By Stephanie Pengilley, Bickel Sannipoli APC
The night before the first day of the bar exam, I dreamt of an overflowing toilet that wouldn’t stop no matter what I tried. Upon waking I immediately Googled my dream: apparently dreaming of an overflowing toilet means you are overwhelmed with waking life. Well duh!
Needless to say, feeling overwhelmed, no matter how prepared you are, is natural. My advice for those taking the bar exam is routine and schedule. When studying, it’s important to simulate the bar exam conditions. Wake up a couple hours prior to studying, eat breakfast and get your brain going, then begin your day the same time the bar exam begins. If you haven’t done that yet, no worries—there is plenty of time to get into your routine and schedule for exam day.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to memorize every bit of information to pass this exam—rather, you need to have a general understanding of all areas of the law that could be covered. It’s easy to get bogged down in every little detail and feel worried that you don’t know everything. Again this is natural; there is no way you can memorize everything and that is ok!
In terms of morale, remember that self-doubt heading into the exam is completely normal and not necessarily predictive of your likelihood of passing. To illustrate this point, we surveyed NLD attorneys who have all passed the bar exam. The majority of those attorneys ranked their level of confidence just before the exam as 3 or less on a 1-5 scale.
The NLD attorneys have plenty of other advice for anyone taking the upcoming bar exam:
Before the Exam
During the two weeks leading up to the bar exam, get proper sleep, take care of your physical and mental wellbeing, and trust your preparation up to this point, avoiding the impulse to wear yourself out with excessive cramming between now and the exam.
“Trust the work you’ve already done, even if you think you don’t know anything,” said one attorney. “You will remember more than you think, and trying to re-read every study aid you have two weeks beforehand will only hurt you. Focus on reviewing a few rules you’ve struggled with, and trust you will know the rest of the material you’ve covered over bar prep.”
Another attorney suggests, “Take at least one day off on the weekends and listen to your body! If you need to sleep, then take a break and sleep; if you need to eat, then take a break and eat.”
To prevent yourself from feeling stagnated or over-focusing on a single subject, you can mix up your routine: “Set your timer for short 30-minute segments and switch subjects each time. This helps you not get too wrapped up in a particular subject and preps your brain for the quick-changing subjects on exam days.”
A majority of NLD attorneys said that if they had to take the exam again, they would take more practice essays (even if it is just issue spotting and outlining), drill MBEs, and devote extra practice to the performance test because it is weighted greater. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
Importantly, recent bar passers strongly recommend taking advantage of the online practice exams to familiarize yourself with the software and its features: “Practice doing your MBEs with the online highlighter, learn where the tools and different views are, and watch all the instructional videos. Also, practice taking the exam sitting still and not looking around—that will help you not flag the system when it is recording you.”
Advice for Exam Repeaters
NLD attorneys who passed the exam on a subsequent attempt encourage repeat takers: “Don’t give up! Stay motivated and remember your why!”
They emphasize the value of refining your performance test skills and, for all essays, taking advantage of the past essay questions and model answers provided on the California State Bar website. For all portions of the exam, they recommend paying special attention to timing.
“Life did not end just because you did not pass the last bar exam,” said one attorney. “Over half the people who took the California Bar Exam the last five years did not pass, and their lives did not end either. When you apply for work, no one cares how many times you took the bar exam; after you pass, you are an attorney.”
Exam Days and Beyond
Overall, NLD attorneys emphasize getting proper sleep, pre-planning meals, staying calm and focused during the exam sessions, and rewarding yourself afterwards with good food and relaxation.
“Just block everything out except the discrete essay or multiple-choice question that is in front of you,” said one attorney. “Knock out each question/issue/scenario and move on. Don’t dwell on the questions that were difficult or you think you did bad on.”
For anyone sweating through the bar exam process right now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Reflecting back, the surveyed attorneys said that the bar prep process has molded them into better lawyers.
For example, one attorney said, “I felt my legal analysis was way better after studying for the bar, and I still apply my analysis skills when I review files and evaluate cases.”
Said another attorney, “Afterwards, you feel much more capable of taking on high-level goals since you know you have the discipline it takes to get it done.”
Remember, you’ve got this and believe in yourself, no matter what happens you should be proud of yourself for making it this far.