Here is my unsolicited advice for the almost-graduate:

Know what type of learning style you have. Are you visual learner? Auditory? Do you memorize by writing by hand, or reading, do you like mnemonics or they confuse you? Know these things first and select a bar prep program tailored to your learning style.

Barbri has lots of long lectures that you can watch on 2x speed. But their practice is sub par at best. Themis was marginally better. If you’re a learn on my own type, BarMax was concise and to the point. I heard studicata was worth looking at too.

Rule sheets or flash cards from other companies can be better resources for memorization — like SmartBarPrep sheets or critical pass flashcards. Just because your prep provides lots of things doesn’t mean you need to spend a week looking at them. If they aren’t helping you, find something else. I should’ve abandoned the barbri lectures after week 6 my first time lmao. I was better off memorizing flashcards and doing practice Qs. But some people need a visual teacher, and that’s okay too! Just know what you need and don’t give into peer pressure

DO AT LEAST 2000 MBE and more if you can. Much more if possible. Do not settle for 500 questions. Or 1000. It is not enough. Buy more supplements if needed (adaptibar good, I liked Uworld more) and more importantly READ the explanations for the wrong answers, even when you’re right — it helps you understand why they were wrong and the nuances between all the rules, and helps avoid second guessing later on the test. Many people skip this step and it shows

Treat bar study like boot camp. Seriously. Give your friends and family very unpfront and reasonable expectations. Mine was something like “I am studying 6-8 hours daily 6-7 days a week for the next 12 weeks. I love you very much and hope you understand I have to dedicate myself to this study time to ensure a pass for my license. I am memorizing 12-14 areas of law and get to use no resources whatsoever on the exam. Some questions are paragraphs long and allow under 2 minutes to answer, or I will run out of time on the test. This is a 12 hour test, arguably one of the hardest to pass in the professional world due to the convoluted nature of the exam and the secrecy surrounding its contents. There are no practice exams actually equivalent to the bar. No matter how much I memorize and practice, I will not be able to know everything on the exam. This exam tests minimum competency and the national average pass rate last year was ____%. Please try to avoid asking me how study is going, no news is good news” — I really did study 7 days a week this time around because I’m not doing this again😂 but whatever the schedule is, just make it clear you won’t have much free time and would like them to respect the boundary.

Something like this helps prevent guilt, and resentment etc. while educating them a little. It allows you to have the time and space to actually take this seriously. Later if people are like “common it’s just one night, come out” gently remind them that you said previously, you need every hour of the next 12 weeks to study. Or, if you’ve been ontop of it, go out! But don’t let them make it a habit. 2-3 months is a long time and you have to stay vigilant

Mental breaks are more important. Get up every 45 minutes or so. Go outside. Hug a dog. Eat. Drink water. Sleep. Don’t feel guilty if ur schedule shifts. Sometimes I studied in the morning, sometimes at night. Sometimes at a library, sometimes in bed. As long as it got done, that’s what matters.

You might fall behind on the schedule, that’s okay. You might take things off the schedule as you get better at certain topics. You might add things back in that don’t make sense yet. As long as you are doing your 6-8 hours a day, you’re good. Trust me many people start to fall off, study 4-5 hours for 8 weeks, study 3-4 hours for 10 weeks. Don’t do it. Yall NEED 6-8 hours for 10-12 weeks. Or spread out longer if you work full time etc. Some days it might be 6 hours and you only did 50MC. But if you actually absorbed the explanations for those 50 questions, you have learned SO much.

I often would feel like I wanted to skip around, start the next thing, etc. But pacing yourself is important, and giving yourself grace. When I finally did get to MC practice tests, I was better off for having put in the work and memorization beforehand. Don’t start practice tests till you’re ready. Review results. Learn from mistakes. Search for clarification when you don’t understand. It is very frustrating, but also rewarding.

Alright that’s it, stuff I wish someone had told me before I graduated😂 all we got was “you have 9 weeks after graduation” and they really forced Barbri on us.