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Posted on - 1 Comment on How Doreen Passed One of the HARDEST California Bar Exams (33.9% Pass Rate)

How Doreen Passed One of the HARDEST California Bar Exams (33.9% Pass Rate)

The 2022 February California Bar Exam was a tough one.

The typical average raw written score needed to be on track to pass hovered around 60-62 points in past California exams that required a 1390 scaled score.

The raw written score needed to be on track to pass in 2022 February was an average of 62.78 points!

But Doreen managed to pass the 2022 February California Bar Exam…

  • Unexpected to her (“I don’t think I passed this bar … just [being] realistic” “I will probably take it again in July, and I will be using your methods and materials again” “I was completely prepared to treat it like a practice exam, learn from my mistakes, etc.”)
  • Even though essays were the bane of her existence, and
  • Even though she only had 6 weeks of preparation.

How did she do it? Her full story and takeaways below…

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Posted on - No Comments on How to Study for the Bar Exam as a First Timer

How to Study for the Bar Exam as a First Timer

So you’ve decided to take the bar exam. What exactly is it, and what have you gotten yourself into?

How to Study for the Bar Exam as a First Timer

The bar exam is a rite of passage to becoming an attorney-at-law (or simply an attorney).

BTW, Black’s Law Dictionary defines a “lawyer” as a “person learned in the law,” and an “attorney” as “one who is appointed and authorized to act in the place or stead of another.”

So if you’ve gone to law school or graduated, you’re technically a lawyer already! For many law students, though, the bar exam is their final hurdle before becoming an attorney. Your journey through law school and passing the bar exam is so you can call yourself an attorney.

But the bar exam is a grueling test that takes days to complete, months (sometimes years) to prepare for, and covers a variety of topics. The pass rate for the bar exam can be less than 50% in some states like California. It’s not uncommon for someone to repeat the exam at least once. Often, bar takers make common mistakes and come back to me, and the real work begins.

Some states have their own jurisdiction-drafted bar exam, like California, Nevada, Louisiana, and Florida. Most states administer the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), which includes the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). This map shows which states have adopted the UBE as of 2022:

Which states have adopted the UBE states, UBE jurisdictions

Despite the differences in format and passing scores, the concept of the bar exam and how to study for it are similar across states.

Let’s go over the basics of what the bar exam is about.

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Posted on - 1 Comment on How do Magicsheets and Approsheets fit into your other bar exam study materials?

How do Magicsheets and Approsheets fit into your other bar exam study materials?

There are a LOT of study supplements, resources, and outlines for bar prep. As time passes, more and more get added to your potential repertoire.

Sometimes, the sheer overwhelm causes bar takers to load up on all sorts of materials, attend every workshop, DM everyone offering something — spreading themselves so thin that they end up not using any of it!

The materials collect digital dust, and bar takers end up restarting at square one, exhausted. But “the great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” (Herbert Spencer)

I, too, offer study materials for the California Bar Exam and the Uniform Bar Exam. Here’s my answer to questions about them, including HOW to use them. This will be useful whether or not you use my material.

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Posted on - No Comments on What to Do for the July Bar Exam as a First Timer

What to Do for the July Bar Exam as a First Timer

Now that everyone’s here, maybe we stand a chance against the final boss.

You got your books, you announced on social media that you’re going to be super busy for the next 2-3 weeks, and you got your favorite pens and highlighters ready. How hard can it be, right?

But as a first-timer, it’s unclear what to even expect from bar prep. Let me show you a vision of the future and how you can change it, using 20/20 FORESIGHT.

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Posted on - 1 Comment on Planning a Bar Prep Study Schedule (Quick Overview)

Planning a Bar Prep Study Schedule (Quick Overview)

Wondering how to plan and begin your studies for the bar exam? The order in which to arrange the subjects? What a study schedule could look like?

I like to recommend this general approach. You’ll go through at least 3 cycles:

  1. MBE subjects, and then optionally essay-only subjects
  2. All subjects (you can repeat this more than once)
  3. Final crunch (1-2 weeks max)

More details below.

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