The bar exam is unlike any other standardized exam I have ever taken in terms of its physical demands. It is not only an exam that tests knowledge, but it is also an endurance exam.

Most bar exams consist of at least two days of testing for six hours each of those days. Even law school graduates are not ready for the mental discipline it takes to concentrate that long. That is one reason why it takes six to eight weeks to prepare for it. Although I have never boxed, I kept thinking during my studying how similar my preparation was to what I read and heard of regarding the preparations boxers undergo prior to a fight.

During law school I was living with my parents about 40 minutes from the school, but when bar preparation time came I moved in with two other students near my law school where I was taking my bar review course. One of my roommates was also taking the bar and had also moved out of her parents' home. The other roommate was a first-year law student and good friend who made sure to stay out of the way.

Five days a week for two months I woke up at 6 a.m. to do forty multiple choice multi-state bar exam questions. After this, I would eat breakfast, watch a little television, and then be off to my morning bar review class. The class would last about four hours, and would consist of the students watching a videotape of a professor discussing a bar exam subject. During class the students would quietly take notes.

After class, I would get lunch and take a break for an hour or two. After my afternoon break I would review my class notes, read the course book, and do practice essays. At about 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m., I would stop for dinner before heading back to studying at about 7 p.m. From 7 p.m. until about 10 p.m. I would do more of the same things I did before dinner. At 10 p.m. I would begin to wind down by watching television, talking to my roommates, and taking a shower before I went to bed at about 11 p.m. All together I studied about seven to eight hours a day outside of my bar review class.

My distractions during my two months of bar preparation were limited to Friday nights through Sunday afternoons. On Saturdays and Sundays I would study only about four hours a day, and by Sunday evening I was getting back into the mind set of weekday study mode.

These websites provide other interesting bar exam preparation experiences.

http://civpro.blogs.com/civil_procedure/2004/06/studying_for_th.html

http://blawgcoop.com/wisdom/archives/2005/06/bar_exam_prep_n.html

http://barexamstudyaids.com/advice3.html

Other related articles on this website include Bar Exam-Failing and Bar Exam Horror Stories.

Good luck on the bar exam!

Michael Santana
michael.santana@lawboost.com