What to do with the couple weeks before BarBri starts
Many people are now within just weeks before they start the "hell" that is otherwise known as studying for the Bar. A lot of people that I know compared it to law school finals time except that it lasts 11 weeks or so.
Make no mistake about it, it is hard to maintain a finals sort of energy level for 11 weeks but it is by no means impossible or something that will kill you. You know, the aged-old saying, "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger"? Well, get ready to get stronger.
At this point in my final semester of law school I was facing only two final exams and a seminar paper. And, for once all of my final requirements were going to happen in the first couple of days of finals-- no drawn out study weeks for me. Whew, what a relief that was. I decided to take it a little easy during the "finals" period with the intention of resting up for the bar exam study period that was going to start the Monday after graduation. I made this decision in a sort-of vacuum but am glad I did.
So, if you are wondering whether you should start reading the BarBri books now or start looking at flash cards today, my advice would be no. However, I do recommend that you use the few weeks before BarBri (or whatever study course you are taking) to take care of some preparatory things. For example, get your hair cut and colored, buy mother's AND father's day gifts, download your favorite study/motivation music onto you IPOD, take your kids to the zoo, get the oil changed, etc -- all of the things that take time and may frustrate your study plan come the end of May and June.
What are others' suggestions?
Good luck!
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Comments
Strengthen the relationships you'll probably test the most
I would advise spending a lot of quality time with friends and family since you won't have as much time during bar study to just hang out with friends or loved ones. Also, you might be grouchy, stressed, and a complete mess for all or part of your study experience, so it makes sense to put some good memories of you as a normal person in the heads of all those near and dear to you before you go into crazy Jekyll/Hyde mode. If you can afford it, I would take a vacation somewhere sunny or at least spend a lot of time sitting out in the sun reading a trash novel, running, hiking, etc.
I would advise to jump into
I would advise to jump into it with the enthusiasm of a new job, b/c basically that is what it is. You are working F/T to study for this exam which in most states is given only twice a year. Some people may look back and feel that they didn't make the most of the limited study time that they had. When I studied for the bar, I did take about a week off (and thankfully passed the first go round). Perhaps, the first week, you could ease into it "part time" - that is, only 4 or 5 hours a day. :)
I had a speaker come and talk with the students about this recently and he recommended to "practice, practice, practice" and to not take any time off. He said that he has had some students take "part of" the 4th of July off, but not the full day.
The most important thing to practice, in my opinion, is the essay questions. Write out your answers, memorize them.
Study up - on advice:)
I went to Hawaii and moved in the two weeks between graduation and barbri. I had a heavy finals schedule - including an all day doozy the day before graduation - so there was no relaxing during finals.
I also took some time to read a couple bar study advice columns, which I found helpful. There's lots of material here on Ms. JD. I also recommend A Girl Walks Into a Bar (Exam), which provides an incredibly detailed account of an overstudier's summer prepping for the California Bar Exam.
Trust yourself to know what works for you - I knew I would not have the will power to study before barbri. Or all the time during barbri for that matter. I went on a vacation. I threw a July 4th party. But I also kept a regular study schedule and made the time I did devote to studying count by focusing on my weaknesses and by utilizing study skills that work for me.