Studying for the bar - not retaining anything. Advice & tips?

[12sd7]

Hello,

Per my title, I'm studying for the bar (for July 2022) but after each page that I read, I can't remember anything. If I read slow enough to try and learn, understand and retain information, I won't make any progress at all. I thus end up speed-reading.

For those who have successfully taken the exam and those that are currently studying, what advice do you have? Is it important to even try and learn and understand the material, or just familiarize myself with where everything is?

Thanks so much!

[chaboywb]

Don’t try to retain anything from the substantive law sections. “Read” it so you understand how the parts fit together, but you don’t need to internalize any of the information. I preferred using the detailed table of contents rather than the index so it was necessary to at least know which heading I could find a particular subheading under.

For professional responsibility, put a bit more effort into understanding the content so you can answer some questions without flipping to the relevant page. These are honestly quite obvious most of the time and you’ll see patterns as you read through that section (e.g. if one of the answers includes contacting the law society, it’s probably correct).

 

[criminallyminded]

Read to highlight key words to make finding the answer easy. 

The key is to do timed practice exams and find the answers fast. No retention is needed. 

A fabled few have been known to pass without even reading the materials.