Legal Peas, help!

I know nothing about the bar, but nurses feel like this when they get ready to take the NCLEX. You can do it! (I'm sure the bar is harder, but I'm trying to be supportive!)

This. All of it.
Stop. Sleep. Do at least 1 fun thing. Get back to work studying.
Repeat as needed, likely frequently.
You will be ok.

I recently read a report about a scientific study that proved that those who studied days before an exam without pulling an allnighter and got good sleep everynight outperformed those who tried to cram study for the two or three days before the exam, and didn't get enough sleep. 

You can't keep as much in your memory when you need sleep. 

I've also read that chewing peppermint gum while you study and then chewing gum while you take a test helps the brain remember because there's another pathway to remembrance, smell. Smell is a powerful memory booster. Anytime I smell candles that have just been snuffed, it takes me back to the first church I went to as a child. There were large candles on each side of the pulpit, and they were lit before the sermon and snuffed out afterwards. I have some scarves of my grandmothers, and I keep them in a ziploc bag so they keep her smell. I've had the bag 20 years now, and the scarves still smell like her.--they're not anything I would wear, but anytime I sniff the scarves, I'm transported back to being a little girl again watching my grandmother get ready for church, putting on lipstick, and putting a scarf over her hair. 

As for essays, there are some great tutorials, I'd try googling fundamentals of essays, or if you're more of a visual learner, see what's on youtube. 

I was really good with essays and written work in high school and college. I think when students get higher up in their education, like grad work and post grad, that they feel like they have to be so much more superfluous with wording and sentence structure. I always would refer back to my English writing guide (it's been over 15 years ago, I can't remember which style I had to write in) and make sure each of my paragraphs were clear and more concise. I tend to write tons of complex, overly complicated sentences, and they can be a lot less clear. 

I'm sure that the bar is going to be looking more at the content of your essays than your style, but knowing the fundamentals will help put your mind at ease.

Passing the bar is HARD. Very few pass the first time. All you have control over is doing your best. You're studying hard, and you're venting to us and seeking help. I think you're doing your best. It's ok if you don't pass. The world will not stop. You will become a lawyer at some point. Relax. The stress isn't good for you. 

I have a lot of health problems because my birth mother tried to secretly abort me. Then her mother found out what she'd done, and my mother gave me up for adoption. I started getting very sick in college. I'm one of your average overachievers who even had the SATS to have a 21 credit load as a college freshman and still did all sorts of activities and did everything well. 

Until that final year of college. I had so much pressure from my soon to be in-laws, and I already had put so much pressure on myself. I was also in denial about how sick I was. My parents wanted me to come home and rest. I didn't want to spend the 6 months until my wedding stuck at home with my mom. So I stayed at school, struggled through, and crashed second semester in late February.

A wonderful teacher who is now a dear friend, took me aside, and told me to keep my eye on what was important. I was getting married to the man that I had dated for 7 years. I hadn't come to school intent on finding "someone" to marry. My teacher reminded me how special the relationship I had with dh was. I needed to focus on my health and my life after school. If I kept stressing myself to the breaking point, I'd wind up without my health. She also counseled me to drop a few credits (I was taking 21 again, trying to graduate) I felt so much better with all that weight off me. 

I didn't graduate with my class. I knew I wasn't going to at the beginning of the senior year. I didn't think I cared about marching with my class. I was having severe heart problems, and I just couldn't keep up the 21 credits both semesters so I would have enough credits to "march".

Not many people are taught that it's ok to fail. Even when you've done your VERY best and given your all and then some. We learn by our mistakes. We grow by our mistakes. 

I was really upset at the graduation service, and I actually cried right through it. I then dried my tears, put on a happy face, and congratulated my friends. Then I saw them a month later for my wedding.

Dh and I have been married for 15 years. We have a wonderful life together. I have gotten much sicker and am disabled from MS and other autoimmune and neurological problems.

I worked at finishing my degree, but I had to stop school because my health got so bad. I'm actually glad that I don't have a degree from my college because they've been embroiled in a lot of controversy, and I'm very unhappy with what the school has become. I did work after I got married and had some remarkable jobs until I chose to stop.

We don't know how life will work out for us. We can just do our best, love those around us, take time to stop and smell the flowers, and take care of ourselves--like sleeping enough! 

Hang in there. I really admire that you took the leap and went through law school and am about to take the bar exam. I wish you the best. I think you'll pass.

Not a legal RPea but have seen and heard this from having 'kids' in University at Finals time.    You can do it - move away from it for the moment and do something that you enjoy doing then go back to the studying refreshed and raring to go.  Above all, have confidence in yourself that you can get through this and do everything needed - sending lots of good wishes and positive thoughts across 'the pond' for you.  

Get enough sleep. Properly nourish your body.
Then just try to accept the process -- it is a nightmare. I am not a "religious" person .. but I seriously considered bargaining with God (I didn't) ... but I did go to church. It didn't really help.
I thought about screaming at a passing car that somehow inconvenienced me -- "don't you understand I'm studying for the Bar?!?!?!"

AS for an essay part -- jot down a quick little outline. Your brain triggers a bunch of thoughts at the beginning -- get those thoughts noted, then arrange them. The CONTENT is the most important -- how you express the content is certainly relevant - but the content is the most important.
Let each section "go" after you finish it -- DO NOT OBSESS over what is already done.

Our Bar exam was two days -- I played (relaxed) and rested overnight.

This. All of this. Relax and take a break. If you don't pass, it's not the end of the world. You can retake it even if that's not ideal. The more you can relax the better you'll do

Get some exercise!! Outside when the weather allows. Yoga or something inside when not.
Eat real food (not all junk) and eat regularly.
We're not kidding about the breaks - critical!! (without an outline in your hand or on your phone)

Seriously, girl. Make these things part of the study plan.  Your brain will thank you.

You. Can. Do. This.

keep repeating that - you will be able to do this.

Not a legal Pea but I am a CPA from the days of the two day exam (now you can spread the sections out because it is computerized). I understand your stress but you have been given some good advice here so far.

I do want to reiterate one thing. Sleep is VERY important and if you are not sleeping well it will cause you to be more anxious. Make it a priority.

Best of luck to you!

Get your hands on some practice exams, and work on those. It helps you get a feel for how the MBE is written.

I agree that if you can write essay tests in law school -- and I assume you've done that -- you can write well enough for the bar exam. You don't have to get the high "A."