Marilynn Winged Bar Prep and Failed. Then She Passed the Bar Exam Doing This
Marilynn passed the February 2025 California Bar Exam on her second attempt. A classic repeater situation.
Right now, you have a massive advantage:
If you’re a repeater, you are starting from experience, not from scratch.
If you’re a first timer, you have a crystal ball into your future. It’s up to you to decide how much of these visions you’ll adopt or let pass as a dream.
If you aren’t confident academically, the good news is your law school grades are meaningless. It took one cycle of mistakes for Marilynn and me to realize that law school and bar prep are separate skills.
💬 “I was feeling so much disappointment, despair, and guilt for not passing the first time, especially as someone who also finished at around a 2.8 GPA in law school.”
Here’s where you’ll once again learn about the pitfalls of first timers you can avoid today.
“Sometimes, life happens and we have to learn to adapt quickly.”
“This time around, I spent more time practicing, less time watching lectures, and memorizing almost all of your charts, which were so helpful to outline my answers.”
Resources Marilynn used to pass the California Bar Exam
💬 “Themis had really long detailed model essays filled with very small issues that sometimes were unnecessary to achieve a good high score. It also took me an even longer time to review my essays using the Themis model essays. So, I compared my essays to the graded ones from BarEssays where I actually learned what rules and analysis were important to achieve a score of 65+.”
💬 “I recommend this book for anyone who struggles with MBE because it offers very detailed and thorough explanations for each question, and helped me better point out my weaknesses.”
💬 “Your emails were very motivating with not only its inspiring stories of individuals who passed the bar exam, but also your simple, yet powerful advice to keep going. I already told you this, but sometimes, when I felt lost or did not feel like I was doing enough, I took your words to heart that I should stop thinking about what to do or worry about what will work and JUST DO IT!”
Mistakes Marilynn made on her first attempt at bar prep
Marilynn prioritized “getting the information”
If more information were the answer, we’d all be billionaires with eight-pack abs.
💬 “I took a lot of bar courses in law school, where I performed okay, and it at least helped me become more familiar with the bar exam material. At the end, I graduated with a 2.8 cumulative GPA. Because of this, I was not exactly confident in my study strategies going into bar prep.”
But we all know that collecting information “just in case” means collecting mental dust.
Your body is efficient. It will only absorb insights based on habitual repetition and emotional triggers.
Focusing on completing assignments doesn’t necessarily mean understanding the law.
💬 “I found myself with two bad habits. At one point, I fell behind the Themis bar prep schedule, and found myself focused more on checking off a task rather than learning from the task itself.”
Knowledge acquisition is different from knowledge application.
💬 “I also did not efficiently use my MBE practice sets. During the last 2-3 weeks of bar prep, I skipped a few reviews of my practice sets. I told myself I would go back and review and never did. I also told myself I would create more tailored practice sets to improve certain subtopics, which I almost also never did.”
Marilynn basically winged her first bar prep
Having distractions and no structure means you don’t have clarity or direction. When everything’s up in the air, you’re way more susceptible.
💬 “I did not have a set study schedule or setting, which I realized too late is really important for bar prep.”
💬 “The first few weeks of bar prep, I studied at home at the dining room table or in my small bedroom. I would wake up until 10-11am and actually started studying at 11:30am, eat lunch, study for a few hours, eat dinner, and then study until 1-2am. Although I always studied better in the evening, this was not exactly a great schedule in the long-run because I always felt really tired the next morning.”
💬 “Staying at home also allowed for more distractions when my family members arrived home from work and I wanted to spend time with them, which meant longer breaks and dinners.”
Your most valuable resource is not time; it’s your attention.
If time feels scarce, that’s because you wasted it. Don’t blame that on the lack of time. There was plenty to begin with.
How’s that feel?
If you’re still on track and feeling optimistic, great.
If it makes you uncomfortable, even better. This message is for you. I’m your surrogate Asian dad who will draw out 125% of what you thought was your max power.
Marilynn, though, had a nicer mentor figure who gave her a push to make a change.
💬 “I told them about my bar exam result, and my father immediately said ‘I know it hurts. I know it’s painful. But it’s not the end. You have an opportunity to do it again and you will.’ These words were exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. And these words became my motto throughout my second bar prep. The failure still hurt, but it also really drove me to do even better the second time around, and pass.”
