Bar Exam Study Loans

Bar Exam Study Loans
Timeline after law school...taking the bar and getting a job?

If someone goes to lawschool. They graduate in 3 years (May of the third year). Then they must take the bar exam...I think it is only offered a few times a year? How long do people normally study for a bar exam? When do you find out if you passed? Can you only apply for jobs after you know you passed?
Basically what is the timeline between graduation and getting a job?

IF it takes longer than 6 months how do people pay off their loans/live during this time?!?

Spring graduates usually take the July bar exam after graduating in May. Many students take a bar review course (Kaplan PMBR, BarBri, etc.), so that gives them a fixed schedule to help them study and prepare for the test.

You apply for (and likely start working) before you pass. Most law students will work both summers of law school (after 1L and 2L), and also during their 2L or 3L years. So you will already be working and getting experience before you graduate. If you're lucky (and I'm saying lucky because of how the economy is), you will be getting a paid position. Big Law firms often pay students upwards of $3,000/week during the summer, but obviously those are the jobs everyone is going after.

Many students will get hired by the firm they work with the summer after their 2L. A Big Law firm will likely pay for the student's Bar review course and give them a "hiring bonus" that the student uses to live off of while they are studying.