BARBRI Bar Review makes staying on schedule easy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still track your progress. In fact, BARBRI has some specially designed features that go beyond the simple numbers to help you stay on track.
It all starts by figuring out your schedule beyond the recommended daily hours that the BARBRI interface provides (courtesy of ISAAC and your Personal Study Plan). You need to be proactive in ensuring that you’re staying on par with BARBRI’s target completion rate and monitoring your percentile rank on assignments/topics.
Easy enough, right? But what is the best way to do this?
Create a study schedule
First and foremost, you need to create a study schedule. And, no, we don’t mean simply deciding how many hours to study each day — BARBRI decides that for you. Rather, you need to figure out when and where you’re going to study each day and week.
For instance, some students are more productive in the evenings and might arrange their schedules to do a light review of notes in the morning and then hunker down for an intensive study session in the evening at a specific workstation they’ve carved out. Other students might find their best studying is first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee at their favorite coffee shop or local library. Whenever and wherever you choose to study, having this mapped out ahead of time will take some of the guesswork out of your planning.
A schedule also ensures you’ll find the time to complete all your required tasks each and every day. It even lends some structure to your life, which may help reduce stress.
Types of progress tracking
Within your Personal Study Plan, there are two types of progress tracking available: completion and results of multiple-choice. Completion tracking provides an understanding of the volume of work/assignments completed while the results of multiple-choice tracking showcases how you’re doing on practice questions to give your percent correct or percentile ranking.
To locate all of the progress tracking reports, log in to your Personal Study Plan and select My Progress from the top menu. The first three reports are related to your completion metrics while the last two charts showcase your results metrics. Once you have completed your Simulated MBE, you’ll also have access to a sixth report that will have your Simulated MBE results.
Track your completion progress
When you first navigate to My Progress, you will land on the first report for My Study Plan Progress. This will give you a view into your overall progress towards completing your study plan. Included is a comparison between where you are in the course, where you planned to be at this point (based on your start date and calendar customization), the average passing student’s completion and the total course (including all recommended assignments). You’ll also see a week-by-week progress tracking of your completion of the recommended assignments.
The second report related to completion tracking is the MBE Subjects Progress Report – Details. This report shows your overall and by-subject completion as a percentage of the recommended assignments for the MBE subjects. Check this report not only frequently, but early on to see how you’re tracking with MBE topics.
The last report related to completion tracking is the State Subjects Progress Report. This report shows your overall and by-subject completion as a percentage of the recommended assignments for the non-MBE subjects. These are topics that may or may not be tested on one of your essay questions and may also not appear on your exam at all. But don’t worry, we’ve taken the structure of the exam and the likelihood of certain subjects appearing on your exam into account when building your course.
Monitor your percentile rankings
The next thing you’ll find under the Progress Tracker is a series of graphs depicting your performance thus far in your studies. You want to keep an eye on all of them, but the most important thing to note is your percentile ranking – this is because the bar exam is curved. You can learn all about “the curve” on the BARBRI website.
There are two reports for tracking percentile ranking. The first is for Weekly Progress by Subject – Percent Correct, which tracks the percent of questions that you got correct in each subject’s practice questions on a weekly basis. This is the first of the results-based tracking and provides data based on your own results.
The second report is for Weekly Progress by Subject – Percentile Ranking, which tracks your percentile ranking in comparison to all the other students preparing with BARBRI for the MBE on a weekly basis. Percentile ranking is particularly important since the MBE is scaled. The score that will ultimately determine whether you pass the bar is calculated in comparison to all the other students taking the MBE nationwide. Since the majority of students use BARBRI to prepare for their bar exam, your BARBRI percentile ranking is a great indicator towards your success.
As a quick guide, you want to aim to be in the 30th to 40th percentile, or higher, in each subject area to ensure your success on the bar exam (remember, you want to study broadly not deeply so you know just enough in each subject).
As you monitor your percentile ranking each week, keep in mind that you’ll see your percentage score as you complete your tasks. The scores for the current week are updated each time this page is accessed, but scores for weeks prior to the current week will be locked.
Review your Simulated MBE results
The last report you’ll find is for your BARBRI Simulated Multistate Bar Exam Results. This report will be available after you have completed your Simulated MBE.
After you take the Simulated MBE, this score report will show your overall and by-subject percentile ranking based on your Simulated MBE answer choices. Percentile Rank on the Simulated MBE is by far the most accurate and relevant measure of your progress towards success on the MBE.
Once you receive your report, the report will have your raw score (which is fixed) but your percentile ranking (your comparison to other students), will adjust as other students take the Simulated MBE. BARBRI also offers a webinar that further explains the Simulated MBE score report and results and how you may wish to adjust your study habits based on your results.
Remember UBE/state-specific tests
If you’re taking the UBE, you will likely be required to take a state-specific test. BARBRI does not provide study aids for these tests. Your UBE state provides specific study aids that you can access by searching your bar administration’s webpage or contacting them directly to gain access to the necessary study materials. To check your state’s specific requirements, you can also download the BARBRI Bar Exam Digest which has all the bar exam information you need, for each U.S. state, in one document.
You’ve got this!
The bar exam is hard. There’s no way around that. And studying for the bar exam will be a challenge. But we know you can do this. You’ve already shown what true determination looks like throughout law school.
As you begin your bar exam prep, remember that this is a marathon, not a race. Give yourself the best chance of success by having a plan, utilizing the reports, following your Personal Study Plan, and taking care of yourself both mentally and physically during this journey.
We’re here for you every step of The BARBRI Way.
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