Stop Trying to Learn Every Rule: How I Actually Passed the Bar Exam
I wanted to make a post explaining how I studied because I know there are other people out there who feel burnt out, overwhelmed, lazy, behind, depressed, and unmotivated.
On my first attempt I completed about 50% of Barbri and around 1,000 Adaptibar questions. I hated Barbri and honestly had no idea how to organize myself or structure my days. I was SOOO burnt out from law school. I had done 6 internships, also finished an MBA, and had a ton of emotional stuff going on. Some days I genuinely could not wake up before noon and constantly needed naps. Looking back, I think my body was just exhausted.
I mostly just winged it on my first attempt.
My Adaptibar average was around a 62%. I felt okay about essays, but I did not deeply know Con Law, Civ Pro, or Evidence. Truthfully, I was kind of bad at studying for all the MBE subjects. I was able to get a second wind toward the end for the MEE subjects. I had taken all the bar classes besides Family Law, but honestly I learned that one pretty quickly too.
I did not take a full-length practice exam.
I ended up with a 262. My MBE was a 122.
On exam day, I ran out of time on BOTH MBE sections and randomly bubbled in around 20–30 questions total. I also got hit with a Con Law essay I genuinely could not do. For essays, I wrote “25 minute” increments on my scratch paper so I could keep moving and come back later to build answers out more. That actually kept me surprisingly on track even without full essay practice.
I was honestly devastated when I found out I failed because I really just wanted to put law school behind me and finally live a chill life.
On my second attempt, I never took a full-length practice exam and never wrote a full essay.
The main resources I used were:
(1) Goat Bar Prep
(2) UWorld
(3) Jon Grossman / Adaptibar attack outlines
I also used JD Advising One Sheets and my old Barbri books during the final couple days just to read essays.
From October through December, I honestly barely studied some weeks. I was working full time and trying to mentally recover from failing. Some weeks I probably only studied like 5–10 hours total. Other weeks maybe 15. There were definitely days where I did absolutely nothing.
A lot of my “studying” was honestly:
- doing questions in bed
- listening to Grossman while driving
- reviewing Quizlets half asleep
- redoing old UWorld questions at work
- screenshotting rules I missed
I did NOT have some insane disciplined schedule.
January was when I started taking things more seriously, but even then I still was probably averaging around 15–20 hours a week. Some weeks more. Some less depending on motivation and work.
I think people massively overestimate how much consistent studying is actually required to pass if you study strategically.
I focused way more on:
- high-frequency subtopics
- repeated exposure
- recognizing patterns
- and maximizing easy points
instead of trying to perfectly memorize every rule in existence.
FOR THE MBE:
I mostly studied subtopic by subtopic instead of trying to “master” entire subjects. That mindset change helped me SO much. PRINT OUT A FREQUENCY CHART!!! Topic 2: MBE Frequency Chart: Highly Tested MBE Topics
A huge mistake people make is trying to know EVERY rule in subjects like Property or Civ Pro when some subtopics have a million confusing exceptions and barely show up.
Instead, I started asking:
“How many rules do I actually need to memorize to consistently get points here?”
For example:
- Homicide is heavily tested but the core rules are actually manageable.
- Accomplice liability has pretty few rules and shows up often.
- Negligence repeats itself constantly.
- Mortgages are one of the easier/high-return Property topics.
- Equal Protection becomes easier once you memorize scrutiny levels.
- Evidence writings/recordings questions are repetitive once you learn the framework.
Meanwhile, there are some subtopics that are honestly terrible ROI and way too time consuming.
At a certain point I realized:
you do NOT need to become a law professor in every subject to pass this exam.
Even if a subtopic only gives you 3–4 questions total, if it only requires memorizing 3 easy rules, that is STILL a great tradeoff.
I started with easier subjects like Torts and Criminal Law because building confidence mattered a lot for me psychologically. I would focus on getting the easiest/highest frequency subtopics to around 80%:
- homicide
- accomplice liability
- negligence
- other torts
- mortgages
- Equal Protection
- evidence writings/recordings
As time got tighter, I aimed for around 70% on the heavily tested areas instead of trying to perfect everything.
Crim Pro stayed around a 65% no matter how many times I revisited it. Sometimes you honestly just have to shrug certain things off and move on.
I also did not focus heavily on Property because there are WAY too many rules for certain subtopics compared to how often they appear.
I would:
- screenshot questions I got wrong
- print them out at work
- redo missed questions daily
- review Quizlets in bed at night
- redo old UWorld question sets for weak subtopics
UWorld’s “redo incorrects” feature helped me a TON.
BUT GOAT WAS LIFECHANGING ESPECIALLY THE TRICKS.
Toward the end, I binge watched Grossman lectures and did around 50–100 questions a day. I think I finished around 1,200+ questions total and averaged around a 69%.
Some weeks I only did like 200 questions depending on motivation. Obviously 1,800–2,000 is probably ideal if you are more consistent than me.
FOR THE MEE:
I basically taught myself all the MEE-only subjects in like 3 days.
I read maybe 3–5 essays per subject and heavily used the JD Advising One Sheets. I memorized the rules on those and honestly think that gave me enough to work with on exam day.
I also used ChatGPT Premium because I realized my issue statements were not specific enough. I would ask it for mini scenarios and practice mini IRACs in bed at night. That helped a LOT.
One thing I realized is that if you can identify the rule specifically enough in your issue statement, you are probably already picking up a decent amount of points.
FOR DAYS I FELT TOO EXHAUSTED TO STUDY:
I would just redo old UWorld questions for weak subtopics instead of trying to force myself into some “perfect” study schedule.
Toward the actual exam, I realized I got more questions right when I answered quickly and trusted myself. If I sat there overthinking for 2 minutes, I usually changed to the wrong answer anyway.
On my second attempt I finished BOTH MBE sections early.
FOR THE MPT:
- I reviewed one MPT my first attempt
- zero my second attempt
- read Goat’s guide and hoped for the best
I am NOT saying this is the ideal way to study.
But I AM saying:
- you do not need to study 12 hours a day
- you do not need to finish every prep course
- you do not need perfect essays
- you do not need to know every rule
You just need enough points consistently across enough areas.