As the overbearing bar exam date approaches, countless waves of law school graduates run to their nearest $3,000 bar exam course for what they think is an efficient, effective, and rewarding bar exam study course. I am a practicing attorney and a veteran of this process, and I can confirm that it is the single-worst path for an aspiring lawyer to take. The best bar exam study course is not in some classroom with 30 other stressed out law graduates. Surprisingly, your best bet for bar exam studying is YOU.

I went through this arduous process three years ago. I learned that you don’t need an expensive bar exam course in order to pass the bar exam Rather, all you need for efficient and effective bar exam study are the books and materials that they use in these courses and sample exams to practice some questions.

I was the typical student who plopped down $3,000 for the course. What ensued is something I’d like to forget. I was overwhelmed with the amount of notes I took. I was also confused with each lecturer’s take and perspective on the law. As a result, I used most of my time going over my notes, reconciling the law with my notes, and making sense of everything. Moreover, the few practice questions I did were disastrous because I found that my notes did not properly reflect the knowledge I was supposed to have. As the bar exam approached, I felt like I knew nothing.

After hours and hours of bar exam study, that fateful day came. I took the exam and nearly two months later, I found that I passed by a whopping two points. All that work, all that money for a bar exam course, all that time spent, and I was just three points away from having failed the most important exam of my life??

I concluded that there had to be a better way for bar exam study, and I found out what it was by observing two other friends take bar exams.

The first friend took the bar exam course with me that same year, but he focused his efforts differently: he did not spend as much time going over his notes like I did. Instead, he spent the majority of his time doing practice questions and essays. He passed easily.

The second friend eschewed the bar exam course, and he bought the course books on EBay. His bar exam studying entailed reading the books and doing practice questions. He, too, passed easily.

If you’re preparing for a bar exam here is what I recommend for your method of bar exam study:

1) Don’t take a bar exam course. They are worthless.

2) Buy the bar exam course books from someone else. (Check out the website below, or look on Craigslist.)

3) Read the materials in those books.

4) Do as many practice questions as you can.

If you incorporate these four steps into your bar exam study, you will pass the exam This is the superior method of bar exam preparation, and, as a veteran of this process, I highly recommend you follow these steps.

By: Robert Fulson