Bar Exam Success Stories
Real stories of transformation from real bar exam takers and repeaters who decided to DO IT and move on with their lives… Are you next?
If you want to pass the bar exam, study the passers (especially repeaters).
Rather than give you platitudes, I want to show you indisputable proof that YOU can do it too.
Here are some inspirational stories to help you audit your limiting beliefs and get un-stuck and un-frustrated by the bar exam.
Tap to scroll to stories from California / UBE States / Elsewhere
Jinnyi
Passed the 2020 February California Bar Exam (26.8% pass rate, the lowest on record)
- Attempts: California Bar Exam 2 times
- Weakness: Essays (“I did not even know how to START any essays”)
- Unique challenge: Mental and emotional insecurities, panic, doubts. Drained by big bar course
“I honestly felt like Kaplan was making me dumber and I was just wasting my time. . . . I was able to find a more effective plan that ultimately DID indeed work for me.”
Sam
Passed the 2023 February California Bar Exam
- Attempts: California Bar Exam 2 times
- Weakness: MBE
- Unique challenge: UK lawyer reacquainting with the process of studying for an unfamiliar exam
“Statistically I shouldn’t have passed this exam (a repeater, taking the February exam, who didn’t attend a US law school), but I did. I did because I took control and did what worked for me.”
Doreen
Passed the 2022 February California Bar Exam (33.9% pass rate) after preparing for 6 weeks
- Attempts: California Bar Exam 2 times. February 2021 (sitting remotely), February 2022
- Weakness: Essays, getting enough memorization done, learning the black letter law in enough detail, and practicing essays (“practicing essays was a struggle from start to finish”)
- Unique challenge: ADHD, major anxiety when it comes to studying, being a night owl
“I don’t think I passed this bar … just [being] realistic”
“I will probably take it again in July, and I will be using your methods and materials again”
“I was completely prepared to treat it like a practice exam, learn from my mistakes, etc.”
Drew
Passed the 2021 February California Bar Exam (Attorneys’ Exam)
- Attempts: California Attorneys’ Exam 2 times
- Weakness: Essays and PTs, doing the mental work
- Unique challenge: Working full time with parental responsibilities
“Essentially, I think I was trying to minimize brain damage, though not passing turned out to be far more brain damage than going through the pain up front.”
Stan
Passed the 2020 October California Bar Exam
(first online/remote administration)
- Attempts: California Bar Exam 5 times
- Weakness: Select subjects
- Unique challenge: Financial difficulties, average background, mental/emotional/ego fatigue, conquering inner demons, middle of pandemic
“If you have the will, resources that work for you, and discipline, you can pass. You just have to be ready for it.”
James
Passed the 2022 July California Bar Exam as an Australian lawyer
- Attempts: California Bar Exam
- Weakness: Essays, PTs
- Unique challenge: Condensing and mastering the volume of new material as a foreign-trained attorney
“You really have to erase what you think you know about law and start from scratch.”
Lars
Passed the 2018 July California Bar Exam (40% pass rate)
- Attempts: California Bar Exam 2 times
- Weakness: Essays
- Unique challenge: Foreign attorney (Canadian), not used to closed-book exams, worked full time
“I came to the understanding I wanted to be able to have gone through . . . enough practice essays for every topic that there wouldn’t be anything that blindsided me.”
Samantha
Passed the 2018 July California Bar Exam (40% pass rate)
- Attempts: California Bar Exam 3 times
- Weakness: MBE
- Unique challenge: Caretaker duties, non-accredited school with 9% chance of passing, worked full time
“I studied less this time than I did the other two times, but I studied smarter.”
Tom
Passed the 2018 July California Bar Exam after MANY attempts
- Attempts: California Bar Exam ## times (he wanted to keep the number between us)
- Weakness: Essays, MBE, Performance Tests
- Unique challenge: Many-time repeater, took a year off, worked full time, dad duties
“Every moment that I was using, I’m asking myself: Am I doing something that’s helping me prepare?”
Notice that most of these passers DIDN’T have the most time.
It wasn’t about spending the most time… but studying more EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY.
Ready to do the same?
UBE Stories
Navi
Passed the 2022 July New York Bar Exam (UBE) with a score of 295
Attempts: New York Exam 1 time
Weakness: Weak subjects shifted throughout bar prep, had to learn Family Law or Secured Transactions (heavy topic!) in 3 days
Unique challenge: 8-week schedule, only completed 30% of Themis workload, had to relearn how to take closed-book exams
“Consistency over intensity.”
“I love myself and my life too much to have to do this again. One and done. For me, love was the greatest motivator. Love for myself.”
Joe
Passed the 2018 July Kansas Bar Exam (UBE)
Attempts: Kansas Bar Exam 1 time
Weakness: Essays (MEEs)
Unique challenge: Essay topics that were new to him, started preparation with 7 weeks to go
“I really wasn’t pulling together essays until after I spent a lot of time, specifically with your Approsheets. I did that for most of the essay subjects, especially the ones that I didn’t have any contact with, and I really saw myself picking up a lot more issues that way and scoring a lot higher. After that, I think that’s when I finally, finally started to feel like there’s a chance I was gonna pull it off.”
Nocona
“Partner/Mom/Grandma/Kindergarten teacher”
Passed the 2022 Oklahoma Bar Exam (UBE) with a score of 270
Attempts: Oklahoma Bar Exam 5 times (2x after adopting the UBE)
Weakness: Essays (MEEs), MPTs
Unique challenge: Family woman with a job, insecurities, reframing past bar exam experiences
“Your weekly emails reminded me how much I love learning and helped me reframe my past bar exam experiences.”
Other Stories
Samantha
Passed the 2018 July Georgia Bar Exam
Attempts: Georgia Bar Exam 1 time
Weakness: MBE
Unique challenge: Mom duties, worked full time, 30% chance of passing
“I don’t learn by watching lectures all day. I didn’t learn like that in law school, at any point in my life did I learn like that. So why would I do that for the most important test in my life?”
Want to join their ranks?
If you’re serious about passing the bar exam, I’ve shown you PROOF that it’s possible for anyone, with hard work and smart work.
It’s not all doom and gloom. This isn’t unrealistic. It’s easy to let pass rates take the blame, but plenty of people do pass.
And you can be one of them—if you make it a priority.
Don’t shy away from success.
“If you want success, figure out the price, then pay it.”—Scott Adams
I’m offering these tools so that you can become another success story instead of another statistic: