How to Pass the Bar: Georgia and Illinois edition

This post is the third edition on my "How to Pass the Bar" series. Here's the first edition on Maryland, New Jersey and New York bar exams, Here's the second edition on Virginia and Massachusetts bar exams and Here's the fourth edition on the Pennsylvania bar exam. I'd love to hear your feedback. Hope the tips prove helpful.

Justin M., Esq. Passed the Georgia Bar Exam

If you made it through law school you can certainly pass the bar exam. Here are a few tips:

- Don't assume that you can just rely on law school class notes or what you remember from 1L year to do well. I did very well in one of the MBE subjects in law school so, at first, I spent little time studying that subject during bar review. When I got the results from my first practice exam, it was my lowest score by far. You need to study as if the material is new to you. For some of the essay subjects, it will be.

- Don't just read your notes over and over again; actively use the information. I spent the majority of my time reviewing Anki flashcards I created from the materials, or doing MBE questions and essays. If you're taking BarBri, all of your law knowledge should come from (i) lecture handouts, (ii) the Conviser, and (iii) answers to MBE and essay questions. The large textbooks (state and multistate) should be ignored completely. They're not worth your time.

- Tear out the pages of your BarBri books. I kept each subject (lecture and MBE questions) together with a binder clip so I could spend a few hours focusing on one subject at a time.

- Do 125 MBE questions per subject and review every answer. That's the bare minimum.

- Keep a record of every MBE question you miss. Wait a few days then try the questions again and review the answers. I'm certain I got a few questions correct on the bar exam just because I did this.

- While you don't have to follow the bar review course exactly, treat your bar review time seriously especially during the final month.

Good luck!

Amaka M., Passed the Illinois Bar Exam

I took the Kaplan PMBR bar review course. Many minority students supplemented either Barbri or Kaplan with a course called MLER, I didn't take the MLER course and still passed. The MLER helps with the essay portion of the exam. So, if you feel that you need additional help with the essay portion, I suggest you consider taking the MLER course. 

One of the best advice I was given to passing the bar was to take at least 100 multiple choice questions every day and review both the correct and incorrect answers. This helps you with understanding and memorizing the rule of law. I also suggest working with one or two people from your law school. Bouncing ideas off each other and talking out the questions that you do not understand helps a ton with grasping those annoying and hard concepts. 

Working with at least one person also helps motivate you... Finally, try your hardest to go to all the lectures and take lots of notes; hearing and writing down the rule of law over and over again definitely helped me memorize the law quicker, which made it easier for me to apply the law to the different fact patterns.

Stay Inspired....