Review Programs to Study and Prep for the Bar Exam

Most law students sign up for some kind of prep course that makes them ready for taking the all-inclusive Bar Exam. It is not surprising considering that the Bar Exam consists of specific state subject matter that most students have not even seen and not even on a general basis since their first year of law school. However, with the amount of programs out there, it may be hard for students to decide which exam is really the best one for them.

Tarek Fadel of AdaptiBar says that, "It is important for each person to investigate what's out there and pick a program that they think will work best with their lifestyle." That lifestyle includes the type of learning that is most comfortable. For example, some people learn best alone with a book or computer program to help them along. However, for others the only way to keep up the motivation is in a classroom setting with others. And for those who do best with one-on-one help, there are programs offering personal tutoring.

It is also important to understand that review programs do have some major differences. The duration, style, coverage and depth of different programs need to be considered. Eureka Bar Review and Study Group provide strictly online services covering different portions of the Bar Exam. On the other hand, BarBri covers the MPRE in addition to all aspects of the Bar Exam and provides both study aids and group classroom reviews.

AdaptiBar prides itself on customizing their learning program to individual students' needs via computer software for the MBE. BeatTheBar.com is also an MBE supplement that provides a strictly online course while PMBR uses a group classroom setting. For a more personal tutoring approach, MicroMash offers an attorney mentor for six weeks during the program to grade essays and answer questions. Both Reed and AmeriBar Bar Review offer one on one personalized tutoring in addition to videos and software as well as other learning supplements.

With all these options, cost is also a factor for some students, although not passing the Bar Exam may end up costing more than any review program. On average, self-study programs such as those that are provided via software and paper aids such as AdaptiBar and Study Group are the least costly starting in the hundreds while classroom based programs such as BarBri and PMBR can go into the upper hundreds and thousands. And personal tutoring programs are the most expensive such as Reed Multistate Bar Review which can cost multiple thousands of dollars. However, no matter which Bar Review program is picked, most students end up dishing out the dollars and signing up.

Some programs such as BarBri and MicroMash even have incentives for signing up early, locking in a lower rate the earlier students sign up. Even more of an incentive from programs like MicroMash, Study Group, AdaptiBar and Eureka is a refund in case the Bar is not passed after completion of the program. These companies will either permit the student to receive a full or partial refund or retake the review. In addition, almost all review programs also have representative positions available to students in order to earn free courses and program discounts which can help students finance the review. Information about such opportunities is available on most Bar review web sites.

The bottom line is there are plenty of Bar review programs to pick from that offer a mix of services that are bound to be right for any person. Of course, self-study is also an option. The best place to go to find out about a variety of programs is to visit them online and ask school representatives or inquire to the programs themselves if representative's are not available.