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California Bar Exam Preparation Daily ‘Jump Page’

Success on the California Bar Examination (CBX) requires long hours of preparation. Without a doubt, diligent time management and unbreakable resolve to pass the examination are required to make it happen. Staying positive and studying cleverly over an extended period of time is the key.

It is certainly good to take a comprehensive bar review course as part of your preparation for the CBX. However, whether you take a bar review course or not, the school strongly recommends that you ACTIVELY do all of the following to prepare well for the examination:

One: Learn the tested nuances in substantive ‘Black Letter Law’ by reading and answering more than a thousand practice MBE multi-choice questions.

Practice MBE multi-choice questions and answers are available in books and through the use of online programmed simulators. The simulator recommended most highly is AdaptiBar (Click here: AdaptiBar).

If you sign up for use of the AdaptiBar simulator, you can login to it from this NWCU page by clicking the below link:

Click here: AdaptiBar MBE - Login

Kaplan also has one available (Click here: Kaplan PMBR).

If you sign up for use of the Kaplan simulator, you can login to it from this NWCU page by clicking the below link:

Click here: Kaplan MBE - Login

The MBE part of the examination should receive a large amount, perhaps the greatest amount, of your attention as you prepare for the CBX. Mastery of the MBE part of the exam rewards you with great point-earning potential. Each correct answer raises your overall score on the CBX and does so without any uncertainty related to subjective assessments of graders. Moreover, the nuances in the law that you learn as you practice for the multiple-choice questions are the very nuances that you need to know for the handling of many essay questions. So, you get valuable knowledge for both the multiple-choice and the essay parts of the examination by reading and answering practice multiple-choice questions.

Detailed explanations are provided for the answers to each question on the AdaptiBar simulator. The answer explanations will provide you with law that you need to know and give you an awareness of areas in the law that are difficult for you so that you can focus on them. You will learn by knowing which questions you missed and why you missed them so that you can avoid making the same mistakes again when you take the real exam.

Answering a thousand or more of the practice multiple-choice questions is the way to go. Don’t stop when you get to a point at which you are getting more than 70, 80 or 90 percent of your answers correct. What is important is that you move on to dissect each multiple-choice practice question and answer and, in the process, master the correct concepts that are the subject of each. Your goal should be focused entirely on learning nuances in the law by reading, thinking about and then answering the questions.

Two: Read and analyze a large number of past CBX essay and performance test questions with answers for each of the tested subjects.

A. Examination Essay Questions and Selected Answers

February 2023 July 2023
February 2022 July 2022
February 2021 July 2021
February 2020 October 2020
February 2019 July 2019
February 2018 July 2018
February 2017 July 2017
February 2016 July 2016
February 2015 July 2015
February 2014 July 2014
February 2013 July 2013
February 2012 July 2012
February 2011 July 2011
February 2010 July 2010
February 2009 July 2009
February 2008 July 2008
February 2007 July 2007
February 2006 July 2006
February 2005 July 2005
February 2004 July 2004
February 2003 July 2003
February 2002 July 2002
  July 2001

B. (New Format - 90 Minutes) California Performance Tests and Selected Answers

February 2023 July 2023
February 2022 July 2022
February 2021 July 2021
February 2020 October 2020
February 2019 July 2019
February 2018 July 2018
  July 2017

C. (Old Format - 3 Hours) California Performance Tests and Selected Answers

February 2017
February 2016 July 2016
February 2015 July 2015
February 2014 July 2014
February 2013 July 2013
February 2012 July 2012
February 2011 July 2011
February 2010 July 2010
February 2009 July 2009
February 2008 July 2008
February 2007 July 2007
February 2006 July 2006
February 2005 July 2005
February 2004 July 2004
February 2003 July 2003
February 2002 July 2002
  July 2001

An online searchable database of organized and categorized past California Bar Examination Essay Questions and Good-Scoring Answers is available through BarIssues.com. In addition to presenting them that way, it shows which issues in each subject have been tested on the exam most often. Use of the database will prevent you from having to search randomly on your own through past bar exam essay questions and answers to find those in certain subjects or those with specific issues.

The searchable database was developed by two graduates of Northwestern California University. BarIssues.com offers a $20 discount to Northwestern California University students and graduates. The discount is provided when a code is entered for purchase of use on the BarIssues.com website.

The discount code is:

KEEPTHEFAITH20

Three: Outline and write many answers to essay and performance test questions.

Select questions from those that are accessible by clicking the above-referenced links. Then, in self-timed sessions, write answers to the questions and later compare your answers to the corresponding answers that are provided.

Four: Learn to answer all essay questions with analysis and argument.

Learn to answer all essay questions with analysis and argument because that will get you much higher scores than answers that provide nothing more than good definitions of key law terms and only simple, non-analytical references to, or quotations from, the facts of the questions.

Good analysis and argument will get you many more points than good definitions. While knowing the definitions is crucial to being able to identify issues on the examination, it is analysis and argument that will drive up the points earned on the essay portion of it.

Five: Study harder and longer than you ever have for anything else.

Study compulsively with constant focus on the prize. Avoid distractions and stay determined over the entire period of time by studying many long hours, day in and day out. Remember that success on the CBX comes only with intense preparation. The time you spend preparing for the exam should be one of the most unforgettable periods of your life; a time when you worked harder than ever to achieve a worthwhile goal. Your aim must be to prepare to the point that when you answer questions on the day of the real exam you realize that it is just like another day of practice.

Six: Read each one of the following messages.

(Click on each link below)

The Issue-Under-Here-Therefore Method

Questions and Selected Answers

Issue Recognition and Outlining

The Importance of Argument

Multi-Choice Test Advice - NEVER Fail To Blacken A Circle Before You Move On and Answer All The Questions

The Silver Bullet - ACTIVE STUDY FOR THE TEST versus Passive Study for the Courses Tested

Summary of My Advice For Writing Essay Answers

The Best Way to Study for the CBX - Tips for Success, Extra Points and More

Books and Resources That May Be Helpful to You in Your Preparation for the California Bar Examination