Strategies | Make This Your Last Time

September 28, 2024September 28, 2024 - 3 Comments

Early Bar Prep: Should You Study Early for the Bar Exam? (When and How)

Some bar takers wonder if they should study early for the bar exam (ahead of the traditional 10-week schedule), whether…

They got results months ahead of the next bar exam.
They want to get a head start on studying
They deferred the exam (from July to February, February to July, or even a year or more)
They’re waiting for bar results and want to study “just in case”
They have a full-time job to juggle at the same time and won’t be able to take much time off
It’s been a minute (or years) since they’ve graduated from law school or taken the bar exam

While there are benefits to studying early and giving yourself a lot of time, there are many traps to doing so. There are also benefits to simply waiting (if your neurotic anxiety can handle it) until study season is in full swing before deciding whether or not to study for the bar exam.

But bar prep is personal. You’re the dean of your own studies.

To help you decide when to start studying, let’s discuss all of this—who early bar prep is right for and the best way to study early and effectively—so that you’re making the most of your time and energy.

July 13, 2024July 14, 2024 - 8 Comments

Stop “Studying” and Start Learning: The Underrated Practice of Practice in Bar Prep

You’ve sat still during lectures and tried to stay awake. You’ve taken notes. You’ve read outlines. You’ve even answered practice questions.

Then nothing works. Has this happened to you?

Back in college, I gave a copy of my cheat sheet for our engineering midterm to a girl. How do you say no to a girl? Answer: You can’t.

And then she got the lowest score in the class.

It had all the equations needed, but she didn’t know how and when those equations applied. She hadn’t seen those rules applied to similar problems. She assumed that just having the rules there would be enough. (Same reason open-book bar exams would change very little.)

It’s like when someone says, “b urself” or “learn to love yourself.” Okay… what’s that mean? Could you explain that a bit more, bro? Any specifics?

Same with your “black letter law”… What does “related” mean in your rule statement?

You get a better sense of what that means in the context of examples of how that rule is used. You gain an intuition.

You’d think these rules would be plug and play, but they’re not always. Context matters. Knowing when and how to use them matters.

June 29, 2024June 29, 2024 - 10 Comments

Predictions for the Bar Exam (What to Focus On for Efficient Study)

Before every exam, a handful of people come out of the woodwork and shamelessly ask about subject predictions for the bar exam.

“Does anyone know the essay predictions?”
“What do you think will be tested?”
“I don’t think ____ will appear on the exam.”
“Anyone think ____ will be tested?”
“I know we’re not supposed to listen to predictions, but…”
“What are ____’s predictions?”
“Here are my MEE predictions!”

Whose speculations are you going to listen to?

If you’re like many bar takers, or if you’re a repeater, you say: “Haha of course I’m not going to rely on the predictions. I shall adequately study all the subjects. You should too!”

And then you panic and look at the predictions anyway.

Did you want me to tell you, “Aww poor baby, don’t worry. It’s normal and happens to the best of us 🥺”?

You SHOULD worry if you’re secretly tempted to rely on predictions… because this kind of thinking is entirely predictable and avoidable. Sweating about predictions is not a good place to be and requires intervention.

Also, remember when subjects actually leaked for the California exam in 2019 and people got mad over it? Do you want to know the subjects ahead of time or not? Make up your minds!

Maybe you’re too young to remember ancient history. I’ve been dealing with you people for too long.

Here’s why you should look toward essay/MEE predictions for entertainment value and morbid curiosity only (and 3 things you can focus on instead):

June 26, 2024August 2, 2024 - No Comments

Common Pitfalls of First-Time Bar Exam Takers

First timers might be frustrated seeing advice from people who retook the bar exam and passed.

It’s true that repeaters start from experience. That’s their advantage.

Repeaters can afford to skip at least some of the lectures (as they should if they already watched them before). They can go straight to practice and review.

Meanwhile, first timers are juggling lectures, outlines, AND practice. Or at least they FEEL compelled to stick to The Plan.

First timers are also seeing the material for the first time, so they feel compelled to “get all their ducks in a row” before moving on while feeling increasingly crushed by the time pressure of the exam looming closer.

That’s understandable. Bar review courses latched onto you on your first day of law school.

So when first timers see advice like “take breaks” or “try different things” or “do what works for you”…

How are they supposed to do that?

June 22, 2024June 22, 2024 - 5 Comments

Bar Prep Wisdom from Succulents

I went to a succulents gardening workshop the other day 🌱

(This is relevant to you, promise.)

I figured succulents wouldn’t wither under my care like the flowers I tried arranging before. There’s a limit to how much talent one person can have, I guess.

But there’s no limit to how much I think about bar prep because that’s what I started thinking about when I was listening to the instructor 🤦🏻‍♂️

4 relevant lessons and also photos of my bald-looking succulent bowl:

(First lesson: “You have to kill a lot of plants to be an expert.” 🤯)