How to Study for a Dual Bar Exam

By Sheri Mason
(Sheri is one of LawTutor's Attorney Instructors)

You’ve just completed your last law school exam…. EVER, and you are about to give a sigh of relief when you realize – it’s not over yet! That’s right, in a few short months, you will take that exam you have been dreading for the last three years – THE BAR EXAM.

By now, you have probably given the bar some thought. Maybe you’ve even started the application process. Of course, the first question all students must ask themselves – Which state bar exam should I take? For some, the decision is easy. For others, it forces some major life decisions because the decision rests on where you plan to practice – and live!

Suddenly, you start to hear some rumors about fellow classmates that are taking the bar in two states – they must be crazy, right? Isn’t that double the work?

Not at all! Here’s why. First, your MBE score is applied to both states, so you only need to study for and take that portion once. Second, while you need to study state specific law for both states for the essay sections, chances are, you will be learning essay structures and strategies that can be applied successfully in both states.

Whether or not you take two bars is a decision you have to make. One bar is often stressful enough, and adding on the stress of another state bar can feel overwhelming. However, many law graduates have taken dual bars and have been successful. Here are some tips that may help you if you decide to take a dual bar:

1. Decide which two states you would like to sit for. Seems obvious, right? However, whether or not you can take a dual bar will depend on the states you wish to sit for. The state essay section will need to fall on different days (the day before the MBE or the day after the MBE). For example, many law graduates will take New York and Massachusetts during the same bar exam since the state essay days are not on the same day. The same would not work for Connecticut and Massachusetts since the state essay section falls on the same day. Look into the two states you want to take to determine if it is doable. Keep in mind that you will need to be in the actual state for the essay sections, so travel and lodging will be an important factor to keep in mind.
2. Understand the application process for both states, and their requirements for sitting for a dual bar. Once you determine that you can take both bars, you need to fill out applications for both bar exams, indicating on both applications that you will be taking a dual bar (usually, it will ask you in the application). This also means different bar application requirements and different deadlines. Be sure to check the requirements and deadlines for both bars.
3. Determine which you will sit for the MBE section of the bar and let both states know in your application. Again, it is important for you to understand the requirements for each state – some states will require you to sit in a certain jurisdiction when you are taking a dual bar. For example, if you are taking New York and Massachusetts, you will need to indicate to New York that you plan to sit in New York for the MBE section (and let MA know that you will be sitting in NY for the MBE section of the bar). Failure to do this may mean that you are not on the list to get into the exam, so be sure that your applications match.
4. Make sure you transfer your MBE scores to the other state. Since you will be sitting physically in one state for the MBE, this means that the other state will not have you’re your MBE score immediately on hand. You will need to transfer your score to that state. Again, check the state’s procedure’s in regards to transferring the MBE score – you want to be sure that both states have it to grade your exam!
5. Determine which bar you must pass, and which bar you would like to pass. Of course, you want to pass both bars; otherwise, you wouldn’t bother to take them both. However, it is important to keep things in perspective. If you know what state you plan to practice in, that state bar should take priority. If you are taking a commercial bar course, you should choose the course for that state. Sometimes, law graduates will choose the state’s priority based on the state bar’s reputation of having a low pass rate. Keep in mind, this should be one factor you consider, and should not be a determinative factor. It is more important for you to pass the bar in the state you plan to practice law.
6. Be sure to understand the structure of the both bar exams, and get examples of actual answers to the state’s essay questions. Different states have different structures for the bar exam. What is the minimum to pass the bar? What does the state essay section consist of? For example, New York’s state essay section consists of NY specific multiple choice questions and a MPT on the essay day of the exam. On the other hand, Massachusetts’ state essay section consists of ten essays. NY does not have a page limit for writing essays, whereas MA gives you four pages to write your essay. See if you can get examples of actual bar essays for both state exams (New York posts these on their Bar Exam website). What does each state consider a “well-written” essay? Understanding the structure for both exams will lower the anxiety since you will know what to expect.
7. Determine what subjects are tested on each bar. Again, different states may test different subjects. While most states overlap what is tested, it is important to know the areas you will need to study.
8. Practice writing essays for both states. Regardless of which state bar you are taking, a well-written essay is crucial to pass a bar exam. Under the bar time restraints and pressure, it is easy to freeze up when trying to answer a question. Practice writing many essays from both bars, and if you do not have a tutor, re-read and analyze them. Did you outline prior to writing? Is the essay well-structured? Be sure that your answer analyzes the question asked. Look at each sentence and ask yourself the purpose of that sentence; Is this is legal conclusion (if so, did I properly analyze how I got to that conclusion?); Is this a statement of fact? Is this a statement of law? Did I miss any issues? Try to rework your paragraph so that the bulk of your paragraph contains an analysis.
9. Strengthen your MBE score. Since both bars will use the same MBE score, you want to be sure that your MBE score is strong. Typically (but not always), a passing rate will be the combination of both your MBE score and your essay score for the state (be sure to understand your state’s scoring system). This means a stronger MBE score may balance out weaker essays for your state essay sections – this is especially important for the state you are not focusing on. The best way to strengthen your MBE score is to do multiple MBE questions, and to analyze why you got the answer wrong.
10. Create a study schedule. As if taking one bar isn’t enough, you now have the pressure of two bar exams – MBE laws, state laws, contradicting laws…. How are you going to keep it all straight? The fact is, no matter how much you try, you will probably walk into the bar exam feeling like you don’t know everything or you can’t remember which state law is which. It is important that you have a study plan or schedule to ensure that you focus your time properly. Consider getting a tutor to work on a study plan and to help you with the study process.
11. Talk to other people who have taken (and passed) a dual bar in the states you plan to take. Find out how they managed their time, or other tips that they have about taking both bars.
12. Relax! Easier said than done, but remember, it’s only an exam, and at the end of the day, you can only do your best. You’ve already survived law school, and you will survive this too!

