Amy passed the February 2024 California Bar Exam on her first try.
Yep, she passed last year and is back for more punishment.
💬 “I was a July 2024 CA bar taker and passed thanks to your lifesaving magicsheets and approsheets. I am now relocating to DC and have to take the July 2025 bar in DC.”
This is a good chance to peer into the mind of a high performer:
1) Amy graciously sent a detailed retrospective when I asked her for a recap of her study process, even though a year had passed. Those who are confident about doing it, share how to do it. I assume she’ll use a similar approach for the UBE.
2) The mind is half the battle in bar prep. Amy’s story teaches lessons on knowing when to correct course and staying calm and patient through bar prep.
This one’s for you if you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and on the verge of a spicy crashout.
💬 “I think the . . . bar was scarier in my mind than in reality — it was the fear of the unknown that gave me debilitating anxiety and stress. . . . it’s more of a mental game than anything else, and I don’t have to memorize every rule to pass (I knew this part while studying for the bar but it was hard to accept in the moment because law school students didn’t spend their entire lives wanting to just ‘pass’ every exam to get to where they are).”
Resources Amy used to pass the California Bar Exam
Amy broke down her preparation experience into thematic phrases:
Weeks 1–3: “Cookie cutter weeks”
Weeks 4–4.5 “Goodbye Barbri!”
Weeks 4.5–6.5: “There’s hope!”
Weeks 6.5–8: Practice and review
What did she learn along the way?
1) “I understand it now”
I’m sure you’ve seen people stuck in their ways who are still trying to pass this exam. The onus is on you to adapt to the exam, not the other way around.
Adapt quickly if you notice what’s not going to work.
Adaptation is how you survive. Darwin said that it’s not the strongest or most intelligent of the species that survives but the one that’s most adaptable to change.
Amy recognized early that some of her study habits were ineffective. So she pivoted.
💬 “I would follow Barbri videos and take notes. After each subject, I made my own outline from the notes. This was probably the biggest time suck and obviously where the magic of Magicsheets would have come in had I discovered them earlier. But I didn’t realize how much time this was taking away from actually memorizing the law and doing practice exams, which would have been a much better use of my time. I realized this in Week 4.”
Watching videos, taking notes, making perfect notes… These are the things that I did on my first prep attempt, which exhausted me and left no room for anything else. I wouldn’t know until later, but busy work didn’t help me learn.
It was the same for Amy. Is it the same for you?
💬 “I felt like I didn’t memorize anything, as I’ve spent my last precious 8 weeks making my own outline, I’ve only practiced 3 essays, my MBE average from Adaptibar was hanging for dear life around 40-55%, and I was forgetting the earlier subjects. ‘I know nothing’ was how I felt everyday.”
Busy work could be helpful to you, in which case you should continue doing them. But if you insist on doing things that aren’t helping you just because prep course told you to, the harder it will be to get back on the right track.
“The longer you stay on the wrong train, the more expensive it is to get home.”
In aviation, a 1-degree error will result in straying off course by a mile every 60 miles. The longer you sit there, convincing yourself that things will magically work out, the more your future self will hate you.
So the earlier you audit your study habits and actively reflect on your progress, the more pain and time you could save.
But how do you know whether you need to correct course ASAP or you’re jumping the gun too early? Maybe you should stick it out to see how it goes?
Take a look at your course schedule if you have access to one. Look ahead and put yourself in your future self’s shoes. How do you feel?
Amy noticed something about her schedule.
💬 “Total panic set in as I realized I only had 4 more weeks and looking ahead at Barbri’s schedule, I would still be learning new topics until a week before the exam.”
So once again, how do you feel when you look? I’m not asking rhetorical questions.
If you’re seeing new topics a few weeks before the exam, it might be time to reevaluate.
So what to do instead?
2) Retain the material through memorization and practice
“How do I memorize all this shit”
That’s what you’ll start asking soon if you haven’t already.
💬 “Outlining always meant my best attempt at remembering the actual rule. If I forgot a key part of the rule, that’s ok because realizing I made the mistake from reading the answer later helped me memorize it faster.”
There are different approaches for memorizing large bodies of information (which I go over in detail in Passer’s Playbook).
But if you take away one thing about memorizing, it’s this: All memorization is based on attempts to remember. This is key.
You’ll need to be able to retrieve issues and rules from memory. The more you use it, the more you’ll remember it.
💬 “I definitely had to ease myself into essay practice because up until this point, I had barely practiced any essays. My biggest hindrance was knowing I haven’t memorized enough to spit out an entire essay. So what I did was this…”
In Amy’s full story, she talks about how she progressed from focusing on issues first to IRAC-ing her way through over a set of five essays.
💬 “When outlining, I would already start organizing my essay into the word doc using headers. This way any issues, rules, analysis would already be neatly organized under a header and the adrenaline rush from the timer would not make me lose focus as my path is already laid out for me.”
Then she would review her work. Practice is meaningless unless you review your work—to identify what you did well and what you didn’t get right.