The mission sometimes requires that you fail once. But I’ll be the bad cop as long as it gets you to lock in and avoid that first failure.
Btw, if time isn’t the most valuable resource, that means it’s possible to get back on track even if you have little time left.
What she did differently on her second attempt
Be intentional about and personalize your bar prep
Chronic repeaters tend to do the same thing over and over, arriving at the same outcome.
Remember when Marilynn studied late nights and woke up tired the next morning, mortgaging tomorrow for the feeling of productivity today?
Marilynn changed what didn’t work.
💬 “I finally changed my study schedule during the second month, which is when I felt I made more progress in my bar prep. I changed to a slightly earlier study schedule and studied at home in the morning, went to my law school’s library for the afternoon, and studied for a few more hours in the evening.”
If you’re stubbornly wanting to “trust the process” and 100% the course, why don’t you use that same motivation to do what’s actually going to help you learn?
Trust the right process for you.The right process for you is whichever one helps you understand and retain the material and answer questions correctly.
If you don’t understand the intent behind a schedule someone else created, following it blindly can hurt more than help. It’s gotta make sense to YOU.
💬 “I knew I had to be very strategic in my bar prep because the second time around, I only had about 8-8.5 weeks to study due to my work schedule. For some people, I think following the bar prep’s schedule is a great tool. For myself, I think it caused more stress and took my attention away from the actual task itself. So, I decided to make my own schedule.”
You’d think throwing down $3,000 on a fancy bar review course would get you a good product and service. But the singular study calendar is generic to everyone.
The barrage of assignments insidiously keeps you busy and not learning anything. I’m surprised that Big Bar Prep hasn’t changed its ways after stalking my emails and blog posts for years.
It’s easier said than done to stop staying stuck in a toxic situationship (or a cookie-cutter study schedule). People will choose pain over uncertainty. I GET IT, OK???
I’m not saying it doesn’t work for many people. I’m just saying to be conscious and intentional about it.
I will give you my full support if you thought about it and want to go with the default (or whatever bespoke approach you’ve come up with). But I will not tolerate you going through the motions after everything I’ve done to wake you up and get you to pay attention.
Prioritize knowledge application (not just knowledge acquisition)
Marilynn made solid numbers on her second attempt.
💬 “I ended up completing 2000+ MBE questions, 110+ essays, and 7+ PTs.”
You might be like, “That’s so many. I have to watch all these lectures and fill in notes 😭”
No dude, you don’t HAVE to do anything! Those very lectures are what’s making you too tired.
You will actually become MORE energized exploring the nooks and crannies of practice questions because you can see how abstract words on a page fit into actual examples.
Measuring your progress will also help. Marilynn kept a tracking sheet for MBE questions.
💬 “I also used an MBE tracking sheet, where I made notes on all the questions about what I understood or needed to work on. The tracking sheet helped keep me accountable to review every MBE question. I did not skip any MBE review this time and scored 65-75% on all my MBE sets at least a few weeks prior to the exam, which was a 5-10% bump from July’s prep.”
Essays don’t have to take up a ton of time either.
💬 “For the essay portion, although I knew it was my strongest exam portion, I wanted to have a better strategy on how to approach every question. So, I memorized the Approsheets and flow charts to help issue spot. For every practice essay, I wrote down the flow chart, outlined my answer, and then started writing my response. I only fully wrote out about (or less than) 1/2 of my essays to help with practicing under timed conditions. The other ½ of my practice essays were outlines where I spent about 30 minutes total to issue spot and outline, quickly write out my rules, and then write the facts that corresponded to each issue. This strategy helped me get through a lot more essays with all types of issues and become more confident with my practice.”
This makes efficient use of time because you focus on the MOST IMPORTANT parts of an essay—issues and rules—assuming you know how to apply rules to the facts and can write full essays under time.
Last but definitely not least, neglecting performance tests would be a rookie mistake.
It’s often forgotten about because it doesn’t need memorization. That’s exactly why it’s a low-hanging fruit and you should make sure to get those slam-dunk points.
💬 “The strategy I did use for the PT was to learn the basic template of a memo or brief in the context of the PT, what is an objective v. persuasive essay, decide whether to read the file or library first, and always practice under timed conditions.”
Stay motivated
You have to do this? No, you get to do this.
