How Michelle Passed the California Bar Exam from Scratch (Years After Graduating)

Hi Brian- I woke up feeling grateful for the circumstances of my life yesterday and realized that do many of those things came to pass because I passed the CBX in Feb 2025. It was my first time in CA. I went to law school in AL and  graduated in 2018. The material wasn’t fresh or familiar. I could not have passed without purchasing your magic sheets and approsheets. I mean it! I had over 100 cooked essays to help also and read your blog like it was a bible and I studied my ass while being a mom and part time caregiver for my mom with cancer. 

I also took to heart the grace under pressure phrase. When everything went wrong during my examination I stayed calm and did everything I could to rack up points. I passed on the first try and with first scoring. Thank you so much for doing this work. You have helped me change my life. 

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My timeline:

Graduated from Alabama law school in Dec 2018 (I took extra courses and summer courses to graduate a semester early). My husband (at the time) got a job in NC that would start in spring 2019 so I planned to take NC Bar exam in February 2019. I started working full-time (JD required, license not required) Jan 4, 2019 immediately after graduating law school. The employer asked me to delay bar exam to summer because we had a Feb deadline. 

I sat for NC July 2019, failed. We moved to CA in 2021 and I decided to sit for CA in February 2025, first attempt and passed.

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I decided to sit for the 2025 Feb bar exam in the summer of 2024. I knew that I would need to do something different considering that I failed it in NC. I used Barbri previously. I was a Barbri rep, and my course was free, but I knew that Barbri’s schedule was too overwhelming for me. I did not feel in control of my bar prep that time. There was too much material for me to go through on my own and I constantly fell behind the schedule. I also never submitted any essays for grading. I basically showed up on the day of the exam and prayed for the best. Not a good strategy.

When I committed myself to Feb, I know that my preparation was going to involve not only physical preparation but mental preparation. I approached it like I was going on an expedition. I started researching what others had done to succeed. I read your blog like it was my bible. The thing that I noticed was not how much time people were studying but rather how they were studying. This was a revelation to me.

My weaknesses: I had a family and young children, a chronic illness, and a mother that was going through chemotherapy. I had failed the NC bar exam in 2019. I did not go to law school in CA. It had been years since I graduated law school. It had been years since I needed to do deep study. The CA bar exam tragically low pass rate intimidated me.

My strengths: I did have the privilege of quitting my job and focusing my time on bar prep, but I knew I couldn’t put in 10-11 hour days. (This also made me focus on succeeding, so much was on the line). I focused on my physical and mental health. I exercised regularly; I meditated and journaled. I was preparing my body to endure the exam. People forget it is also physically taxing. I came up with a strategy that would help me get the most out of my limited time and focus. I have a growth mindset and self-belief that I can overcome challenging situations.

In addition to your blog, I read “F*ck the Bar.” I wrote the following statement in my journal; I think it came from that book. 

The first rule of bar prep-

1. Nothing matters except performance
2. Nothing matters except performance

This phrase summed up my approach. I was not going to keep a beautiful, color-coded calendar and have the best flash cards. I didn’t need to review notes and lectures and pages of outlines. I needed to focus on my performance. I did not use Barbri again either.

I found some articles of other’s who passed on your blog. I read them in my early days to help me decide what resources to use and how to approach studying. I also told myself, if they can do it, so can I. I kept trying to frame my perspective from the view that I could pass the exam, accepting the reality that it was difficult but that there were certain things I could control to give myself the best opportunity to pass. I read these articles and made a list of what I thought would work for me and kept an open mind that I may need to shift if something is not helping me improve my performance. 

Resources:

BarMax: I followed the recommendation from one of the other’s passer’s posts. I didn’t want to use Barbri again because of the expense and the volume of materials but I wanted something to review the law in my early days of studying. I used Barmax to help me get back into the groove of studying. I would listen to the lectures while hiking, walking or doing house chares. I also used the practice MBE questions to start getting practice there too but didn’t use much else.

Baressays.com: this one was a worthwhile investment. I could really see how essays were graded and what they were looking for. It helped me realize that essay writing was not as complicated as I imagined and that the easier it was for the grader to read, the better. I looked many examples during my practice.

U World MBE: I decided on Uworld instead of Adaptibar, I think mainly because I read that Adaptibar would start feeding you certain questions based on how you were scoring. I’m not sure but I wanted to be in control of my practice, and I had no complaints here. However, I sat in Feb, and I felt like the questions on the exam came from another planet. I’ll discuss this more below, but I remember after the second day of the exam, I was sure that I failed. I did not feel prepared for the MBE at all and cried for about 2 hours on my way home from the testing center. The CA state bar did us dirty with those questions. I cried so hard, ugly tears. I almost had to pull over, but I wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Adaptibar Lectures: Johnathan Grossman was amazing; I would listen to these to help me refine my MBE practice. He helped me find blind spots and what to look out for. These lectures were gold.

Fck the Bar: I read this book in my research stage as I was building out my study routine and calendar. See rule above. I did not follow the protocol in the book, but I did glean from it that the most important thing to focus on what preparing for the actual test and not memorizing long outlines. I did also start my essay prep by copying old essays for the first week. It just helped me focus on something in the beginning. I was trying to create as much muscle memory as possible.

