Louise did everything bar takers are told to do.
She started with a commercial bar prep program. She tried over a thousand MBE questions. She tracked her mistakes.
On paper, she was doing enough. But she felt like she was plateauing.
💬 “I’m an LLM student, and I’ve already completed over a thousand questions on AdaptiBar, but I keep stagnating around 54%. I scored 62% on a past NCBE exam, but despite that, I feel like I’m going backward.”
💬 “The more questions I do, the more lost I feel. I always take the time to review my mistakes and write down what went wrong, yet each new batch of questions seems to introduce rules I’ve never seen, and I struggle to identify them in the fact patterns.”
This sounds incredibly frustrating when you’re a foreign-trained attorney trying to make sense of American law.
💬 “I was starting from zero doctrinal familiarity. I’m a French-trained attorney and genuinely did not know American law at the outset, so everything had to be built from the ground up.”
Louise went from zero knowledge to passing the July 2025 New York UBE on her first attempt.
💬 “I just wanted to let you know that I received a passing score on every UBE section.”
💬 “I stopped listening to outside noise about what I ‘should’ be doing and focused entirely on what moved my scores.”
Resources Louise used to pass the New York UBE
Magicsheets
💬 “I’ve been using your magic sheets instead, and they’ve been incredibly helpful for reading and review.”
AdaptiBar MBE Simulator
- Use promo code here for 10% off your entire cart
MTYLT emails
💬 “I just wanted to let you know that I received a passing score on every UBE section, and that is largely thanks to your Magicsheets. They helped me exactly when I needed them most, and your email support made a real difference as well.”
That’s NOT a lot of resources, unlike the last story from Michelle.
This also doesn’t mean you need to copy her. Everyone is different. That’s the point of all these different case studies.
But there’s a similar lesson here: Don’t just “log hours.”
Louise went through a heroine’s arc in her messages to me, one that isn’t uncommon with bar takers who end up passing:
- Early phase:
Effort without structure → anxiety and stagnation
- Middle phase:
Rejection of one-size-fits-all prep → rebuilding fundamentals
This is where I have beef with the bar prep industrial complex and law schools (who promote the fuck out of fancy bloated programs as the default option) because they don’t teach us how to learn. We could have skipped to this step from the start. But it’s ultimately up to us in the end to take ownership of our own studies.
- Final phase:
Compressed and simplified framework + active learning → understanding, competence, and passing
Traditional bar prep created helplessness
Big bar review courses appear friendly and helpful. They are and can be. It’s the default choice.
But they might not work for you. It’s logically impossible that it will work for everyone.
In Louise’s case, her course actively undermined her ability to build confidence and competence.
💬 “I stopped using Barbri at the beginning of June—it just wasn’t working for me.”
💬 “I had dropped Barbri Prep even though I was a Barbri Rep. I stopped after the first two weeks because I quickly realized it was not the right fit for me, and I was feeling genuinely helpless and discouraged at that point.”
The word “helpless” says a lot here. A $3,000 system should NOT discourage a student at any point. It should give her a sense of control and progress (and not just a tacky completion meter).
She was willing to do the work, but the big box program didn’t support her the right way.
Doing more work made her feel worse, not better
So Louise went on her own way, practicing questions and taking mock exams…
But high volume (which is important) without a deliberate approach created anxiety, disorientation, and the sense of moving backward, even when objective metrics showed promise (62% on a mock MBE).
💬 “It feels like the more I study, the more I forget what I thought I had learned.”
Hard work + worsening confidence is a contradiction that many bar takers fall into.
But if your practice scores are moving up and down, that’s normal. If your scores stopped budging (or even started dipping) over time, your mind is saturated. You’re not wasting your efforts.
It means it’s working. You’re building the foundation before something triggers a breakthrough in you.
But you still need to manage your energy carefully.
Burnout is real
Louise’s struggle wasn’t about motivation. She was clearly motivated and willing to prep.
But being stuck in this process was showing signs of stress, cognitive overload, and burnout.
💬 “I think you’re absolutely right about the small burnout — I’ve been pushing myself nonstop, and the stress is definitely affecting my sleep, which doesn’t help either.”
Here are parts of my response to her about plateau and burnout.
Which part is relevant to you right now?
“It is part of the process in my opinion where you stay stuck and even regress, before things start to click all of a sudden.”
“My guess is that you’ve been going hard at this for a while, and so your brain needs time to process what it has gone through. It needs to stop going at full speed for a day or two.”
“One way to do ‘light’ work during this time is to redo questions you’ve done so that you lock in what you thought you learned.”
“I agree that MBE topics are a good priority if you’re pressed for time. More than time, though, it may be your energy level and fatigue at this moment. So take that into account as well.”
Taking care of yourself is part of the prep! If you’re losing sleep in a process that demands your mental and emotional best, that starts to bring diminishing returns.
💬 “Prepping alone was hard, mentally and emotionally, but it forced consistency and accountability.”
So Louise didn’t need more pressure and beating herself up. Instead of forcing herself to do another huge question set, she regrouped and did what actually worked.
💬 “I stopped listening to outside noise about what I ‘should’ be doing and focused entirely on what moved my scores.”
What actually moved her scores
Louise’s success came from structuring her prep around compressing the information she needed to know, actively learning from feedback, and abandoning passive consumption.
1. Structure
Again, Louise was willing to put in the time. No complaints here.
💬 “My prep was very structured and very solitary. I studied alone in the library every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with very limited breaks.”
