To succeed in law school and pass the bar exam, you’ll need to learn the law. To learn the law, you’ll need a game plan. If you’re unsure how to begin, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re starting law school or preparing to take the bar exam, these tips for learning the law will help you achieve success!
Keep Your Eye on the Prize
To succeed in law school or on the bar exam, you do not need to know every single rule of law for a given subject. Instead, you need to know the rules of law you will be tested on. This is how you study efficiently and maximize your chances of success.
In law school, pay close attention to your class notes. The rules of law that your professor discusses in class are the rules of law that you are most likely to be tested on.
Similar logic applies to the bar exam: instead of spending weeks attempting to learn every last nuance of the rule against perpetuities, you’ll put yourself in the best position to pass the bar exam if you focus on the commonly tested subjects and topics.
Start Early
If you’re preparing for a law school final, we recommend starting your outlines early in the semester. This will help you review and consolidate your knowledge as you go, instead of trying to cram everything at the end of the semester. You will also find yourself feeling more confident and less stressed as final exams approach. Similarly, you’ll want to start early when preparing for the bar exam to give yourself plenty of time to learn, memorize, and apply your legal knowledge.
Learn the Skill of Memorization
When taking law school exams and the bar exam, you’ll be under time pressure. If you know the law, you will maximize your chances of success. We recommend actively reviewing your outlines with the goal of committing them to memory — this way you won’t waste any valuable time on the exam! To do this, you will need to know how you memorize best. In general, simply reading and re-reading an outline is not a good way to learn the law. Instead, use an active method of review. How do you do this? Try quizzing yourself on the law, making memorable charts or diagrams, or creating mnemonics.
Take Practice Exams
Imagine if you tried to learn how to drive a car only by reading a book and never hopping in the car to practice. You would probably not do too well! The same logic applies in law school. Practice exams are where the rubber hits the road when you’re learning the law. Taking practice exams under exam conditions helps you evaluate how well you’re learning the law and also allows you to improve your exam-taking skills in general.
If you are in law school, the best source of practice exams are previous exams written by your professors. This way, you will see how your professors test the law and you will get used to the format and style of their exams. If you are studying for the bar exam, past released bar exam questions are the way to go!
Take Care of Yourself
Whether you’re learning the law for law school exams or the bar, remember that your health should come first. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, eating healthy meals, and taking breaks to see friends and loved ones. You will not perform your best on test day if you’re burnt out, sick, or exhausted!