💬 “It is really hard to stay motivated throughout the 8-10 weeks of studying when you’re missing fun summer time, birthdays, holidays, etc. However, I recommend you find what exactly can and will keep you motivated. I had sticky notes posted on my computer monitor that said ‘I get to do this’ to remind myself that I am in a privileged position to study for the bar exam and achieve my dream of becoming an attorney.”
Marilynn was able to turn her distraction-filled life into one where she gave up holidays and events.
Remember that you’re doing this now so that you can enjoy every holiday to come.
What have you realized based on Marilynn’s case study?
Remember: Don’t just take information. Use it. Let me know.
Full story
Text version
Hi Brian,
Super happy to share that I can now be removed from your mailing list – I passed the CA Bar Exam! Your emails were part of the reason I kept practicing and didn’t give up. I really connected with your strategy to stop thinking about what to do or worry about what will work and should just DO IT! This message really put me in a good state of mind to find my motivation and keep going. I was feeling so much disappointment, despair, and guilt for not passing the first time, especially as someone who also finished at around a 2.8 GPA in law school. However, it was comforting and motivating to see others in a similar situation still succeed and reach their goals despite some disappointments along the way.
Your resources, mainly the magic sheets and appro sheets were so helpful! This time around, I spent more time practicing, less time watching lectures, and memorizing almost all of your charts, which were so helpful to outline my answers.
Again, thank you thank you thank you! Keep doing what you’re doing because it is helping so many of us reach our dreams!
Sincerely,
Marilynn E.
—
Honestly, throughout law school, I struggled academically. As a first-generation law school student, I had a hard time navigating the academic side of law school and never really found studying strategies that worked well for me. I took a lot of bar courses in law school, where I performed okay, and it at least helped me become more familiar with the bar exam material. At the end, I graduated with a 2.8 cumulative GPA. Because of this, I was not exactly confident in my study strategies going into bar prep. I did receive some tips from my mentors for bar prep such as watching lecture videos 1.5-2.0x, reviewing all MBE questions even if I got it right, making flashcards for every wrong answer, and only skim (if at all) the long and detailed outlines provided by your bar prep company. But, there are several things that really affected my exam performance and ultimately, it led to my not passing the July 2024 bar exam.
Although it was sort of out of my control, I had some major family-based situations arise during my first month of studying. As hard as I tried, I could not fully focus on bar prep for at least 5-6 days during this time. For anyone currently studying, you know this is a good chunk of studying time and you can cover 2-3 subjects during that time period. I am still not sure what exactly I could have done to change this, but I think it highlights that sometimes, life happens and we have to learn to adapt quickly, which I did not.
Second, I did not have a set study schedule or setting, which I realized too late is really important for bar prep. The first few weeks of bar prep, I studied at home at the dining room table or in my small bedroom. I would wake up until 10-11am and actually started studying at 11:30am, eat lunch, study for a few hours, eat dinner, and then study until 1-2am. Although I always studied better in the evening, this was not exactly a great schedule in the long-run because I always felt really tired the next morning. Staying at home also allowed for more distractions when my family members arrived home from work and I wanted to spend time with them, which meant longer breaks and dinners.
I finally changed my study schedule during the second month, which is when I felt I made more progress in my bar prep. I changed to a slightly earlier study schedule and studied at home in the morning, went to my law school’s library for the afternoon, and studied for a few more hours in the evening.
Lastly, I found myself with two bad habits. At one point, I fell behind the Themis bar prep schedule, and found myself focused more on checking off a task rather than learning from the task itself. I also did not efficiently use my MBE practice sets. During the last 2-3 weeks of bar prep, I skipped a few reviews of my practice sets. I told myself I would go back and review and never did. I also told myself I would create more tailored practice sets to improve certain subtopics, which I almost also never did.
The day that the July bar exam results were released, I did not feel great about it. And unfortunately, my gut feeling was correct when I found out I failed by 28 points. Like many others, I was devastated. I felt like a failure. However, I am truly lucky to have two wonderful and amazing parents who did not let me fall. I told them about my bar exam result, and my father immediately said “I know it hurts. I know it’s painful. But it’s not the end. You have an opportunity to do it again and you will.” These words were exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. And these words became my motto throughout my second bar prep. The failure still hurt, but it also really drove me to do even better the second time around, and pass.
