How to Pass the California First Year Law School Exam

The siren song of a prestigious legal career lures thousands of students each year to online law schools. Given the high costs of tuition in traditional law schools, online law schools are an attractive alternative. However, anyone who goes to an unaccredited California law school must take the first year law student examination.

The First Year Law Student examination is also jokingly called the "Baby Bar" but there is nothing easy about this test. Approximately 25-30% of law students who take the FYLSX will pass, most fail and it is a difficult and lengthy test that no one would want to repeat; especially since one must pay over $500.00 each time not including travel expenses.

The test has 100 multiple choice, multistate questions drawn from the subjects of criminal law, torts and contracts. The test is designed so that you will have one minute to read and answer each question. One thing that I noticed when taking the FLYSX is that the multiple choice questions themselves are longer than what you will see in most practice bar questions which are one paragraph long.

Many of the multistate contracts questions on the actual FYLSX were at least three paragraphs or a page in length, so you will need to be able to quickly identify the issues that are being tested on the question. There will not be time to make a timeline, write down key ideas or diagram without compromising time management for the other questions.

Even if you skip some questions and return to them later you will be hard pressed for time. If you cannot spot issues and resolve the question quickly you will be forced to make many guesses before you are done. After you complete the multistate you will have to complete four essays and are given an hour to complete each one of them.

One of the best ways to prepare for this part of the test is to take old FYLSX and Bar Exam questions, look for the key issues and then compare your essay with a model essay on the same topic. As part of your regular law school work, you can also practice the skills required for the test with your briefs. Use a timer and give yourself one minute, skim the brief as quickly as you can in that minute and highlight the key issues and applications of the rule of law.

Next compare the issues you found to those in your law outline, syllabus or a scholarly article about the same case. Then read the case again completely and write your brief. After your brief is written compare it to other briefs that are available on the internet.

Find the very best brief on the same case and compare your writing and analysis to it and use it as an example to improve not only your issue spotting but also your legal writing. If you are missing issues or misapplying rules of law, or not using "lawyer like" language you can catch yourself this way, improve your FYLSX test performance and quite possibly improve your grades. Law tutors are expensive but comparative analysis of other briefs is free, effective and efficient.

Begin preparation for the First Year Law School Exam before you even enroll in your first year of law school study by taking a FYLSX review. While it might seem backwards to enroll in the FYLSX review before you even take your first class, you will be given a valuable overview of the subject areas and an effective methodology for learning each of the tested subjects. As you go through each first year course, you can practice your multistate questions to review key areas of knowledge and prepare for your final exam in law school. Barbri, and Flemmings both offer good FYLSX review courses.

The FYLSX exam is tough and there is no guarantee of success but the best insurance against failure is practice, more practice and more practice. There are free sample questions for the FYLSX on the California Bar Association website as well as current statistics, requirements and rules that apply to the examination.