If you are gearing up for a rewarding and fulfilling career in the field of law in the Pennsylvania area, you may be a bit nervous at the thought of your impending bar exam. This rigorous test (or more accurately, series of tests) is known for being tough. If you approach your bar exam in the right manner, however, it does not need to be quite a painful as you may fear. While the Pennsylvania Bar Exam can hardly be defined as easy, learning as much as you can about the examination beforehand and following a well-organized study plan of action can help you to pass with flying colors. Indeed, this page on how to pass the bar exam in Pennsylvania is intended to show you how to do both of those things, so that you can maximize your chances of success.

In the first section of this page (Step 1), you will learn the basics about the Pennsylvania Bar Exam, including dates, deadlines, fees and content that you can expect to see. In Step 2, we will go over the MPRE requirement, which is necessary for those who wish to join the Pennsylvania Bar. In Step 3, you can read about study strategies that have helped many a student pass her or his bar exam in the past.

To sit for the Pennsylvania Bar Exam, you will need to pay a fee of $500 if you are first-time applicant or $250 if you are applying to retake the test. These are the fees for timely filing--late penalties are assessed if you miss the deadline for your exam, and tardy filing can cost you anywhere from an extra $150 to $850 (totaling to $1350, more than 250% of the normal fee), depending on how late your application is.

The timely filing deadline for the February exam is October 30 (easy to remember, as it is the day before Halloween), while the deadline for the July exam is April 15 (tax day). If your application is not postmarked by the final deadline (December 15 for the February exam or May 30 for the July exam), you will not be able to sit for the bar exam.

Applications can be accessed online by heading over to this page here.http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/fees.htm

The test takes place over two days (always the last Tuesday and Wednesday of the month), and contains three sections: the essay examination, the the performance test and the Multistate Bar Examination. The bar exam is only offered in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in February, while in July it is offered in those cities as well as in Harrisburg.http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/passing.htm

As you may already know by now, the bar exam is not the only test that you will need to take in order to be able to practice law in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania requires that all applicants to the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will not be accepted unless they pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (abbreviated as MPRE) with a scaled score of at least 75 points. You must accomplish this within 6 months of the release of your bar exam results. If you fail to do this, you will be required to re-undergo your character and fitness determination, as well as provide the board with a supplemental application to join. http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_admission_procedures/mpre.htm

The MPRE is by no means as taxing as the Pennsylvania Bar Exam, as it is made up entirely of multiple choice questions (60 of them, to be exact) and takes just over 2 hours to complete, compared to 2 days. Formulated by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the MPRE will test your knowledge of the ethical and moral code that United States attorneys are expected to adhere to.http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mpre/

Every individual has their own preferred study habits, and not everyone will want to use the same preparation techniques for their bar exam. However, there are some key tips that greatly increase your chances of passing. The keys here are maintaining discipline and focus, managing your time wisely, and believing in your self and your abilities (very important). Doing the following will result in a recipe for success:http://academic.udayton.edu/legaled/barpass/General/Others01.htm

1. Get all of your travel arrangements, application paperwork, and other logistical tasks taken care of 3 to 4 months before the date of your examination.
2. Lay out a schedule for your studying at least 3 months before the exam--plan what you will study when, making sure all areas are covered. Begin with the subjects that you are least confident about.
3. Take advantage of the exam review material provided by the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners, which includes essay questions with model answers and examiners' analyses, as well as MBE info and more. Click here to access these review materials.http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/examreview.htm
4. If possible, enroll in a bar exam study class or use a self-guided service such as Micromash.
5. Do not work for a month before the bar, but instead work full time on your preparation.
6. Take practice tests regularly.