED." You must immediately put down your pen or pencil when that announcement is made. It is not permitted for you to complete the sentence you are writing on any essay or to fill in any bubbles on any machine graded (Scantron) answer sheet once time has been called. You are not permitted to write anything on your answer sheet once time is called, including your seat number or any other identifying information you may have left off. If you have failed to write such information on your paper, wait for your proctor to come to your desk and seek his/her instructions.

You are not permitted to erase or strikeout any part of an answer or any markings on your answer sheets or booklets once the announcement to stop writing has been made.

A claim that you were unable to hear the announcement because you were wearing earplugs, were too focused on the exam or did not understand the announcer or the announcement will not be accepted as an excuse for any conduct which is found to be in violation of this rule.

The Board cannot overemphasize the necessity of full compliance with this rule.

CA lets us bring in two pillows, sans pillow cases. Can't wait to see the examinee reclining like it's Passover.

7:04 -- I don't recall anyone saying you couldn't take the coat off during the actual test-taking.

As for strategy, if you have too many "weak" subjects at this late stage, you'd be better off learning 5 key legal pearls for some of the more arcane subjects like bankruptcy/creditor rights or UCC/sales that you could use in a pinch if you get a question on that subject. Then focus your remaining energies on those subject that are more likely to be tested: wills, contracts, agency, procedure, etc.

PMBR is such a TTT. "Answer: A or D!" "Answer: any of the above!" So rancid.

Right, 8:03 didn't need to study for the bar exam or even take it. 8:03's extremely prestigious top-tier pedigree permitted 8:03's to simply waive into the bar by showing proof of 8:03's distinguished lineage.

Give me a fucking break.

I passed the July '06 Cal. Bar.

Always keep in mind that at NO point are they asking you to hit a homerun. They are just asking you to hit a single---or maybe even less---you just don't want to hit yourself in the face with the bat.

I had a total meltdown on the first performance test, freaking out and somehow managing to get very little on paper. Probably got the minimum pity points score.

I pulled together for the rest of the exam and passed. Moral: even if you blow an entire section, don't give up, there is a lot of room for error.

8:24, I didn't say I did it without study aids or because of my pedigree or because of my lineage. I passed last year despite many of the PMBR "answers." BarBri had its own issues, but it was certainly not as lousy as the equivocal PMBR.

8:03/8:45 = either a Bar/BRI rep or just a complete tool.

Wait, I can do this too!

8:24/9:19 = either a PMBR rep or just a complete tool.

The bar exam is just a mental game, where the law examiners treat everyone like children. When you get to the point where the NY State Law Examiners have to tell people to bring only a "Quiet Snack" to the exam, but no peanuts, things are pretty damn stupid. Don't worry - just act like a normal adult and you'll be fine.

NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS

SECURITY POLICY

Applicants must have their Admission Ticket and Government Issued Photo ID in hand and ready to present to security at the entrance to the exam room.

Applicants are NOT permitted to bring any items into the examination room other than one (1) clear, gallon-sized plastic food storage bag which may contain:

Pens (blue or black ink only)
Medication
No. 2 Pencils, Erasers, Highlighters
Feminine Hygiene Products
Beverage in plastic container or juice box only
Tissues
Quiet Snack (No peanut or tree nut products)
Ordinary Earplugs

If you have a lunch, you will have to check it at the coat check area as the only items permitted in the exam room are those items listed above.

Laptop Users – For the first day of the exam only, you may bring the following items into the exam room: laptop, mouse, external keyboard, mouse pad and power cord. No bags will be permitted in the exam room. All bags must be checked in the coat/bag check area. For the MBE day of the exam, the above security policy will be strictly enforced.

The following items are strictly prohibited and will NOT be permitted in the exam room:

NO handbags, purses, backpacks, briefcases, tote bags, laptop bags, luggage, etc.
NO notes, papers, books, bar review or other study materials in any format or media.
NO Electronic Devices – including but not limited to Cell Phones, PDA’s. wireless e-mail devices, pagers, calculators, clocks, cameras, radios, recording devices, hand-held computers, programmable watches, etc.
NO Headphones or Headsets.
NO Weapons of any kind.
NO Hats, baseball caps, visors, with the exception of religious apparel, which may not contain a brim or otherwise obscure the view of the applicant’s facial features.

Any other item not specifically permitted in the Security Policy is Prohibited.

It is recommended that you do not bring any of the above-mentioned items to the exam site because they will not be permitted in the exam room and the Board will not store the items for you. It is against both fire and security code to leave items on the floor, in the aisles, or in the corridors of the buildings, and unattended items will be discarded by security. The Board will NOT be responsible for the loss or damage of any personal property, so we recommend that any such items are best left at home, in your hotel room, or in your car.

