BARBRI has come up with a truly ingenious business model.

Step 1 – Create a bar review class that claims to teach students everything they need to know to pass the bar.

Step 2 – Talk lots of students into taking the class and learning only the content offered therein.

Presto! BARBRI has successfully created a bar prep monopoly (which, incidentally, has resulted in its being the subject of a nifty class action suit by disgruntled students). Practically everyone either takes the class or mooches materials off someone who previously did. The class and accompanying materials take up tons of study time. This means that most students preparing for the exam are studying, and hopefully learning, the exact same information. Those who don’t know this information are therefore at a pretty major disadvantage. Therefore, I recommend utilizing the BARBRI program not because it’s the best possible bar prep out there, but because if you follow it, you will at least stay comfortably with the herd. All you need to do is pass, after all.

The Bar
It’s unlikely anyone reading this is unfamiliar with the potentially life-altering event that is the Bar, but just in case, here’s a rundown. Law school graduates must take the Bar before being sworn in as full-fledged lawyers in a given state. The test is given just twice annually, once in February and once in July. Most students take the first exam offered after their graduation date. Those meeting certain criteria may be eligible to take the test while still in school, but I can’t imagine dividing one’s attention between regular exams and this incredibly important one.

The Bar consists of two distinct parts. First, the Multi-State Bar Exam (MBE) portion is administered identically in all states. It consists of two three-hour blocks. 100 mind-bending multiple choice questions must be answered in each half. Multi-State topics include Contracts, Criminal Law, Torts, Property, Evidence, and Constitutional Law. Second, students receive two separate brief writing exercises called the Multi-State Performance Test (MPT), each ninety minutes in duration. Finally, each state has a portion specific to its own law. I can only speak for Indiana, which gives students six “short” essays and four hours to complete them. Points are broken down as follows:

Multi-State Bar Exam = 50%
Multi-State Performance Test = 20%
State Specific = 30%

Scores in each section are scaled according to how well the entire group of exam-takers performs. 260 is the overall minimum score for passing, but some states also have specific requirements for each section. Be very clear on the score you need before going in to take the exam.

The Class
BARBRI offers its five-week class at law schools across the country. Expect to pay around $3,000 (OUCH!) for the class and accompanying materials. Some locations offer both a 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. time and a 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. one. Others offer only a single choice. I took the morning class, which ran from the very beginning of May through the second week in July, leaving just a week of pure study time before my July 23rd Bar date.

The “class” is not so much a “class” at most locations. Instead, it consists of a videotaped version of lectures given at the central campus for a particular state. Tapes run from an hour and a half to four hours in length. Some subjects are covered in a single session, others (like the Multi-State topics) stretch out over two or more classes. Quality of the lectures is a real mixed bag. We had a few speakers who were simply phenomenal. The Property professor put handy memory devices into song, and the Criminal Law professor kept us all awake. Others, though, were rambling, difficult to follow, or deathly dull. I appreciate the concept of allowing experts to speak on their topics of interest. However, it was tricky to switch gears and adapt to a new speaker every two or three days. I think BARBRI might be better off asking experts to prepare outlines and having a single speaker give all the lectures, or at least ruling out all the duds.

Halfway through the class, students take a “mid-term” to see where they fall, score wise. If I had it to do over again, I never would have taken this practice test. My work schedule required me to backload my studying. As a result, I went into the mid-term woefully unprepared, did miserably, and panicked that I would fail the Bar which was still a month away. If you’re as unprepared as I was, don’t take the test. You’ll just psych yourself out. I do recommend paying a little extra for PMBR’s 3-day practice test and review session, offered just a week before the Bar. You’ll probably do fine on this one and gain some much-needed confidence.

In this section it also seems appropriate to note that I was very underwhelmed with BARBRI’s support staff. It took four phone calls to headquarters to receive my class materials, which for some reason were not sent out with other students.’ I didn’t end up getting them until two days into the class. This seems rather ridiculous given that the class costs over a hundred dollars a day. Worse yet, no one at BARBRI really seemed to care about my plight. It was like they knew I wasn't going anywhere, so they didn't really care. Bad show, BARBRI!

The Materials
BARBRI gives its students lots of “stuff”, of varying levels of usefulness. I appreciated the voluminous books of practice problems, although again PMBR’s seemed a bit closer to real life. BARBRI also provides students massive, awkwardly-sized “long outlines” for each subject, which are intended to be read prior to each day’s lecture. I jettisoned these volumes pretty quickly because, quite frankly, there’s just no need to know any Bar subject in the level of detail set forth in these books. The package also contains some superfluous mini outlines, CDs, and assorted other materials.

The best gift that BARBRI gives is it’s book of short outlines/handouts to be used at most lectures. Most of these take a “fill-in-the-blank” format and require close listening at lectures to complete. This concept has the positive effect of motivating students to pay attention during class and provides for a manageable amount of content which can be easily memorized. I must complain, however, about the totally inconsistent format of these outlines. One might have short, easily memorized lists of factors or elements, another rambling paragraphs of text. Even the FONTS vary. I would have really love some standardization throughout this outline book. Couldn’t we all just agree on Times New Roman?

Recommendations
1. Take the class, because you kind of have to.
2. Don’t follow BARBRI’s program to the letter at the expense of doing the type of studying that works for you. If you passed law school by making your own note cards, by all means do so for the Bar.
3. The world won’t end if you have to take a morning, afternoon, or a whole day off from class or studying. I was sick for a couple days of class and felt like I’d been there after borrowing a friend’s outline.
4. Even if you screwed off in law school classes, pay attention to the BARBRI people. I left my computer at home each day to avoid the temptations of the internet.
5. Practice problems are your friend. However, learn some stuff before you do them, or you’ll just end up overwhelmed and panicky.
6. Don’t misplace half your books like I did – you can return them after the test for a handy credit!

My Thoughts
I think the Bar is stupid. I detest the fact that students with enough intelligence to graduate law school are tested on rote memorization on subjects they have not previously learned and may never use. (Commercial paper, anyone?) Ultimately, whether one passes the Bar is not about the knowledge gained from three years of hard work, but about being able to answer hundreds of trick questions.

No one asked my opinion, though, and studying for the bar remains a necessary evil. BARBRI gets the job done. Still, despite passing the bar, I have no great love for the program. Lectures are inconsistent in quality and some of the fat could easily be trimmed from the course materials. I disliked our schedule, on which the class ended just a week prior to the bar. Finally, $3000 is just too darn much to pay to sit in a classroom and watch a video for a few weeks. We didn’t even get snacks.

Overall…
It’s certainly possible to pass the Bar without BARBRI. It seems that doing so, however, would require many, many hours spent synthesizing the same information that BARBRI presents in neat, bite-sized packages. While I certainly didn’t enjoy the program and see lots of room for improvement, I will concede that if you follow this program, even kinda sorta, you will probably pass the Bar. Ultimately, that’s what it’s all about.

*Don't forget - you still need to pass the MPRE!

Recommended: Yes