Bar Prep Wisdom from Succulents

I went to a succulents gardening workshop the other day 🌱

(This is relevant to you, promise.)

I figured succulents wouldn’t wither under my care like the flowers I tried arranging before. There’s a limit to how much talent one person can have, I guess.

There’s no limit to how much I think about bar prep because that’s what I started thinking about when I was listening to the instructor 🤦🏻‍♂️

4 relevant lessons and also photos of my bald-looking succulent bowl:

(First lesson: “You have to kill a lot of plants to be an expert.” 🤯)

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How a mother of two passed the California Bar Exam while working in biglaw (32.5% pass rate)

Hannah passed the 2023 February CA Bar Exam, one of the HARDEST exams with a 32.5% pass rate (even lower than the 2022 Feb exam).

She did it efficiently and effectively:

  • on her first try
  • with 7-8 weeks of studying
  • while attending to two toddlers and a biglaw job!

I’m excited to share Hannah’s story and 4 BIG nuggets of wisdom I distilled from her story. 

(Babe, wake up! Another banger of a passer story just dropped.)

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Bar Prep Is Overwhelming: Making Independent Choices for Yourself

You have questions about the bar exam. How to study. When to study. Whether you’re on the right track. Picking the right bar prep supplements.

"Yes, it is very overwhelming and the amount of resources out there to help are also overwhelming lol"

But do you want the “best” answers. Or is certainty what you’re really looking for? Someone to just tell you what the hell to do?

That’s where the danger lies in the landscape of bar prep. Everyone who passed is suddenly a “tutor” who can teach you their secrets. You shop around and yet end up where you started.

There are no secrets, and there are a million ways to pass. You have it in you already. It’s always been up to you to make them work for you.

Sounds scary but also freeing, right?

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The 3 Things You Need When Starting Bar Prep (Live Stream Replay)

“What should I know when I’m starting bar prep?”

I did a live stream with Jennifer Duclair to talk about how to take the guesswork out of bar preparation and get a better sense of direction as you start studying for your next bar exam.

It was fun! Japes and nuggets of insights were dropped, and I’m pleased with how this turned out. (Maybe I’ll do another one next year…)

Here’s me throwing Kaplan under the bus:

What to do with your schedule when starting bar prep

Here’s the recording (go to 8:12 where I talk about the study schedule shown above), along with timestamps so you can jump to the parts you’re most interested in:

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Struggling with the MBE? Don’t Gloss Over These Tips

For the MBE, I often see bar takers trying to seek endless questions and debating minutiae like AdaptiBar vs UWorld.

Instead, you want to know the rules cold. This doesn’t just mean memorizing the general rule. It means knowing sub-issues like the elements, exceptions, possible defenses, and other nuances so you can hone in on and eliminate choices better.

The more nuanced your understanding of the rules, the clearer the choices, and the fewer ultimate 50/50 decisions you’ll be forced to make.

A relatively general understanding of the law can be enough for essays (as they are more about issue identification). The MBE is more focused on testing the specific ins and outs of the rules—and of course, knowing how to use those rules.

That’s how you could be one of those bar takers who are stellar at the written portion (essays and PT) but still struggle with the MBE.

But we can address this!

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