Featured | Make This Your Last Time

July 5, 2025July 5, 2025 - 12 Comments

Predictions for the Bar Exam (What to Focus On for Efficient Study)

No wonder this person posted anonymously because I see at least 3 things I could critique in this comment:

"The worst part about studying ... is that we cannot even properly use predictions."

Before every exam, a handful of people come out of the woodwork and shamelessly ask about which subjects will appear on the upcoming bar exam.

“Does anyone know the essay predictions?”
“What do you think will be tested?”
“I don’t think ____ will appear on the exam.”
“Anyone think ____ will be tested?”
“I know we’re not supposed to listen to predictions, but…”
“What are ____’s predictions?”
“Here are my MEE predictions!”

Whose speculations are you going to listen to?

If you’re like many bar takers, or if you’re a repeater, you say: “Haha of course I’m not going to rely on the predictions. I shall adequately study all the subjects. You should too!”

And then you panic and look at the predictions anyway.

Did you want me to tell you, “Aww poor baby, don’t worry. It’s normal and happens to the best of us 🥺”?

You SHOULD worry if you’re secretly tempted to rely on predictions… because this kind of thinking is entirely predictable and avoidable. Sweating about predictions is NOT a good place to be and requires intervention.

Also, remember when subjects actually leaked for the California exam in 2019 and people got mad over it? Do you want to know the subjects ahead of time or not? Make up your minds!

Maybe you’re too young to remember ancient history. I’ve been dealing with you people for too long.

Here’s why you should look toward essay/MEE predictions for entertainment value and morbid curiosity only:

(and 3 things you can focus on instead to take control over your studies)

June 28, 2025June 28, 2025 - 5 Comments

Bar Prep Wisdom from Succulents

I went to a succulents gardening workshop the other day 🌱

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.

But 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.” 🤯)

May 24, 2025May 24, 2025 - 23 Comments

You Need a Personalized Study Plan: Making Your Own Bar Prep Study Schedule

Haters will say it’s impossible:

I’m not saying the haters are right.

I’m just saying…maybe…it’s not about mindlessly stacking assignments and being too busy completing them to absorb what you’re doing?

The only thing I remember from law school is my negotiations professor saying this in class randomly:

“Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

Is bar preparation worth doing? Then it’s worth doing right. Doing it intentionally. Being an overachiever without being a tryhard.

After all, you’re the dean of your own studies. And we know that enjoying the process creates sustainable momentum (not just fixating on the goal of passing the bar).

Just as what’s enjoyable is personal, bar prep is also personal. Your study plan and schedule are personal.

There are many reasons your schedule will look different from everyone else’s:

You might be working while studying for the bar exam and have 3 hours scattered throughout a workday.
Maybe you live in your parents’ basement and have every day free. Your mom shakes her head as she sees you shitposting on Reddit instead of studying.
Or maybe you only have certain hours of your day free while the kids are at school.

Meanwhile, your bar review course hands you a cookie-cutter schedule that packs in an overwhelming number of tasks or “self-study” sessions where you have no direction on what to do (tfw you get love bombed and ghosted).

Does it make sense that you get the exact same study schedule for every scenario above? Not to me.

Is there a smarter, more effective plan that would serve your needs more and improve your odds of passing?

Yes, one that’s customized to you.

That said, I suggest adhering to a few ideas when planning your bar prep. For example:

May 17, 2025May 17, 2025 - 35 Comments

Should You “Trust the Process”? You’re the Dean of Your Own Bar Exam Studies

Here’s something that people who pass the bar exam never say:

“All I had to do was listen to all the bar course lectures and take a lot of notes. Just complete the course 100% and you’ll pass!”

Could you imagine if that’s all it took tho

Sometimes we think “doing whatever it takes” to pass the bar exam means exhausting yourself and throwing 1000 hours and even more dollars into a black hole. (But it doesn’t have to be expensive.)

Or following some unsustainable cookie-cutter schedule that doesn’t care if you have other responsibilities like work or family. Good luck if you fall behind by one day.

Or letting a perfectly fine morning slip through by religiously sitting through 4 hours of droning lectures. Worse, pausing lectures to fill in all the notes.

Then not even remembering 99% of it.

When you thought the lectures made sense

“Trust the process.”

I remember those days. All of those things above are things I stopped doing on my second attempt at preparing for the bar exam.

May 10, 2025May 10, 2025 - 6 Comments

Why You Feel Exhausted Studying for the Bar Exam

Let me guess. Does your bar prep regimen look something like this?

Listen to lectures while sitting still like a statue
Pause to take notes and fill in the blanks (doubling the time it takes to finish the lectures)
Read giant outlines (and reread paragraphs you thought you already read)

Eventually falling asleep with the lights on.

It’s like you’re experiencing the most annoying part about traveling—sitting for hours staring at a tiny screen next to someone who takes up the armrest even though they got the window seat.

And repeating this every day. Is this what Limbo is like?

You’re drained and demoralized because you’re trying to “study” but aren’t feeling a real sense of progress.

Why are you trying to do this the hard way?