Has anyone on the boards done this? I know a few people who have passed the bar while working full time but I know most people take time off for it. Did you have success working FT and studying for the bar exam? I'm looking to take it this summer and I'm interested in any tips
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I think lawbee11 did. I know she started working before taking the bar.
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My good friend's wife did. She passed first time jn two states!
But not with a baby at home too!
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I took the bar this past summer. I also took the Barbri prep class (which I highly recommend). Barbri started in late May and ended in early July. I worked part-time (about 20 hours a week) up until mid-June, then I stopped working to focus on studying. I think working full-time up to mid-June would be do-able (though hard), but I think it would be extremely hard once you're about a month out from the exam. I spent a majority of the day studying in the month leading up to the exam, and it would have been really tough to do while working full-time.
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I took it the summer after I gratuated law school - I took the barbri course studied basically around the clock for 2 months straight. It would have been very difficult for me to do working full time (and with a baby!)
Did you recently go to law school?
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I know a few people who worked full-time and took the bar (though some of them used vacation time a bit before) but none of them with a baby at home. Can you take some vacation time? Or can your DH take on the majority of the baby load while you're prepping?
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I took the summer off to study. Barbri is pretty intense...doubt I could've managed with a baby + full time job! (I had neither)
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I passed NY in July right after law school and the passed TX the following Feb. When studying for TX, I worked full time but took the last two weeks off before the bar to study full time. I highly recommend taking those two weeks. While you can get a lot done at night and on weekends, those last two weeks are critical for devoting all of your time to studying. BarBri and Kaplan now have 100% online options, so you can watch lectures on your own schedule.
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Thanks everyone this is such helpful information. Yes I will be taking the barbi class. SO fingers crossed it all works out
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@lawbee11: thanks for that advice. I will be taking the barbri class too!
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@BlueWolverine: Awesome NY is super hard!! THats where I will be taking mine too
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@Mrsbells: Good luck! I took and passed NY right after law school - it was no fun!
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Yes, I was working FT when I passed my second bar exam (IL). My employer gave me two weeks off to study. I agree with Bluewolverine - those last two weeks are critical - take lots of practice exams and review your outlines over and over. I passed the CA bar exam right after law school but I doubt I would've been able to pass it if I were working FT.
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@MungBean: @birdieputt: Thanks guys will definitely report back once its all over. I pray it all goes well.
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I took NY and NJ right after law school, before I started working. @MrsBells - If you want my NY outlines, let me know and I can email them over!!
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My husband took the NY Bar right after law school and passed.
About 7 years later, while still working full-time, he had to study for the CA Bar since we wanted to move out here. It was super hard seeing him work and study. He downloaded something called BarMax on iTunes... He'd listen to it to and from work for about two months prior. Then he would do practice questions on the weekends. Thank goodness he passed on his first try. He was lucky to have gotten topics he was familiar with for his essays.
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@LindsayInNYC: oh awesome are you on weddingbee so I can PM you my email address?
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@SAHM0811: thanks for that, I will have to look up that barmax thing on itunes
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@MrsBells - I don't know if I ever signed up on WeddingBee formally! If you email [email removed at request of OP], I can forward you all my outlines from my normal email
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@LindsayInNYC: thanks for that!!! I just emailed you
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I would recommend, if you can, stopping work around the 4th of July weekend - that's when things really started to get hectic with studying for me. But i do know people who have worked up till the bar and passed, it really depends on how you study best. for me, i really started studying a lot of hours (on top of barbri) after 4th of july weekend, because i'm a terrible tester and was nervous about the MBE (i actually found the NY portion way easier). good luck!
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@Mrsbells - Just sent you a million emails with outlines and charts!
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I agree with pp that it would be really hard to work full time the entire time leading up to the exam. Can you take a week or two off before hand to really get in the grove by taking practice exams? I found the Barbri outlines and practice exam to be really helpful.
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@LindsayInNYC: Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate that!
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@MrsH: @esqbee: Yes I am signed up for the barbri class as well and I will see if it is possible to get some time off closer to the exam in july.
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Agree w/ PPs. I know several people who worked full-time when they took their second bar exam, but that's a little bit different because they had already thoroughly studied for the first one, so they only had to refresh on the MBE topics and then study any subjects that were different for that state. I would definitely at least recommend taking off July. That's when the most critical studying is done, but you would have to be extra careful to stay up with everything in May & June.
Good luck!
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Wow there are a lot of lawyers on HB! (But not me... Why did I click on this thread?)
Good luck!
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@Mrsbells - Anytime! Hope they help
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Slight threadjack...
To the attorneys who are moms (vs TTC), how do you balance work/life? I suppose it varies by area of law though.
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@LindsayInNYC: i've been stressing about this too!
would love to hear from some lawyer moms!
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@LindsayInNYC @EsqBee: One day at a time. I have been back at work for 6 weeks now, and it has been challenging to say the least. If anything, the balance has definitely shifted to my family/LO . . . I used to routinely be one of the first in the office and the last out. But not anymore!
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@SAHM0811: I've been hearing more about this BarMax app. It costs$999 but I hear its pretty good and now I'm considering buying it and getting an ipad instead of taking the Barbri course since I have the barbri books.
Has anyone else used barmax? -
Not a lawyer, but my husband specializes in bar exam passage. I know he would probably try everything in his power to dissuade you from it!
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@Mrs. Yoyo: From getting the barmax app?
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@Mrsbells: Oh no, from working full time. His position is that studying for the bar is a full-time job in itself. BUT he also works with some relatively high-risk students. (However, he would probably also advocate for barbri, but he consults for them, so he's not exactly unbiased!)
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@Mrsbells: my DH got lucky and got BarMax for 50% off because it was new at the time and the developer just wanted to give incentive for people to try it. You could try emailing them and ask for any discounts? My hubby also used BarBri books from a friend who had taken the Bar just the year before. He says BarMax and BarBri books are a winning combo for auditory learners. Like I said, he was working full-time at a BigLaw firm while studying for his 2nd, out-of-state Bar so auditory was the way to go for him. He says the BarBri class is better for visual learners because of videos and constant visual repetition.
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@Mrs. Yoyo: Yeah I know the bar exam is intense! But I just cant afford to not be working while studying for it. At best I am hoping to get the final weeks off... I do have all the babrbi materiels including the essay writing workshops and stuff, I just like barmax because unlike barbri it has real MBE questions but barbri uses mostly simulated questions.
@SAHM0811: Wow 50% off is not bad at all, lucky for him!! I think now that its picking up popularity so fast its unlikely I will get a discount but even at $999 its still a saving compared to the $4000 for barbri -
@Mrsbells: If you are more worried about the MBE, I would highly recommend the PMBR . . . it is a three day course during which a full-day MBE is simulated. And I definitely saw questions on the Bar MBE that were presented during the course (the *exact* same questions). There were only 3 or 4, but those few questions could make/break some test takers' results!
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@MsLipGloss: Ok thanks for that I will look into that as well!
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oh the PMBR was great! and it was offered 4th of July weekend, so you could take that course without having to miss any work.
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