1.  Learn the Law

You have to know the law to pass the bar exam. It’s that simple. In preparation for the California bar exam, students have to be ready for questions in 14 different subjects. It’s a lot of material.

Thankfully, you don’t have to know everything in those subjects–just the material that the bar will test on. You don’t need to sit through endless lectures, days on end. You just need lectures that cover the pertinent topics that the bar covers. It frees up your time to learn law on your own, too, in a more hands-on manner using flashcards, picking up law from answering MBE questions and reading concise outlines.

This is just the beginning, though. No one can cram all that information by listening to a series of lectures and looking through flashcards. Too many points on the bar exam come from writing which brings us to point number two…

2.  Practice, Practice, Practice

Passive learning is easier: Sit back and let the instructor do all the work. Active learning is harder, but it’s harder because your brain is engaged, you’re working and consequently more is happening. More connections are being made. Active methods of study are, consequently, superior for test preparation. The educational research proves it.

You learn more when you practice. Any solid bar review course must include writing a lot of practice essays, answering a lot of MBE practice questions and doing practice performance tests. You have to write, write and write some more. Your confidence will grow, your ability to spot issues will develop and your recognition of patterns in bar questions will allow you to transfer your practice to your performance on the bar exam itself.

3.  Get Meaningful Feedback

Working in isolation, whether in an impersonal course with a large group of other students or at home alone in front of a computer, you’re never sure if the work you’re doing is productive and on track for success. Your job is not just to listen or read or outline–your job is to pass the bar exam. And passing will only happen if you’re practicing and the work you’re doing is of high enough quality that it will get a passing score.

How will you know that in isolation? You need constant, meaningful feedback on your work. You need to hear what you’re doing wrong and what you’re getting right. You need to get realistic scores on your essays and see how you’re progressing during the bar review course. The learning process won’t occur with a few comments on an essay or two.  You need consistent personal attention in order to gain an edge over what has become fierce competition.

4.  Believe You Can

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. –Thomas Edison

The bar passage statistics in California are a harsh reality and it’s easy for students to feel disheartened. It’s easy for repeat takers to feel downright defeated. It’s important to keep the task in perspective, though. The California bar exam is a test and you have taken hundreds of tests in your life–and have most likely passed all of them. You’ve pursued an intellectual career path for a reason and you’ve made it through an undergraduate program and law school. You’re intelligent! You’re capable! And you have to continually remind yourself that you are intelligent enough to pass this test and capable of passing. Success is within reach. Let your confidence grow. You need to believe you can. Doubt will only weigh you down.