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Taking Two Bar Exams
Disadvantages
Of course there are disadvantages to taking two bar exams at once. The first thing you should figure out is whether it's even possible to do. There are some states that don't allow it. I know that New York seemed to be very accommodating to taking another bar in a nearby state. After the New York bar, I met several people at a rest stop that were heading to Massachusetts and Connecticut for another day of testing, and I have classmates that took New York and New Jersey at the same time.
Assuming your states of interest will allow you to take two bar exams at once, you'll need to think about whether you're willing to put in a little extra work, pay a little extra money, and accept the risk of failing one of the two exams. I don't think any of these factors outweighs the benefit of being admitted in two different states.
The extra work required to take two bar exams at once is minimal. You're already studying for one bar exam, and half (or close to half) of your score will come from the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the multiple choice day of the exam. The MBE is the same in every state (hence the name), so you're already studying for around half of the second state's exam without any extra work. The other half of the exam is state specific, but most states have similar laws. Ideally, you should learn the nuances of a particular state's laws, but this is already part of the way you study for the bar exam. You focus on the general law, and then you take some time to learn the distinctions between a state and the majority. I'll be honest here and say that the only preparation I did for the Massachusetts exam was reading some Massachusetts distinctions the night before the exam (and a little discussion on the subway on the way to the exam). I got some things wrong on the Massachusetts exam, but I got enough things correct to pass.
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