The key advantages of taking and passing the FYLSX are several. Most importantly, in being required to study, prepare, and then pass the FYLSX, after only one year of law school, ICOL students learn and develop the critical test-taking and time management skills needed to pass the California bar exam (CBX). The FYLSX is modeled after the CBX in using both essay questions and multiple-choice questions to test substantive law. Even though it is only one day, versus two for the CBX (hence the “Baby Bar”), those who pass the FYLSX do so only after a rigorous, muti-week review and self-testing process designed to fill the gaps of in their understanding of the law tested, help them develop and maintain the level concentration needed to say focus for a full day exam and to manage their time effectively, something students who don’t take the FYLSX learn only weeks away from taking the CBX.
Since both the FYLSX and CBX are very different in scope and intensity from of law school exams, being tested that rigorously early in their legal education gives ICOL students real insight into what they will face and need to accomplish to achieve if they someday expect to take and pass the CBX.