2. Consolidation
Instead of just diving into questions, Louise did that using condensed outlines to get a mental map of the doctrinal familiarity she was lacking without making it overwhelming.
💬 “I completely ditched Barbri, which everyone around me thought was crazy—especially since I was the student bar representative at my school. But after repeatedly getting stuck around 54%, I knew I needed a different approach. I primarily relied on your Magicsheets and training, paired with AdaptiBar. I did over 2,000 AdaptiBar questions.”
(I also used to be a Kaplan rep. Now I throw their bar review course under the bus all the time while still wearing their nice hoodie.)
💬 “The
Magicsheets worked so well for me—they gave me a usable mental map instead of overwhelming detail.”
The answer is somewhere in the middle of staying stuck in the morass of lectures and outlines, and just “doing questions.”
3. Active review and learning based on feedback
It’s not enough to “do questions” and “practice practice practice.”
Louise gave herself a baseline and also reviewed her work to make sure she was understanding the doctrine.
💬 “Memorization and constant review using Magicsheets as my core framework.”
💬 “Heavy, daily AdaptiBar practice, with meticulous review of every question—right or wrong.”
💬 “No lectures, no passive studying—only active recall, repetition, and application.”
This covers the P+F Loop and how to memorize in a nutshell.
Once again, it’s about doing the quiet, boring thing repeatedly.
Full story
Text version
Seeking Guidance — Feeling Stuck at 54%
Hi Brian,
I’m writing to you because I would really appreciate your insights. I’m an LLM student, and I’ve already completed over a thousand questions on Adaptibar, but I keep stagnating around 54%. I scored 62% on a past NCBE exam, but despite that, I feel like I’m going backward.
I stopped using BARBRI at the beginning of June—it just wasn’t working for me. I’ve been using your magic sheets instead, and they’ve been incredibly helpful for reading and review. But the more questions I do, the more lost I feel. I always take the time to review my mistakes and write down what went wrong, yet each new batch of questions seems to introduce rules I’ve never seen, and I struggle to identify them in the fact patterns.
I’ve also heard that Adaptibar questions are easier than the actual bar exam, which is making me even more anxious. It feels like the more I study, the more I forget what I thought I had learned. If you have any advice at all, I’d be so grateful—I’m feeling really lost and desperate at this point.
Thank you so much in advance,
Louise L
—
Hi Brian,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I think you’re absolutely right about the small burnout — I’ve been pushing myself nonstop, and the stress is definitely affecting my sleep, which doesn’t help either.
My plan for the coming week is to focus on reviewing your outlines, re reading the answers I wrote down and got wrong and reading essay answers. I want to reinforce the fundamentals before doing another 200-question simulation under real-time conditions.
As for the MPT, I’ve completed four so far. The feedback I got from BARBRI on the last one was decent, so I’m not planning to do more, I just don’t have the time with the current schedule.
With essays, it really depends. Sometimes I know the answer well if it’s a topic I’ve studied thoroughly, but for the smaller MEE subjects (like Trusts or Secured Transactions), I’ve mostly relied on reading past BARBRI essays and outlines. I’m prioritizing the core subjects first — Civil Procedure, Torts, etc.
Thanks again for your help — I really appreciate it.
Best,
Louise
—
Hi Brian,
I hope you’re well. I just wanted to let you know that I received a passing score on every UBE section, and that is largely thanks to your Magic Sheets. They helped me exactly when I needed them most, and your email support made a real difference as well.
I had dropped Barbri Prep even though I was a Barbri Rep. I stopped after the first two weeks because I quickly realized it was not the right fit for me, and I was feeling genuinely helpless and discouraged at that point. Finding your sheets truly turned things around for me. They were a lifesaver.
I have already recommended your Magic Sheets on LinkedIn, and I continue to recommend them to others whenever I can. I am sending many people your way.
Thank you again for everything. Wishing you a wonderful day.
Louise L
—
Hi Brian,
Of course—that’s the least I can do. Your materials made a real difference for me, and I’m glad to share exactly how I approached it.
I completely ditched Barbri, which everyone around me thought was crazy—especially since I was the student bar representative at my school. But after repeatedly getting stuck around 54%, I knew I needed a different approach. I primarily relied on your MagicSheets and training, paired with Adaptibar. I did over 2,000 Adaptibar questions. I technically still had Barbri access, but I disliked their questions and explanations; I used at most 200 of their questions total.
My prep was very structured and very solitary. I studied alone in the library every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with very limited breaks. My days were built around:
- Memorization and constant review using MagicSheets as my core framework
- Heavy, daily Adaptibar practice, with meticulous review of every question—right or wrong
- Tracking patterns in my mistakes and drilling weak areas immediately, rather than following a preset lecture schedule
- No lectures, no passive studying—only active recall, repetition, and application
I was starting from zero doctrinal familiarity. I’m a French-trained attorney and genuinely did not know American law at the outset, so everything had to be built from the ground up. That made clarity and compression essential, which is why the MagicSheets worked so well for me—they gave me a usable mental map instead of overwhelming detail.
Prepping alone was hard, mentally and emotionally, but it forced consistency and accountability. I stopped listening to outside noise about what I “should” be doing and focused entirely on what moved my scores.
I’m happy for you to share my background and experience if it’s helpful to others. Let me know if you want more detail on any specific part of the process.
Thanks again, and truly—your resources were instrumental.
Best,
Louise
—
Yes first attempt! I passed in NY.
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