u/cookedinlard

As some of you know it’s been an insane journey for me and this was my 6th bar attempt. I had actually taken one bar cycle off to travel the world for 6 months before I came back to my last attempt. While it was the 6th time, I did feel as though it was my first real attempt for a lot of reasons, besides being refreshed and clear headed.

Idk why this part got deleted maybe I was still drunk but I started by saying I did 2.5k mbes, about 100 essays and 3 PTs. My three swear bys are mb essay book, adaptibar/uworld, and magic sheets + barbri YouTube tutorials for PT.

I made sure to do at least 60 mbes a day, 30 in the morning, 30 in the afternoon, with review of those I got right/wrong. Mbes were my weak point so I really needed to grind. I also believe that while quality is important, as in understanding and deep learning of what you’re doing with mbes, quantity does matter as well. After some time pattern recognition became somewhat automatic which I think is key for the MBE portion. So even if I hadn’t “understood” an MBE like with Civ pro (ew) I did so many that eventually it just stuck and it didn’t matter if it made sense to me.

Funny enough this was the first round I also spent time on essays; I did ALL the essays in the MB book, starting with PR. I made sure to spend the most time on PR in the beginning, and my outline was also the most specific for PR making sure I was gathering all possible points there. As for the essays in general, I would only issue spot and make a skeletal outline of an essay— no need to write the whole thing out (at least for me). Took less time and I also got more review in. Tried to do like 2/3 essays a day if not more.

It was also the first time I really paid any attention to PT. The barbri PT lectures on YouTube were incredibly helpful. I watched 3 of those and with each one I took notes and eventually created a skeletal outline for the PT structure that I simply memorized and applied during the exam. I think a lot of PTs work the same way for the most part.

CA SUBJECTS: I basically left these for the end. I don’t find there to be a need to put in extensive time and effort into these topics when you’re likely to gather points elsewhere. The last two weeks of bar study I essentially reviewed the magic sheets for these and created mini attacks and just memorized those. I don’t think any important amount of time should be dedicated to these. But again, just what worked for me.

3.5. MEMORIZATION: Probably not how everyone does it— but I left hardcore memorization for the last week or two before the bar. I’d do some light memorization in the beginning of bar prep to conceptualize and understand, but for me, everything was easier to remember when I did memorization closer to exam time.

MENTAL: As we all know… HUGE component especially for repeat takers. I took daily walks through my neighborhood, made sure to get a nice cup of coffee somewhere I liked, chatted about nonsense with some friends, listened to music that brought me joy and imagined a life where the bar exam was behind me. I planned things like a bar pass party or who I was going to tell first and allowed myself those moments of joy to fuel me.

On the flip side, I was also prepared to fail and do it again. I have a weird feeling that if you’re in that head space, you’re ready to pass. The materials should feel manageable, although hard, and you should feel like you have some sort of grasp on how to go about the process again.

Side note— was also an avid weed smoker for a decade and this is my first year and first bar attempt sober… ironically I ended up passing. Not sure if this is applicable for everyone, but being sober for a while really helped my mental game and study sessions.

Anyways, remember it’s not IF you pass it’s WHEN, and as someone who’s been through all the turmoil with this wretched thing I feel for everyone and anyone whose life is impacted by this exam. But strength, resilience, perseverance, endurance, stamina… these will undoubtedly get you to the finish line. Do. Not. Give. Up. (If you want it). And NEVER let anyone tell you what you can or cannot be, especially a handful of goofy administrators or an exam that will eventually only be a bad memory x

Who do people usually and realistically choose as references for the moral character application? I can’t think of the last two I used my boss and two colleagues