Compilation of Bar Tips

In random order. From various sources. These are not absolute. Use at your own discretion.

• Remember the Strunk and White Principles
• Don’t go back to reading full text books. It’s not realistic. Accept that you cannot read everything.
• It’s important to cover all that’s in the syllabus
• Revisit previous Bar Q & A’s
• Don’t neglect the codal.
• Some Preweeks or LMTs are “poison notes”, so be careful.
• Make the chair’s cases as part of your study routine.
• Mock bars are harder than actual bar exams, so take them wholeheartedly.
• Know what study method(s) work(s) for you.
• Get exercise and recreational activities to avoid burnout.
• Bring a jacket – exam venues are often very cold.
• Make sure to get 8 hours of sleep.
• Always pray.
• If you enrolled in an online review center, play the “on-demand” lectures at x2 or x1.5
• Usually, the first questions are meant to distract you. – Atty. BrSo
• The law is based on logic. Just answer with sound legal reasoning or based on equity. Fret not yourself nor give up.
• Quality reading is more important than speed reading
• Consider forecasting
• Before review, get a first view.
• Failures will not define yourself, have the courage to stand up. You can always redeem yourself. Mistakes do not define us.
• Go back to hard topics
• Make sure that all aspects of your life are healthy.
• Ask opinion from previous bar takers and online review centers
• Consider those that offer perks for honor students or top 5
• It is normal to get sick or get tired, adjust
• Print the syllabus and give them dates
• Pomodoro Technique
• About LMTs, they are overwhelming. Choose only one note for each subject.
• Take advices with a grain of salt. There are advices that will not work for you. 
• Avoid hoarding notes. Printing too much and not reading will make your heart ache.
• Avoid giving too much time in one subject. Balance.
• Avoid what’s not meant for you.
• Prioritize yourself first. Create a new Facebook account for your most important people. Do not compare yourself to others. Just think that when you pass the bar, you can help them more.
• You may be slow but make sure you understand what you read.
• If there are undesirable things that happen in your personal life that you can ignore, push through. Deal with them later.
• Get a support system. Always pray.
• Two weeks before the exams, usually the Supreme Court gives you the Examplify software for practice purposes. Some bar review centers give a package for that.
• Some people become very emotional and sensitive during bar review and exams. So be sensitive in asking questions.

On Answering/During Exam

1. Delete all files in your laptop except Exemplify. Some advice to create another “user” account.
2. All questions are shuffled for each examinee.
3. It’s better not to talk about your answers during breaks or between exam days.
4. Make your answers interesting
5. Make it Brilliant
6. Make it really Good – so the bar examiner will read your answer again and again
7. Give the question justice
8. If the question requires short answer, give it.
9. No hard and fast rule. It depends on what the question requires.
10. During lunch, stay away from insensitive people.
11. There are some who had their laptops have the blue screen of death. Your laptop is your lifeline.
12. There is a calculator function in Examplify. This may be enabled or disabled by the Bar Examiner.
13. Everyday, your seating arrangement changes.
14. Don’t be complacent towards the end of the exam.
15. Do not look at other people’s laptops because it will make you anxious.

Sayings

• Law without justice is like a wound without cure.  – William Downey
• Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love. – Martin Luther King

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