Violations of this Security Policy will be considered a violation of the Board’s Rule on Fraud, Dishonesty and Other Misconduct [Rule 6000.9] and may result in sanctions including but not limited to the cancellation of scores and notice to the Character and Fitness Committee.

Coat Check Area – The Board will have a coat check area at each test center where you may store only a coat/jacket, laptop bag or small bag with your lunch. We will not store luggage so do not bring it to the exam. The Board will NOT be responsible for the loss or damage of any property stored in a coat check area. We suggest dressing in layers to compensate for normal temperature variations at the test centers. Sweaters, sweatshirts, etc. that are removed during the exam must be stored under your chair.

Know the difference between "charring" and "blackening."

Know that 75% of the bar exam question are about useless shit you'll never need to know again. Like the difference between charring and blackening. This time next year you'll laugh at the thought of actually being stressed over that bullshit.

Word to 5:50.

I was told to take PMBR, but didn't.

I wrote out few, if any, practice answers. I didn't turn in any for grading by the jackasses at BarBri. Meanwhile, all of my friends freaked out by their horrible scores on the fake graded answers.

I never understood certain topics, like Secured Transactions, but I tried to memorize the rules well enough to spew them back onto a page. I still know the holder in due course rule, although I couldn't explain it to you if you paid me.

I never opened the long outlines, and rarely opened the short outlines, and I relied primarily on my lecture notes.

I faithfully attended BarBri classes, but did not spend a ton of time studying outside of class until the final few weeks, when class was over.

I have passed two states on the first try. For the second state, I studied mainly from the books from the first state.

It's all about the IRAC. If you draw a blank, make up a rule and apply it.

Advice - to the extent there are wacky testing procedures, be sure to follow them. When I took my first exam (IL, 2003), each of the essays was assigned a different color and you had to write your answer in the booklet corresponding to the color for the question you were answering (presumably because they gave different essays to different graders after the test). They didn't collect or pass out books between questions. Too complicated for my pea brain. I ended up effing up the order by starting an essay on the first blank page of the last book I was working in, rather than the appropriately colored book. Then I had to explain my gaffe to a proctor, draw a freakin' flowchart explaining what I had done, and label all the booklets. I then had to give all of my materials to the proctor to be specially graded. I felt like a retard, and was convinced I had failed. But alas, I did fine.

Screw BarBri and their extortion. Go with the Study Group. Better focused outlines, lectures on an iPod, complete flexibility in scheduling, and $1000 less out of pocket.

I took Bar/BRI. The only reason I did was because their videotaped lectures were included with the bar exam prep course I purchased, which provided live lectures on state substantive law from practitioners and judges. That was the only part I was interested in.

The taped lectures were boring and, at times, juvenile. Conviser came across as an arrogant fool who was overly excited about tort law (WTF?). The Whitebread lectures were mildly amusing. I went to some of them because I thought I needed to (I mean, I did pay for them), but after a while I decided to just fuck it and figured my time was better spent drinking margaritas and preparing my own outlines. Totally ignored Bar/BRI's MBE prep as well. Passed the exam on my first try.

HI all,

This thread is a good time for me to post a comment.

I am a quite active reader of abovethelaw. I'll be a French lawyer soon. And I really want to go to practice once in the US (if you have some advices I'll be happy).

Actually I am undertaking the franch bar exam... What can I say about it...

Here in France we have to undertake 5 years of law before the bar exam. The last year is at a lawyer school where you have 3 months of class, and 12 months in law firms. I juts finish the 3 months course period. It was just horrible. Except for some lecture from nice and young french lawyer girls.

I had an exam on last monday on criminal procedings and deontology. We had to answer to 150 questions we will nearly never need in our practice... We had 3 hours to answer, but within half an hour half of the students went out of the exam. I also had on Tuesday an English exam with those typical french teacher with a dreadful accent...

If some of you are interested, I'll present more in details the French system and french bar exam.

I am very happy because I'll join Cleary gottlieb's Paris office for my internship. And hope they will offer me a job at the end of it! Unfortunately the wages here are not as high as for you guys in the US...

See you!

6:54 - I remember getting a MBE question about Riparian rights and thinking it odd (although I actual knew the answer). Of course, ten years later, I'm a water lawyer, so go figure.

Deontology?

Sorry that was due to an overtrust to babelfish translator... instead of the strange "deontology", better said "ethic rules"...

