Bar Prep Study Schedule

Schedule — “a procedural plan that indicates the time and sequence of each operation.”

-Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

I’m back again with another post on bar prep!  If you’re taking the bar exam this summer, you’ve probably been on your bar prep journey for a bit.  It was about this time two years ago when during a lecture break, someone asked me if I studied at my apartment after lectures because I left the law school right after the lecture.  I was surprised that was even a question because of course I was studying, just not at the law school.  I tell you this because your bar prep schedule/habits should be your own and not based on how anyone else did, or is doing, their bar prep.  But I found it helpful when I first started studying to hear about other people’s bar prep routines and schedules so I wanted to share my own schedule.

 

	Weekday (Lecture)	Weekend	Weekday (Non-Lecture)
7:30	Wake Up / Breakfast / Drive		Wake Up / Breakfast
8:00		Wake Up / Breakfast
9:00	Barbri Lecture		Study
10:00		Review
11:00
12:00		Lunch / Break
1:00
2:00	Lunch / Break		Lunch / Break
3:00		Study
4:00	Review		Review
5:00	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
6:00	Study / Prep	Study / Review	Study / Prep
7:00
8:00
9:00
10:00
11:00		Relax	Relax
12:00	Bed	Bed	Bed

 

I personally have always done better with studying when I was fresh when I was studying instead of studying for eight hours straight.  So every day, I built a decent break into my study schedule.  I’ve also always studied or done my homework at night, which I kept doing for bar prep too.  I’ve summarized my general timeline for each of the days in bar prep, with three major categories:  weekday (lecture), weekday (non-lecture), and weekends.

 

Of course, two years ago, bar prep was slightly different because in-person lectures were the norm for Barbri.  As a class administrator, I ran the lectures and had to be at the law school prior to the lecture.  I enjoyed in-person classes (which are live-streamed) because it forced me to get up by a certain time and felt more like a required law school class so I didn’t think I could skip and watch at a later time.  I followed the Barbri study schedule pretty closely with what I did each day.  Of course, some days I didn’t get to all of the assignments in one day and would push some to the next day.  So on my sample schedule, Study included the MBE questions, essay questions, reviewing outlines, and going over flashcards.  Review included the Barbri Knowledge Check, making flash cards, and reviewing my class notes.  I personally tried to focus on the easier assignments first and then do the harder assignments after I had gained some confidence about my knowledge.

 

As I mentioned in prior bar prep posts, I studied pretty much every day of the summer (except Memorial Day and July 4^th).  But I definitely didn’t study for 6-8 hours every single day; there were days I only did one or two hours of studying.  Others I know studied every day for longer and took one day off from studying a week.  Personally, I found doing bar prep related things every day, even if not intensely or as in depth, helped my anxieties related to the exam.  I definitely felt like I wasn’t doing enough in the beginning of the summer, but I studied more each day closer and closer to the exam.  As I went through the assignments, I would give myself a mini 5-minute break every 20-30 minutes so I really didn’t study straight for hours on end.  I definitely think knowing how and when you study is the best for you will really help in developing your own study schedule.

 

Hopefully, some of this was helpful for you!  Good luck in your studying and feel free to reach out with any questions about my processes and the actual exam!