💬 “Review the answer and don’t beat myself up for not getting everything because I’m here to pass, not get an A and I’m not expected to cover every issue. BUT I need to make sure I get the big issues.”
💬 “For every question I got wrong, or was even slightly unsure, I wrote down the rule by hand so that I would not make the same mistake.”
Do you notice something here?
Amy didn’t “freak out” if she made mistakes along the way. Instead, she was calm and patient about her progress:
- “If I forgot a key part of the rule, that’s ok”
- “Don’t beat myself up for not getting everything”
- “I’m here to pass, not get an A”
She anticipated mistakes down the road as part of the process. You don’t need to get 70% on your MBE set now. The point is to get there.
3) Be kind to yourself
When Amy let the time pressure get to her, she got burned out. But it was when she slowed down that she made MORE progress.
💬 “Mental Health — I cannot stress this enough: TAKE BREAKS. I stopped eating or practicing any form of self care when I burnt out around the start of week 4.”
💬 “When I started regaining my health, I had a much more positive attitude and was able to memorize and actually retain what I was learning.”
But wait! What about all that stuff about limited time and time suck?
Contradictions are where counterintuitive and interesting things happen:
- Go slow to go fast. This is one of the lessons on overcoming overwhelm in Mental Engines.
- Doing leads to understanding. Clarity comes from doing.
- Motion leads to motivation. Mood follows action.
That’s where your edge will be. Let everyone else panic after their prep course abandons them after weeks of dumping information you don’t know what to do with.
Full story
Text version
Hi Brian,
I passed!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your magicsheets and approsheets. I am so glad I ditched Barbri on July 1 and honed in on your magicsheets. By that time, I had already spent hundreds of hours making outlines of the CMR and taking notes during lectures. That was a huge waste of my time and I wish I found your materials earlier because they were essentially my outlines, but much more condensed, organized, and easy to memorize. Your magicsheets also helped me boost my MBE from 50% to 70-80% within a week. I was really panicking at the 50% mark and feeling like I was constantly forgetting everything I was memorizing, but your magichsheets brought all the info together in a way that made sense to me and reviewing 1-2 sheets daily really helped me solidify the information.
Your emails throughout the process also kept me floating, especially during the (many) moments I believed I was going to fail. The bar is a huge mental game and you really understood that more than anyone else in my personal life.
THANK YOU! You are a hero.
Best,
Amy
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Hi Brian,
Hope you are doing well!
I was a July 2024 CA bar taker and passed thanks to your lifesaving magicsheets and approsheets. I am now relocating to DC and have to take the July 2025 bar in DC. [Redacted her question]
Thanks so much!
Amy
—
Strangely excited to study for the DC bar but it’s probably because I know I have your Magicsheets!
Yes, I will send you a story of how I pass multiple jx — if I pass!! (fingers crossed) Sorry I realize I never got back to your last email about sharing my insights into how I prepped and my ups/downs. I could barely read a menu after taking the bar and went off the grid to go on my post-bar trip for two months. But here we go — from what I remember, my 8 weeks of study roughly went like this:
Week 1-3 “Cookie cutter weeks”: I would follow Barbri videos and take notes. After each subject, I made my own outline from the notes. This was probably the biggest time suck and obviously where the magic of magicsheets would have come in had I discovered them earlier. But I didn’t realize how much time this was taking away from actually memorizing the law and doing practice exams, which would have been a much better use of my time. I realized this in Week 4.
Week 4-4.5 “Goodbye Barbri!”: Total panic set in as I realized I only had 4 more weeks and looking ahead at Barbri’s schedule, I would still be learning new topics until a week before the exam. I felt like I didn’t memorize anything, as I’ve spent my last precious 8 weeks making my own outline, I’ve only practiced 3 essays, my MBE average from Adaptibar was hanging for dear life around 40-55%, and I was forgetting the earlier subjects. “I know nothing” was how I felt everyday. I then scoured online blogs, reddit, etc. to see what other strategies worked for CA passers and found your Magicsheets and Mary Basick’s essay book. These two resources saved me SO much time. Magicsheets, as everyone knows, is basically the entire Barbri outline already but so much better because (1) super concise so that it’s easy to memorize, and (2) includes all the details you need plus more. You did the hard work for us already!!! I wish I paid you what I paid Barbri.
Week 4.5-6.5 “There’s hope!”: After going over the Magicsheets just once, I immediately felt less worried as they were so much shorter than my own outlines. I then began my new study plan:
- 1 MBE topic per day for 7 days
- AM — MC time : Actively read Magicsheet using pens/highlighters of different colors. I made sure I consistently used each color for the same purpose across all Magicsheets (i.e., exceptions would be pink). This would usually take me 2 hours and really helped me sink in the material. I then launched into MC questions, doing 25 first, and then grading myself. For every question I got wrong, or was even slightly unsure, I wrote down the rule by hand so that I would not make the same mistake. If the 25 questions went well, that usually meant I had extra time to do more MC, but I would reserve that for the afternoon. I also always practiced with a timer or bar-approved mini analog clock to make sure I wasn’t taking too long on each question (the timer would be intimidating at first, but better to be intimidated now than for the first time at the bar).