I went to day one of the PMBR seminar, but found it to be an enormous psych-out. It was about two weeks before the exam and, according to my score on the PMBR sample test, I was destined to fail (I didn't - my MBE, which I knew having taken the CT bar, was surprisingly strong). I will say, though, that I found their sample questions/explanations pretty helpful in that they helped me read questions more insightfully.

The lecturer is an absolute dick, though, and really tried to scare the shit out of everybody. Don't fall prey to that.

Jean,

Please tell us more. "Law" and "French" always seem so incompatible to me.

Jean: Get an LLM. Cleary's lawyers with LLM's make US associate salaries.

After taking the Feb bar, I bumped into a friend of the family who actually graded bar exam essays. He told me that he graded the essays to supplement his income and that he was paid by the exam he did. His attitude was to get the most amount of money for the least amount of work. His trick? The exam taker's score on the multiple choice section was printed on the upper right hand corner of the essay booklet. If the exam taker scored high enough to pass that section, he automatically gave enough points on the essay to pass the person, after briefly skimming the essay itself. So ace the multiple choice and your essay grader may not even look at your essay! Good luck everyone.

Thanks Snarkalicious for asking, it's a pleasure for me to make you discover some links between french and law.

First of all, give me the opportunity to come and work in a good law firm, and I'll show you we're not the last one!

But here is a short tour around famous french lawyer.

First of all, we had here tha famous Montesquieu (1689 - 1755) writer of The Spirit of law, and one of the most remarkable theorist of the separation of powers.

We also had Tocqueville (1805 - 1859) who studied the US society - democracy in his famous Democracy in America.

At the same time, Napoleon (1769-1821) wrote the French civil code (1804) who inspired all western europe, some countries of the middle east, all central and south america. Some part of the french civil code are still part of Louisiana laws.

But more recently we had also some famous lawyers here who are quite influent in the area of business law (I won't speak about criminal lawyers).

Emmanuel Gaillard, head of the international arbitration department at Shearman Sterling, is quite famous (even US lawyers want to go to the paris office!). As were his two friends M. Berthold Goldman and Ph. Fouchard.

Our actual french minister of economics, Ms Christine Lagarde was elected twice Chairman at Baker McKenzie (in 99 and 2002).

And last but not least, our actual president Sarkozy is a lawyer... as we said here "le droit mène à tout" (law leads you everywhere).

Have I convinced you? Can you find me a job overthere????

Don't worry about the bar.

Just remain calm and do your best. Fuck it, who cares if you don't pass?

What kind of morons discuss the questions afterwards? It's fucking over! Arguing about it is pointless.

I only did multiple choice questions and skimmed NY law the last couple weeks. I never followed the crazy Barbri schedule.

Just pace yourself. Write SOMETHING for each essay, even if it's complete bullshit. Panicking is a waste of energy.

Also, you WILL think you failed it, and you WILL think you are in the process of failing as you take it. Everyone does. Just chill out. Just pretend it's another practice test.

It's a shame the world is full of people like those posting comments on this blog.

Just finished!

What an experience. I feel pretty good about the whole thing. I'm glad its over and am looking forward to getting back to "normal living" before I start work in August. It wasn't so bad. The most interesting part is that going in, I felt MUCH better about the MBE than I did about the essays. I had my MBE practice scores up to 150-160 raw by last week, but everytime I looked through the BarBri essays I freaked out, because I couldn't spot the issues.

It appears, after the last two days, that I found the MBE portion harder and the NY day much more manageable. Although the first essay was commercial paper, which I thought appeared on the bar once every twenty years, the rest of the essays were pretty straight ahead. Meanwhile, the MBE was very tricky -- much harder than the PMBR book and Barbri practice questions I did. Anyways, I feel pretty good about the whole thing. Now I'm OFF TO EUROPE....

p.s. i didn't follow the pace program at all. i did what worked for me in law school -- continual review of the outlines and attended class. i did a lot of the mbe questions, and hardly any of the practice essays.

In re: above,

By the way could they make the Javits Center any COLDER in the morning and HOTTER in the afternoon??

I have no clue how I did. I have absolutely no right to feel like I passed NJ & NY. But, I feel good about both. My study plan consisted of borrowing a 2 year old Convisor book from someone and reading it for an hour a day during lunch for 2 months. And, taking off two days from work to study for the multi state.

I'd say, in total, I spent approximately 30 hours studying for the two bars while working full time.

After the bar, I felt like I was adequately prepared by by my law school professors - aside from Commercial Paper (which I never even read about) and NY Corporate law ... otherwise... I felt pretty good about what I learned at my NJ law school....

That said - I'm hoping not to be back in February, but if I do, I will take off time from work and follow a more traditional study plan.