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As a law student aspiring to become a lawyer, you should view the bar exam as another milestone among many (for example, the LSAT, acceptance at a law school, successful completion of first year, etc.). It is something to be aware of (but not to dwell on) and to confront and overcome at the appropriate time. While the test is certainly no pushover and requires intense preparation, it is not the monster some would have you believe.
One of the most important things you can remember about taking the bar is that everyone in your class statewide (and, in a more general sense, nationwide) is in the same boat. No one taking the test has any advantage except those which they create for themselves through proper preparation. As far as the Board of Examiners is concerned, when test time comes, all Juris Doctors stand equal before the bar with respect to the administration and grading of this anonymously taken exam. And when test time is over, all takers feel equally wiped out and unsuccessful, and all will have to wait for countless months to know whether their pens and pencils worked the necessary magic for them to become, at last, lawyers.
In no event should you begin studying for the bar exam too early. Starting to study too far in advance is often a direct result of forgetting the most basic truth: You should not worry about the exam (or at least not before its time). Jumping the gun on bar study will lead to worrying and burnout, and you will not be able to retain what you read. It also will reduce or eliminate your precious leisure time for nonlaw activities and distract you from more important legal work as well (such as finishing your law review article, preparing for classes, outlining, or studying for midterms or finals).
One of us, as a second-year law student working assiduously to become a law review editor, witnessed a case in point. A third-year law student at his school began studying and reviewing for the bar exam (held in late July) in January. This student, although a law review editor and a seeming cinch to pass the bar but for his neurosis over the test, ended up flunking the exam the first time around despite his five-month jump on his classmates (the great majority of whom passed). Far from ensuring success, his behavior produced undue worry and anxiety and was otherwise unproductive.
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It is not easy to cram the most important parts of three years of law study into eight short weeks (which is why a formal review course is indispensable). If you want to be at your best, you need to be physically and mentally fit and fully alert. Think of yourself as a boxer preparing for a championship fight. While you must work long and hard, putting in every mile of roadwork and sparring every round, you must not overtrain. Skipping meals, losing sleep, and worrying excessively will render you vulnerable come fight day no matter how relentlessly you drive your body.
Assuming you have graduated, enrolled in a reputable bar review course (such as BarBri), regularly attended lectures, and studied in the right frame of mind, nothing should prevent you from giving your best performance on the exam, which will usually be more than enough to pass. Bar review courses combine massive written materials (including practice tests and outlines similar to the kind law school has already acquainted you with) with a series of videotaped (and sometimes live) lectures. The format is similar to that of law school-minus the Socratic element, of course. However, the range and pace of study are more intense and the level of analysis is by necessity more broadbrush. You will cover over a dozen major areas of law in a comprehensive (if not detailed) fashion in a mere eight weeks. Though this may seem daunting and may tempt you into making the fatal error of early study, do not succumb. Most or all of the material should be familiar from your law school curriculum, thus easing the burden and anxiety.
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