CA Bar Exam Essay Rules: by Ed Aruffo: I read these a few times, I listened to these while doing other things, but I never looked at an outline. Not sure if it was as helpful as magic sheet but I tried it anyway.

Personal Bar Prep with Jay Chavkin: In my early days of studying, I felt alone and a little lost without feedback. I started to feel anxious knowing I quit my job and that if I didn’t pass, I would feel terrible. I decided to pay for a small group bar prep course, and it was worth it. Jay Chavkin helped me prepare for the bar exam. I am confident that others can do this on their own if they are disciplined and have a bit of luck, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. We reviewed each subject each week in small groups and had to submit essays and PTs for grading. The feedback I received on my assignments helped me pass and helped me realize what my weaknesses were. I would take this course again. One thing that he instructed us to do was to write out 25 times daily, “I your name, will pass the 2025 February bar exam.” I did it every day and believe it didn’t hurt!

Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam by Mary Basick: Get this book! That is all.

No Bull Bar Prep: I signed up for the early start course, it was free and helpful. He sells a bar prep course, but I got enough out of the early start and watched his youtube videos to help me with essay and PT practice, I like his no BS way of teaching, and he has some helpful wisdom regarding studying and passing too.

Magic Sheets: Get these, I tell everyone I meet that is studying about your sheets, they are magic. I saved myself so much time for practice instead of reading dense outlines. You do not need to know everything. You just need to know enough to pass. I told myself that 100 times a day to keep my confidence up and to reduce my anxiety about preparing. These cover everything as far as rule statements that you need to pass.

Approsheets: these helped me visualize how to approach essay writing and help me organize my structure. When you are stressed during the exam, having structure to fall back on is like that cheesy song, wind beneath my wings. Even I couldn’t remember the rule statement exactly, I would remember the structure and try to put down as much information as possible to get points.

Mental Engines: I bought these later in my prep. I noticed as the exam date came closer, my anxiety ramped up. I also became more focused on studying, the fear started creeping in that I was realizing there was so much material to learn and so little time. Bar prep became just as much mental as physical preparation. Mental engines helped me keep my head in the game.

MTYLT weekly emails: I read each one and looked forward to seeing your success stories. It helped me visualize myself as an inevitable passer.

(I did not get flash cards or the Cal Bar Bible essay prediction list) I don’t learn from flash cards, and I decided to save my money on predictions and just focus on making sure I could handle anything that came my way.

Specific Study strategies:

Time: I gave myself 4-5 months to study with a gradual ramp up. I researched the optimal time for studying and gave myself a cushion considering that I did not study law in CA, it had been several years since I graduated, and I had a family. I also didn’t want to start strong out the gate. I needed a slow burn to keep my attention focused until Feb.

MBE: I did thousands and as the exam drew nearer, I made extra time to revisit my weaknesses. I read each answer and did not beat myself up over my scores. My scores on Uworld were not impressive but I stayed focused on getting in as many as possible and reviewing the answer explanations.

Essays: I wrote complete essays for grading each week during my small group course but other than that I did not write out many full essays. I used your cooking method and had about 100 cooked essays that I took to the hotel with me for the exam.

PT: I practiced these in my small group class and No Bull’s YouTube video about the PT is fantastic. I did not practice at all the first time and know this was a major problem. This time, I made sure I was ready for the PT.

One thing that I want to note is that the bar exam is not like law school. It’s an exam. You are studying to pass the exam, that is all. Learning about the exam was an important investment of my time. I reminded myself each day of studying that I was preparing for the exam and it’s 3 parts. That helped make it slightly less intimidating. If I ever lost focus, I reminded myself of that and that helped me get back on track.

Day(s) of: I don’t want to get into the mess of the Feb bar exam. That is not the point here. It was awful, yes. I did not have confidence in the exam process since I sat for the practice exam in Nov. I had the option to take it at home but since I have a family, I decided to go to one of the testing facilities. Each day had so many complications. The only thing that kept me grounded was knowing that I prepared the best I could for the exam. I did not have doubts in my preparation; I let go of any regrets during the exam. I slept well, booked a hotel to make myself comfortable. I dressed in layers, I breathed, basically all the stuff you’re supposed to do. 

But when things started going wrong, I stayed calm. I stayed focused and ready for the exam, even during delays, confusion, technology issues. I knew I wanted this to be my last time. So, I kept my head down and gave it everything as soon as the timer started each session. I was so relieved when it was over. The first day of essays, I felt so prepared. The PT was a nightmare. We couldn’t copy and paste, thankfully I had my whiteboard. As soon I realized we couldn’t use the functions we were supposed to used, I started copying what I needed on my white board and then typing it into the little window. I was so angry and that anger helped me focus. I needed to pass, and I was going to do what I needed to get every point. The second day had lots of issues as well. I was sure I failed after the MBEs. They did not look familiar; they were confusing but still I stayed focused on “shut up and pick it.”

I am glad I did it, I feel confident that I can do hard things now. I leveled up completely in my confidence after that exam. I started my own practice, and life keeps getting better and better. Thank you so much for helping me believe I could do and providing the resources to guide me along the way. I am truly grateful for the work you do and that you keep sharing it with so many of us.

Michelle ____, Esq. :)