I DON’T LIKE THE BAR EXAM, HENCE I DO NOT BELIEVE I SHOULD HAVE TO TAKE IT (and other musings of Bar Examinees).

By Joseph Keeney, Esq

(Joe is one of our LawTutor's Attorney Instructors)

1. I graduated law school with a 3.5 therefore, I shouldn't have to take the bar exam.

Comment: Where to begin with this contention? For starters, there could be a lot of reasons as to why you achieved a 3.5 and more importantly why you have to take this exam. One reason that you achieved a 3.5 could be because you flat out deserved it, and this grade point average is indicative of your skill and work ethic. Too bad you still have to take the thing. Another reason that you achieved a 3.5 is because the curriculum and your class schedule was soft. Another reason that you achieved a 3.5 is because the academic semester was more conducive to your preferences ie., work schedule, or finances. Who knows? But for now, this standardized approach of the MBE taken with essay writing is the best option on the board (no pun intended) until mind reading and ethical fortune-telling are made available.

2. I practiced 2500 multiple choice questions, took three practice exams, and studied 8 hours a day.

Comment: Yawn. This exam is not about studying hard. This exam is about studying smart. Sure, by doing more multiple choice questions, this may allow the opportunity for your brain to become accustomed to the format style of the questions as well as the various ways in which a fine point of the law can be tested. For that I say, the more the merrier. However, one must be careful in setting large goals as they sometimes do not account for each student's needs. In other words, the student's desire to answer too many questions can easily overshadow the quality of takeaways that one should yield from each question. One LawTutors’ recommendation that addresses the takeaways and which has proven useful is for the student to analyze each possible answer to the degree: "I chose Answer A because….." This is valuable because is regimented reinforcement. Too often, while reviewing assignments with students, we find out that the student's answer selection by letter choice was correct, but the rationale behind it was wrong. With incorrect rationale, the examinee is building false misunderstanding of black letter application.

3. My law school did not require these subjects therefore why should this be on the bar exam?

Comment: Your law school gave you choice. Hence, that is why these choices are called electives. Another angle the bar examiners are testing is your ability to work under pressure and to undertake a vast breadth of material. As words of encouragement, your understanding of the subjects tested on the MBE should pay dividends on the essay portion of the exam.

4. I was on law review/law journal but still received 3's across the board on the essay portion of the bar exam.

Comment: There is certainly little doubt that the selected student for these organizations possesses analytical ability. However, there are a few aspects or commonalities that may make students more susceptible to the format of the bar exam. As you already know, much of what is subject to academic articles can be esoteric or involve much on opinion or can provide as an analytical overview of jurisdictional trends over a particular subject. Also, there is a good chance that what you are writing or analyzing in these activities pertains to an area of the law or subject matter in which the student is interested. In a lot of ways, as the author of this scholarly article you can control the direction and format of what is to be written. The bar exam format is much different. It covers areas of the law that perhaps involve subject matter that you never studied in law school let alone that you are interested. Moreover, successful bar exam writing is often the result of disciplined commitment to the IRAC or CREAC method.

