12/10/11. It's not too soon to start studying for the February exam. Since the essay portion, at least in Pa & NJ, is weighted more heavily than the multistate portion, it pays to practice as many essays as possible between now and exam day. Buy or borrow BarBri or other exam prep books that have essays from prior bar exams, or go online to the state bar exam site(s) for your state(s) and download essay questions, model essays and grading guidelines from prior bar exams. Then do as many essays as you can from the last 6 years or more. Grade each essay carefully, using the model essays and grading guidelines. Each essay is worth 20 points. If you scored below 12, redo the essay. Shoot for 15 or better; that way, if you blow one or two, your high scores in the others might get you by.
Don't worry about timing yourself at first, but start working to get your essays done in the allotted 45 minutes by mid-January. The more essays you do, e.g. 2-3 a day, the faster and more accurate you'll get. The trick to doing well for many of us is to become so used to writing bar essays that exam day will be just like another day of practice. Remember my earlier comment about "sweating bullets" during law school exams? By contrast, I was so well prepared for the bar exam that I was able to relax and enjoy the exercise, except for my writing hand going numb by the end of the day. In fact, when I looked at the fact patterns after opening the exam book, I instantly recognized each as being similar to one or more of the practice essays I'd done and, even though I don't have a photographic memory, virtually memorized weeks or days before. No sweat! It's just a question of becoming familiar with the material and the format. More about the latter in a couple of days. Meanwhile, feel free to check my website at the "PaBarCoach" link below and/or e me at <byasgurlaw@gmail.com> with questions or comments.
