For most law students, preparing for the Bar exam starts at the first day of law school. Working hard and  familiarizing yourself with core subjects that will be on the bar exam should continue through your three years of law school.

For most students, however, working and studying hard in law school is not enough to prepare for the bar exam. Bar exam preparation courses are very popular, and vary greatly in price and style, however some sort of bar review before the bar exam is critical.

Some other general pointers for preparing for the bar exam:

• Learn About the Bar Exam: If you know what State you expect to practice in, learn about the Bar exam, application deadlines, payment options, etc. well before you are ready to take the bar exam. Many review courses have discounted rates for students who sign up for bar exam preparation courses earlier on.
• Build Up Your Confidence: You can pass this exam, if you take it seriously. You want to work extremely hard, and pass the exam the first time. Never take the bar exam as a “trial run.” Sitting for the exam with the intent to take it again will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Prepare Financially: The bar exam is expensive. The application and the costs of a preparation course may exceed $4,000.
• It’s a Full-Time Job: From the time you graduate until you take the bar exam , you need to spend your fulltime effort studying for the bar exam.
• Take a Bar Exam Preparation Course: Preparation courses are not optional; you need to take one to pass the bar exam. There are many good courses out there, with many different teaching styles. Pick one.
• Take Timed Practice Exams: Take at least some practice exams timed. You need a sense of what MBE questions, essays, and performance tests are like when under time pressure.

Follow these tips and pay close attention to your law school’s instructions regarding the bar exam to maximize your chances that you will pass the bar exam on your first try.

Below is a list of some commercially available bar exam preparation courses:

AdaptiBar — An online, adaptive program for preparing for the MBE.
Bar Exam Preparation
Bar Graders — BarGraders is a supplemental program to help you gain the competitive edge by developing and refining your essay writing skills for the bar exam.
Bar Made Easy — Bar Made Easy – Personalized Tutoring For Bar, Law Students and First Year Law Student’s Examination.
Bar Outlines.com — Bar Exam Outlines and Study Materials from seasoned Attorneys specializing in New York, California, Washington, Florida, Texas, Multistate Bar Exam – MBE, and MPRE.
Bar Secrets — Provides materials that can supplement other Bar review programs.
BAR/BRI Bar Review — A nationwide bar review course that provides outlines, law school professors, and Multistate and Essay Testing programs.
BarBusters — Customized in-person and distance tutoring for the California Bar exam. Concentrating on essay and performance testing.
BarNone Review — California Bar Exam Preparation
BarPassers — BarPassers offers a full range of bar review and law school programs in the state of California.
BarPerfect — Individualized mentoring & guidance for the bar exam and law school. Online�or face-to-face.
BarPlus Bar Review
barrev.com
Beat The Bar.Com — Beat The Bar.Com provides study tools to use with multi-state questions.
Celebration Bar Review and Test Preparation — Homestudy bar review and test preparation courses.
Cheat-the-Bar — Supplemental MBE prep course.
Ebook Bar Exam Review
Eureka Bar Review
Fleming’s Fundamentals Of Law — Offers instruction in legal research, essay writing, and multiple choice test taking for bar review.
Gallagher Bar Training Schools — Review course for the New York Bar
Kaplan PMBR — A supplemental multistate course that specializes in preparing students for the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).
Law School Intelligence — California Bar Preparation primarily focused
LawTutorial.com — Provides supplementary exam-oriented course materials to law students and individualized tutorial programs the California bar exam.
Marino Bar Exam Tutors — Bar Exam Tutors for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
MicroMash Bar Review — Complete self-study prep course for the MBE and 22 state bar review courses featuring personalized attorney mentoring. Pass guarantee and “Pass Now Pay Later” option.
MyBarPrep — Program for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE).
National Bar Review — One-on-One tutorial program for the California Bar Exam.
OverTheBarExam.com — On-line assistance for the essay portion of the bar exam
Pass The Freak’n Exam — Pre-bar review seminar.
PassTheBar.Com — By Scott Pearce, a bar exam tutor. Site includes articles with strategies for passing.
ReedLawGroup.com — Performance-based interactive learning techniques
Skillman Method (TM) — Law school bar exam preparation courses
Supreme Bar Review — complete preparation for the Multistate Bar Exam
The Bar Coach — One-on-one coaching for the essay and performance parts of the California Bar Exam.
The Bar Code — Designed by a former bar grader for repeat and out-of-state takers of the California Bar Exam.
The Law Program — Video bar review course by British-American University School of Law.
The Study Group Personal Bar Review — Home study bar review courses and bar exam essay writing courses.
The Writing Edge — A writing course for passing the California Bar Exam. Taught entirely by a former Bar Grader.
Themis Bar Review — Online Bar Review by experts. Lectures by top law professors. Save!
United States Virgin Islands Bar Review — Bar Exam Preparation material for the U.S. Virgin Islands.