How To Review For The Bar

Here are excerpts from an email I wrote to some of my friends on how to prepare and review for the bar exam. I edited it to make it into a blogpost.

These are based on a number of Ateneo barops reading materials, the advice of my friends who passed the Bar, and several books, lectures and websites on passing the Bar. I hope these ideas help you as it did me.

Proper Nutrition
My wife says to  make sure you  get proper nutrition during the bar. She used to feed me what she called her brain gain food (nuts, grains and other healthy foods for the brain, you can find it online), and had me drinking vitamins and gingko biloba stuff from healthy options. Expensive but admittedly a big help, even if just for the psychological effect.

Readings and Schedules
I aimed for three readings of my materials and then a preweek reading, which made for a total of four readings. I suggest you aim for more than one reading in any case. In your first reading you are only just getting the ideas in your head. By the 2nd things make sense and by the third that’s when you feel like you know the subject, regardless of whether your third is the preweek reading already for you.

In light of this, the schedule is VERY important. Make sure you have a battleplan-schedule  by the time you graduate from law school, so you know what it is you will do  when you start reviewing. Assess yourself early and try to write down your schedule.

I suggest you get a calendar and write down on each day of the calendar what the subject is you will review for that day and so on. So that in one glance you get an idea what your schedule for the week/month will be etc.

But don’t make that schedule the gospel truth. Adjust it once in a while.

For example, my commercial law 1st reading was originally set for 7 days, but because I had to go to a couples discovery weekend seminar, which ate up two days, I had to adjust and make my commercial law reading only 5 days and a half instead, and then I made my criminal law 4 and a half days rather than the original 5 i had planned.

Just Adjust. You can always make up for it.

Take Breaks
As for breaks, I never had a rest day (i.e. one day where I never studied) but I had what I called slack days. Slack days are those  days when I would only review for like 3-5 hours. This served three purposes: one, I wouldn’t burn out, and two, i wouldn’t psychologically be bothered that i didn’t study that day and feel guilty, and three i wouldn’t lose momentum and become lazy.

My slack days were usually my date days. I set aside one day a week to go out with my dreamgirl (and now wife). We’d catch a movie or just watch dvds at her place.

Btw I don’t suggest alcohol as stress release because by the next day, you may lose time trying to get up and recover from the hangover or whatever. So avoid alcohol for the bar. You will get a chance to get crazy ass drunk on the last Sunday of September when the Bar exams end.

I also took frequent breaks during the day. Just 5-10 minutes to rest my eyes, or have a cup of coffee, etc.

I also would set up schedule and adjust my time to watch a particular TV show once in a while.  I would also try to catch the Fightquest  TV Show on Monday night on the Discovery Channel. Or  the Sopranos on HBO. Whatever rocks your boat.

Just try to unwind a little bit everyday or treat yourself a bit once in a while. Or have phone calls each night before you sleep (i talked to my dreamgirl every night on the phone after reviewing, for example) whatever fits your style. Just so you won’t go nuts from all that studying.

Study Time in a Day
Oh and with regard to time to study in a day, I got a stopwatch like a lot of other guys did (such as Bar topnotcher Atty. Diaz), and timed myself everyday and then recorded it in my calendar-schedule. It’s a good way to check your progress.

So if you did only say, 4 hours today, you know you should push yourself a little harder the next day and try to hit 7 or 8. (Make sure to time ONLY the actual time you hit the books. Not the time you are sitting down and chatting with your co-reviewees etc. )

Try to aim for around 7-8 hours of study in  a day. But in the first few months the normal time you will  be hitting is probably around 4-5 hours only or even less (according to several Atenean Bar Topnotchers, this is very normal). Heck the first week of my review I only did two or three hours a day despite sitting down the whole day. That’s normal. As time goes by, you’ll think nothing of 7-8 hours of review a day. At my peak and panic time around August I was already doing 9-11 hours a day, depending on my focus.

Handwriting and Past Bar Exam Questions
Oh and practice writing in print. My handwriting is horrible. So i would practice a lot by writing and doing mock bars (more on that below).

Furthermore, be sure to get copies of the past bar exams and their answers. Those allowed me to practice how to answer the Bar. So after every reading of each subject, I would try and test myself with a practice exam under similar Bar Exam times or circumstances. So it’s like a mock Bar for me already. This way, your mind will get used to not only taking in info by studying, but also  how to release that info under a test setting or mock Bar.

Review Classes To Attend
As for what review classes to go to [in the Ateneo Bar Review Program], I cant tell you who you should and shouldn’t go to since I don’t know who are the ones giving classes this time, but I can tell you to PICK carefully. Discern which subjects you need a refresher course in.

If you are weak in say criminal, then by all means go to criminal review classes. Just make sure the prof is someone worth going to. I skipped almost all review classes myself since the time it would take me to go to school was too much for me. It takes me about thirty minutes to get ready to go to school (shower, get dressed etc) and then another hour to get to Ateneo just to attend the class. Sometimes all that time spent on just getting to school seemed like a waste to me. I was better off just reading my review materials at home.

But then again, this is a personal preference. A fellow Bar exam passer would study and then take breaks from studying by going to review classes. He said that instead of reading all the time, listening to lectures also allowed him to learn in a different way. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

But what you shouldn’t skip on are the classes on jurisprudence updates. They are very very useful. Attorney Candelaria’s political law updates, for example, discussed the topic of soft law in the Milk Code case. A question connected to soft law came out in my batch’s bar exam.

Take Notes
I also suggest that you have a notebook for each Bar subject. Then while you review, you take notes or write down what you feel are important points on the law, or even significant updates in jurisprudence. Taking notes helps you anchor the concepts in your head. Plus, by the end of your 1st or 2nd reading, you can review by simply reading your notebooks.

