Award-Winning Illinois Bar Exam Courses & Classes Near Me

If you're looking for Illinois bar exam tutoring, get in touch in with Varsity Tutors. We specialize in connecting students like yourself to professional instructors and can match you with a tutor in as little as 24 hours. To practice law in Illinois you'll have to pass the bar exam, a rigorous test that will require you to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of U.S. law. You will have to have well-developed critical thinking skills, the ability to compose a cogent argument in a short span of time, and be able to research and draft documents similar to those you'd work on in a real law office. Passing the bar exam can be a challenge, even for highly-educated law school graduates, but you don't have to face the test alone. Illinois bar exam tutors are experts who have been extensively interviewed by our team to ensure that they have both the legal knowledge to prepare for you for the test plus the teaching acumen required to make complex legal concepts easier to understand.

What is on the Illinois bar exam?

The bar exam varies from state to state, but Illinois has adopted the Uniform Bar Exam, which allows you to transfer scores to and from other jurisdictions that use the UBE. The UBE is administered by a non-profit body called the National Conference of Bar Examiners and is split into a set of component parts. Illinois uses the entire UBE: the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). Illinois also requires prospective legal professionals to take the MPRE, or Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. Taking the Illinois bar exam can cost anywhere from $950 to $1450 depending on when you register for the test, so you'll want to be sure to protect your investment by taking your exam prep seriously. We'll take a brief look at each component of the UBE here, so you can get an idea of the subject knowledge and skills an Illinois bar exam coach could help you develop.

The MBE is a multiple-choice exam that will ask you to respond to 200 questions over the course of six hours. You'll have to demonstrate your ability to apply fundamental legal knowledge and reasoning skills to set of presented facts. MBE questions refer to seven principal areas of knowledge: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts, and questions on each of these seven topics will be distributed equally throughout the exam. There's a lot of material to cover, but Illinois bar exam tutors can help you approach these topics systematically, breaking each subject down into its component elements and setting small, reachable goals to keep you motivated as you study.

The MEE is a written-response test. You'll be provided with six essay questions, and you'll have a half-hour to compose a response to each one. These questions will require you to draw upon your comprehension of a range of legal subjects, from Trusts and Estates to Family Law or Business Associations, and some questions may require you to synthesize your understanding of several different types of law. Drafting a well-composed essay under pressure in a high-stakes testing environment is a tall order, but we can match you with an Illinois bar exam coach who can help you refine your approach to the MEE. They can drill you with sample questions, offer constructive critiques of your work, and give you advice on how to swiftly outline your arguments to make sure you have a coherent argument ready before you begin writing your essays.

The MPT is somewhat different from the other two sections of the UBE, as it will present you with two simulated tasks. You could be asked to compose a memo to a supervising attorney, for example, or put together a client's will. You'll have access to two sets of documents: a "File," containing all the facts of the case in the form of documents like newspaper clippings, police reports, client documents, and so on, as well as a "Library" which will contain legal precedents, statutes, regulations, and the like. While you'll be given all the information required to complete your tasks, some or even most of the documents provided may prove irrelevant, so you'll have to perform your research quickly to make sure you have enough time to finish your work in the 90 minutes allotted for each task. A personal bar exam mentor can expose you to active reading techniques that can improve your research skills, giving you more time to devote to the meat of your MPT tasks.

The MPRE is a computer-based multiple-choice test consisting of 60 questions. This test is largely concerned with the ethics, regulations, and disciplinary apparatus surrounding the conduct of lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals. You'll have to show your understanding of the nature of the client-lawyer relationship, the roles that a lawyer can play inside and outside the courtroom, conflicts of interest, and other, similar topics. Questions dealing with ethics can be complex and difficult to answer, but we can locate Illinois bar exam training that can help you learn how to cut through the convolutions of the MPRE's questions and discover the underlying regulatory issues quickly.

How can Illinois bar exam tutors help me prepare for the test?

When we help you find Illinois bar exam training, we'll connect you with a professional instructor who will work with you one-on-one. Private instruction has many advantages, most significantly the amount of personalization that your tutor can bring to your test prep experience. The bar exam is long, exhaustive, and covers a wide swath of material, so it's likely that there are some elements of the test that you feel ready to face and others that give you pause. A private mentor can put together a curriculum that takes your strengths and weaknesses into account and uses your valuable study time wisely. If you're already an excellent writer, for example, there's no need for your instructor to focus on MEE prep. Conversely, if you're feeling particularly nervous about the tight time constraints of the MPT, your tutor can devote extra attention to that aspect of the exam.

Illinois bar exam tutors can be attentive to your learning preferences when putting your curriculum together. If you're a visual learner, your instructor can help you develop your MEE essays by diagramming your arguments visually or giving you decks of flashcards to use when memorizing legal terminology. If you're more of an auditory learner, your mentor can instead present lectures on common law or engage you in spirited debates in order to test your knowledge of professional conduct and uses of evidence. Everyone learns in their own way, and absorbing information can be made easier when you're being taught using methods that you respond to.

Considering the length of the bar exam, your test-taking skills can be an important contributing factor in your success on the test. Maintaining your composure can be draining, but we can find an Illinois bar exam coach who can give you helpful advice on how you can improve your ability to stay focused and on-track during the exam. Whether it's time-management skills that can be vital when trying to finish the six-hour MBE on time or methods for quickly ruling out multiple-choice answers, your mentor can teach you a range of tips and tricks that can come in handy when you're taking the bar exam.

How can I fit Illinois bar exam tutoring into my busy schedule?

We're aware that many law students have many personal, professional, and academic obligations that can make it tough to fit private lessons into your day. However, once you let us know your availability, we'll do all the hard work of seeking out Illinois bar exam tutors. You can meet with your instructor either online or in person, so you'll have options right from the get-go. Online tutoring can be particularly convenient, as it doesn't require you to travel to a specific location to meet your instructor. As long as you have a stable internet connection, you can meet with your mentor remotely.

If you opt for online tutoring, you'll work with your instructor through our Live Learning Platform. The platform comes equipped with several teaching tools that your mentor can use to enhance your lessons, like a virtual whiteboard, or a shared document editor that you can use to look over legal texts alongside your tutor. You'll be able to see and speak with your instructor thanks to integrated video chat, and as a bonus, all of your study sessions will be recorded automatically. You'll be able to access the recordings whenever you'd like, so you can revisit your tutor's lectures, dialogues, and legal insights freely.

How can I find Illinois bar exam tutoring?

When you're ready for us to help you sign up for Illinois bar exam training, reach out to Varsity Tutors. Our experienced educational consultants can find you a qualified private instructor with a background in law in as little as 24 hours, so why wait to get started? Give us a call or contact us online today!