Taking the New York Bar as a foreign applicant

There's quite a few hits on Google when you search for info on taking the New York Bar.  But I'm finding that most of the advice is in relation to the "academic" side of things (which I think is best summed up with just a one-word piece of advice: "study").  Whereas, in my experience as a foreign test-taker, what I found to also be a real problem, is on the logistical side of things.  Getting there, getting around when you are there, that sort of thing.  So ... that's what I'm going to try to deal with here, in the hopes it'll help any of you guys trudging your way up to Albany after me (as the steady stream of foreign applicants to NY will surely continue down through the ages...)

So, first things first - Albany.  If you're not a New York native, your testing centre is going to be in Albany.  That's a bit farther up north from New York City, which I find is what most people who've heard of "New York" but don't quite know what it is think when they hear the words "New York".  

OK, I have found that some of you don't know this - you don't have to admit it, but I know who you are :-) - NY is a state, and not just a city.  

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So if you look at the Google map I've embedded here, you'll see that Albany (in the middle of the top) is quite a ways away from New York City itself (in the middle of the bottom) 

So, as a separate matter from getting to NY itself, you've got to figure out how you're going to get to Albany once you reach NY.  Quite a few airlines fly direct to Albany's airport (code ALB), but each time I've had to go there, I've taken the train up.  Yes, I said train.  Practically everyone I've run into, when I mention "train", has started talking about delays etc., but my experience of flying in/out of NY has not left me with the impression that taking the train is particularly inferior.  That said, a good friend of mine has told me a story of how he was stuck in a powered-down train for a good 2 hours, and I myself have had delays of up to 45 minutes both waiting for, and while on, the train (contrasted with delays of several hours as well as cancellations when it comes to flying), so I think the Golden Rule here is:  leave yourself plenty of time for travel, particularly where you've got connections to make.  

In the New York city area there's basically three airports (JFK, LGA, and EWR which is actually Newark Liberty International airport across in the next state of New Jersey, but which I find is actually easier to get into NY from than if I were landing at, say, JFK, which in my opinion has terrible train connectivity).  

If I were you, I'd fly into EWR and then take a direct Amtrak train up to Albany.