Make your first attempt at the bar exam your last with Quimbee

  • 91% bar exam pass rate*
  • 100% money-back guarantee
  • 1,600+ real questions from past bar exams
*First-time UBE takers who completed at least 75% of Quimbee Bar Review or Quimbee Bar Review+. The margin of error is 5.9%.
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Bar Review FAQ: When Should I Start Studying for the Bar Exam?

Bar Review FAQ: When Should I Start Studying for the Bar Exam?—Quimbee
Conquering the bar exam requires mastering a metric ton of material. When should you dig into bar preparation? The answer is a classic lawyer response: it depends. Let’s break down when you should start studying, including special considerations for students juggling multiple responsibilities during bar prep.

When to Start Preparing for the Bar Exam

The typical recommendation is that you spend a total of roughly 400 hours studying for the bar exam. If you can manage full-time study of 40–50 hours per week, you should begin about 10 weeks before the exam date. For July examinees, that means starting in May. For February examinees, it means starting in December.

Full-time study isn’t for everyone. If you plan on balancing work or family responsibilities alongside bar review, part-time study might be the best option. A typical part-time bar prep schedule spreads your preparation across several months. Quimbee Bar Review’s part-time schedule runs 6 months. For July examinees, the schedule begins in January, and for February examinees, the schedule begins in September.

Ultimately, these are general recommendations. It’s a powerful thing to know yourself and plan your studies accordingly. If you struggled during law school, it’s wise to plan  additional preparation time. Many law students participate in early bar prep before beginning their core review with a bar prep course. 

Should I Start Bar Prep Early?

Starting early provides extra time to learn unfamiliar subjects. If your bar exam tests numerous subjects you’ve never studied before, extra time can help you gain confidence and feel ready for exam day. Starting early also makes sense for students who are facing a weakness, such as difficulty with legal writing or multiple-choice questions.

But starting early comes at a cost. Bar preparation is intense, and burnout is a common experience. Plus, to the extent that you focus on learning substantive law during early bar prep, retention can be an issue.

If you go ahead with early bar prep, dedicate yourself to a specific goal. For example, plan to take 3 performance tests before the bar course calendar begins or review the outline for a subject you’ve never studied before. Make yourself accountable for completing the goal in a specified time frame. Keeping early prep goal-oriented will give you the results you want and stave off burnout.

Early Bar Prep Methods

There’s more than 1 approach to early bar prep. Here are a few methods to consider.

Start with the Performance Test 

Many bar exams include a performance test, which mimics a real-life lawyering situation. You’ll receive a packet containing both the facts and the law, and you’ll draft a practice-oriented document under time pressure. 

If your bar exam includes a performance test, consider starting your study with practice questions. Mastering the performance test doesn’t require any substantive knowledge, and early practice helps you develop the speed you need.

Where can you access performance-test questions? Check with your bar course provider. Quimbee Bar Review offers a full library of performance tests on the course-materials tab.

Start with Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) subjects

Another popular approach is to start studying MBE subjects: civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, and torts. If you’re taking the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), these 7 subjects are tested in multiple-choice format and potentially can appear on essays, too. Time spent mastering these subjects won’t go to waste.

Start mastering the MBE subjects with your bar course’s video lessons, outlines, and single-subject MBE quizzes. If you’re taking Quimbee Bar Review, try beginning with the warm-up videos, which introduce the most important subjects on the MBE and are paired with 5-question quizzes. 

Start with unfamiliar subjects 

Mastering law you haven’t learned before can be a particularly stressful part of bar prep. Make life easier by completing early review of the subjects you didn’t take during law school. Which subjects might you have missed? Check the essay subjects tested on your bar exam. For the UBE, consider secured transactions, business associations, family law, conflicts of law, and wills, trusts, and estates.

Quimbee has your back in law school and beyond. Expert-written case briefs, outlines, and a practice-oriented bar review course give you the edge you’ll need to ace law school finals and conquer the bar exam. Want to learn more about the unique features Quimbee Bar Review+ uses to help prepare you for the bar exam? Book a free, 30-minute consultation and course tour.

Make your first attempt at the bar exam your last with Quimbee

  • 91% bar exam pass rate*
  • 100% money-back guarantee
  • 1,600+ real questions from past bar exams
*First-time UBE takers who completed at least 75% of Quimbee Bar Review or Quimbee Bar Review+. The margin of error is 5.9%.

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