Scoring a 325 on the New York UBE as a 21-year-old Foreign Law Graduate

You’re going to hate me because I keep sharing ridiculous passer stories…

An international law graduate passed the July 2025 New York Bar Exam on her first try with a score of 325 (!) at just 21 years old (!!).

💬 “Here is my NY bar preparation journey (which I passed with a 325!). I wanted to come back and share my experience, as MTYLT definitely helped me throughout this journey.”

💬 “I have an LLB from England, and did an LLM in the US (took the exam at 21 and found out I passed at 22 – so for any young takers, do not let age deter you!). English is also not my first language (though I am proficient in it).”

A lot of my non-traditional passers are older, so I was absolutely delighted to hear from the other end of the age range.

I wouldn’t be your surrogate Asian dad if I didn’t hold you to impossible standards and draw out 125% of what you thought was your max power.

Have hard feelings toward me if you must. Come back with a passing story if you want to shut me up.

Continue reading “Scoring a 325 on the New York UBE as a 21-year-old Foreign Law Graduate”

Passing the Bar Exam with a Brain Aneurysm (No Excuses)

It was like a curse. Monica had the deck stacked against her through ever since law school.

💬 “My law school was filled with health whirlwinds that no one could have prepared me for.  My health was failing while in law school (like near death).

💬 “I had registered to sit for the July 2022 bar exam, and to my surprise there were latent health conditions waiting to be revealed.  Given the health surprises, I withdrew from the exam believing that I was going to prepare for February 2023. Unfortunately, I was bedridden with Covid and withdrew.”

💬 “I registered to take the February 2024 bar exam, and you guessed it.  My Christmas present prior to February 2024 bar exam was a diagnosis of a brain aneurysm.

💬 “After the February 2024 bar exam withdrawal, I thought okay now I should focus on July 2024, and I was having brain symptoms and physical symptoms that no doctor could explain, and yet again I withdrew.”

💬 “I studied and prepared for February 2025 UBE, and missed the threshold by 17 points. I thought I gave all I had on my first attempt, what else is there to give.

Monica dealt with:

  • Almost dying through law school
  • Withdrawing because of health surprises
  • Withdrawing again because of COVID
  • Withdrawing again because of a brain aneurysm
  • Withdrawing again because of bodily symptoms
  • Finally taking the bar exam and failing when she gave it her all for her first attempt
  • Enduring the brain aneurysm while taking the bar the second time

Then she passed the July 2025 Texas Bar Exam on her second attempt with a 27-point improvement.

💬 “My husband was informed by the radiologist after an angiogram that he could not find the aneurysm that had been present from 2023-2025.  That news (miracle) was provided a week before the bar results were released.  On October 6th, I opened an email to read ‘Congratulations you have passed the Texas UBE.”

Anything you want to be thankful for yet?

Continue reading “Passing the Bar Exam with a Brain Aneurysm (No Excuses)”

Passing the Kentucky Bar Exam (UBE) with AuDHD on Her Third Attempt

Jessica passed the July 2025 Kentucky Bar Exam (UBE) on her third try.

💬 “Here’s a pretty good follow-up. I passed with a 269. Although that is one point away from 270, a pass is a pass. Kentucky requires a 266.”

💬 “I graduated near the bottom of my law school class, and one regret I have with the law school experience was not putting into practice questions a lot sooner than outlining.”

What happened on her first two attempts?

💬 “In my first two attempts, I was using Themis and was completely burnt out by the time I took the exam in both July 2024 and February 2025. I failed both attempts as a result.”

This is the same old story that fresh grads don’t hear about. A lesson that they won’t learn until they get burned personally. And then the cycle continues.

But good thing you’re here to stop that cycle for yourself.

What did Jessica do differently on her third attempt to make it successful?

Continue reading “Passing the Kentucky Bar Exam (UBE) with AuDHD on Her Third Attempt”

UK Attorney Got a 316 on the NY UBE on Her First Try While Working Full Time

Sushmita passed the February 2025 New York Bar Exam on her first attempt:

  • as a UK-trained attorney
  • right after taking another exam
  • while working full time
  • starting with ZERO prior knowledge of American law
  • with a score of 316 (!)
💬 “I did not study any US law during my LLM save for a short intro module for international students, i.e., I did not require an LLM to be eligible to take the bar exam.”
💬 “I am delighted to share that I’ve passed the UBE in NY with a score of 316.”

That’s just unnecessarily impressive.

On top of that, she went into prep already knowing she didn’t want to use a big box bar review program.

💬 “I have no wish to purchase bar prep from the big players like Barbri, Themis, JD Advising, Kaplan etc.”
💬 “Given my trauma in dealing with these terrible companies, I was looking for assistance similar to what I found for the [Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)], from people who genuinely want to help students. I found your website again when looking through my old bookmarks from 2022, and I am glad I did.”

Most first-time bar takers default to using a big course. How did she so confidently decide not to use one?

More importantly, how did she beat this exam without using one on her first try?

Continue reading “UK Attorney Got a 316 on the NY UBE on Her First Try While Working Full Time”

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

No wonder this person posted anonymously because I see at least 3 things I could critique in this comment:

"The worst part about studying ... is that we cannot even properly use predictions."

Before every exam, a handful of people come out of the woodwork and shamelessly ask about which subjects will appear on the upcoming 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 to take control over your studies)

Continue reading “Predictions for the Bar Exam (What to Focus On for Efficient Study)”