How To Prioritize for the Philippine Bar Exam Review

This the first time that I'll tell you that "you can't do it"

Hi there. Here I am, your friend who always tells you that you will pass the bar. Be positive. Study to pass, not study to not fail, there’s a difference, period.

But today, I will have to disappoint you. Today, I will tell you something negative. Don’t expect that you can do it. Don’t expect that you have superpowers. No matter how positive you are, it can’t be done. You can’t absorb all the contents of your books, codals, review materials, and notes from bar lecturers.

Every time you find a review material you buy it, or download it and endeavor to read it. Have you checked how many reviewers you have? Do you have the UP Q&A, UST Golden Notes, Beda Red Notes, and Siliman compilation? You wanted to read them all, right?

Now that review schools went online. How many schools you were enrolled in? I bet two? Or maybe one but you talked to your friend to enroll in the other review school. Then you will share passwords and try each other’s online review portal. There's a chance that I'm right, correct?

You know, in the trading world (I do stock market trading) we call this FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. We get everything because we fear that we will miss something. The result is a scattered focus. By trying to get so much done, nothing is done.

Don’t do it. You have to focus.

Prioritize What To Review

Imagine this:

If your house is on fire, you can’t save everything. You may get a thing or two using both of your hands and run for your life. If you have small kids, your hands will be used to carry them and save them no matter what.

Now, if your kids are big enough to run by themselves and you have your two hands to carry two things. What are you going to take with you?

Take with you the thing that will help you have a temporary house or rebuild your house again. If it happens to me, I’ll take my bag that contains my money, phone and atm cards, and our box of important documents.

The ATM card can give you ready cash in case you need to sleep in a hotel for the night. Your "important documents" box contains details of your property insurance. You need your insurance policy to file a claim and rebuild your house.

Contrast it with this:

You grab your TV because it's new. It’s expensive. Will your TV provides you a house for the night or it will only give you a bulky item to carry? Will you get the contact details of your insurance and your ID details on your TV? No.

So always remember this:

For the bar review, the first thing to do is safeguard those that are important. Just because you bought the newest edition and an expensive book doesn’t mean it will save you during the bar. What will save you are the essential provisions.

What Did I Do During My Time?

Simple Rule:

One book per subject only. Plus codals, Pareto notes, and my favorite Siliman reviewer.

For the book, this is the book that I used during my law school days. It’s usually full of marginal notes and I’ve read them more than once so it's easier to read again. Sometimes, because of repeated reading, I would know if a certain concept is written on top or bottom of the page. Call it familiarity.

For the reviewers, I love the Siliman reviewer. It's because the previous bar exam questions are arranged per topic and not per year. I’ve been using Siliman since my 1st year in law school. Please note that the “frequently asked bar questions” are called “frequently asked” because they are. Hence, you should know them by heart.

I believe in the 80/20 principle so I recommend the Pareto Notes. The important 20% that will produce the 80% is always true.

Always have your codal while reviewing your books or reviewers or when listening to lectures for easy reference and note insertion. Master the “catch-all” provisions.

No More Reading of Cases

I didn’t remember reading cases anymore during my review. Important cases are tackled by bar reviewers in their lectures. I depended on the bar lecturers for this. If you have to check a case, get the landmark case that discusses important provisions and concepts in one case.

What if your book is old and there is a new edition?

Your bar reviewers will give you the updates. You just have to listen carefully. They emphasize it during the review. When they do, you just have to write it on a sticky note and insert it in the appropriate part of your codal or whatever book you will decide as your ultimate bar book.

What is the ultimate bar book?

I only coined the term. My ultimate bar book is the only book that I will carry inside the bar testing center. And for me, it is the codal. It’s because the codal is the repository of all the laws. If I’ll get to choose only one book to review per subject, I’ll pick the codal.

In What Manner Did I Review My Materials?

Depending on the coverage of the bar subject, the number of books I have to read for it, and my reading speed, I computed how many days will it take me to finish everything. Now I can't remember which bar subject has the most books.

Then I did 3 readings of each book. Three readings do not mean that I read the book thrice. On my first reading, I read it cover to cover and highlighted important things. Since most of my books were already highlighted in law school, I was able to save time on this. For the second reading, I only read the highlighted parts and copied them into a notebook. By copying into the notebook, I was able to practice my handwriting and I’m made a handy copy of my notes. I reserved the reading of the notes in the notebook for my pre-week and that is considered the third reading of the book.

After reading the books, I mastered the Lex Pareto Notes and the Siliman reviewer.

My Most Important Review Practice

I wrote down what I deemed the most important and the hard to understand concepts (prone to be forgotten) on a bond paper put them on our walls. I decided on what are important based on the number of times the provisions were asked in the bar, the recommendations from the bar reviewers, and based on my own judgment.

I dedicated one wall per subject. Hence, the walls of our room were filled with notes. It even spilled out outside the room. Mind you, most of the questions that were asked in the bar were written on my walls.

Every day, after I listen to my bar anthems, I visit my walls and read aloud all my writings. Every day. So I was able to familiarize if not memorize them. Even my youngest child who was 6 years old during that time has memorized some of my notes in Remedial Law.

This is one of my bar review practice that helped me the most.

If You Have Spare Time

If you finish your review in one bar subject ahead of schedule, then that’s the time that you can get extra books to read. Just like the burning house situation, get first the essentials. And if you have an opportunity to get back without risking your life, only then you can save some more. I did remember reading Golden Notes during my spare days.

Final Thoughts

Don’t cram it all and attempt to read them all. Prioritize. It will be good for your confidence, too. Being able to master a book and a reviewer will give you a confidence boost instead of having so many and ending up not mastering anything.

Friends, the bar exam is a test of your general knowledge of the law. You are not expected to know everything. Even lawyers don’t know everything.

When I was reviewing, I always remind myself that when I become a lawyer, I can practice with all the books open. I can consult whatever book that I need. So during the review, I only prioritized those that have high chances of being asked in the bar exam. Because at the end of the day, what matters is if I pass or not.

Like trying to get out of the burning house, I’ll save myself first and put on my hands those that are most essential.

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