Month: February 2022

Posted on - 34 Comments on AdaptiBar Review: Is It Worth It (for the 2024 Bar Exam)?

AdaptiBar Review: Is It Worth It (for the 2024 Bar Exam)?

AdaptiBar. You keep hearing this name. What is it, some kind of protein snack?

👇🏻 Click to skip the MBE intro and go to the table of contents 👇🏻

AdaptiBar is an online study supplement for the MBE (Multistate Bar Examination, AKA the multiple guess choice section of the bar exam).

The MBE has gotten a ton of criticism. For one, the president of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) thinks newer MBE takers are “less able.” And with the virus that shall not be named, each question is that much more critical because there are only 100 questions yet the MBE is weighted the same.

To top it all off, more and more students are reporting how hard these questions are getting. What are you to do when your future depends on a series of letters?

Let’s see why it’s more important than ever to prepare for the MBE and how AdaptiBar will help you do just that (and how you can get 10% off your entire cart).

(Hint: Progress is a process of adaptation by practicing just beyond your limits. It’s the reason why we become better at any skill.)

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Posted on - 2 Comments on Admire the Buttcrack (and 9 Other Last Minute Tips for the Bar Exam)

Admire the Buttcrack (and 9 Other Last Minute Tips for the Bar Exam)

Ahh shit… You utter the first word of the day as a dying declaration.

Because it’s time. Is it really that real? Let’s do this!

Implementing, practicing, and doing. I hope, by doing those things consistently, you’ve made solid progress!

Maybe you don’t feel ready. The good news is that the more prepared you actually are, the less you feel prepared. The bad news is that the other way isn’t necessarily true. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Not all hope is lost, ye weary traveler. It’s time to put your training to the test.

For now, go in with a “might as well, even if I don’t feel ready” or a “you never know until you try” attitude.

You’ll be able to say, “I’m glad I tried.”

You'll never know unless you try

You’ve worked hard these past weeks and months. You’ve come all this way. Let’s finish it without any hiccups at the very end.

We don’t want a “failure of the last mile” to undo all we’ve done up until now.

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Posted on - No Comments on What to Do in the Last Two Weeks of Bar Prep

What to Do in the Last Two Weeks of Bar Prep

You might be panicking or experiencing setbacks as you prepare for the bar exam. Whatever calmness you may have had 1-2 months ago is now fair game for anxiety to go after.

But the last two weeks are when things often click.

The final couple weeks are typically best spent consolidating your knowledge and intuition by using what you know — attempting to solve past exam questions and self-critiquing against model answers.

This impending pressure is an opportunity to do what you need to do: ditching the easy work of passively consuming, and doing the not-so-easy work of putting fingers to paper/screen, agonizing over identifying the issues, bearing the stress of grading your MBE question set, and enduring the embarrassment and promising to yourself not to make the same mistake again.

Keep pushing and you’ll break through that plateau.

Posted on - 2 Comments on “I’m so unmotivated to study for the bar exam”

“I’m so unmotivated to study for the bar exam”

Feeling unmotivated to study for the bar exam? 

There’s a lot of talk about motivation around this time of bar season.

"How to bring back motivation? I’m a retaker. I was doing pretty well score wise the last couple of weeks and felt generally decent. But this past week has me mentally exhausted and unmotivated. I can barely bring myself to do any meaningful study. I know I can’t let this continue. It’s crunch time for God’s sake! How the hell do I bring back my motivation??"
"Failed simulated exam and feeling unmotivated I'm a mess. I started off very optimistic but I'm just nervous and scared now. I've done all of the MBE subjects and 3 MEE subjects (I still have family law, corporations, agency and conflicts of law left). I scored a 79/200 on Barbri's simulated MBE and I'm just scared that I won't have time to practice. Has anyone failed the simulated exam but still managed to pass the bar? Do you have any advice? I'm sobbing."
"Seeking Motivation I know this may be a little too soon into the process of preparing for the February Bar Exam, but how do you seek motivation? I know I’m supposed to study, but I just can’t seem to get through my tasks. I don’t know how more to get into the psyche of “I need to study because I want to pass” but I’m really struggling to motivate myself to put myself through the process. Any tips?"

Let’s first distinguish being unmotivated from being mentally exhausted.

If you’re TIRED, don’t accumulate exhaustion and enter a downward spiral. Stop at a reasonable point. Take an early day off. Reset your mind. Go the f🌕k to sleep.

Passive activities like watching (or rewatching) lectures, transcribing notes, or “reading” for hours also can be DRAINING if that’s all you do. Thinking about doing it is more exhausting than actually doing it. Don’t autopilot on default to avoid doing what helps you learn. Be more methodical and deliberate.

This is pretty boring stuff! It’s normal if you just can’t or don’t want to study right now. But this feeling will pass if you break eye contact with bar prep for a while. Your energy is at least as important as time, as we’ll talk about in the next email.

If you have the energy but still aren’t feeling motivated, that’s a separate issue. Being able to self-motivate is key. Otherwise, you might wait for a long time for things that make you say “I needed this today!” and do nothing about it.

Here are some strategies to fix the “unmotivated” issue:

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