Make This Your Last Time | Page 12 of 43

July 12, 2024July 12, 2024 - 4 Comments

Face Your Weaknesses to Pass the Bar Exam

Passing the 2024 February CA Bar Exam on her second try allowed Esme to put this nightmare behind her forever.

💬 “I passed the February 2024 CA bar exam on my second try! Can’t tell you how thrilled I am to never have to take that test again and finally get on with my life.”

How exciting. But there’s a price to pay for this ultimate reward.

First of all, there’s way too much to know.

*Pls tell me you recognize this classic meme template*

You also go through a range of emotions.

You go from being anxious, overwhelmed, panicked, unmotivated, stressed, incompetent, ashamed, HAPPY YOU GOT SOMETHING RIGHT, depressed, embarrassed…

Not only is there a mental toll and an emotional toll, but there’s a financial toll as well. Each attempt involves exam fees, subscription fees for study supplements (which is why my study tools come with updates for life), and opportunity costs.

That adds even more stress!

Mental fortitude is key to bar prep. “The mind is 50% of this exam.”

Esme had to learn about these tolls the hard way on her first attempt. Then she conquered herself and the bar exam by facing inconvenient and uncomfortable emotions.

July 6, 2024June 21, 2025 - 4 Comments

Common Traits of Bar Passers & Why Mental Fortitude Is Important for Bar Preparation

They say knowledge is power (and you can never have too much power).

But why is it that with all the information out there, we don’t always get to where we want to go? Why do 80 percent of New Year resolutions fail by February? (Remember those? LOL)

“If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”

Knowledge applied correctly is power.

Knowledge is potential energy. It’s what we DO with the knowledge, not the fact that we have them, not the fact that we declare our desire.

If you have the raw material but can’t bring yourself to make a sand castle, if you can’t turn that potential energy in your mind into kinetic energy, what’s the use?

But even then, the top differentiator that I’ve encountered with people taking the bar isn’t skills or knowledge.

It’s HOW they think. I lowkey hesitate to use the term “mindset” because it’s sometimes associated with impractical woo-woo things like visualization.

But the point remains: The hurdle is often internal.

"half of bar prep involves preparing oneself mentally"

"the bar exam is all about your mental fitness and your ability to retain a crap ton of information without going crazy. Take care of yourself this time around."

It’s getting harder to pass the bar exam…and that’s exactly why you should go for it now. And make this your last time.

It’s not going to get easier. But when the bar is set high, it’s actually an opportunity to stand out more.

How?

If you observe people who have passed the bar exam long enough, you will notice some patterns in their behavior:

July 5, 2024July 18, 2024 - 2 Comments

Failing the CA Bar Exam After “Following the Bar Prep Course to a T”

Mattie passed the 2024 February CA Bar Exam on her second try 👏🏻

💬 “I am thrilled to report that I passed the February 2024 CA Bar Exam! I took the bar for the first time in July 2023 after graduating law school. I was absolutely devastated when I didn’t pass. But I also somehow did not expect to pass.”

She’s got a pretty typical story for a repeater:

Trust the system
Not pass
Hear about MTYLT
Shift to a more independent study process
Pass

Wait, why is this even typical? Why does this keep happening?

Of course people still pass using mainstream programs. But you may get exhausted and burn out from forcing yourself through a rigid structure that doesn’t fit your needs. Where’s the balance?

Let’s see what Mattie did her first time and differently his second time so you can skip to the part where you pass.

And if you’re a first-time bar taker, how can you still use experience you think you may not have?

June 28, 2024May 8, 2025 - No Comments

Passing the DC Bar Exam on Second Try with a 269: “A Pass Is a Pass”

Rebecca passed the 2024 February DC Bar Exam (UBE) on her second try, with a 13-point improvement from a score of 256 to 269.

It wasn’t a “crazy” jump… but you don’t need a crazy score!

💬 “Didn’t pass my first time in July 23 (256, needed 266 for DC). Took February 24 and all I wanted was a 267, ended up with a 269! Sure, it’s one shy of the “every jx” score and it’s not a ~crazy~ jump or anything but I am literally over the moon. Also, who cares, a pass is a pass, and I can practice in the jxs that *I* want.”

I share big jumps too to show the possibility for anyone with a large score deficiency.

But Rebecca emphasizes that a pass is a pass.

You just need enough. (Remember that the bar exam doesn’t require 100% perfect accuracy.)

Someone who gets a 300 gets to be an attorney just the same as someone who gets a 270, 266, or whatever you need for your jurisdiction.

💬 “I surpassed my jurisdiction’s score by three points and my personal goal by two. Let’s be real, 269 isn’t the best but it is the funniest score I could get. I don’t need to practice in any 270 jxs any time soon, and also reciprocity/waiving in exists. It’s fine, everything is fine. I’m including this dumb rant because if any of your readers are like me, they might see the people boasting 290s, 300s, or other such impressive leaps in scores on repeats, which is genuinely great for those people, but in this weird, awful rat race we’re in, I legit found myself thinking at one point, damn I “only” got a 269 😪 which is bonkers. Friends, retakers, you just need to pass for your jurisdiction(s). Anyone who asks you about your passing score or who tries to make you feel less than for a p a s s i n g score is a knob.”

Now, that’s not to say that you should aim for the bare minimum.

To help you get past your threshold, I’ll share some specific strategies from Rebecca and what she did differently on her second attempt.

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?