Grandmother Passes the Uniform Bar Exam with a 270

A self-professed “Partner/Mom/Grandma/Kindergarten teacher” told me she passed the UBE.

No big deal. I asked Nocona how she DID IT so I could pass her lessons onto you mortals.

Among other things, she told me that she passed the 2022 July Oklahoma Bar Exam (UBE) using a combination of substantive resources and a mindset that gave her better control over her processes.

You might read all these stories and think, I can do this too (true).

Or you might wonder, why can’t it be me?

It CAN be you, homie. These were all people in the exact same position as you, just time shifted. Why torture yourself trying to reinvent the wheel?

Table of Contents

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Resources used
Some takeaways from Nocona’s approach to bar prep

✅ First, if something isn’t working…STOP doing it.
✅ Use the resources available to you.
✅ Recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on what’s holding you back.
✅ Empower yourself with motivation and fun.

Nocona’s full story of what changed between her 4th attempt and 5th attempt at the bar exam

Resources used

▶▶ Magicsheets + Approsheets

▶▶ BarMax (for licensed MBE questions)

If you want a more familiar MBE supplemental resource, other popular options are AdaptiBar ($40 discount code) and UWorld

▶▶ Past MEEs and MPTs

▶▶ Passer’s Playbook 2.0 (tools and techniques for effective bar prep)

▶▶ Mental Engines (mini-course on organizing your mind and emotions for bar prep)

▶▶ MTYLT emails (sign up here)

💬 “I started asking myself why even take the Bar if I don’t believe I will pass it. Your materials put me in an empowered place, and your emails (personal and group) were the game changer!”

💬 “Your weekly emails reminded me how much I love learning and helped me reframe my past bar exam experiences.”

💬 “Your bar prep materials and personal support were, for me, like having a bar prep friend/coach.“

Some takeaways from Nocona’s approach to bar prep

✅ First, if something isn’t working…STOP doing it.

She started studying from scratch and had to leave behind unsuccessful study strategies and insecurities.

If something isn’t working, I dare you to change it. I dare you NOT to simply say “yeah maybe” and keep doing more of the same thing.

💬 “I had to divest myself of unsuccessful study strategies and 14 tons of insecurity baggage. You were particularly influential in helping me unhook from the ‘Can I do this’ baggage.”

✅ Use the resources available to you.

You COULD do everything by yourself.

Research case law and statutes. Retake the exam again and again trying to figure it out. Reinvent the wheel. It’s possible!

You could use other resources too, of course. Most people do this.

I’ve specifically designed what I offer to make it EASIER on you to get you that much closer to passing the bar exam.

I’m a repeater myself who was in pain and had to learn.

I’ve spoken with thousands of bar takers. I’ve tested and evolved the strategies and materials with them. I’m sending out these beacons so you can DO something with them.

Nocona did. By doing so, she transformed her life. But if you’re just going to treat my work like intellectual candy, get the hell off my website. I’m more than happy to make room for others.

💬 “I have no doubt that I will be prepared to pass in July for the following reasons: I have your resources and will get your emails, which are like vitamin-rich spinach salads.”

💬 “More importantly, now I have your Magicsheets and Approsheets. I’ll get your emails and questions of the week and will look into the other resources you offer.”

There may be other “vitamin-rich” nodes in the world of bar prep. You should keep your pulse there too.

I just don’t think you’ll find anything as insightful as MTYLT. I say this matter-of-factly, not to tout what you’re reading as gospel. Everything is merely a proposal for you to implement into your curriculum as the dean of your own studies.

✅ Recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on what’s holding you back.

It would behoove you to have a strategy for bar prep, not just do things haphazardly or expect things to click once you “complete the course” or “memorize the rules.” Not everything is equally important.

For example, you could make a plan that is FLEXIBLE. It’s an evolving, living document that caters to your needs. This is the macro-schedule I talk about in Passer’s Playbook.

Nocona nailed it by recalibrating her study schedule:

💬 “I made so many schedules and daily lists, and I didn’t complete even one. Instead, I realized that making study schedules and setting goals was keeping my head in the game. I struggled with over-estimating what I could actually accomplish in a day, but, instead of focusing on struggling with project management, I perpetually recalibrated by making ongoing decisions about what was necessary, important, and optional.“

As more examples, techniques like issue checking and essay cooking focus on what’s most important in an essay. Recognizing what — and how — the MBE question is testing helps you hone in on the answer. Even being aware that the performance test is part of the exam is a better start than many who neglect it.

Your mind is also a huge part of bar prep. Bar preparation is emotional preparation.

💬 “I used a lot from Module 2 of your Mental Engines to prepare with a proactive mindset between February and July. My anxieties and insecurities didn’t go away, but I had better control over my processes.

The entirety of Mental Engines and [the] Playbook helped me capitalize on what I was already good at and focus on overcoming my weakness. Your insights, humor, and substance were the cognitive and behavioral resources I needed to outgrow what was holding me back.”

✅ Empower yourself with motivation and fun.

When you think of bar takers, you think of stressed and overwhelmed people.

Preparing for the bar exam may be difficult, but suffering is optional.

Don’t volunteer to be miserable in advance.

Embrace the suck, but let it go.

Enjoy the process.

💬 “The motto I used to embolden the children whose education was entrusted to my care was ‘prepared not scared’ . . . That’s how I will be an attorney.”

💬 “Your motto ‘make this your last time’ is what I learned to do when I stopped waiting for bar prep to suit me. Your humor breathed energy into my bar prep and helped me bond with my partner. Finally, I had something fun to talk about related to bar prep.”

💬 “Your materials put in me in an empowered place, and your emails (personal and group) were the game changer!“