Richard passed the February 2025 Illinois Bar Exam (UBE) with a score of 283 on his second attempt.
Now he can practice in 41 jurisdictions in the U.S.
💬 “I’m excited to say I passed the Illinois bar with a 283, and I truly believe your materials were a big part of that. I’d previously scored a 255, and this time around I made a huge jump.”
💬 “By the time the exam rolled around, I felt more grounded, more in control, and honestly, more optimistic. And sure enough, I went from a 255 to a 283.”
Let’s see how Richard added 28 points to his score, going from ineligible to practice anywhere to eligible in any UBE state.
💬 “Candidly, I got a bit nervous when I saw some other people on who here who failed after studying better. But I think the ‘trick’ is to find your own process.”
Resources Richard used to pass the UBE (in Illinois)
💬 “Magicsheets were short, but so dense and clear that they became the foundation of my MEE prep.”
💬 “Approsheets gave me a clear, actionable plan for every essay.”
AdaptiBar + Jon Grossman’s webinars
- Use promo code here for 10% off your entire cart (including the lectures)
Critical Pass flashcards
Tutor (Sarah Fiori)
Richard escaped the default track that was set out. But he had to maximize the opportunities available to him using his limited time.
1) Proactively manage your time (especially if you’re working and studying at the same time)
You don’t have forever to prepare for the bar exam.
It might seem like you have loads of time to study. (10 weeks? That’s like two seasons of The White Lotus!)
But you also have loads to study.
You’re especially squeezed for time if you have full-time work at the same time, like Richard.
💬 “After finding out I failed the July 2024 bar exam, I was working full-time at my law firm. My emotions were raw in those first few weeks, so I took things slowly.”
When you’re squeezed for time, you have to be careful about how you use your time.
Richard found pockets of time whenever he could.
💬 “Because I was working full-time at a law firm, I found small moments to study wherever I could. I downloaded the Adaptibar app and did practice questions during breaks or on the bus. I also listened to Jonathan Grossman’s videos on my commutes. I basically treated every spare moment as an opportunity to squeeze in a little more learning.”
2) Be selective about how you spend your time
HOW you spend your time is more important than HOW MUCH time you have.
💬 “I’d studied hard, going to the library every day and leaving when I couldn’t think anymore. But I underestimated how difficult the exam was, went through a breakup, and moved cities in the middle of studying. I wasted time reading those long AF BarBri outlines, instead of practicing essays and MPTs. I was studying hard but not as effectively as I could have been.”
Spinning your wheels and torturing yourself can keep you stuck in the mud rather than make meaningful progress. Singing harder doesn’t fix your offkey singing.
💬 “In one of Jon Grossman’s webinars, he said something that stuck with me: If you’re plateauing, you’re not learning new law—you’re just repeating mistakes. That really resonated. I realized I needed to improve my understanding of the underlying material, not just keep drilling questions.”
It’s not just about studying hard.
“Practice practice practice” is meaningless unless you also review your work, look for what you did well and what you didn’t get right, and correct course.
There are people who didn’t pass despite having MONTHS to study…and people who passed despite having just a FEW WEEKS to study.
Ultimately, you have to be aware of your needs. That way, you can decide for yourself whether what you’re doing right now is serving its goal of preparing you for the exam.
Again, what matters is being selective about how you spend your time.
How do you spend quality time with bar prep? Prioritize your time on things that move the needle.
3) What moves the needle?
Generally, needle-moving study activities involve exposing yourself to one or more exam-like conditions.
- Attempting to solve past exam questions vs. reading and watching
- Closed book vs. open book
- Timed vs. untimed
This way, you get familiar with what you’ll see on the exam.
For example, if you become intimately familiar with how a certain type of essay or certain type of issue should be set up and resolved, that gives you a lot of foresight. You won’t have to panic at the blank screen and end up freestyling on the exam.
💬 “Approsheets gave me a clear, actionable plan for every essay. . . . I went into the exam knowing how to recognize the shape of each essay and exactly how to respond. I credit that structure—and your resources—with helping me write confidently and effectively under pressure.”
Fact patterns (and issue patterns) repeat themselves. That’s why they’re called patterns.
Depending on where you are in your studies, what moves the needle could be different. If you’re just starting bar prep, you’ll absolutely want to go over the background information.
But don’t just consume. Eat and then digest.
Richard used tools that were already streamlined for efficient prep. He used Magicsheets to arm himself with the information, and then applied it using Approsheets to know the “shape of each essay.”
💬 “I went all in with the Magicsheets—handwriting them out verbatim into my own notes, one subject at a time. I’d spend a day or two writing out the full sheet, and then the next day I’d drill essays in that subject back to back to back, applying the structure from the Approsheets. That method made a huge difference.”
💬 “They were the resource that would help me learn the law, not just review it. I’d considered getting a second tutor, but MTYLT felt like the smarter, more accessible alternative.”
Use the tools available to you to close that gap and give yourself an advantage, especially if you’re limited by time.
4) Tailor your study approach
Bar review programs are one-dimensional. They put everyone on one track regardless of your situation.
But bar prep is personal. You have unique needs. Bar prep is a self-study endeavor even if you’re using a prep course.
That’s why Richard found his own process even though it felt safer to go along with what everyone else was doing.
💬 “Candidly, I got a bit nervous when I saw some other people on here who failed after studying better. But I think the ‘trick’ is to find your own process.”
💬 “I studied MY way, not the formulaic BarBri process people told me to follow the first time.”
In other words, Richard became the dean of his own studies.
Sooner or later, everyone does this before passing the bar. This is a canon event for the first-timer abandoning Barbri a month before the exam, and the repeater realizing that something needs to change.
It helped that he found a tutor to keep him on the track he was meant to be on.
💬 “I found a tutor, Sarah Fiori, within about two weeks and started meeting with her regularly. She was supportive and thoughtful, and helped me begin to rebuild my shaken confidence. We started with light sessions and gradually picked up the intensity.”
It takes courage to stray from The Plan to implement all of the above points, but it was worth it for Richard.
💬 “By the time the exam rolled around, I felt more grounded, more in control, and honestly, more optimistic.”
I want to empower you to have the same kind of results as Richard.
It’s counterintuitive, but what gives you confidence is trusting yourself, doing what works for you, and seeing results happen in real-time.
