Some basic study tips…
Writing the barrister or solicitor exams this month? Interested in some FREE study advice? Read on…
First thing’s first, you do NOT need to memorize all of the bar exam material. There’s simply too much stuff and not enough time. So for all of you worrying that you’re not remembering all of the material you’re reviewing…stop! Anyone who says that they’ve memorized everything is only fooling themselves.
Ok, glad we got that out of the way. If you can’t memorize everything, though, what can you do to prepare? Well for starters, you SHOULD review all the materials. Do this at least once. Give yourself a page count goal for each day and try to stick to it. And try to get through all the materials at least a week before you write the actual exam. That way, you can spend the last week reviewing chapters you didn’t fully understand and (more importantly) doing practice exams.
When reading the materials, try to understand what it is you’re reading. This sounds easy enough but many students end up “skimming” through the pages without comprehending what it is they’re reading. Although this allows them to get through a large number of pages fast, it often results in them being less prepared than students who take the time to actually engage with the materials.
A good way to ensure that you’re comprehending the materials is to ask yourself the following after you read each page or paragraph: what was the point of that paragraph/page? Then, after answering that question, you can write a brief answer in the margins of your materials (although this isn’t always necessary).
Given that we recommend that students read through the materials in their entirety at least a week before they write the test, you’ll also need to create a study schedule. A lot of students aim to get through anywhere between 50-100 pages of materials per day. If you’re like them, you’ll need to figure out how many days it’ll take you to get through the materials at the rate you decide on. For example, if the barrister materials contain about 700 pages and you want to get through 60 pages per day, then it’s going to take you about 11.5 days to get through everything (700/60 = 11.67). If you decide that you only want to study between Monday and Friday, then you need to dedicate just over two weeks in order to get through the barrister materials at least once.
In addition to creating a study schedule, some students find that study charts and diagrams also help with the studying process. Rather than discuss those matters here, we’ll dedicate our entire next blog post to them!
Happy studying!