In my case, in the hour or two before the Bar Exam proper, I didn’t rely on those miscellaneous tips (bluetips, UP tips, etc.) that school or fraternity bar operations would distribute. Instead I focussed on reading my own notes.

And speaking of tips, try not to obsess over getting copies of those “killer” tips. Killer tips do not mean that you have the answers to the questions and will pass the Bar already. Those tips, such as the Ateneo Bluetips, are simply the educated guesses of Barops and Professors on what will come out in the Bar. Tips will never replace a good review. Just study well and you will pass, tips or no tips.

Have Faith
Also, and if you will allow me this chance to talk about God for a moment, let me tell you that I prayed a lot during review. It helped.

I also read the Bible once in a while, especially when it felt like the task was impossible. I also had a pastor-friend who i could text or talk to and ask that he pray for me. I suggest you do the same, and get someone spiritually mature (like a priest or pastor) to pray for you, or with you.

If you aren’t religious, then I suggest you go with whatever you are comfortable with, like meditation or yoga or whatever. But in my opinion, God is the one who gets us through trials like these. And praying never hurts.

I hope these tips on how to review for the Bar helps you. In my next post, I will list the books and materials I used for Bar Review.

I passed the Bar!!!

After a whole day of gut crunching tension, I finally found out that on Friday night that I was one of the 1,310 examinees   who passed the 2008 Bar examinations. According to the official list released by the Philippine Supreme Court, and published in, among others, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, I am successful examinee number 688.

This means I am going to become a full lawyer soon!!! All those years of hard-work and endless nights of study have finally paid off.

But even as I feel immense happiness and relief for passing the Bar exam, I can’t help but feel sad over the fate of those who did not. Some of my batchmates, one of them quite close to me, didn’t make it to the list of people who passed the Bar. I don’t know how it happened, especially since the friend I am referring to is infinitely smarter than me and has much better grades. But that’s the Bar exam for you. You can, unfortunately, never tell.

I praise God for allowing  me to pass. But I also pray to God that He grant those who did not pass the strength to soldier on and face the exams again.

The Bar is a cruel and painful examination. And I wouldn’t wish failure on my worst enemy. So I honestly can’t imagine how painful it must feel to not make it. Although I have read about how some people I know are already bouncing back from the Bar results. In any case, all I can say now to those who didn’t make it, is that my prayers are with you. God Bless.

ps – A number of people have asked me about Bar Preparations. Although I am no Bar top-notcher, I am willing to share what info and tips I have. Will update with some Bar review tips soon.

An Alternative Choice for President

(Babble On for the Sunstar Davao, Feb. 20, 2009)

Who do we  vote for in the next Presidential elections?  Well, in case you didn’t know, next year is another opportunity for us to choose our President. 2010 is a Presidential election year. These things only happen once every 6 years.

And what makes this one special is that for the first time in a long while, it is a wide open field. Well, sort of.

We know that the current ruling parties, Lakas CMD and the President’s own KAMPI have to field candidates for the top job. The question of course is whether they can do it together via an alliance, or will they do it separately, if unification deals don’t actually push through.

Another question when it comes to the ruling parties, if they unite for the elections, is who should be their candidate for top dog?

I am sure there is a long list of people who want to take that slot, but I think that, of those people in that possible list, nearly none of them will be a winnable candidate (think of a guy obsessed with the color pink, a city mayor, and a former tv newscaster).

Then there’s the Opposition. I am sure they see opportunity knocking on the door, in the same way that the Democrats saw opportunity when George W. Bush’s term was ending.

The Democrats knew that the American people were largely fed up with a Republican administration, and that it was the best time for a Democrat to come to power. And so you had the Barack Obama phenomenon.

Some members of the Opposition have already begun to jump on that same Obama bandwagon, trumpeting that they are the best candidate for hope (think of the city mayor whose city is arguably the financial center of the country).

Even the deposed President Erap has somewhat thrown his hat into the fray, with rumors of his running as a candidate in 2010 buzzing all over the political field.

Some lawyers have even circulated their legal theory that he can still run for President, despite contrary opinions from other legal experts and the clear wording in the Constitution, which states that a President cannot run for election.

A number of  senators are also interested in the job, I hear.

A former lady newscaster is still considering running, despite the bad taste the vice-presidential election left in her mouth. Mr. Palengke is raring to go, and continue the family legacy of Presidential leadership. All he needs to do now is get a wife, who could possibly be the next First Lady. A major newscaster is supposed to be interested in that wife position.

Then there is the smart and very eloquent young senator named Chiz. Some say he may be too young for the job, although he would make an interesting alternative candidate. In my opinion though, his youth may make him a viable candidate for Vice-President, rather than President.

Even the sitting Chief Justice has been named as a possible candidate for President. I strongly do not believe he should run, since it would mean leaving the Chief Justice seat up for grabs and open to the appointing power of the current President. But if Puno does run for president, I would vote for him in a heartbeat. I still hope he doesn’t run though.

But since the field for the Presidency in 2010 seems so wide open, have we Dabawenyos ever thought about this interesting option? Mayor Duterte is finishing up his third term. He can no longer run as Mayor in the next election. And from what I hear, he has no taste for a legislative seat. Being a man of action, he has always preferred being in an executive position like Mayor.

So why not run for President, Mayor Rody?

Think about it. He’s got a great background of success, is nearly as famous as most Senators  (I once saw several Senators walk up to him and say hi while he was in Manila) and has a tough take-no-prisoners style which would serve him well in the rough and tumble field of national politics.

Sure he is a long shot, but imagine what he could do if he were President. It would be like having a disciplinarian like former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew in charge of the Philippines.

I don’t know about you, but I would love for our country to be like Singapore.

Think about it.