One of the biggest struggles I have faced while studying for the bar exam during the COVID-19 pandemic has been remembering substantive law. Like many 2020 bar exam takers, I was scrambling to figure out What to Do When Exam Dates Were Pushed Due to Coronavirus. Suddenly my 8-10 week preparation window was pushed to 14-18 weeks. Like many of my classmates, I was already 50% into my commercial bar exam course when the cancellations were announced. Ultimately, a series of unfortunate events in my personal life forced me to take 3 weeks off of studying, so I was grateful to have a little breathing room. But having reviewed all of the federal material prior to the break, I came back to studying with over 500 flashcards I had previously made but no memory of the learning I did while actually making them. No matter how many times I reviewed my flashcards, nothing stuck. And I was getting bored. [Read more…] about Using Anki Flashcards to Study for the Bar
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Using Flashcards in Studying for the Bar Exam
Study strategies for the bar exam are a controversial topic—possibly even more controversial than law school study strategies. Everyone has an opinion! And many claim their way is the only path to success. Hopefully, through the course of law school, you have realized that there are a variety of study strategies and the most important thing is finding what works well for you.
This applies to flashcards as well. Flashcards do have identifiable advantages. Some people find just making them to help in forming connections and internalizing information. But their greatest benefit comes from using them to test yourself. Repeated testing has been shown to improve recall, and flashcards are an effective way to test yourself.
If you’ve found over the course of high school, university, and law school that flashcards are an effective tool for you, here are four things you can put on flashcards, and four ways you can use those flashcards in studying for the bar exam:
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Flashcards vs No Flashcards for Bar Prep
Are flashcards worthwhile during bar prep? If so, should you have a big stack or a little stack? Everyone has an opinion on flashcard use while preparing for the bar exam. It is among the great debates of bar prep. But the reality is that there is no objective answer to the flashcard debate. What really matters is whether making (or buying) flashcards will help you pass the bar exam. This post will cover some of the pros and cons of bar exam flashcards and how you might choose to incorporate them into your bar prep. [Read more…] about Flashcards vs No Flashcards for Bar Prep
Memorize Efficiently – and Pass the Bar – with Critical Pass Flashcards
Seven MBE subjects.- Hundreds of rules.
- How will you memorize them all?
- Critical Pass can help.
Why You Must Memorize the Law
There are many components to success on the bar exam, but the most fundamental is memorization. If you don’t know the rules, you can’t choose the right answer on the MBE or write an adequate rule statement on the MEE. So, as you prepare for the bar, it’s crucial to develop a plan for memorizing the law. For many students, this plan includes flashcards. [Read more…] about Memorize Efficiently – and Pass the Bar – with Critical Pass Flashcards
Tools for Bar Exam Success: Critical Pass Flashcards
I was introduced to Critical Pass: Unlock the MBE flashcards on Twitter. After reading the website, I decided I should check them out. (Full disclosure, I wrote to them and they sent me a free set of flashcards.)
What is Critical Pass?
Critical Pass has developed flashcards to help individuals study for the MBE. One side of the flash card has a given legal issue and the back of the card has an outline of the law as well as space for the student to include notes or mnemonics (see the website for a visual). The cards are also color coded for individual subjects.
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Using Bar Exam Predictions to Guide or Not Guide Studying
To achieve bar exam success, it is essential to come up with a strategy that will work for you. This strategy may include focusing on the most highly tested subjects. Taking this approach helps you to prioritize information that is likely to appear on the exam. For example, it has been demonstrated time and time again that Evidence law and hearsay are highly tested. This knowledge would make you want to ensure you have hearsay down and feel confident with hearsay before test day.
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