5. Considering I excelled on the LSAT, I had no reason to think otherwise with respect to the bar exam. I have always done well with standardized tests.


Comment: The LSAT, in lot of ways, is used as a prognosticator on how well the candidate will perform in law school. The bar exam, in lot ways, measures how well the candidate for admission to the bar did in law school. That being said, the LSAT's approach is to measure certain cognitive and analytical skills within the environment of a multiple choice question. Is it perfect measurement? Are the results of the LSAT necessarily a dispositive indicator on how one will achieve in law school and ultimately the bar exam? No, of course not, but see # 1 above. Another distinction between the two exams is that the bar exam is measuring more towards what the examinee actually learned over the course of three years and recently in the past eight weeks leading up to the exam.


6. The format for the exam just isn't fair.

Comment: There is obviously much debate and study on fairness interplayed with standardized test taking. Believe it or not, I am not going to make an opinion one way or another. This is reality, and the more excuse-making that goes on is negative energy and interference.

7. My commercial material doesn't exactly mesh with the law school outline that my Professor approved. I am going to defer to my law school outline.

Comment: I would like to make the suggestion that you should choose whichever you prefer. However, this doesn't go without saying a few comments first. Several of the commercial entities out there have either been specializing in bar preparation for decades or are accompanied by an entourage of legal authors, professional test takers, and professors. That being said the commercial outlines are terrific for picking out repeated questions, trends, and proclivities that the Multi-State drafters and Board of Bar Examiners will test. Sometimes I have found it helpful that if there is a particular area that you find yourself disproportionately weak or feel that you require further review that those outlines and hornbooks may be used in a supplementary capacity.

8. Because I have been a law clerk for now three years, that practical experience ought to give me an advantage over the people that have just been going to school.

Comment: Doubtful. Jobs are breeding grounds for misunderstanding and misapplication of black letter. After all, who doesn't plead waiver, estoppel, and laches not knowing the difference. You may need to know these types of distinctions on the bar exam.

9. Well, last time I took it, my MBE score was well above the average so now I am just going to focus on the Essays.

Comment: I dare you to make the mistake.

10. This time I am going to spend a week studying Future Interests.

Comment: One common thread between law school preparation and bar exam preparation often comes down to time management. Why allocate 1 week of eight to a topic that could only amount to 5 percent of the questions on the exam doesn't make a whole lot of sense? This could be more judiciously spent in other areas.

How to Prepare for the Bar Exam

So, it’s May – and that means that if you’ve just graduated from law school, you now have the task of studying for the bar exam. Nope, no sitting back and relaxing for you! You thought graduation and final exams were it? Pft! Wrong!

So, you might be asking, how DOES one prepare for the bar exam? And how does one do so without losing their mind? Or becoming a crazy recluse, cutting off all ties from friends and family, only to appear at some point in August looking very pale, overly caffeinated and bearded. (yes, I’m looking at you too ladies! Who has time for waxing when the bar exam is around the corner?!?!)

First things first, realize this summer will NOT be fun. I don’t say that to scare you, but if you buckle down over the next couple months you will never have to do this again. Secondly, don’t pay attention to what your friends are doing. Everyone has a method that works for them.

Once we’ve gotten that out of the way, there are some things that can make the summer a bit more smooth, and make your chances of passing the bar a bit higher. Practice, for one. Yes, that seems a bit obvious – why wouldn’t you practice? But many students want to spend a ton of time reviewing your outlines, and memorizing black letter law. While you DO need to know the black letter law, simply reviewing it for months will not get you where you need to be. Don’t wait to practice, start right away! Learn from each MBE question you practice, this is key. The MBE won’t ask you to define battery. Instead, they will give you an odd ball fact pattern, and ask you what the plaintiff’s chances of success will hinge on. This means that you need to know MORE than the black letter law, and the only way to do this is to practice more and more MBE questions. Having said that, don’t JUST practice. If you aren’t learning something from EACH MBE question you do, you are wasting your time. I teach bar review, in fact, my whole life centers around the bar exam and even I can find better things to do than MBE questions just for fun.

As for your essays, again, you need to practice. I know, I’m not really coming up with a new rocket science here, you’ve all been told to practice before. However, despite that, so many students fight me on practicing. Use your notes to practice essays – it’s better than writing wrong law! Take your time and practice technique! Don’t start testing yourself right away. The more essays you practice, and not just outline, the easier exam day will be.