I contacted my law school’s bar exam advisor during the beginning of November, so we could go over my exam results. She noticed the essay portion was my strong suit and that I really struggled with MBEs. Since Themis offers 2nd timers a free course, she suggested I use the course again and read through the book Strategies & Tactics for the MBE by Steven L. Emanuel, Prior to starting my full-time bar prep schedule at the end of December, I spent November and December working my way through the book’s suggestions and exercises. I recommend this book for anyone who struggles with MBE because it offers very detailed and thorough explanations for each question, and helped me better point out my weaknesses.
I knew I had to be very strategic in my bar prep because the second time around, I only had about 8-8.5 weeks to study due to my work schedule. For some people, I think following the bar prep’s schedule is a great tool. For myself, I think it caused more stress and took my attention away from the actual task itself. So, I decided to make my own schedule. My daily schedule consisted of at least 35-50 MBE questions, the corresponding MBE review, and at least 2-3 essays of the same subject as the MBE. I wrote or outlined a PT nearly every weekend. I ended up completing 2000+ MBE questions, 110+ essays, and 7+ PTs.
For MBEs, my MBE question bank came from Themis and UWorld. For the July exam, I used Critical Pass flashcards to study for the MBEs, which I do not think worked very well for me. Per my bar exam advisor’s tip, I took a different approach. I printed the Magicsheets, put them in a binder, and placed 1-2 blank sheets behind every page of the outline. Every time I got an MBE question wrong, I hand wrote the rule that is missing in the outline in one of those blank pages. I also used an MBE tracking sheet, where I made notes on all the questions about what I understood or needed to work on. The tracking sheet helped keep me accountable to review every MBE question. I did not skip any MBE review this time and scored 65-75% on all my MBE sets at least a few weeks prior to the exam, which was a 5-10% bump from July’s prep.
This is what my MBE tracking sheet looked like:
SUB-TOPIC
QUESTION #
ANSWER CODE
REASON
REVIEW NEEDED
For the essay portion, although I knew it was my strongest exam portion, I wanted to have a better strategy on how to approach every question. So, I memorized the Approsheets and flow charts to help issue spot. For every practice essay, I wrote down the flow chart, outlined my answer, and then started writing my response. I only fully wrote out about (or less than) 1/2 of my essays to help with practicing under timed conditions. The other ½ of my practice essays were outlines where I spent about 30 minutes total to issue spot and outline, quickly write out my rules, and then write the facts that corresponded to each issue. This strategy helped me get through a lot more essays with all types of issues and become more confident with my practice.
For my essay review, I obtained a BarEssays subscription. Themis had really long detailed model essays filled with very small issues that sometimes were unnecessary to achieve a good high score. It also took me an even longer time to review my essays using the Themis model essays. So, I compared my essays to the graded ones from BarEssays where I actually learned what rules and analysis were important to achieve a score of 65+.
I can’t really say if my PT practice worked since, like (almost) all February test-takers, I did not take the PT under proper testing conditions since I lost at least 20 minutes of my PT test time and no copy and paste function. The strategy I did use for the PT was to learn the basic template of a memo or brief in the context of the PT, what is an objective v. persuasive essay, decide whether to read the file or library first, and always practice under timed conditions.
Do not underestimate the importance of a goodnight’s rest before testing day. I did not sleep well last July and it really did affect how I approached exam, especially the MBE portion. I remember feeling super drowsy reading all of the MBE questions and having to correct my answers various times. The second time around, I really made an effort to get a better goodnight’s rest, which I did, and I felt a lot better going in and coming out of the test days.
It is really hard to stay motivated throughout the 8-10 weeks of studying when you’re missing fun summer time, birthdays, holidays, etc. However, I recommend you find what exactly can and will keep you motivated. I had sticky notes posted on my computer monitor that said “I get to do this” to remind myself that I am in a privileged position to study for the bar exam and achieve my dream of becoming an attorney.
I thank you, Brian, again for your help. Your study resources were ESSENTIAL to my bar prep. Your emails were very motivating with not only its inspiring stories of individuals who passed the bar exam, but also your simple, yet powerful advice to keep going. I already told you this, but sometimes, when I felt lost or did not feel like I was doing enough, I took your words to heart that I should stop thinking about what to do or worry about what will work and JUST DO IT! I am very grateful to everyone who supported me throughout this journey and am glad to say that I am now a CA barred attorney serving the community that inspired her to begin this journey in the first place.