- PM — Essay time: I definitely had to ease myself into essay practice because up until this point, I had barely practiced any essays. My biggest hindrance was knowing I haven’t memorized enough to spit out an entire essay. So what I did was this:
- Essays 1 + 2 — Read question and then the fact-pattern. Underline where issues may be in the fact pattern, then jot down on the side what I remember about the rule. Think about how the rule would apply. Read the answer. (This was a confidence booster because I realized I actually could spot some issues, or at least I know where something looks off if I couldn’t pinpoint the exact rule.) This took a total of 30 min.
- Essays 3 + 4 — Do same thing, except this time, type out an outline in a blank word doc (15-20 minutes). Read and analyze the answer for 30 min.
- Essay 5 — Now this time, treat it like the actual exam. Read the questions and fact pattern while actively underlining issues or facts that seem key. Spend 15 minutes outlining (20 minutes if I felt the need) into my word doc. Under each header, make sure every rule is written underneath as this helps me see the big picture of everything I need to cover and I won’t spend too much time on any single issue. Then I start IRAC-ing my way through. Review the answer and don’t beat myself up for not getting everything because I’m here to pass, not get an A and I’m not expected to cover every issue. BUT I need to make sure I get the big issues.
- Extra tips:
- Outlining always meant my best attempt at remembering the actual rule. If I forgot a key part of the rule, that’s ok because realizing I made the mistake from reading the answer later helped me memorize it faster.
- When outlining, I would already start organizing my essay into the word doc using headers. This way any issues, rules, analysis would already be neatly organized under a header and the adrenaline rush from the timer would not make me lose focus as my path is already laid out for me.
- Start making my own rule statement bank — Magicsheets + Mary Basick already has super great and concise rule statements, but it was still too much for me to realistically memorize. After each essay, I’d add rules statements I liked into my rule bank. If any of the essay answers had super great rule statements that clicked with me (aka I felt my brain could handle memorizing this), I would add it to my rule bank. But I will say, making a rule bank at this point in the game also took a significant amount of time. It was worth it for me in the end because making the rule bank helped me memorize my rule statements. I wish I started making this rule bank from day 1 instead of three quarters of my way to the bar.
- Before bed — Review: Go over the list of rules/mistakes I learned from the MC I got wrong. If I felt I had the energy, I’d do 10 more MC.
- 2 Essay Only Topics per day (split AM/PM)
- Focus on essay only as per above
- Mix and mingle MBE + Essay only topics
- Practice at least 75 MC questions/day — I was only able to do this because I learned a lot from writing down all the rules I got wrong and made fewer mistakes over time. My MC average went up to a consistent 80% and sometimes even higher depending on the topic.
- For topics I was less confident with, I’d focus on that single topic for 5-6 hours, before I start to mix and mingle all topics.
- Mental Health — I cannot stress this enough: TAKE BREAKS. I stopped eating or practicing any form of self care when I burnt out around the start of week 4. I am super lucky to have a very supportive group of friends and family in my life. They would make sure I was eating and force me to go outside for walks. They would distract me from constantly trying other memorize rule statements by watching funny tv shows with me. When I started regaining my health, I had a much more positive attitude and was able to memorize and actually retain what I was learning.
Week 6.5-8
- Morning: Go through 2-3 Magicsheets, starting with topics I still felt I wasn’t as confident in. Do 5 essays, but only outlining them to issue spot, type out the full rule statement, and do a bullet-point analysis with the facts. Review. Do 25-30 MC. Review (still making my list of what I got wrong, and why).
- Afternoon: Outline as many essays as I can. Take a break, go for a walk. Practice 30-50 more MC.
- PT practice — This was where I really could have done better. I only practiced 2 PTs before the actual bar (literally 5-7 days before) because I kept hearing everyone say the PT is the “easiest” part and I thought that I only needed to practice a couple. I thought the PT was very difficult in terms of organizing my time and wish I had practiced at least 5 PTs. On the actual bar exam, I actually foresaw myself running out of time for the PT, so I cut out 15 minutes from two essays to give myself an extra half hour on the PT, which worked out. But I had to type like a mad lady to make sure I was going to finish on time.
Hopefully this is helpful! I probably left out some parts as I may have blacked out some parts of the experience from my memory. I think the CA bar was scarier in my mind than in reality — it was the fear of the unknown that gave me debilitating anxiety and stress. I still think it’s a beast of an exam and studying for my next one won’t be easy, but the biggest difference this time is that I know it’s actually do-able, it’s more of a mental game than anything else, and I don’t have to memorize every rule to pass (I knew this part while studying for the bar but it was hard to accept in the moment because law school students didn’t spend their entire lives wanting to just “pass” every exam to get to where they are).
Thank you for all you do, Brian!! Excited to dive into all this again for the DC bar :) our generation is truly super lucky to have you.
Best,
Amy
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Yes, July 2024 was my first and only attempt at CA bar.
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