Bar planning dovetails with career planning
If you haven’t yet found your place in law, you’re not alone. The process of planning to pass the bar exam can help you get there.
Tag: Bar Exam
Evolution of the bar exam
Each year, thousands of law students prepare for the notable bar exam, a test of knowledge and skills which students must pass to obtain their license. Over the years, many students have spent strenuous hours studying for the exam, but the exam has not always been this daunting.
Feedback and practice questions: How to prepare for the bar exam
Active learning through guidance and practice, expert feedback, and self-reflection allow law students prepping for the bar exam to more fully understand how to best improve their performance when they attempt to apply legal principles.
Let positive thoughts about the bar exam process and the future keep you on track
Bar exam preparation—successful bar exam preparation—requires months of full-time work after law school graduation. Law school success requires three years of hard work, four years for part-time students. Succeeding at your first law job requires intense focus and incredible effort. But in each of these
The bar exam: Catching up on the conversation
If you’re considering applying to law school, or in your 1L year, you may have only vague understandings about what the bar exam is. I know I did. Maybe you’ve seen some of the recent pieces arguing about how it should be changed or abolished. It’s like
Your attention, please: 5 bar exam aspects first-time takers shouldn't overlook
Each year, thousands of law students prepare to take the bar exam, including those who haven't passed previously. When approaching the bar exam, many students are overwhelmed by the amount of material that they need to study for the exam. Students often spend a lot of time creating
The weight of 2020: Black law grads are 'exhausted' and 'anxious'
If we want to move forward as a profession, we must listen to the experiences of black law school graduates and make sure the experiences they had—and the changes they demand—are not forgotten.
Top 5 reasons people really fail the bar exam
It is common to fail the bar exam and then pass on a later attempt. Thousands of repeat bar exam takers pass every single administration! The key is to figure out why you did not pass the bar exam so that you can change your approach and pass on your next try.
Study strategies: 4 study tactics for the bar exam
Studying for the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE, or the bar) exam to become a lawyer is never an easy feat. Keep reading to learn a comprehensive list of tools, tricks, and techniques to help you prepare to get your best score possible on the bar.
Legal reasoning? It's all about IRAC
As beginning law students soon learn, what we call “legal reasoning” can be expressed by the formula IRAC. It stands for Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion. It is the format used by lawyers in preparing legal memoranda. And the structure that most judges use in drafting judicial opinions. It’s also the
How the bar exam could change
There are many unanswered questions when it comes to future plans for the exam.
Pennsylvania adopts the Uniform Bar Exam
The news for bar exam takers in the pandemic has been mostly bad—unless you've been praying for movement on the Uniform Bar Exam. As of today, the UBE has added as many states (5) in the past year as it had in 2018 and 2019 combined!
Essential Mental Health, Physical Health, and Wellness Resources for Bar Exam Prep
We are here to support you while you study for the bar exam. During this challenging time, we want to encourage you to take care of yourselves and continue to focus on all aspects of your well-being. Your physical and emotional health are critical to your success in life…and on the bar exam.
Ten tips for preparing for the bar exam
After graduation season, future esquires are focused on one final milestone: passing their state’s bar exam. Studying for the bar exam can be stressful and overwhelming. The key to managing these feelings is to have a plan in place to guide exam preparation. Indeed, there is no single
What to expect after the bar exam
Preparing for the bar exam is more physically draining and stressful than most people realize. This one exam can decide the future of law school graduates across the country, and it is only made available twice a year. Once you do take it, however,
Motivation, growth, and the bar exam
This winter, as 1Ls reflect on their first completed semester, 2Ls—who are halfway done— consider what they want to do in the remaining year and a half, and 3Ls think about finishing up their final semester and passing the bar exam, I encourage all of you to think
Something to be thankful for: Indiana adopts the Uniform Bar Exam
It would be an understatement to say this has been a difficult year for anyone who has had to take the bar exam. We've gone over this already here at the Law Student Division. But as we round toward the not-a-moment-too-soon end of 2020,
Measuring minimum competence: 12 key elements to improving bar admission
The summer of 2020 brought the most concentrated and pointed discussion about the bar exam in recent memory—maybe ever. Much of that discussion centered around whether candidates for bar admission should be required to gather in large groups and sit for an in-person exam during a global pandemic. I can only imagine
An Open Letter on the 2020 Bar Exam from Law Deans
This letter was originally published via Medium and is shared here with permission. The disruption faced by the law school class of 2020 was significant and will be long lasting. These newest members
Post #barpocalypse prep: Collaborate and automate to amplify bar exam change efforts
Please scream inside your hearts. This request by a Japanese theme park to its visitors has become the mantra of 2020. COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns across the globe, earthquakes, historic wildfires, civil unrest,
Caught up in the COVID chaos, this state remodeled the bar exam
I blogged about Indiana’s bar exam in January. At the time, Indiana’s Supreme Court had been presented with a recommendation to adopt the Uniform Bar Exam,
Preparing for the bar exam and practice during a pandemic
Don’t let anyone diminish our profession and the limitless potential of this law license you’ll have sweated for, indeed that some of you will have risked your life for.
Diploma privilege: Compassion in a time of crisis
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it’s a sure thing that every law student in the country now knows what “diploma privilege” is even if they never heard of it before. As if this year hasn’t been hard enough, 2020 graduates and bar exam retakers are now also dealing
News we should have posted Sooner: Oklahoma OKs the UBE
Yesterday, we informed you that Kentucky had just adopted the Uniform Bar Exam. But we hadn't realized that we were two months overdue for other #UBEWatch news. Western Michigan University-Cooley Law School law prof emeritus (and friend of the blog)
Once in a Blue Moon, we get good news: Kentucky adopts the UBE
This has not been a good year for news about the bar exam. And the past 30 days has been an especially bad month for those of you following this topic. Three weeks ago, Michigan's online bar exam was