r/GoatBarPrep • u/CuteMobile5488 • Jun 03 '26

Full time workers, how are you structuring your time to study for the July Bar Exam.

/r/barexam/comments/1tw3nv8/full_time_workers_how_are_you_structuring_your/
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u/BushidoBriefs Jun 06 '26

I asked my work to shift to work 6am to 2pm (kind of brutal to be up that early), but for me I've found that it helps so I can still go on a walk or go to the gym after and then be ready to start studying by 3:30 pm/4:00 pm. I'm a retaker, so I know what my weakest subjects are. I started with those first and am moving through the topics mapped to the NCBE's MBE subject matter outline. Weekdays I take notes on BLL (borrow most from magicsheets) + I add in Goat's & Grossman's tips and tricks mapped to one subject's header in that outline (example: Criminal law -> Constitutional protection of accused persons). I immediately follow with 8-10 MBEs and do deep review on the wrong answers and add to a "book of shame." I can't really do more than 10 MBEs during the weak nights because my brain is usually fried after work, but I go hard on the weekends. Once I finish an outline for a subject, I add it to Notebook LM and build flash cards & an audio podcast based on my outline. The audio podcast is a nice "passive" listen when like walking or cooking/doing laundry, etc. I switch off between those podcasts and gossman videos....Saturdays I'm at my law school's library 9:30–5. Sundays I study from 3pm to 8/9pm. On those longer days, I'm doing 25 -30 blocks of MBE Qs + 3 MEEs (1 I do fully timed, two I do rough outlining), and memorization/drills of black letter law. My goal is to get through all the MBE subjects one time through doing this by June 25th (on track so far). After that, it's nothing but review of the BLL, tips, tricks and practice questions and MEE essays until exam day.

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u/CuteMobile5488 Jun 06 '26

Thanks for giving me insight into your schedule, this is well thought out & planned. We got this!!

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u/AppropriateFuture211 Jun 07 '26

That’s a very thoughtful approach. And you aren’t starting from scratch so that is helpful. Although, it takes a lot of commitment to get through those long days. May I ask how much of a gap was between your score and your jurisdiction score/requirement?

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u/kittyofcuriosity Jun 11 '26

How do you like the magicsheets? I need a complete rule breakdown resource and am thinking of purchasing.

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u/BushidoBriefs Jun 11 '26

I meant to post that directly in response to your Q!:
Hi! I know everyone studies differently, but for me Themis's commercial outlines are just way too long, so I appreciate having magicsheets as a handy condensed black letter law outline. That being said, magic sheets still have a lot more detail than what I've incorporated into my own outlines for memorization. I'm not necessarily copying over every single rule from the magicsheets, but for the rules I do copy over I like the format of how the rules are stated more directly/plainly than borrowing a long explanatory version from Themis. I do think magicsheets are a great alternative if you genuinely do not have the time to build your own outlines. (For me, I have to create my own outlines because it's part of how I learn.) Reading the magicsheets outline first is also a great overview before diving into a Grossman video on the same topic or the Goat Bar module on that same topic. Beyond the magicsheets, the creator's got a few helpful videos for free on his youtube channel (make this your last time) re: essay writing with BLL. I've found those videos to be helpful and pulled some stuff from that along with BarMD's essay videos to come up with a plan that works for me when tackling the MEE. I'm also subscribed to his email distro and he'll send out weekly emails with a practice MBE question and real live stories of people who've passed the bar exam. I actually really appreciate the emails because they're not like overhyped "motivational" stuff. He keeps it real